Increased you calories? Tell me about it here....!

Please don't be afraid of gaining weight. When it's muscle, it just makes you look sexier.

I weigh three pounds more in the February picture than I did in July.



Five pounds more than I did in September.



And eight pounds more than I did twelve years ago in my mid-20s.



My waist is the same size as I was in 1999, but my hips are narrower now, and more streamlined. My bum is higher and rounder. My boobs are bigger. My skin looks healthier and the dark circles under my eyes are gone. Back then, I couldn't run a quarter of a mile. Now I can easily do a 10k. I eat about 2000 calories a day, strength train 2-3 times a week, and run 3-4 times a week.

*

I am training for a 1/2 marathon June 3/12 and also to climb Kilimanjaro in Aug 2012. I am and have been having a terrible time at figuring out how many calories to consume a day to ensure I loose 1 - 2 lbs a week. I am over approx. 20 - 25 lbs. Can someone help me>??

I am active:
Mon - Run / Tues Spin/ Wed Run/ Thurs Spin/ Fri Off/ Sat off / Sun Long run. All workouts are 40 - 70 mins long

I am 38
5 foot 6'
Weight 168 lbs
Body fat of 31.0 %

I have been eating the suggested 1200 calories a day, but am not loosing much if at all in 2 weeks. I think I need more.
I would like someone to please HELP ME!! UGH

Please don't be afraid of gaining weight. When it's muscle, it just makes you look sexier.

I weigh three pounds more in the February picture than I did in July.



Five pounds more than I did in September.



And eight pounds more than I did twelve years ago in my mid-20s.



My waist is the same size as I was in 1999, but my hips are narrower now, and more streamlined. My bum is higher and rounder. My boobs are bigger. My skin looks healthier and the dark circles under my eyes are gone. Back then, I couldn't run a quarter of a mile. Now I can easily do a 10k. I eat about 2000 calories a day, strength train 2-3 times a week, and run 3-4 times a week.

This! Judging by your pictures, you're not necessarily underweight, but you have no muscle tone! When you under eat, your body holds onto the fat and burns the muscle (12 years ago that was me to the extreme). Being slightly muscular is way more attractive IMHO, as the post I've quoted illustrates perfectly.

Please don't be afraid of gaining weight. When it's muscle, it just makes you look sexier.

I weigh three pounds more in the February picture than I did in July.



Five pounds more than I did in September.



And eight pounds more than I did twelve years ago in my mid-20s.



My waist is the same size as I was in 1999, but my hips are narrower now, and more streamlined. My bum is higher and rounder. My boobs are bigger. My skin looks healthier and the dark circles under my eyes are gone. Back then, I couldn't run a quarter of a mile. Now I can easily do a 10k. I eat about 2000 calories a day, strength train 2-3 times a week, and run 3-4 times a week.

I've been waiting for you to chime in. I'm working on eating more now and trying to be patient.

I have to agree with you. A woman can be 115 with no muscle mass and look disgusting or she can be 115 with muscle mass and look hot. She needs to eat the proper amount of calories so she can gain muscle. Skinny does not equal sexy nor does it equal healthy. She needs to be healthy and if that means putting on 15lbs of muscle then that's what it means but depriving her body calories she is not giving it the fuel it needs to produce muscle so in effect she will be forcing her body to actually break down muscle to give her energy to live. Does that sound sexy or healthy or what???

listen to Dan, he knows his ish!!

Dan;
Can you please tell me your theory behind my calorie intake. I am soooo frustrated as nobody has ever given me a answer on nutrition while being a very active person. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR HELPING ME!!!

Sure!

You need to fuel the machine!
You dont eat enough and workout consistently at some point your body will attempt to slow you down.

Cortisol is a catabolic hormone.
Catabolic is the opposite of anabolic!
Anabolic means "to build tissue."
Catabolic means "to break down tissue."
People who eat right and workout right and arent too stressed have good levels of testosterone in their systems.
Also eating proper fats and drinking 2% or whole milk is ideal for this!
Fatty fish and meat are delish!!!!
This builds muscle!
But!
for those who are eating too low and screwing with hormones because of improper diet.
Or stressed out all the time...cortisol is higher in the system!

On a metabolic level the body will first target active tissue.
Active tissue consist of parts of your body, and organs, that burn calories or use energy to survive.
Fat is not active tissue.
So once you have burned the maximum amount of fat your body can burn in 1 day your body switches gears on a hormonal level and searches for easily burned fuel.
Glycogen is first on the list.
Fat is second.
Lean mass is third.
If your body is in a defensive mode like when eating below BMR, the time between glycogen burn and lean mass burn is very short.
This is because fat is used as a storage and the body will try to hold onto as much storage as possible.
By targeting lean mass and other active tissue, the body can drop BMR lower to slow you down and use lean mass as fuel.
People who lose 2lbs or more and are not in the Obese II and Obese III category are burning lean mass and thus creating smaller versions of their former fat selves.
These people look fine in clothing but once they strip down, they are skinny-fat!
These folks have a body fat of appx 20% or more but are at or below their perfect weight.
People who eat at or below BMR will plateau and start having Ghrelin issues if they arent working out!

I'll also point out that people in the Obese II and Obese III range, 35-50+ BF%, contain enough ATP in their muscles to generate energy and are the only people who can "grow" muscle while in a caloric deficit.

If you fall in this range and arent lifting heavy weights, you need to start a program yesterday!

Also be very careful if you are OII and OIII and drop calories too low.
Targeted lean mass can also mean the heart because its a muscle.
If you have any damage to the heart and the body starts using it for fuel you can die!

so to use a fun analogy....

I'm giving you my 20 year old car.
It has 1/8th tank of gas and a little oil in it.
Now drive it 200 miles without stopping for fuel.


Goto Fat to Fit Radio.
Use the Military Body Fat tool.
Then use the BMR tool.
The BMR tool gives you exact calories for your activity level.
Add 20% to those calories to find out your TDEE.

Do these numbers every 5% body fat lost or 5lbs lost and youll pass with flying colors!
Yes!
Eat the ****ing calories you burn!
=D

Can you run mine too?

Age -34
Height -5'5"
Body Fat% ? (36 I think)
Weight -190.8
Waist measurement-31
How often you workout - I take an hour long kickboxing class 3x a week, and an hour long zumba class 2x a week, and strength training 1-2x a week depending on my schedule.