Helpful Info: Are you eating enough calories?

So recently my friend told me that she didn't think I was eating enough calories. For the past couple months I had been at 1500 calories each day and was also exercising but the weight was just NOT coming off. She figured out my REE (Resting Energy Expenditure) by doing what is called The Mifflin Equation. It figures out how many calories a person needs each day just to SUSTAIN life. My number ended up being 1711, which I should NEVER be under. So turns out that my body had been in starvation mode when I was only eating 1500 calories a day and that's why it didn't want to let go of the fat, hence the no weight loss.

I also did a wellness assessment at a local University that took into account body fat %, flexibility, strength and a bunch of other tests. I also paid extra to have my REE actually measured by a machine. It ended up being 2141 which seemed like A LOT to me. So since then, I set My Fitness Pal to be at 2200 calories and then I try to be a little bit under that (but NEVER under 2141).

This past week I have been mostly a little bit under my goal of 2200 calories and I did 30 Day Shred 5 times and Zumba 2 times. This past week I lost 1.5 lbs. Healthy weight loss is 1-2 lbs. per week because at that rate it will STAY off and you are losing fat instead of muscle or water weight.

So I just thought I would share The Mifflin Equation with you guys if you were interested:

REE (Resting Energy Expenditure) = (10 x weight/2.2) + (6.25 x height in inches x 2.54) - (5 x age) - 161

Sometimes to get the calories you should be eating you will also need to multiply your REE by your lifestyle/activity level. 1.3 is sedentary, 1.5 is lightly active and 1.7 is moderately active.

Last night while going over my wellness assessment results with my friend's husband (who works in the lab that does all the tests) I asked him if I should be eating more since I've been exercising quite a bit and he said that if I have enough energy and don't feel hungry and I'm getting the results that I want, then he would leave it alone or maybe increase it to 2400. I think I will keep it at 2200 for now. If I multiplied it by a sedentary lifestyle (1.3) then my calories each day would end up being 2783. But if I don't change it to that number then I will end up having a little more than a 500 calorie deficit each day. Which would add up to one pound of weight loss per week. (3500 calories is in a pound). Then with my exercise, that should put me at another 3500, which would be a total of 2 lbs. of weight loss per week.

Another thing I found helpful while talking to him last night was that to keep our blood sugar from spiking and then dropping multiple times a day, you should eat carbs, protein and fat with EVERY meal and snack. It takes the body longer to process proteins and fats than it does to process carbs. Since it takes the body longer to process protein and fat, your blood sugar doesn't spike as fast or drop as quickly.

Also, every one is different but he recommended that each day 55% of my calorie intake be from carbs, 25% from fat and 20% from protein. The healthy ranges for each of those things are: Carbs 45-65%, Fat 20-35%, and Protein 10-35%.

I hope that gave everyone some helpful information! I want everyone to lose weight in a healthy way because that will be weight loss that will stay off. If you didn't lose any weight this week or you gained, don't stress! It's just one week and you can just re-commit to your goals! Also, whenever you change up your diet or weight loss routines, it sometimes takes a couple of weeks for your body to catch up and start losing weight, but then it should be consistent.