Questions about calories needed and fitday

[MommaRuthie]

Ok, so I have been on this WOE for one month and I only logged into fitday today... here my dilemma: I am 31 curently weigh 232 pounds (down from 250) I put everything I ate into fitday and it came to only 784 calories (and that includes the 8 oz hunk of turkey I already cooked for my dinner in two hours and the huge salad i eat every night) I have been eating roughly the same things for the last month (just varying the type of meat I eat between chicken/pork/turkey/occasional redmeat). I am taking a multi vit and extra potassium. I guess I didn't realize my calories were this low. At the gym I am burning 230-250 calories /day 5 days/week. I am eating until I am full. I am rarely hungry and when I am I eat a hardboiled egg or a stick of string cheese. I know that in the book it says that calories don't matter. But my question to someone with more knowledge is: do I need to force myself to eat more? Is this low level of calorie going to eventually slow down my weight loss? I do 10-12 glasses of water /day along with 3 cups of black tea. thanks I would appreciate any input!

[momtomany1]

Your calories are far too low. They should be close to double that at the very least, esp. with the workouts! The appetite suppresion is a great thing, but if you compare your meals/ snacks to the sample ones in the book, you will see the difference. Larger meat portions to build muscle, keep the fat up, keep eating the salads but add garnishes, bacon, shredded cheese, etc! Make a batch of deviled eggs!

[MommaRuthie]

I have hard boiled eggs. I have been eating them.... I have been trying to force myself to eat more but just end up feeling sick... todays food: wake up and have a cheese stick and tea. get kids to school go to gym and work out. come home and have 2 hard boiled eggs w a tad of salt/pepper. 1 pm have a hardboiled egg for a snack/lunch (forced myself to eat that egg) Dinner/supper 8 oz of turkey thigh w/skin w an 85 gram baby spinach salad topped w/ 1tbsp blue cheese dressing. pretty much this is what Ive been eating.. somedays I eat an extra salad at lunch 2 cups spinach with 1 tbsp blue cheese dressing and somedays I don't. oh and as for water, I drink it thoughout the day, I am never w/o my water bottle (thanksgoodness I just love spinach!

[momtomany1]

I plugged the day you just reported into Sparkpeople's food tracker and got less than 700 calories. Hun, that is just too, too low. Your body will just figure out how to conserve, you won't rev your metabolism like you need to do. You will lose weight, from calorie restriction, but not the way you need to. Your body steals from your muscles when your protein and calories are too low. The average basal metabolism rate is pretty much 1800, and that is just what your body needs to do all the normal daily stuff. You can eat some below that, but now so drastically.

I know it is hard in early phases, but you need to eat more!

[MommaRuthie]

ty for taking the time to answer my questions I will eat more -- I can't beleive I'm having to say that... This probably accounts for the big drop in energy at 8 pm and why Ive been sleeping from 8;30 at night to 7 am. I guess I should have been tracking what I ate on fitday from the start since I've been eating this way the whole time, except for the one day I was pms-ing really bad and overdosed on pork rinds and sourcream... how many grams of protein should I be shooting for? i looked in the book and it doesn't give a protein amount (at least that I could find)

[momtomany1]

Well now that you are using Fitday, it will get easier. Shoot for a minimum please of 1500 calories. Then tweak your food till you get a proportion of about 65 percent fat, 30 protein, 5 carb. You will discover that you will not have that awful drop in energy, many days I don't feel like going to sleep when I should, I am as energetic as can be! Eat wonderful things like olives, avocados, salmon, a variety of veggies!

[MommaRuthie]

Ok this morning I had 2 thin slices bacon, 2 eggs cooked over medium, and 28 grams of cheese sandwiched between the two eggs for a yummy quasi-omelot. on fit day my calories showed 327. I am stuffed! I am not going to work out today and see if that helps to increase my appetite. I will aim to eat a bigger lunch if able. momtomany, ty for taking the time to help me with this! I really appreciate it!

[Georgiana]

Another easy way to get more calories in is to add more olive oil to your salads. That's what I do when I can't find enough Atkins-friendly food at the canteen.

[auntiesocial]

butter and cream cheese. i put that in everything. also, make sure you're using full-fat salad dressings.

[MommaRuthie]

I made the muffin in a minute for lunch and ate it with liberal butter. I am so stuffed! unpleasantly so. according to fitday I'm up to 832 calories-more than I ate all of yesterday. I guess I will have turkey again tonight and a salad. I am going to try making a mexican salad: 2 tbs sour cream and 3 tbsp no sugar added salsa. I hope it tastes good! I'll give a total update on calories tonight. thanks all