A few questions...
 

Hey folks. Rather than start a bunch of threads, I thought I'd just throw some questions out here...

1) I have a desk job. Now, my desk job involves me walking a lot, too. I bet I spend half my work day behind the desk, and the other half going back and forth from printers, fax machines, other offices, etc, etc.
I selected "sit all day" as my daily activity level on fitday, and fitday figures I burn some 2500 calories a day just by living my normal life,before any exercise, etc. Can this be true? Seems like a lot to me. Interested to hear some thoughts on that....

2) For someone who is working out 5 days a week, eating well, and trying to lose the gut/extra weight, whats your opinion on replacing dinner with a protein shake? I've always looked at this as something a guy who is looking to build muscle and gain weight would do, but I recently read an article that suggested otherwise. Same goes for protien bars. I had one the other day after a workout, and frankly, all that chocolate and sweet stuff just made me feel guilty. Thoughts?

3)I need some suggestions. I'm having trouble increasing my protein and decreasing my carbs. Can anyone suggest some good ways/meals to help me do that?


Thanks to any responders in advance. Hope everyone is having an awesome Friday. :)

How much do you weigh?, I think the formula overestimates the caloric levels.

Not sure, think I lost a few, but 190 is a safe bet...

Bodybuilders are more likely to drink a shake before bed in addition to their dinner. This is just provide a kick in calories just before they go on an 8-hour fast. These are guys and gals that carry so much muscle that the sleep-fast actually has the potential to eat significant amounts of muscle depending on sleep quality and stress levels.

If you replace dinner with a protein shake you will most likely achieve your goal of reducing carbs and increasing protein, while decreasing calories as well, as long as you don't add any extra sugar.

For fat loss, at your weight, I would go to 2100 - 2200cals/day stay there for at least 5 days. After that amount of time your fat/weight will start dropping. The body takes time to adjust to new caloric intakes. The hard part is being patient but when the weight starts dropping, it comes off fast. By the way you dont need cardio with this, just continue with normal daily activity.

Hey NDParry,

Good questions

Fitday does tend to over estimate daily calorie needs for most of us. Don't know why, but it does. My job is much like yours. I sit for about half the day, and stand, walk, climb stairs, bend and lift for the other half. Therefore "seated with some movement" is actually correct. But "seated" is closer to what experience has told me is my real calorie need. I also used to lowest basal metabolism calculations. There are 3 choices if you look at the "modifications" area.

Other people have added sleep hours to lower the daily requirement. It really depends on you, and only you have enough experience to know what number is close to your real needs.

The calculation for calorie need depends on weight. The heavier you are the more you need. (Which seems really unfair that as you lose weight you have to eat less :cool:) Have you experimented with the "Weight goal" tab to see how much of a calorie restriction you need to accomplish your goal? It's a great tool to play around with how much calorie restriction vs. calorie burn it takes and over how long to reach your goal. It will also give you a pretty realistic picture of the time involved. You seem really in tune with the effort and time required, but I am surprised how many girls think that they can lose 30 pounds in a month.

I once rejected protein shakes as "plastic food" and avoided using them, but I found that they really have a place in my menu choices, especially when I am training for a race or working to build strength. I think that they would be a fine dinner replacement as long as you don't find yourself so hungry you empty the refigerator later that night. I really like the muscle milk lite. 100 cals, 6g carbs, 2.5g fat and 15g protein. It isn't enough for a "meal" but works in nicely as a snack, or with some fruit and whole grain toast a great breakfast.

You seem to have established a great lifestyle, just a few tweaks and that belly will just disappear.

Parry,

1) I've had calorie counters say about the same for me and it wasn't until I ate less calories that I really saw the weight drop. I actually average 1600-1800 a day now and have seen great results. Just experiment with the protein/carb ratios, make sure you have energy for the workouts and don't get drained, and find what works for you.

2)As for the shake for dinner, it probably doesn't matter. I have a salad with a little protein myself. All the veggies and a little protein fill me up and I go to bed within a couple hours (about the time I start to get hungry again.

3)Ways to sneak in protein...I love hard-boiled eggs. I cook a batch over the weekend and take them for snacks all week. When it comes to protein bars and shakes, I'm a big fan. I've only more recently become more aware of the amount of saturated fats in my protein bars. I just wonder if that's OK, as long as I'm not eating a ton of them.

1.The calories are figured from standard formulas but everyone is unique. Track your calories for a week or longer and see if you are losing/gaining or maintaining. If you are losing or gaining you can figure your base metabolism by taking your loss or gain times 3500 (the amount of calories in a pound of body weight), then add or subtract this from the calories you took in for the week. Divide by 7 and you will have your base metabolic rate.
So for example:
if you lose 1.5 lbs for the week
you take in 14,000 calories (2000/day * 7)
1.5 X 3500 = 5250 ..... 14000 + 5250 = 19250 .....19250/7 = 2750 calories a day base metabolism.
You can customize your Fitday metabolic rate by going to the Activities tab and from the menu on the left click on 'Customize Metabolism'.

2. I thought I was eating well before I started to track my food here on Fitday. If you haven't already cut down on simple carbohydrates (Anything with white flour, sugar, white rice). I will resist explaining how simple carbs are most likely to be stored as fat and sabotage weight loss (but if you want to know just ask). Substitute Whole grains, vegetables and fruits. Stop drinking your calories (Soda was my problem). Adjust your intake to get 30-40% of your calories from protein. (I have a tough time doing this without using protein shakes.) Choose a protein shake that is low in carbohydrates and fat. Same with protein bars, make sure you aren't just buying a candy bar with some protein thrown in.

3.Other good sources of protein are cottage cheese and yogurt.

Good luck!

Thanks everyone for the thoughful and helpful responses. they are much appreciated.

:)

Honestly, I'd have to really try to eat that many calories. I eat 3 meals a day, usually a white meat, and veggies, and fruit snacks, and I excercise 4-5 days a week. (10 miles on my bike, running, swimming, weight workouts) and according to fitday, and burn many more calories a day than I consume. My meal plan for today alone just breaches 1200 cals. Is this bad!?

I avergaed just 0ver 1350 cals a day in the last week, which was an average week for me.

wow, i'm sure you're really dropping some serious weight. I dont think its necessary to eat that low, meaning you could eat a good bit more and still have some serious fat loss. I would recommend increasing your calories, so that your body has enough fuel to recovery from all of that exercise.

This should be fine. I'd say kick the fruit snacks, add fruit... like bananas, clementines, grapes, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries... and other on-the-go fruit, if that's why you eat fruit snacks.

You could also up your calories, if you need to, by drinking milk (not skim) and eating a handful of almonds/walnuts/pecans here and there.

Just remember to feed your workouts — a nice helping of protein and carbs right after your workout will help you hang on to that fat-blasting muscle. It's not, as some people put it, "canceling out" your preceding hard work.

Thanks for the feedback...

Just to clear up: by fruit snack, I meant fruit as snacks. Such as apples, bananas, grapes, etc :)

What are your Carb/Protein/Fat percentages? Is your protein at least 30% of your intake? What is the timing of your meals?

Protein shakes especially when mixed with milk after a work out are a great way to feed your muscles and increase your protein intake. The milk contains leucine a amino acid that aids in protein synthesis.

If it were me, I would replace either breakfast or lunch with the protein shake instead of dinner. And here's the reasoning behind this. At breakfast and lunch, you have aproximately 4 -5 hours before you eat again and you are busy all day ( keeping your metabolism up) and also keeping your mind and hands busy doing something other than eating or thinking of eating. At dinner, it should be your last food of the day and its also your free time. So you have more time to feel hungry, think about food, be tempted by all the food ads on TV etc. And I would bet, after a week or so, you will really feel hungry and not be able to stick with just a shake. To me, doing it at dinner time is setting yourself up for failure down the road.

Protein shakes IMO are fine for the occasional meal replacement, especially if you are on the go and won't have time for a nutritious meal. But seriously for the price and the amount of protein you get, a can of tuna is much better. A single can of tuna has 42.6 grams of protein and costs about $.59. Where the average protein shake or bar has 14-21 grams of protein and runs $.99-$3.99. I usually follow my workouts with a protein fix of some sort, 30-50 grams of protein minimum, and sometimes I will use a shake or a protein bar to get the number up there - especially if I'm craving chocolate.

One thing I can recommend a protein bar for is to keep you from noshing on a real candy bar. I've got the kids trained to b-line for the protein bars at the grocery store. They know I'm much more likely to let them have one of those than a bar of junk food.

I have a question- it states that my

Weight Loss per Day / Calories per Pound = Calorie Restriction per Day
0.25 3500 875

does this means i should be having 875 calories a day or
3,500- 875= 2625 calroies a day?

also- i am looking for support and encourgament through this..do i just join a forum?

I will try to clarify the calorie restriction confusion. First you must find your base metabolic rate (the number of calories you burn just by being alive). If you haven't already go to the Activies tab and from the menu on the left choose 'Customize Metabolism'. This will take you to a screen that shows you (and allows you to change) your base metabolic rate from 2 different formulas. I used the top one as it was lower when I started and then choose your normal activity level. I use sedentary as I spend most of my day in front of a computer screen. Once you save this, the graph on the Activities screen will show you your base metabolic rate in calories. So to lose .25 lbs per day (1.75 lbs/week) you need to subtract 875 calories from your base calories.

For example if your base metabolic rate is 2200 then 2200 - 875 = 1325. If you are trying to do this with diet only (a bad idea in my opinion) you can only eat 1325 calories daily. If you combine exercise and diet you could eat 1525 calories and burn an additional 200 calories exercising or any combination that works for you and allows you to burn 875 more calories than you take in.

Hope this doesn't leave you more confused than when you started.

thanks- although this scares me it works out that my metoblism is 1,869- 875- just about 1,000 diet.

that isnt alot, any ideas what to eat that will fill my belly?

I agree, that's not a lot...have you considered changing your goal date so it doesn't give you a loss of 1.75 pounds per week? Maybe shoot for a pound per week; you will have another 375 calories daily to play with and it will be something you are more likely to stick with. I actually tended to use another site rather than this one to calculate my calories; it is here: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm.

Also, just head on down to the women's only forum section. There are "clubs" for people who want to lose 100 pounds or more, 50, 30, 5-15...you don't have to exactly fit the range; just jump in. There's also the Wednesday Club that will post tomorrow; you can jump into that, too! Or start your own; whichever...no rules or regulations.

Thank yoiu guys,

Some food ideas:
Cucumbers
Carrots
Tomatoes
Oranges
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Green beans
Lettuce
Apples

Are you seeing a pattern here? Basically vegetables and some fruit. I also believe that you have to have some fat in your diet to help satiate your hunger and cravings. Use good fat like olive oil when cooking. I use raw almonds (just 4 or 5) if I am feeling the need to eat something between meals. I believe the fat in the almonds helps satisfy my cravings.

I suggest you start some type of exercise, even if it is just walking. Besides being good for your body the more calories you burn through exercise the more calories you can eat and still maintain your caloric deficit goal.

Thanks, and i do work out i play softball once a week and fast walk 2-3 time a week.

I will increase my veggies... although i am increasing my calories to about 1300ish. 1,000 is just not enough for me.

Today i am actually feeling drained and groggy...so i just ate a protein bar.
but man do i feel sickly- i am wondering if this has to do with my new diet..