started counting calories--problem?!

lizbowman

Ok so I was looking at my friend's weight lose blog and she mentioned how she uses Loseit.com to track her calories, net calories, excercise, etc.

I put in my info and turns out I was only eating 900-1100 calories a day!

So I started to make an effort to eat more-but healthily
Ex-I'll eat eggs for breakfast, salad and soup for lunch, some kind of meat and lots of veg for dinner.

I'm still struggling to get in calories tho-seriously the loseit.com will be like "oh you need 800 more calories today". I think its because I eat a lot of low calorie dense foods already (lots of veg, I LOVE veg).

I've been doing this for like 3 weeks and I feel heavier/bloated/pants tighter. which is really frusturating...is my body just getting used to the new amount of calories and will it go back to normal/start losing weight soon?

Its so discouraging because now I'm feeling like I should go back to minimal calories because I'm not losing at all

(I also do some excercising-walk about 3 miles a day, working on my feet all day) I plan to start swimming soon.

any answers would be great!

reneeb0618

I am not an expert on this, but have been doing some research about this too- I was finding my self in a similar situation.

I think the recomendation is that women get at a minimum of 1,200- 1,300 calories each day... but there are plent of tools to figure out what you need specifically (ex: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm)

Adding some carbs in is important ( I don't see many carbs in what you say you are eating). Adding nuts and seeds are good for dense calorie foods.

I don't know what to say about feeling bloated. Our bodies change a great deal during a month- it could be unrelated. Some things I have read say with too few calories your body will go into starvation mode- so it's possible pumping your calories up (With good foods, not too much fat) could help you loose weight.

I am no authority, and I AM a fan of dietitians ! Insurance will sometimes cover a visit as prevention!

best of luck to you

CaylaSummer

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_getting-shape_started-counting-calories-problem?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:238Discussion:7d3a896e-5c4b-4de7-bbcd-e38b892ce56cPost:b3b5e7c5-9d67-491e-bc4a-99008f682da7">started counting calories--problem?!</a>:
[QUOTE]Ok so I was looking at my friend's weight lose blog and she mentioned how she uses Loseit.com to track her calories, net calories, excercise, etc. I put in my info and turns out I was only eating 900-1100 calories a day! So I started to make an effort to eat more-but healthily Ex-I'll eat eggs for breakfast, salad and soup for lunch, some kind of meat and lots of veg for dinner. I'm still struggling to get in calories tho-seriously the loseit.com will be like "oh you need 800 more calories today". I think its because I eat a lot of low calorie dense foods already (lots of veg, I LOVE veg). I've been doing this for like 3 weeks and I feel heavier/bloated/pants tighter. which is really frusturating...is my body just getting used to the new amount of calories and will it go back to normal/start losing weight soon? Its so discouraging because now I'm feeling like I should go back to minimal calories because I'm not losing at all (I also do some excercising-walk about 3 miles a day, working on my feet all day) I plan to start swimming soon. any answers would be great!
Posted by lizbowman[/QUOTE]

How long have you been eating at that calories? It's possible that your body is recovering from eating such low calories for a while.

Are you also eating a lot of fibrous vegetables more recently? If so you have to cut back and introduce them slowly otherwise that's how you get bloating and gas or you have some type of food allergy to what you are eating and may not be aware of it yet. Make sure you drink plenty of water to break down the fiber in what your consuming.

raynes

If you were eating that little for a while, you've more than likely done some damage to your metabolism, and that will take some time to correct.  You might gain a bit at first, but you can fix your body.  800 caloies is NOT enough to sustain your bodily function, not even close, especially is you're also exercising.

My suggestion for adding more calories in is to focus on more calorie dense foods.  Beans, avocado, good oils, full fat dairy, nuts, etc.

Also, as renee mentioned, make sure you're getting a good balance of carbs, fat and protein.  All are essential in your diet.

amyderrah

I've been on a diet for a while with DailyBurn and I had to get used to counting cals.  But I had the opposite problem, I had no idea what portion size I was eating.  I'd enter a food and think, "Yeah, It's about half a cup of rice" or, "I'd say that's 100g of fruit"...  I was way off!  I was eating much more than the serving size.  I got a scale and measuring cups and taught myself what one serving really was.  I'm not saying you don't understand serving sizes, but it's not a perfect system.  Pay close attention to the program that you're using, maybe their portion sizes are different or off.  Also, invest in a kitchen scale if you don't have one.  Other than that, if everything is on the up-and-up, your body will slowly get used to the amount of food and you should have way more energy too!  It took a while for my body, being hungry every day with the smaller portion sizes, but now I wouldn't be able to finish a large meal like I used to eat. 

amyderrah

Oh, I forgot to say...  The lowest Cals a day that I can get to, without going on a snack binge at night because I'm so hungry, is about 1300.  Usually I stay between 1300-1500 cals a day (with a free day on the weekend and I'm loosing a pound every two weeks.