Calorie question??

bridget_124

On livestrong i've put my weight, activity level and height in, also that i want to loose 2 pds per week.  I've been told by several ppl that the activity level is not correct, so that if you are pretty active you should still put that you are a couch potatoe to get the correct calories you should eat per day.  It calculated me at 1150 calories.  Now i've done some research and see that a lot of you eat higher calories per day...what gives?  I'm eating around 1150-1200 calories and not loosing much weight, expecially not the 2pds per week that i've been wanting to loose.  I've switched things up at the gym, up'd my weights and have started the couch to 5k program.  It seems I should be seeing a difference by now, but i'm not.  Any recomendations?

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

1150 is too low. You need to net 1200 calories a day. So if you burn 300 calories, eat 1500 calories. That should spark your metabolism. Your body is really trying to hold onto that weight because it doesn't want to starve.

Bubbala

I agree with pp's.  That little amount of calories will slow down your metabolism.  Eating smaller meals, throughout the day, between 200-400 calories is beter than eating larger meals and limiting the calorie count.

gillyd17

What happens is when you decreased your caloric intake to that low of a level, it goes into starvation mode. Our bodies were designed to live out in the wild getting a good hunt on occassion but overall needing to conserve the fat we made to keep us warm. Now that food is within reach for all of us, our metabolisms are faster than they were and since the western world has slowed down and become quite the society of couch potatoes, the calories just have no where to go. So you are increasing your activity level and decreasing your calorie level (to a level where you are probably not get the proper nutrients you need in a day btw) and your body panics and starts to hold on to whatever it gets. I have had the most success in losing weight when I change my eating habits to eat more fruit and veggies getting a good deal of calories a day and then taking one day a week or every other week to not look at calories at all and go out to dinner or something. Those days I am usually always over my caloric intake and my body realizes that it doesn't have to store anything and bumps my metabolism up a little to burn that meal off. Now that is my body, everyone is different, but it might be something for you to try.

Good luck to you! Hope that didn't sound like a lecture...lol