How Much Should I Eat?

[Guest guest]

Your meals look really well balanced with good choices - feeling

hungry? Eat more vegetables as no one has ever gotten fat on fiber!

I would suggest to you that eating 1700 is about correct for your

current weight (10x for muscle & fatloss) but you might want to try

doing the zigzagging of calories (higher on weighttraining days -

lower on just cardio days) - eating the same amount of food daily the

body can adjust to that amount and stall out. Remember you ARE

working out hard and need to fuel your body! Keep up the good work! I

know you can easily meet your February goals!

<<joni>>

*more on how much to eat here:

http://www.geocities.com/jgrrl2/howmuch.html

[Guest guest]

Yvette--

First off, I'd like to say you have great ambition and drive to reach

your goals.

Have you read 's post #139639? If not, you might want to. It

will give you some food for thought (so to speak) about working out

twice a day and worrying so much about calories.

According to my calculations, your BMR is approx. 1529 cals/day,

that's the amt of calories you'd burn just lying around, not

exercising, working, etc. With your daily exercise (2x day) and with

your other daily activities, you burn approx. 2500 cals/day.

So that means when you consume 1700 calories a day with the level of

your workouts, you're cutting 800 cals/day. Which, in my opinion,

means that you're probably going to start to experience symptoms of

overtraining and burnout and your weight loss will come to a stalling

point. And even if you don't burn out, you're certainly not gaining

muscle, and if you can get down to 20%BF, you're probably not going

to be able to maintain it for very long once you get there (because

you won't have the muscle mass to keep it there without killing

yourself doing cardio).

I'm not trying to be all doom and gloom about what you're doing, I

just try very hard to help women see that they can eat A LOT of food

everyday if they focus more on gaining muscle. Once you start looking

at muscle gain and not fat loss as your primary goal, you can begin

to make your food and workouts work for you. You eat more, your

workouts rock, and you'll reach your goals with lots of energy and

will be able to maintain a lower BF% indefinitely. Does it take

longer? Yes, but in the end you'll look better, feel better, and be

able to stay with much less effort. For you, it's completely possible

to get to 20% in ten weeks.

So, I'd say cut out the extra cardio (all that two times/day stuff)

and up your calories to at least 1800 or 2000. This is what I'd

suggest:

> M1: 1\3 c oats, 1 scoop protein powder (providing 20g of protein)

1/2 cup oats, 30g of protein powder

> M2: Protein shake and a medium peach

This is fine.

> M3: 3 Egg whites, 1 whole egg, 1/2c veggies (onion, broccoli,

> celery), 1 slice reduced calories brown bread. 1ts Peanut butter.

1 whole egg, 5 egg whites, 1 cup veggies, 1 slice whole grain bread

(forget the low cal stuff--it's just glorified white bread), 1 tsp

peanut butter

> M4: Protein shake and an apple

Add a healthy fat here--some flax oil or peanut butter

> M5: 1/2 Chicken breast, 1c pumpkin, large salad (lettuce, tomato,

> green pepper, balsamic)

Again, a healthy fat here is good--a flax oil based dressing?

> M6: Protein shake, Low fat yogurt, 1Tbs wheat bran

This is okay, although you may want to experiment with using a more

complex carb before bed, it will break down more slowly, like oatmeal

or brown rice, etc.

Adding in more healthy fats and more protein into your daily diet

will help curb your cravings. Eating salmon helps as well. Are you

taking a free day/free meals? You can definitely reach your goals

taking these too.

It's really possible to stay at a low BF% (by that I mean mid-teens

to high teens) and not kill yourself in the gym or starve.

explains it well in her post, Lynda does it, I do it too. You'd never

catch me at the gym 2x a day! I lift three days a week, do cardio 2-3

times a week, more for the mental health benefits than the calorie

burn. I eat bread, I take a free day every week, I eat probably 2300

cals/day to maintain my weight.

Good luck

Maggie

[Guest guest]

How Much Should I Eat?

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/219305.php

How much an individual should eat depends on many factors, including their

height, age, sex, general state of health, job, leisure time activities,

genetics, body size, body composition, and what medications they may be on. How

much relates to your daily calorie intake requirement - consume more each day

than you use up and you will usually put on weight, consume less and the

opposite will happen.

There are certain other factors which may give you extra leeway on the amount

you can eat, for example, if your food contains a lot of fiber you can usually

eat more calories than if you eat food with a very low fiber content.

Put simply, how much you eat is very closely linked to the types of foods you

eat and your lifestyle.

What is your daily calorie requirement?

How much you should eat also depends on what your aims are: to maintain your

body weight, lose or gain weight, or prepare for some sports event. However, any

focus on food quantity intake is closely linked with calorie consumption.

Calories are a measure of how much energy there is in the food we eat. By

understanding calories you can work out how much food you need to eat. Different

foods have varying number of calories per gram or ounce of weight. Below are

some general daily calorie requirements for males and females.

Daily calorie requirement, male: (Source: Health Canada)

2-3 years, sedentary level 1100, low active level 1350, active level 1500

4-5 years, sedentary level 1250, low active level 1450, active level 1650

6-7 years, sedentary level 1400, low active level 1600, active level 1800

8-9 years, sedentary level 1500, low active level 1750, active level 2000

10-11 years, sedentary level 1700, low active level 2000, active level 2300

12-13 years, sedentary level 1900, low active level 2250, active level 2600

14-16 years, sedentary level 2300, low active level 2700, active level 3100

17-18 years, sedentary level 2450, low active level 2900, active level 3300

19-30 years, sedentary level 2500, low active level 2700, active level 3000

31-50 years, sedentary level 2350, low active level 2600, active level 2900

51-70 years, sedentary level 2150, low active level 2350, active level 2650

71 years, sedentary level 2000, low active level 2200, active level 2500

Daily calorie requirement, female (Source: Health Canada)

2-3 years, sedentary level 1100, low active level 1250, active level 1400

4-5 years, sedentary level 1200, low active level 1350, active level 1500

6-7 years, sedentary level 1300, low active level 1500, active level 1700

8-9 years, sedentary level 1400, low active level 1600, active level 1850

10-11 years, sedentary level 1500, low active level 1800, active level 2050

12-13 years, sedentary level 1700, low active level 2000, active level 2250

14-16 years, sedentary level 1750, low active level 2100, active level 2350

17-18 years, sedentary level 1750, low active level 2100, active level 2400

19-30 years, sedentary level 1900, low active level 2100, active level 2350

31-50 years, sedentary level 1800, low active level 2000, active level 2250

51-70 years, sedentary level 1650, low active level 1850, active level 2100

71+ years, sedentary level 1550, low active level 1750, active level 2000

Low active level includes from 30 to 60 minutes of daily moderate activity, such

as walking at 3 to 4 mph (5-7 km/h). Active level includes at least 60 minutes

of daily moderate activity.

How much food do I need every day?

This refers to the type of food, such as fruit, vegetables, grains, milk (or

alternatives), and meat (or alternatives).

According to Health Canada, people should consume these recommended numbers of

servings each day:

Age 2-3 years

Fruit and vegetables 4, Grains 3, Milk (and alternatives) 2, Meat (and

alternatives) 1

Age 4-8 years

Fruit and vegetables 5, Grains 4, Milk (and alternatives) 2, Meat (and

alternatives) 1

Age 9-13 years

Fruit and vegetables 6, Grains 6, Milk (and alternatives) 3-4, Meat (and

alternatives) 1-2

Age 14-18 years (male)

Fruit and vegetables 8, Grains 7, Milk (and alternatives) 3-4, Meat (and

alternatives) 3

Age 14-18 years (female)

Fruit and vegetables 7, Grains 6, Milk (and alternatives) 3-4, Meat (and

alternatives) 2

Age 19-50 years (male)

Fruit and vegetables 8-10, Grains 8, Milk (and alternatives) 2, Meat (and

alternatives) 3

Age 19-50 years (female)

Fruit and vegetables 7-8, Grains 6-7, Milk (and alternatives) 2, Meat (and

alternatives) 2

Age 51+ years (male)

Fruit and vegetables 7, Grains 7, Milk (and alternatives) 3, Meat (and

alternatives) 3

Age 51+ years (female)

Fruit and vegetables 7, Grains 6, Milk (and alternatives) 3, Meat (and

alternatives) 3

What is a serving? This is a reference amount to help us determine how much of

the four groups of foods we should consume each day. Look at the examples below

(Source: Health Canada)

Fruit and vegetables: 1 piece of fruit, ½ cup of fruit juice, ½ can of

canned/frozen fruit/vegetables, 1 cup leafy raw vegetables/salad

Grains: ½ bagel, 1 slice of bread, ½ tortilla, ½ pitta, ½ cup cooked couscous,

rice or pasta, 30g cold cereal, ¾ cup hot cereal

Milk (and Alternatives): 1 cup milk, 1 cup soy drink, ¾ cup yogurt, 1½ oz.

cheese

Meat (and Alternatives): 2½ oz. cooked fish, lean meat, poultry or lean meat, 2

eggs, 2 tablespoons peanut butter

Consuming fruit and vegetables - experts say you should consume at least one

dark green and one orange colored vegetable eat day. Examples of dark green

vegetables include, spinach, romaine lettuce and broccoli. Go for fruit and

veggies with either no sugar, salt or fat, or at least as little as possible.

Steam, bake or stir fry the vegetables, don't deep fry them. Fruit and

vegetables are better for you than their juices.

Consuming grains - Canadian health authorities say we should aim for whole

grains for at least half our grain consumption. Go for variety, including wild

rice, quinoa, oats, brown rice, and barley. Whole grain pasta, oatmeal and

breads are better for you than those made from refined cereals. A good grain

should not have a high sugar, salt or fat content.

Consuming milk (and alternatives) - go for low fat milk, consume 2 cups per day

for good vitamin D and calcium intake. If you don't drink milk, have fortified

drinks. When selecting dairy products, select low fat ones.

Meat and alternative - make sure you are eating alternatives, such as tofu,

lentils and beans regularly. Have fish at least twice a week. Beware of certain

types of fish for mercury exposure. Opt for lean meats, do not add salt. Do not

eat poultry skin. Rather than frying, try roasting, baking or poaching. If you

are eating processed/prepackaged meat, select low salt and low fat ones.

When eating carbohydrates, go for good ones, also known as slow release ones.

Avoid saturated fats and trans fats as much as possible, plant oils, fish and

nuts are the best sources. Make sure you are getting plenty of fiber. When

eating fruit and vegetables eat a variety of colors. If you are not a great milk

drinker, make sure your consumption of calcium is adequate.

If your main concern is to know how much (quantity) food you should eat, you

still have to be aware of their calorie values. With high-calorie foods your

quantity will have to be less, while with lower-calorie ones you can eat more,

if you do not want to gain weight.