Once I changed that it “fixed” itself!!!

A drop of a thousand calories for a 2 pound loss is far too much. I’ve lost about seven pounds: I started at about 1955 calories for a 1 pound per week weight loss with a starting weight of 200 pounds. I’m down now to 1897 per day now at 193 pounds. So I’d say something is wrong with a 1000 calorie drop in your “allowance”, assuming you haven’t changed your “pounds per week” goal.

I have no idea what exactly, but something

Since you have been at this longer I will ask you. I started livestrong last week and my calorie intake has been 2300 calories. But today I typed in a 2 pound weight loss and it says 1000 calories for today? Is that normal for it to go down so much??

I am going to have to re-vist Quinoa. I haven’t had that in years. Thanks!
As for my heart rate in the next few weeks I am going to invest in a good heart rate monitor. I really don’t trust the machines at the gym. I do know I am exhausted after cardio and takes me a while to really cool down. I will have to think about slowing it down. I just feel that I do not workout hard enough if I slow it down.

Shane, I wrote you on gmail, I hope that is alright.

I have read many forums but never have I read such great advice. I acc. found this page I am so glad I did.

Thanks so much again,

Tara

Note: The reason I put k/calories instead of calories, is because technically, 1 nutrition Calorie (what everyone calls a Calorie) is actually a kilocalorie (4,186 joules). But the word “Calorie” has pretty much replaced Kilocalorie as the “proper” word to use.

I just didn’t want there to be any confusion

One thing you will want to do, before anything, is talk with a Dr. and rule out any conditions, such as a Thyroid condition.

Assuming that everything in your body is “working as normal” here is some advice I can give you.

In my opinion, especially with the pretty signifigant amount of training you are doing, I would try to get closer to a 50% protein ratio, 30% carbs (complex, no simple sugars), and 20% fat (and no more than 35 grams a day on 1,800 k/calories).

This is hard to do, unless the only thing you ever decide to eat again, are chicken breasts and tuna . But the other alternative is to add 1 to 2 high quality protein shakes into your diet between meals. This will add a healthy portion of protein (40+ grams) per day without adding a lot of extra k/calories or fat.

Eat 5 to 6 smaller meals a day, instead of 3 large ones. You can count the shakes as meals, or as snacks, since the protein vs. calorie ratio is definitely worth it. They key is to always keep your stomach working. So make sure you are eating something at least every 3 hours. That is where the shakes might help. The other nice thing about protein and protein shakes, is that protein is a natural appetite suppressant.

Find a protein shake and not a “weight gain” shake. For each scoop of protein powder, you want no more then about 140 k/calories, 20 to 25 grams of protein, almost 0 carbs, and at the most 2 grams of fat.

If you use milk with the protein powders, definitely use skim milk. Myself, I just use water, the taste isn’t great at first, but you do get used to it

You may also want to drop your k/calories down to about 1,500 per day. At least for a few weeks, to sort of “shock” your system. As you lose a little weight, you can slowly add a few more k/calories. But always make sure your k/calories are not at the expense of protein. You will probably notice quite a bit of lethargy for the first few weeks, so it is important to get plenty of rest and fluids (water) during this time.

It really boils down to a simple “list” of things that work.

-If you burn more k/Calories then you intake, you will lose weight.

-Get sufficient amounts of protein, so you don’t lose muscle. Studies have shown, that crash diets, usually cause people to lose lots of muscle mass, and the scale shows them losing “weight”, and people get excited by this. Losing muscle, is never a good thing. The scale is not your friend (more on that below)

-Get plenty of rest. Hard to do with people being so busy, but your body really only loses weight, and gains muscle while you are sleeping.

-You want to retain, and if possible gain muscle mass while dieting.

-Drink plenty of water 12+ 8 ounce glasses a day. Sip water throughout the day.

One tip, that I would also stick with, is DO NOT use a scale. Once every few weeks, measure yourself, and keep a log of your measurements.

After a few months, then maybe step on a scale. If your measurments have dropped, but your weight is the same, you have put on muscle, and that is a good thing, because overall your fitness and appearance are definitely going to be improved

Muscle will burn k/calories while you are sitting still, so having even an extra few pounds of muscle can make a large difference in your resting weight loss.

One other thing, and this is purely a head trick, is try not to think of it as a diet, try to think of it as a new way of eating. Diets, over the long term, NEVER work. You have to change your eating and exercise habits, permanently.

This doesn’t mean that you can never have a big steak, or spaghetti with extra cheese again, it only means that you have to limit that to a “treat” day. Hopefully no more than once every few weeks

“Good health is not a destination, but a journey”, is what I always have to tell myself, and “Eat to live”, not “Live to eat” is another one that I tell myself when my cravings get out of control.

Also, if you can skip coffee out of your regime (if you even drink it) and drink Green tea, with no sugar, just use some liquid honey instead. Green tea will speed up your metabolism, without causing cortisol levels to rise (which coffee does).

Coffee is a killer, and the very first thing it does when it enters your body, is tell it to store body fat. The extra “kick” you get from the caffeine, unfortunately does not counter-act the cortisol effect enough. If two twins did nothing else different, and one of them added 6 cups of black coffee a day to their diet, that twin would gain weight.

Supplements I would suggest, if you don’t mind vitamins: A good multi-vitamin (centrum for example), a good quality omega 3-6-9 (one that has fish oil, not pumpkin seed oil), Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), Alpha Lipoic Acid, Co-q10, a B-12/6 vitamin,

And as a disclaimer, I am not a health professional, so before you do anything, always speak to your doctor first

Good luck Tara, and remember, Slow and Steady wins the race

If you have any questions, please e-mail me at “m.shane.mcfarland@gmail.com” and again, best of luck to you, its not easy

Shane would be the best guy to consult regarding the “ideal” balance for someone exercising heavily and trying to build muscle mass. Both Chris and I are low-motivation/low activity folks, whereas Shane has at various times been fairly serious body builder. For myself, I’m happy to get my protein calories up to about 25%, with most of the balance carbs. But I am not aiming for anything approaching ideal- I just want to understand what I’m ingesting so I make better choices at least some of the time.

The one thing I can say is that your measured heart rate sounds too high: if it is correct, that is. For weight loss, you want to be around 60-70% if I recall correctly, and for pure cardio around 70-80%. 170-180 bpm would be in the 90-95% of maximum range for your age which is tough on your body- if you feel you are an elite athlete, then go for it, but if I push myself to that level I get physically ill. That is, for me, the main reason I monitor my heart rate: to avoid pushing myself too hard and seriously regretting it. If you aren’t confident in the measures on the machines, you could buy a chest strap and wrist monitor of your own for around $100.

Sorry, couldn’t see your food diary so it may already be in your diet, but have you tried Quinoa? It’s a gluten free grain very high in protein in a very balanced form. Lots of other goodies in it as well.

You seem to have a lot of info on working out and I have a few questions for you. I have slowly been getting back into the world of working out after having a spinal fusion 4 yrs ago. My back surgery failed and I was left with my lower back pain (going into the sacrum area).

I used to work out at least 5 days a week prior to my surgery running, elliptical and strength training. I was a healthy weight. I since have slowly put on weight in these past 4 years.

I am a 31 yr old female (turning 32 in May), 5’8, 192 pounds with an hourglass figure. My measurements as of right now are 45(chest) 36(waist) 45(hips).I carry my body weight all over. I want you to have an understanding of my frame to help answer questions I have in regards to my caloric intake.

For about a month now I have consistently been able to do the elliptical machine for 3 days a week at the gym for 45 mins plus. I alternate 1 min easy to 1 min hard for 20 mins, then alternate 2 min. increments of easy going to hard then back down. I usually get to almost 3 miles in a 45 min period. I would love to go faster and harder but my back becomes to sore and I have to stay within my limits (although I almost never do). I find that I can work out every other day and sometimes I can do one day following the next but is very rare. I usually spend a fourth day outside walking my great dane aprox 4 miles in a hour period on the weekends.

I have been able to add in machines for strength training for about 30mins 2-3 times a week. I cannot incorporate anything where I am standing with weights (I used to love free weights). I cannot do my lower body or back. I have to have my back flat against padding to only use my core when using weight machines and cannot extend my legs for exercises. It is very painful for my back and if I hurt it I cannot work out for at least a week. Luckily I have been learning better form and using my core more so I haven’t run into this yet. I do about 5 sets at 12-15 reps on a chest press, shoulders incline, tricep extensions and bicep curls. I would love to do more but need to add in more machines slowly. . My physical therapists taught me how to stretch without inflaming my back. I need to work on my core.

I do not feel the elliptical machine is accurate to how many calories it tells me I burn. I am using an older startrac. I am about to purchase a Polar F6 to help me with my heart rate. The machine tells me my heart rate is around 170-180 when I work out. I do not feel I could hold a conversation the majority of the time.

I track all my calories on LiveStrong.com. I love the site just wish it would show my percent of saturated vs. healthy fats. I rarely eat saturated fats but would still like to see a breakdown. I eat very healthy for the most part and splurge occasionally on the weekend tracking everything. I eat a lot of veggies and drink a lot of green tea and water during the day. I have made it a goal to only eat 1600 cals a day but am running into problems with my ratios. I consistetnly seem to eat about 45-50% carbs, 27-30% Protein and 20-25% Fat. The days I workout I eat about 1800 cals. Here is a link to my food diary if you would like to view it. Not sure if it will work. The days I eat 1800 cals and workout I also would like an idea of how many calories I am burning. I have researched all over online looking for accurate calories burned on an elliptical for 45 mins but I have not found any. I hope I am eating enough calories on days I work out.

http://www.livestrong.com/myplate/2010-01-25/

Do you feel I need more protein in my diet?
I would like to bump my workouts from 4 days a week to at least 5 if my back will allow me too.
I feel that I need more protein but do not know how to add more protein in my diet without adding more calories. How could I go about doing this?

I guess I would love advice for a good ratio to follow of carbs/protein/carbs if possible.

Thanks so much!

Tara

And I agree with Chris, at least with how my metabolism seems to work too, having longer lasting exercise sessions seems to do more for me then short more intense ones. For example, if I went to the gym and burned say 300 k/calories in an hour, but “gardened” and burned off 300 k/calories over 3 hours, the 3 hours seems to work better overall.

And yeah “diets” really don’t work in the long run, you have to gradually make lifestyle (food) changes and weed out the junk.

It’s hard for sure. One day I won’t be obese, I will be just overweight