Am I eating enough? page

[iroc8210]

I'm on my 3rd week of Paleo and my undiagnosed digestive issues have already improved so much, so I'm certainly in this for the long haul!

I'm actually wondering if I am eating enough? The reason I question this is because I've had my RMR/HR zones tested before and the results said I had an RMR of 1876, then while figuring in a lightly active life style (desk job) it bumps up my total daily burned calories to about 2440. I've been eating between 1300-2000 calories (most days its towards the lower end of the range, with maybe one really high day each week) but the thing is, I don't find myself hungry! I'm just eating when I'm hungry and keeping it Paleo while limiting my carbs to the 50-100 range. I am 5'3" 190 and certainly trying to lose weight but that wasn't the purpose of starting paleo, just a happy side effect.

Example Daily Food Intake...(tracked with SparkPeople iPhone app)

Breakfast (306 calories)
EAS 100% whey protein shake made with TraderJoes unsweetened coconut milk beverage 30 blueberries, bunch of spinach, 5g NutraSea Fish Oil

Cup of coffee w/cream & sprinkle of table sugar

Lunch (520 calories)
Big salad with spring mix, little bit of blue cheese, balsamic vinegar + virgin olive oil for dressing,
mini turkey meatloaf that I make in single servings

Dinner (543 Calories)
4oz mint lamb kebob
4oz beef kebob
bunch of asparagus with butter (15 smaller sprigs)
approx 3-4oz baked yams with butter

I also drink 1-3 14oz mugs of jasmine green tea through the day and a fair amount of water.

Sometimes I'll have a snack between breakfast & lunch of a hardboiled egg and/or carrots, maybe jerky. But usually I'm fine between lunch & dinner.

Should I be concerned with making sure I keep up with eating AT LEAST what my RMR is? Or do I just keep listening to my body and eat when I'm hungry and understand that some days it might not be much and other days (with heavy exertion/workouts) will be higher?

Thanks in advance!

~Cori

[Grumpycakes]

Eat according to appetite.

[kevingeary]

The calories aren't all that important. All calories aren't created equal.

[iroc8210]

If it weren't for trying to track the carbs, and figuring out what might be my bad/trigger foods, I wouldn't be tracking and have noticed the calorie deficit at all. Thanks guys. I'll keep going based on what my body is saying and not the numbers.

[tim_1522]

When I switched over to Primal, I was operating at a pretty nasty caloric deficit. I cut out all grains and so forth, continued to eat veggies(always did) and cut way back on the fruit (from 2-3 servings a day to 2-3 servings a week) and was still eating a lot of lean sources of meat (because that's what I had always done -- holdover from CW) I actually did an "informal" calorie count and then compared it to some of the calculations in the PB and according to all that I was running at about a 1000 cal/day deficit.

I started buying cans of coconut milk and never looked back. Soon, I found a good local place to buy fresh eggs and started eating 4/5 a day. We bought a 1/4 grass fed cow and then try to make do with leaner cuts of "conventional" meats to try to stay from possible baddies in the fat from those animals. Still, with chicken I started buying 1/2 boneless skinless thighs and 1/2 boneless skinless breasts instead of all breasts -- little more fat content in thighs. Yes, it's "conventional" chicken, but I haven't found a good source yet there.

After the first of the year, moved onto Bulletproof Coffee and started using KerryGold butter in a lot of stuff, too. I don't really worry about calories anymore, but it was a good thing to look at b/c it got me into eating a wider variety of the Primal food spectrum and I'm a lot happier now than I was before.

Bear in mind that the "calculations" in the PB are just "ball park" figures and that there's a ton of factors that can change what your caloric intake needs to be to accomplish what you want to accomplish. Just get your diet as clean as possible, give your body time to switch over from being a sugar burner to a fat burner, then "listen to your body" and make small adjustments and see what the results are.

[kevingeary]

When I switched over to Primal, I was operating at a pretty nasty caloric deficit. I cut out all grains and so forth, continued to eat veggies(always did) and cut way back on the fruit (from 2-3 servings a day to 2-3 servings a week) and was still eating a lot of lean sources of meat (because that's what I had always done -- holdover from CW) I actually did an "informal" calorie count and then compared it to some of the calculations in the PB and according to all that I was running at about a 1000 cal/day deficit.

I started buying cans of coconut milk and never looked back. Soon, I found a good local place to buy fresh eggs and started eating 4/5 a day. We bought a 1/4 grass fed cow and then try to make do with leaner cuts of "conventional" meats to try to stay from possible baddies in the fat from those animals. Still, with chicken I started buying 1/2 boneless skinless thighs and 1/2 boneless skinless breasts instead of all breasts -- little more fat content in thighs. Yes, it's "conventional" chicken, but I haven't found a good source yet there.

After the first of the year, moved onto Bulletproof Coffee and started using KerryGold butter in a lot of stuff, too. I don't really worry about calories anymore, but it was a good thing to look at b/c it got me into eating a wider variety of the Primal food spectrum and I'm a lot happier now than I was before.

Bear in mind that the "calculations" in the PB are just "ball park" figures and that there's a ton of factors that can change what your caloric intake needs to be to accomplish what you want to accomplish. Just get your diet as clean as possible, give your body time to switch over from being a sugar burner to a fat burner, then "listen to your body" and make small adjustments and see what the results are.

I'm not sure I understand though. What is a 1000 calorie per day deficit? How did you calculate how many you actually need in the first place?

[kevingeary]

If it weren't for trying to track the carbs, and figuring out what might be my bad/trigger foods, I wouldn't be tracking and have noticed the calorie deficit at all. Thanks guys. I'll keep going based on what my body is saying and not the numbers.

Who said you were calorie deficient?

[jfreaksho]

Remember that every pound of fat you lose is ~3500 calories that your body is doing something with.

[Englishman in Oz]

I'm not sure why you're worried about calorie deficit if you're trying to lose weight? As jfreaksho says, you need a 3500 calorie deficit (or 500cal per day deficit) to lose 1lb a week. On average. If you feel full, with plenty of energy, and eating mostly Primal foods then don't sweat on the numbers, just keep at it. Your diet looks fine, I'd steer clear of the likes of Bulletproof Coffee whilst your starting out, seems unnecessary at best. Good call on the Jasmine green tea, I'm a big fan. Stick with what you're doing and the weight will come off naturally, as well as your other problems clearing up.
Sounds like you're doing great, congrats!

[kevingeary]

The calories in vs calories out "law" is bogus. The only thing that's relevant is the quality of calories.