calories page

[ilovedogs]

I have been reading a lot about cals in and out etc. I track my food intake and find I am eating about 1400 somedays and only 1000 on other days. My confusion is with the weight loss aspect. I cannot excersise (fibromyalgia) at the moment but I do walk a lot. My ratio is 15%carbs/20%pro/65%fat. does this sound good for weight loss? I tried Atkins once but just put on weight. Please can someone explain in simple terms what is the best cals and ratio for steady weight loss.

[Wanderlust]

Without knowing your current stats (height, weight, bodyfat) I'm just wildly shooting in the dark here. But unless you're a really small person that's not a lot of calories, and that's a pretty low ratio of protein. Wild guess would be a more protein, bringing your overall calories up and giving you a ratio in the ballpark of 10%carbs/40% protein/50%fat.

You might be shutting down your metabolism by eating too little. Are you hungry all the time? Do you feel comfortable after eating?

[Perky_Originale]

In honesty, you're looking at 'calories' the wrong way. Calories are really just a component of energy in relation. According to Basal et al, you have a metabolic base rate that you have to 'pay off' before you calories for exercise get used. You may have heard the 'high metabolism' thing mentioned? That's a simplified idea of it.
In essence, as long as your body has a little extra nutrients to satisfy its intrinsic (internal) needs then, so long as you haven't got too much fat or carbs in your system, you body will start to break down and used it preferred energy source, fat
Perks

[Perky_Originale]

Without knowing your current stats (height, weight, bodyfat) I'm just wildly shooting in the dark here. But unless you're a really small person that's not a lot of calories, and that's a pretty low ratio of protein. Wild guess would be a more protein, bringing your overall calories up and giving you a ratio in the ballpark of 10%carbs/40% protein/50%fat.

You might be shutting down your metabolism by eating too little. Are you hungry all the time? Do you feel comfortable after eating?

Would definitely agree, without height and weight it's difficult to ascertain your calorie limits, but you need to give your body hat it needs to run itself first.
Perks

[john_e_turner_ii]

You won't get a straight answer on this since it's one of the most controversial topics in here. However, for many of us, reducing calories has worked very well in order to lose fat. You will have to experiment to determine what caloric level works best. My suggestion is to take it down slowly, only 100 to 200 calories per day for 2-3 weeks to see how you do.

[Wanderlust]

Reducing calories yes, starvation is a bad idea. And unless she is like 4'10" and 100 pounds averaging 1200 calories a day doesn't strike me as a (healthy) diet it sounds more like an eating disorder.

[gopintos]

I struggle with this one as well. When I was exercising like a mad woman, I was eating more. I am not all that fond of chronic cardio anyways, so it didnt make sense to me to exercise so much and then need to eat so much, or vice versa. It was easier or more comfortable for me to just not eat as much and exercise less. W/O all the exercise, I wasnt as hungry.

I have days of lower and days of higher. Yesterday was 1216 but the day before was 1649 which is the top of my range. I keep carbs low so I am getting full on the protein and fats, and lots of veggie carbs which are low cal. But I found that I have to track and stay on top of it. I have noticed that when I have a period of stalled weight loss, it is due to my calories being on the low end, so I am really trying to pay attention to that now. I also notice that since IF, I am not hungry as much. If I started out my day with breakfast, I would be hungry all day so I am trying to figure it all out myself.

I get the eat when you are hungry, eat until full and no need to track if you do that, but at this point in time, I am getting full on less and tracking helps me see that some days are too low so I need to correct that the next day. I could plan ahead better but I dont do that.

[ilovedogs]

I am 5' 6" and weight is around 74kg. I do not have any sort of eating disorder I would just like to lose about 10kg,as this is the weight I was for the last 10 - 20 years! I gave up smoking 4 years ago and slowly gained weight. I am eating fish, eggs, chicken with skin, the odd steak and lots of salad and veggies, also I cook with olive and coconut oil. When I put my stats into myfitness pal it gives me roughly 1200 to lose a steady 1.5lbs per week but because I am not eating starchy carbs or grains I find it hard to reach that amount plus I am just not that hungry any more. Also I did read on here that 15/25/65 was a good ratio for weight loss so it gets a bit confusing.

[fiercehunter]

You may find as you figure it out that you can eat more and not gain but in fact lose.

[Neckhammer]

I have been reading a lot about cals in and out etc. I track my food intake and find I am eating about 1400 somedays and only 1000 on other days. My confusion is with the weight loss aspect. I cannot excersise (fibromyalgia) at the moment but I do walk a lot. My ratio is 15%carbs/20%pro/65%fat. does this sound good for weight loss? I tried Atkins once but just put on weight. Please can someone explain in simple terms what is the best cals and ratio for steady weight loss.

Your ratio is pretty optimal (assuming good sources and only primal aproved foods) for health purposes. That is all that really matters at this point. A good diet, walking, some adjustments or other body work (get your mechanoreceptors firing!), remove toxins and you should notice significant improvement to your fibromyalgia symptoms.

Your calories are dependent on so many things that its impossible to say where they should be. If you are eating to satiety with those ratios of macros, but not losing weight then you may have to eventually watch your calories. Not the case for most people. In your situation I would be far more focused on the health aspect of this diet first.