Hi, Steve!
Nope, not my real name, but I reckon you couldn't pronounce my real name if I used that here, so chose that one instead. Sorry to let you down..
I'm kind of new in the weight-loss circle, so reading your posts made me think again about my method of trying to loose weight. Cutting calories seems such an easy solution.. But I certainly don't want to end up shutting down my system. I want to keep feeling, functioning and looking well for the rest of my life rather than shrinking myself down to my goal weight and forever fighting to keep it there, not daring to eat anything. If I had to choose between being two kilos overweight and healthy&feeling well and in my ideal weight feeling bad&afraid of eating, I'd rather choose the first alternative.
So, in the near future I'm certainly going to put my effort on exercise, improving my condition and healthy eating and leave the low calories to someone else.
If you have spare time, recommend me some amount of calories. I weigh 70.6 kgs, that's 155 pounds, my height is 165 cm, that's 5 feet 5 inches. I'm trying to exercise every day, but at least 5 times a week. That, to me, means at least an hours walk or nordic walking outside or going to the gym for some weight training and something aerobic for 90 minutes in total or 2 km breast stroke swimming or something similar. And I'd rather trade some fat to muscle than to loose weight, if I can't have both.
During the last four months I've been going to the gym and gained some weight. Funny thing is that the same clothes that were good 6 kgs ago still fit me, even the really tightly fitted evening gowns. I might've freaked out by the weight-gain
, but I figured I must've done something right, since I haven't gotten any bigger.
So if you find the time to tell me what, in your opinion, would be a good amount of calories for me, I'm ready to give it a try.
Sorry, such a long post...
Best wishes,
Juliette
Juliette-
Hopefully it was not me who struck the fear in you that you can shut down your metabolism. Each case is different and I try and handle it on an individual basis. Many "authorities" will spout off about invoking the starvation response mechanism if you are not careful, so now everyone feels like they are walking a tight rope with their dieting endeavors.
People who do not need to lose that much weight can cause some physiological changes that lead to fat storage and muscle use as fuel through extreme dieting. However, people who have a lot of weight to lose don't have to be so careful when it comes to cutting calories. The "starvation response mechanism" will not so easily be triggered.
Even under extreme conditions, the greatest metabolic slowdown, which was medically administered through an extreme starvation diet was 30%.
You actually do not have a large amount of weight to lose, so caloric intake becomes more important, since your metabolism will be more responsive. And IF you do cause some metabolic inefficiencies, they are, for the most part, reversible.
Next point, your goals are really dictated by nutrition, ESPECIALLY when those goals revolve around fat loss. Yes, exercise is very important, but it is a distant second behind nutrition.
When determining caloric intake, you have 2 options:
1. Keep a food log for 2 weeks of everything you eat and each foods caloric values. If your weight as been stable following this same type of eating, you can reasonably assume that you are eating close to your maintenance intake, where energy in = energy out.
2. You can use some fancy formulas to figure out your maintenance level. I like to bypass them and simply use 15 calories per pound of body weight. So for you, your maintenance level would be roughly 2300 calories. Now, if you have chronically under-eaten in the past, this 2300 value is simply a ballpark figure for the average population, and yours may actually be lower due to the slowed metabolism from the under-eating. Make sense?
If 2300 seems really high to you, chances are, you have been under-eating and I would recommend option 1.
Next point, which I am not sure if you know, but something you said made me think this. FYI, you can't turn fat into muscle. It does not work like that. Your best bet for right now is to stick with one goal. If it is to lose some of the softness, you need to be in a caloric deficit and couple this with the right kind of exercise for an energy deficient diet. If you want to add some muscle, you need to be eating in a caloric surplus and match your training to an energy surplus diet. Does this make sense? Once we zone in on a goal, I can give you some suggestions as per what I think you should be doing in terms of exercise.
And remember, you are not signing a contract that this is your permanent goal. If, for right now, you decide to lose some fat, once you reach your goal weight/look, then we can switch up the goals and start a "muscle building" program.
Look forward to hearing from you!
-Steve
