Count calories?

(Kimberly) #1

Been doing keto since may got laid back with counting calories b/c I was losing so quickly now that it has slowed went back to counting. macros in check but how many calories should I have? I lift weights twice a week and cardio 3 I’m 5’3 and weigh 149 I want to lose about 10-12 more I began fasting which helped move the scale again just wondering where my calorie intake should be?

(Bunny) #2

Calories are not exact measurements and far from it, they are just thermal equations of heat produced by blowing up food in a metal container to observe the combustion thermal units of energy that result but not how it really works in your body… lol

Your body is the best measurement device ever created by nature; eat when your body tells you too eat but be mindful of what kind of food you eat not so much about amount, too little food for too long and your metabolism slows down (guaranteed) to compensate for restricting food and the adjustments and effort you just put into the fat you just burned will make your body do the opposite by restoring fat lost!

Your lifting weights and seemingly very active so that may look like your stalling but your just gaining more lean body mass?

E.g. When I am truly not hungry and have not eaten for 12 or 24 hours and blood sugars look stable and I do not feel ill at all and I’m energetic and happy that tells me my metabolism is functioning normally and has adjusted and adapted to the amount of food it is getting, if I sense any kind of hunger signal then I eat! My instinct is my best tool!

(Robert C) #3

It sounds like you have been successful so far.

If you were eating too few calories between May and November, it would have probably caught up with you, lowering metabolism and putting you into stall or rebound.
Instead some fasting moved you along so - it seems you are adapted.

But, now you are near your goal weight and trying to lose the last 10.
Unless you think your keto resting maintenance place is sub-140 (or you just want to get there faster), I would suggest increasing your fasting times until the last ten are gone and then decreasing fasting times until you are not gaining or losing. Sustain that for a while (several months) and hope your body can accept it as the new normal.

Especially, if not already, when increasing your fasting time - make sure you have full days off from food.
Dr. Fung’s 36 and 42 hour fasting times seem to really make a difference and avoid the potential for something like one-meal-a-day to be perceived by the body as calorie restriction.

#4

Wow, 2 replies, 7 or 8 paragraphs and still no attempt to answer the ops question.
I guess the CICO thing really aggravates some people.

We cannot give you a value for calories Kimberly. My advice would be to make sure you track accurately, for a week or so, then change it (up or down) for a while, and see how you get on. Adjust by about 150 calories each time up or down, would seem a reasonable amount.

Let us know how you get on.

(Cindy) #5

The problem, too, with just looking at calories is that all calories are NOT created equally. So to just say “up your calories by X amount” isn’t all that helpful either. More protein? More fat? Is there room for more carbs?

Personally, if I wanted to keep losing but stalled, I’d either increase the fasting time or take a look at what things have crept into my diet. Too much HWC? Too many nuts or cheese? Too much alcohol? There’s usually places to cut back without negatively affecting nutrition…and it still doesn’t focus on calories.

#6

You miss the point. Kimberly didn’t ask you what you would do. She simply asked about calorie qty.

To start lecturing her on what she has to do, and refusing to make any attempt to answer her question, is just rude, and EXEPTIONLY unhelpful.

What would be helpful, is to try answering her question, and stop acting like the KETO police. If she wants to track calories, that’s her business.

(Robert C) #7

This was kinda uncalled for.

#8

What wasn’t called for? Was it being the only one who actually tried to answer her question?

(Cindy) #9

Wow. I didn’t think I was lecturing, just pointing out some issues with calories. If someone said to me “How do I shoot this gun?” I wouldn’t just say “Pick it up and pull the trigger.” Yeah, that’s a dramatic example, but I’d preface my response with all sorts of gun handling advice, precautions, etc.

I also didn’t tell her she HAD to do anything. I said “IF it were ME” and she can take what she wants from the advice.

But also, if ANYONE here can truly tell her how many calories she should be eating, they’re being misleading. Calorie intake relies on a lot more than “I’m this height, this weight, and work out this many times.” What is the persons BMR at that time? How strenuous are the workouts? What else do you do in your daily life? How old are you? Do you have any other metabolic issues? T2D? Menopause? Hyper or hypothyroid, etc. So you’re suggesting that we give a simplistic answer (just pull the trigger) when there ISN’T one.

Calories are a unit of physics, not physiology.y

I think someone woke up cranky today…

#10

AT LAST, it took a while but, you actually went some way to answering her question.

(Robert C) #11

Your answer is just as much of a non-answer to “how many calories” as other’s answers are.

I did not write that your post was uncalled for based on an answer or non-answer to the OP’s question.
I wrote “uncalled for” because of the lecturing/overall tone.
From what I have see, posts will get ignored around here if you are too preachy or argumentative.

Making a valid point on this forum feels great so, you might want to deliver it in a more acceptable package (which will get you likes - that is one way to determine how you are doing).

(Kimberly) #12

Wow posted a question went food shopping and came back to a war! So sorry I’m happy for any advice/response so thank you for trying to help me everybody. Going back to tracking it seemed in order to keep my fat and macros in check I was high on calories made me wonder is it better to track macros than worry about the calories? Was just wondering what others thought.

(Kimberly) #13

YOU actually gave me this advice already and it’s working!!!

(John) #14

My opinion is that once you are fat-adapted (which it sounds like you are), total food intake does certainly count. Since the calorie is one quantifiable measure of food intake, then to some extent counting calories makes sense if trying to lose weight.

You can determine your base metabolic rate, also called resting metabolic rate by using any number of on-line calculators which are based on your age, gender, height, weight, and body fat composition. There are a couple of formulas used in that determination, which give different results. A formula that generally gives a lower number is the Mifflin St Jeor Equation, so if you are being conservative, that’s the one to use.

Here is an example (not the only one, of course): https://www.omnicalculator.com/health/bmr. I used that one based on your height, weight, guessing your age (45 - based on 23 years of marriage from your profile), and it came up with 1,289 calories. That’s just the energy required to keep the lights on- breathing, heartbeat, keeping body temperature at normal, digestion, etc. Doesn’t include any activity such as sitting, moving around, walking, exercising, etc.

The problem with the calculators is that the numbers they generate are an average. People can have significantly higher or lower BMRs than the calculators say. If you want to find out for sure what yours is, you would need to get a test done. Places like Dexafit offer that for a fee. You could try other places.

So assuming you have determined your actual BMR, then you have to figure out how many additional calories a day you burn via exercise. There are also calculators that allow you to plug in a relative activity level that will give you an approximate TDEE (total daily energy expenditure).

Once you have all of that, you can then try to pick a calorie deficit to generate weight loss.

There is a shortcut - once you determine your BMR, eat enough calories to achieve that. Let all of your other daily activities provide the deficit.

So back to your answer: eat 1,300 calories per day. That is your theoretical BMR for your height, weight, gender, and age. Let your activity be your deficit.

Or - use any of the apps or calculators that will provide the same information.

(Carl Keller) #15

This! So you could eat 1000 calories of healthy food or 1500 of crap and the 1K is much more efficient for fueling the body. It’s like putting cheap gas in your car vs hi performance gas. You can go further on less.

(Kimberly) #16

Thank you John I was trying to shoot for 1200 calories but finding it difficult to keep under that. You were close, 46. I will look into those calculators. I’ve used them before. Your post was very helpful!

(Carl Keller) #17

I think she was pointing out how imprecise calorie counting is so the need to answer the question about increasing caloric intake was implied.

(Carl Keller) #18

The title implies she is not sure about counting calories (Count Calories?) and it was more than fair for @cw2001 and @RobC to offer their full opinions. Just my 2 pesos.

(Justin Jordan) #19

Counting calories in particular and calories in general are the third rail around here. It essentially always causes arguments.

(Kimberly) #20

I see that…I won’t ask again :wink: