Calories Question

[kacy]

Rather than hijacking another thread I figured I should start a new one.

First, I'm 178/180 lbs, 6'2 and 23-24% fat. I carb cycle w/ 2 no/3 low/2high days per week, at least 165 g Protein per day (my LBM). Goal is 18% body fat....for now.

I went to thedailyplate website and it calculated that I could eat 2391 cals per day and lose a pound/week! I used the "moderately active" setting which seemed to fit me the best (nurse, 12 hour shifts, never sit down, run around like a crazy person...). There's a separate place to do "above & beyond" calories for workouts, not included in this number.

As much as I love that idea, the other site I used to calculate my BMR w/ activity level said my MAINTENANCE was 2275. I've been eating around 1775 cals/day. I used 1.375 as my activity factor.

Is it just wishful thinking that I'm not eating enough? I get hungry a lot, especially from 3-7 p.m., but I've never eaten that much (except cheats/binges)....its a little scary! Thanks for your help!!

[trainwithrae]

why not try the 1775 for a week and see what happens. You know your body best. Also, you may want to wait to carb cycle until you hit a plateau, it's really not necessary at this point.

[kacy]

Thanks for the response! I've been at 1775 for the last two weeks with no cheats and yea...my weights going down slowly, but down is good.

I guess I'm just wondering if I'm almost too low?? Which calorie calculation is more reasonable since it's like 600 calorie difference!? I know that the only way to figure out what's best for me right now is to try it so that's what I'll do. I like food--if I can eat 600 calories more per day, kick my metabolism into overdrive and drop the weight quicker...well, I'm all for that! If not, at least I know <1800 works.

[gfundaro]

You could join me in my little experiment of eating more! I am eating according to my Polar watch now, up to 2k cals a day. It's been 4 days and I lost 3 lbs, partly from period weight, but I'm 1/2 lb down from where I was before my period.

I lift 5 days a week, cardio 6 days a week, and my workouts last 1-2.5 hrs (if it's 2.5 hrs, I will usually do cardio in the am and pm, and lift in the pm, so it's not 2.5 straight). Plus I walk quite a bit on campus. I am 5', 134.4, and about 20% BF, just for comparison.

The worst that could happen is we gain a lb. The best that could happen is we get to eat more!

[kacy]

I love it and I'm definitely in for making myself into a lab rat! Given your stats & that you're losing on 2000 cals, 2400 for me doesn't seem unreasonable--This is fantastic!

Your progress pics are great, by the way!

[IronCamp]

Originally Posted by gfundaro

You could join me in my little experiment of eating more! I am eating according to my Polar watch now, up to 2k cals a day. It's been 4 days and I lost 3 lbs, partly from period weight, but I'm 1/2 lb down from where I was before my period.

I lift 5 days a week, cardio 6 days a week, and my workouts last 1-2.5 hrs (if it's 2.5 hrs, I will usually do cardio in the am and pm, and lift in the pm, so it's not 2.5 straight). Plus I walk quite a bit on campus. I am 5', 134.4, and about 20% BF, just for comparison.

The worst that could happen is we gain a lb. The best that could happen is we get to eat more!

How did you determine that using your Polar? Did you wear it a whole day and then subtract a certain amount of calories from the number you got to determine what your calorie intake should be?

[freebirdmac]

Originally Posted by gfundaro

You could join me in my little experiment of eating more! I am eating according to my Polar watch now, up to 2k cals a day. It's been 4 days and I lost 3 lbs, partly from period weight, but I'm 1/2 lb down from where I was before my period.

I lift 5 days a week, cardio 6 days a week, and my workouts last 1-2.5 hrs (if it's 2.5 hrs, I will usually do cardio in the am and pm, and lift in the pm, so it's not 2.5 straight). Plus I walk quite a bit on campus. I am 5', 134.4, and about 20% BF, just for comparison.

The worst that could happen is we gain a lb. The best that could happen is we get to eat more!

Dangnabit!! You're going to make me buy one!

[KAYTEBUGG00]

I just bought one!! Excited to use it

[Trudee]

Call me crazy but I have NEVER heard of a Polar watch? What is it and what does it do?

[gfundaro]

Originally Posted by kacy

I love it and I'm definitely in for making myself into a lab rat! Given your stats & that you're losing on 2000 cals, 2400 for me doesn't seem unreasonable--This is fantastic!

Your progress pics are great, by the way!

Thanks! It is nice...last night I didn't make it to 2k because I didn't have time and I was too tired, but I got 1700. I did AM and PM cardio and calisthenics for almost two hours total, bleh :P

Originally Posted by mcampana

How did you determine that using your Polar? Did you wear it a whole day and then subtract a certain amount of calories from the number you got to determine what your calorie intake should be?

Yup...I wore it for a whole off day and burnt 1640 cals from waking up to sleeping. That is really close to the estimates I've gotten online, and makes sense since my BMR is 1265 and I do a lot of walking and driving during the day; it's definitely possibly to burn 385 cals doing daily stuff for 15 hours.
After that I just wore my watch during each one of my workouts, and subtracted my BMR calories from the net workout calories (2 hours of workouts would result in 106 cals subtracted because I burn 53 cals an hour from BMR). My workout calories avg 700-900 total, so that's about 24-2500 cals a day burnt in total. On my off days I just eat 1600.

Originally Posted by freebirdmac

Dangnabit!! You're going to make me buy one!

Haha SO many people have been asking about them! Polar needs to hire me for marketing

Originally Posted by KAYTEBUGG00

I just bought one!! Excited to use it

Yay!!! We will have to post up our results and stuff, I will do that on another forum as well. I'm interested to see how accurate it is for others.

[IronCamp]

Originally Posted by gfundaro

Yup...I wore it for a whole off day and burnt 1640 cals from waking up to sleeping. That is really close to the estimates I've gotten online, and makes sense since my BMR is 1265 and I do a lot of walking and driving during the day; it's definitely possibly to burn 385 cals doing daily stuff for 15 hours.
After that I just wore my watch during each one of my workouts, and subtracted my BMR calories from the net workout calories (2 hours of workouts would result in 106 cals subtracted because I burn 53 cals an hour from BMR). My workout calories avg 700-900 total, so that's about 24-2500 cals a day burnt in total. On my off days I just eat 1600.

Interesting...thanks! I may give that a try.

[amj0883]

The funny thing is..I have a Polar but never thought about using it for an entire day to see how many calories I burn. Great Idea!!! I usually only use mine during cardio, but tomm. I am def. wearing it all day!!!!

[gfundaro]

Originally Posted by amj0883

The funny thing is..I have a Polar but never thought about using it for an entire day to see how many calories I burn. Great Idea!!! I usually only use mine during cardio, but tomm. I am def. wearing it all day!!!!

Cool! I suggest wearing it with a sports bra if possible. I've worn mine with a regular one, but the placement is odd and a couple times I thought my boobs might come out the bottom of my bra lol! Definitely more comfy with a sports bra.

[terracotta]

That's how many calories you are burning from metabolism + activities right. But I wonder if recovering from workouts would add additional calories?

[gfundaro]

Originally Posted by terracotta

That's how many calories you are burning from metabolism + activities right. But I wonder if recovering from workouts would add additional calories?

Well that's sort of part of your BMR...cell turnover, tissue synthesis. I haven't worn the watch post-WO, but that would be a good idea to see if my BMR is affected by a workout!

[terracotta]

Originally Posted by gfundaro

Well that's sort of part of your BMR...cell turnover, tissue synthesis. I haven't worn the watch post-WO, but that would be a good idea to see if my BMR is affected by a workout!

Yeah I suppose. I'm just skeptical of the heart rate monitor being able to tell all of this. I mean, this must also be based on some formula too?

I've never read anything sciency about heart rate monitors.

[gfundaro]

Originally Posted by terracotta

Yeah I suppose. I'm just skeptical of the heart rate monitor being able to tell all of this. I mean, this must also be based on some formula too?

I've never read anything sciency about heart rate monitors.

The F11 also estimates your VO2max and tests your RHR, and also has you input your training status, plus height and weight and age and gender. There is still a margin of error, and most of that comes from people not realizing that BMR is a part of what registers on the calorie counter. Really, it's all based on formulas...RMR testing has to determine your RMR from your oxygen consumption, BodyBugg uses body temp and movement, machine HR monitors just use your weight. There's really no way to get a reading of 100% accuracy, but this definitely helps. And if you think about it...what causes an increased HR?
-Activity
-Fidgeting (which I do constantly, RLS anyone? lol)
-Sympathetic NS (causes increased HR when you're nervous, stressed)
-Caffeine

All of these cause an increase in calories burnt as well. If your heart is beating quicker, it requires more ATP (calories). It's really not a huge leap from HR to caloric output, especially if you're running it in comparison to HR when sitting, walking, and jogging (which it also does before your workout).

[terracotta]

Thanks.

I read some more on it, it is supposed to be within +-15% of true expenditure which they stated was about as good as you can get without being in one of those 24 hour chambers for calibration first. lol

[gfundaro]

Originally Posted by terracotta

Thanks.

I read some more on it, it is supposed to be within +-15% of true expenditure which they stated was about as good as you can get without being in one of those 24 hour chambers for calibration first. lol

Bleh, that doesn't sound like any fun! Cool, thanks for finding that out