Confused about calories needed

"shinypenny" wrote in message
oups.com...

Maybe true, but PBJ is not a "waste." Peanut butter - and any nuts -
are full of healthy fats and are slow to digest, so they stick with
you longer. Whole wheat bread provides good fiber and nutrients.
Together, they provide complete protein. IMO (and I was actually
thinking about this very subject just yesterday!), a PB sandwich is
the perfect meal!

This was really my thought as well. I want nuts to be a part of my diet
because they are so good for the heart.

You see I don't really want to diet because the reality is diets don't work.
Sure people can lose weight, but if you're always having measure your
portions and make a conscious effort on food, you will never stick with it.
I'm speaking from personal experience since 2 years ago, I did do that, lost
about 20 pounds for a few months and now I'm back to where I started.

I want to make a lifestyle change that I can stick with. So to start with,
I gave up soft drinks, large portions of red meat, and pizza. I thought
just those three would melt weight off and it did bring me down 10 pounds to
my current weight which hovers around 200-205.

I guess I'm not really sure, if someone who is 5' 11'', 40 years of age,
will do about 30 minutes of moderate speed walking daily, and wants to
maintain a weight of 180, how many calories should I eat daily?

On Feb 2, 8:28 pm, "alex" wrote:
I'm a 40 year old male, 200 pounds, 5 foot 11 inches, and would like to lose
20 pounds. How many calories should I aim for each day. I did try and cut
down to 1500 and did 30 minutes of rowing daily, but found I'm just
constantly hungry.

Is 1500 to little for my needs. Should I increase it.

For food, today I had the following:

1 apple = 100 calories
1 banana = 100 calories
1 orange = 100 calories
1 pear = 100 calories
1 ounce nuts = 200 calories
3 glasses of milk = 300 calories
4 whole grain toast with peanut butter and jam = 800 calories

That's already 1700 calories and I haven't even had dinner yet

Here's a great way to lose the weight quickly, safely and
successfully. www.contoursnyc.tsfl.com Lots of support to make sure
you reach your goals. Do it !!

This is a great post, I responded to one of your earlier posts and then saw
this one. This covers everything I was trying to figure out. Thank you for
putting in the time for making this so clear for me.

"shinypenny" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Feb 2, 8:28 pm, "alex" wrote:
I'm a 40 year old male, 200 pounds, 5 foot 11 inches, and would like to
lose
20 pounds. How many calories should I aim for each day. I did try and
cut
down to 1500 and did 30 minutes of rowing daily, but found I'm just
constantly hungry.

Is 1500 to little for my needs. Should I increase it.

Play around with this calculator he

http://ibw.dietitian.com/ibw.exe

Without plugging in your activity levels and body meausrements, it
gives a rough estimate of about 2140 to maintain your weight, and 1640
calories to lose 1 lb per week (that's 500 cals less). However, at
your weight, rowing (moderately) burns 333 calories in 30 minutes (if
you row vigorously it burns more than that). So that might be why you
were hungry: your deficit for the day was closer to 800 cals. (and
more than that, if you do more with your lifestyle than just lie
around in bed all day).

I only need to lose 10 lbs and I'm finding that if my deficit is more
than 500 calories, particularly on the days that I run, I'm ravenous,
I get horrible headaches, and I also can't sleep. It's weird because
I'm actually burning a lot more calories on the days I walk for an
hour, compared to days I run for 30 minutes. But it's obvious to my
whole body that running is more intense and uses more muscle power
than walking.

Since you only have 20 lbs to lose, one strategy you might try is more
gentle, slower weight loss at 1/2 lb per week. This means you'd need a
daily deficit of only 250 calories. You could easily get that just by
sticking to 2140 calories (maintenance level) and rowing every single
day (burns 333 calories). Or on days you skip rowing, just eat one
less PBJ.

Be sure to save a small snack for immediately after rowing, to
replenish your glycogen levels for the next day. Such as one banana
and one small glass of low-fat milk. (If you like smoothies, try
throwing this into a blender with a handful of frozen berries... this
is what I do every day after my exercise. yum! I use 8th continent
light soy milk only 60 cals a cup).

Finally, make sure you take your body measurements for the most
accurate "before" picture, and track measurements not just scale
weight. Because with all that rowing, it is very likely that your
scale won't budge much, but that you'll pack on a lot of lean muscle
which will make you look slimmer even if the scale still reads about
the same.

jen

On Feb 3, 10:07 am, "alex" wrote:
"shinypenny" wrote in message

oups.com...

Maybe true, but PBJ is not a "waste." Peanut butter - and any nuts -
are full of healthy fats and are slow to digest, so they stick with
you longer. Whole wheat bread provides good fiber and nutrients.
Together, they provide complete protein. IMO (and I was actually
thinking about this very subject just yesterday!), a PB sandwich is
the perfect meal!

This was really my thought as well. I want nuts to be a part of my diet
because they are so good for the heart.

You see I don't really want to diet because the reality is diets don't work.
Sure people can lose weight, but if you're always having measure your
portions and make a conscious effort on food, you will never stick with it.
I'm speaking from personal experience since 2 years ago, I did do that, lost
about 20 pounds for a few months and now I'm back to where I started.

I want to make a lifestyle change that I can stick with. So to start with,
I gave up soft drinks, large portions of red meat, and pizza. I thought
just those three would melt weight off and it did bring me down 10 pounds to
my current weight which hovers around 200-205.

I guess I'm not really sure, if someone who is 5' 11'', 40 years of age,
will do about 30 minutes of moderate speed walking daily, and wants to
maintain a weight of 180, how many calories should I eat daily?

Check out the link I sent you, and run the numbers to find out. The
more detail you can plug into the calculator, the more accurate the
results will be.

It was an eye-opener to me when I ran the numbers for myself. To
maintain my current weight (118) versus to maintain my goal weight
(110) is only about a 40 calorie difference per day!! That's it! 40
calories!

jen

"alex" wrote in message
news:nzRwh.873020$R63.222747@pd7urf1no...
I'm a 40 year old male, 200 pounds, 5 foot 11 inches, and would like to
lose 20 pounds. How many calories should I aim for each day. I did try
and cut down to 1500 and did 30 minutes of rowing daily, but found I'm
just constantly hungry.

Is 1500 to little for my needs. Should I increase it.

For food, today I had the following:

1 apple = 100 calories
1 banana = 100 calories
1 orange = 100 calories
1 pear = 100 calories
1 ounce nuts = 200 calories
3 glasses of milk = 300 calories
4 whole grain toast with peanut butter and jam = 800 calories

That's already 1700 calories and I haven't even had dinner yet

If you are not exercising, you should shoot for around 2000 calories per day
and see how that goes for you (roughly 10 calories x current bodyweight in
lbs). If you are exercising, don't aim for a deficit more than about 500
calories per day. Maintenance level is somewhere around 12-14 cal x
bodyweight, but of course it varies from person to person.

If you are not willing to give up nuts or peanut butter, you'll have to
accept that you will have to subtract calories from elsewhere in your diet,
since they are so high in calories. Are you drinking nonfat milk? Do you
feel you are getting adequate protein? How are you feeling besides hungry?
Energy levels?

YMMV, but for me, I need more protein in my diet than what you are eating.
I LOVE my sprouted grain bread toasted with PB. I eat one slice almost
every single day, with 2 tablespoons of PB and a glass of nonfat milk.
Maybe you could cut back a little, to allow more calories in other areas.
But, it's up to you.

"shinypenny" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Feb 2, 8:28 pm, "alex" wrote:
I'm a 40 year old male, 200 pounds, 5 foot 11 inches, and would like to
lose
20 pounds. How many calories should I aim for each day. I did try and
cut
down to 1500 and did 30 minutes of rowing daily, but found I'm just
constantly hungry.

Is 1500 to little for my needs. Should I increase it.

Play around with this calculator he

http://ibw.dietitian.com/ibw.exe

This link gives me an error!

On Feb 2, 9:11 pm, "LFM" wrote:
You are using good rounded estimates of calories, but I have to ask - why in
the world did you eat 4 pieces of toast w/ peaunt butter and jam? You could
have done so much more with those calories than waste them on that.

"alex" wrote in message

news:nzRwh.873020$R63.222747@pd7urf1no...

I'm a 40 year old male, 200 pounds, 5 foot 11 inches, and would like to
lose 20 pounds. How many calories should I aim for each day. I did try
and cut down to 1500 and did 30 minutes of rowing daily, but found I'm
just constantly hungry.

Is 1500 to little for my needs. Should I increase it.

For food, today I had the following:

1 apple = 100 calories
1 banana = 100 calories
1 orange = 100 calories
1 pear = 100 calories
1 ounce nuts = 200 calories
3 glasses of milk = 300 calories
4 whole grain toast with peanut butter and jam = 800 calories

That's already 1700 calories and I haven't even had dinner yet


Boy, do I agree with you, here. I don't think peanut butter and
dieting should be used in the same sentence. I shy away from all foods
where I can consume hundreds of calories in a few seconds. Better to
eat oatmeal, farina, grits, potatoes, almost any vegetables rather
than peanuts or peanut butter. I also never drink calories, for the
same reason. I want LOTS of food for my calories...and so will the
dieter eventually. I would just feel starved eating what he ate, yet I
eat actually a few less calories per day than he does, but here is
what I get to eat:

half cup of oatmeal with half cup of blueberries sweetened with
Splenda 200 cal
2 bowls of half farina, half grits sweetened with
Splenda .......................250 cal
Pudding made from sugar-free, fat-free instant mix using Hoods non-
fat,
I eat half a package at a time with 1 full cup of the
Hoods.....................100 cal
8 meringues using Splenda and using sugar-free syrup on each bite......
150 cal
Two large bowls of salad..lettuce, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes,
onions, (no
dressing)......................................... ................................
150 cal
4 slices of Lite bread (toast) with sugar-free jam on
top.........................200 cal
2 CANS of green beans at 75 cal per entire
can...................................150 cal
another serving of oats, but without
berries........................................... 150 cal
Apple............................................. .................................................. ..
100 cal
Lots of green tea and diet
pop............................................... .................0
cal

For a total of 1450 cal, 70 gm. protein, very low fat (9 gms), high
fiber, but most important for me.....lots of food. dkw

determined wrote:
"shinypenny" wrote in message
oups.com...

Play around with this calculator he

snipped the exe file

This link gives me an error!

Your security settings are probably preventing you from opening it.
Personally, I never click on an exe file on usenet no matter who posts it.

On Feb 3, 11:25 am, "determined" wrote:
"shinypenny" wrote in message

oups.com...

On Feb 2, 8:28 pm, "alex" wrote:
I'm a 40 year old male, 200 pounds, 5 foot 11 inches, and would like to
lose
20 pounds. How many calories should I aim for each day. I did try and
cut
down to 1500 and did 30 minutes of rowing daily, but found I'm just
constantly hungry.

Is 1500 to little for my needs. Should I increase it.

Play around with this calculator he

http://ibw.dietitian.com/ibw.exe

This link gives me an error!


Try www.dietician.com, and click on Healthy Body Calculator in the
upper left hand corner.

jen

On Feb 3, 11:29 am, " wrote:

Boy, do I agree with you, here. I don't think peanut butter and
dieting should be used in the same sentence. I shy away from all foods
where I can consume hundreds of calories in a few seconds. Better to
eat oatmeal, farina, grits, potatoes, almost any vegetables rather
than peanuts or peanut butter. I also never drink calories, for the
same reason. I want LOTS of food for my calories...and so will the
dieter eventually. I would just feel starved eating what he ate, yet I
eat actually a few less calories per day than he does, but here is
what I get to eat:

half cup of oatmeal with half cup of blueberries sweetened with
Splenda 200 cal
2 bowls of half farina, half grits sweetened with
Splenda .......................250 cal
Pudding made from sugar-free, fat-free instant mix using Hoods non-
fat,
I eat half a package at a time with 1 full cup of the
Hoods.....................100 cal
8 meringues using Splenda and using sugar-free syrup on each bite......
150 cal
Two large bowls of salad..lettuce, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes,
onions, (no
dressing)......................................... ..........................*.......
150 cal
4 slices of Lite bread (toast) with sugar-free jam on
top.........................200 cal
2 CANS of green beans at 75 cal per entire
can...................................150 cal
another serving of oats, but without
berries........................................... 150 cal
Apple............................................. ..........................*....................... ....
100 cal
Lots of green tea and diet
pop............................................... .................0
cal

For a total of 1450 cal, 70 gm. protein, very low fat (9 gms), high
fiber, but most important for me.....lots of food. dkw-

That's a lot of Splenda and artificial sweeteners.. you have a sweet
tooth, huh?

It's weird, but since starting my diet last month, particularly since
swapping out my usual instant oatmeal with a different brand that has
no added sugar, and switching to plain ground PB instead of honey
roasted ground PB, I can't seem to tolerate anything sweet. Four of
us split a flan last night at dinner, and I could barely eat my share,
it was too sweet. Also I have those sugar-free pudding cups but
they're too sweet and I think the artificial sweetener may be
contributing to the headaches I was having a week ago.

Salty things, OTOH..........no problem! :-)

Typical day for me last week:

Breakfast: unsweetened instant oatmeal, 1 cup light soy milk (60
cals), 1 TB ground flax seed, 1/2 cup blueberries OR 1/2 grapefruit.
Two cups of black coffee.

Lunch: spinach salad w/chicken breast or tuna, strawberries, dried
cranberries and 1 TB balsamic vinegar dressing OR PB sandwich and an
apple

Snack: piece of fruit OR cup of veggie soup OR (on days I exercise) a
smoothie made w/ banana, frozen berries, low fat yogurt or soy milk.
Note: on days I have a PB sandwich for lunch, I don't need the
afternoon snack at all.

Dinner: two egg omelot; slice of whole wheat toast w/1 tsp butter;
generous serving of a green veggie such as string beans, spinach,
broccoli, or kale; cup of veggie soup; glass of wine

OR replace the eggs with fish and the toast with 1/2 cup rice... plus
the rest of the above

OR 1 cup pasta with 1 cup spaghetti sauce, plus the rest of above

OR (a night we ate out) 4 oz buffalo chicken tenders, green salad w/
dressing on the side (I dip my fork in the dressing instead of pouring
it on), side of string beans instead of french fries, and an extra
glass of wine

OR (last night, when we also ate out) a meal that I have little idea
how many calories it contained, but I saved calories early in the day
by having only 1/2 cup yogurt w/fruit for breakfast and skipping the
snack. Plus I practiced portion control.... the portions were pretty
moderate to begin with (compared with most restaurants) but I only ate
half anyway. Yum, it was worth every bite!

Tons of water throughout the day.

According to my log, I averaged about 1300-1400 calories per day last
week and...

Total Fat g 41.37
Saturated Fat g 13.59
Sodium mg 2232.7
Total Carbohydrate g 151.24
Dietary Fiber g 20.88
Protein g 67.31

jen