Calorie Requirements - When and If to Change Them

[oceanid]

Calorie Requirements - When and If to Change Them

I am beginning week 4 which is the "Recovery Week".
I've been doing "Classic" plus I row at steady state around 5100 meters about 4-6 days per week.
My calories for the last 3 weeks have been at 1800 although a couple of days I fell under in the 1500-1600 range due to not eating on schedule.
My ratios have been spot on (50P/30C/20F) for at least one week (after I realized the portion plan did not hit the proper ratios for me). Prior to that they were more like 40P/40C/20F.

I may have lost a lb but nothing to jump up and down about. I did not measure but finally made it out to get a measuring tape yesterday. When I look at myself I don't see any difference although my husband says he sees a bit. (Probably trying to encourage me lol...no really).

I am particularly interested in women's results and experiences although men, feel free to put your experiences in here too in case there are some guys out there that read this thread and are looking for the same answers.

HERE ARE MY QUESTIONS:

Did you eat the Phase 1 Level 1 Fat Shredder 1800 cals and eventually see results?

I've seen numerous sites on the net that say 1800 calories for women in P90x is too many. Should I listen or ignore and just keep doing what I'm doing?

Btw, I have plenty of energy and have not felt the "bonk" at all throughout this stage. The only thing I have felt is that my food is getting burnt up right after I eat it which I would think is my metabolism getting fired up.

So, at this point my plan is to continue on Phase 1 Level 1 until my energy decreases. But the big question is could I possibly be eating too many calories to make progress and should I try backing down a hundred or two calories and see what happens?

Thanks :)

[dhoyt86]

When you say you feel your food is getting burned up right after you eat, does that mean you are hungry very soon after you eat? This is just my experience talking, but my macro's were very similar to your's (40p/40c/20f) for the first couple weeks, and it just wasn't working for me. I was getting great results, but was always hungry. Like you, I never "bonked," but I was never full.

I started researching and found out about going "Primal." Try keeping your 40p, but switching your fat and carbs. My general goal, especially to lean, is 40p/40f/20c. Get your carbs from fruits and veggies, and start eating more good fats like trail mix, healthy oils, and maybe some red meat. I have noticed my energy increase a pretty good bit in just a couple weeks doing this (fat is a more efficient energy source than carbs), and I have not been hungry at all. In addition, I busted through a fat loss plateau in no time.

You will probably get many more opinions on this, but this is what has worked for me. Hope it helps!

[FitRunner]

I ate 2000 cal a day and lost an inch around my torso in a month. I only lost about three pounds, but that could be as little as 1.5 lbs or as much as 4.4 lbs within the scale uncertainty. I also ran for maybe half an hour every day.

How much you should eat has nothing to do with how much others should eat (other than indirectly) since it depends on your activity level and your weight for everyone. Calculate your best estimate of your calorie burn a day and eat a few hundred calories less than that.

Measure yourself, because you should be building muscle as well as losing fat. You have no way of knowing how you're doing on either building muscle or losing fat if you're only weighing yourself. Particularly in the situation you're in now - you don't know if you weigh more or less the same because nothing happened, or because you lost some fat but also built some muscle. Don't let it drive you crazy, find a better way to measure what you want to know - your body fat percentage. You won't be able to know how your results were this first month since you only have a weight measurement from day 0, but better late than never!

I recommend Omron's 306 model (http://www.amazon.com/Omron-HBF-306-Body-Fat-Analyzer/dp/B00006WNPU). It's affordable, easy to use, and gives consistent readings (I've tested!). Calipers are another way, but it can be difficult to measure your own body fat % with them accurately. (Even after two months of practice, I have trouble getting within the specified precision.)

Teresa

[oceanid]

When you say you feel your food is getting burned up right after you eat, does that mean you are hungry very soon after you eat?

No, I can't say that I feel hungry. It is more of a temporary sensation. I suppose that for a few minutes there is a slight feeling like I could eat more but it goes away really fast and I'm not thinking about food or eating more. I don't know how to better describe it.