New, have some quick questions.

[phisylus]

Hello. I'm 19 years old, about 5 feet 10 inches. A year ago I weighed 255, and own my own without any help from the gym or people I lost weight to get where I am now which 185 by changing my eating habits and running. Well, I spent my years eating junk food because that's all my parents got me. Now I'm really into the healthy life style and I'm even thinking of going to college this fall for nutrition. I have some questions and I really hope you guys could answer it. When I lost my weight before all I did was drink water, eat eggs for breakfast, eat turkey, green beans, and run. That's all I did, and now it seems like I've reached a stopping point as it seems harder to lose weight probably because my body got used to my routine. My problem I have is what I'm eating. I'm not eating bad, but I don't think I'm eating enough. I get hungry a lot, and I'm not sure how many calories I'm burning, but I know I take in less than 1,800 a day, sometime 1,500. It would be awesome if someone could explain to me like a meal layout that would help me. This is what I do now. For breakfast, I eat about a 350-400 calorie meal which just consist of oatmeal and yogurt, sometimes a snack bar. Then about 4-5 hours later I eat a turkey sandwich and banana, and then I go running. After I get back, I eat some slices of turkey and maybe a vegetable like carrots or green beans. After about 8 or 9 P.M. I get so hungry and I'm not sure if I should eat(I get done running about 7:30) and I'm afraid to because either the running calories I burnt will go to waste or it will just even out to where I don't lose weight. Another thing I really want to try to understand is metabolism. I'm pretty sure mine is slow, and I would like to know what to do to speed it up, how I know I'm raising it, and what metabolism is. My friend says he eats close to 3,000 calories a day but he works out everyday, and he says he needs to eat that much. Like how do I know how much I should eat. Any help would be awesome! Thanks!

[JimNAZ]

Hello. I'm 19 years old, about 5 feet 10 inches. A year ago I weighed 255, and own my own without any help from the gym or people I lost weight to get where I am now which 185 by changing my eating habits and running. Well, I spent my years eating junk food because that's all my parents got me. Now I'm really into the healthy life style and I'm even thinking of going to college this fall for nutrition. I have some questions and I really hope you guys could answer it. When I lost my weight before all I did was drink water, eat eggs for breakfast, eat turkey, green beans, and run. That's all I did, and now it seems like I've reached a stopping point as it seems harder to lose weight probably because my body got used to my routine. My problem I have is what I'm eating. I'm not eating bad, but I don't think I'm eating enough. I get hungry a lot, and I'm not sure how many calories I'm burning, but I know I take in less than 1,800 a day, sometime 1,500. It would be awesome if someone could explain to me like a meal layout that would help me. This is what I do now. For breakfast, I eat about a 350-400 calorie meal which just consist of oatmeal and yogurt, sometimes a snack bar. Then about 4-5 hours later I eat a turkey sandwich and banana, and then I go running. After I get back, I eat some slices of turkey and maybe a vegetable like carrots or green beans. After about 8 or 9 P.M. I get so hungry and I'm not sure if I should eat(I get done running about 7:30) and I'm afraid to because either the running calories I burnt will go to waste or it will just even out to where I don't lose weight. Another thing I really want to try to understand is metabolism. I'm pretty sure mine is slow, and I would like to know what to do to speed it up, how I know I'm raising it, and what metabolism is. My friend says he eats close to 3,000 calories a day but he works out everyday, and he says he needs to eat that much. Like how do I know how much I should eat. Any help would be awesome! Thanks!

Hello and welcome to the boards! This is a great place for all your questions and you have some good ones.
First, congrats on changing your lifestyle to a more healthier one. As you already have learned, it is a better way to live . . .

Here is a good formula for getting a base number for your caloric intake:
Women:
655 + (4.3 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)

Men:
66 + (6.3 x weight in pounds) + (12.9 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years)

This is your BMR (calories needed daily for normal body functions). From here you can multiply it by a number below based on your activity level:
Sedentary (desk job type of activity) : 1.2
Slightly active: 1.3
Moderately active: 1.4
Very active: 1.5
This will give you a number for total calories you would need in a day to MAINTAIN weight. You can deduct or add based on your goal.
*** Remember - this is just a formula. Everyone's metabolism is different. Be open to "adjusting" these numbers based on your results.

Looking at your example of meal planning I would say you are not eating enough. But your body was already telling you this. Try to find a number for your caloric needs and then listen to your body. If you are full don't force yourself to eat and if you are hungry then feed your body. Keep a number for daily total calories in your mind but don't focus on it. If you need 2400 calories a day then shoot for that but don't over eat or under eat to hit that number. Focus more on what your body is telling you.

The best way to learn about the food you are eating (IMHO) is to track it with an online calorie counting program. I use dailyburn.com but there are others out there. Just Google "Calorie Tracking" and a bunch will come up. Most are free and good enough for what you need. There are a lot of "extras" these programs offer but the most important is that they count your caloires and breakdown all the food you eat into the macronutients (Protein/carbs/fat).
From there you can fine tune your meal planning to get your macronutrient ratio where you want. If you want to lose "fat" you need to keep your carb intake down and protein/fat higher. If you workout like a triathelete then you will need a much higher level of carbs.

Try to get at least 5 separate meals in a day with equal amount of calories. This will keep your metabolism constantly working which is what you want. Also try to get your carbs in early in the day and/or before your workout,, and not late at night.

I think you are correct in stating your body got used to your routine. Always keep it confused with your workouts for better success.

Simply put, your metabolism is a set of chemical reactions going on in your body. Either breaking down "food" for energy and taking this energy to power all your bodily functions. (Just a simple explaination but can go a lot deeper if needed)

I hope this helps some. If you have any other questions you can send me an email: jim@primalfitclub.com

Keep posting and interacting on this forum. great source of motivation!

Good luck

Jim

[phisylus]

Thank you so much for your response! I have a few more questions. I've been researching the daily limits on nutrition intakes. I can eat fruit fine, but vegetables I'm not to good at. The ones I can eat are canned, and have at least 250 mg of sodium per serving. I've read different limits on sodium, and if you are trying to lose weight, what limit would you set. My friend who's a fitness person says he tries to stay away from sodium and if he gets sodium, he only gets less than 46 mg of it a day, which I don't understand. What does sodium do to your body? Also, the same question for sugar. Like what is the limit on that, and is the sugar in canned fruit different or the same as the sugar in fresh fruit, and what should the limit be for a day if you are trying to lose weight?

[JimNAZ]

Thank you so much for your response! I have a few more questions. I've been researching the daily limits on nutrition intakes. I can eat fruit fine, but vegetables I'm not to good at. The ones I can eat are canned, and have at least 250 mg of sodium per serving. I've read different limits on sodium, and if you are trying to lose weight, what limit would you set. My friend who's a fitness person says he tries to stay away from sodium and if he gets sodium, he only gets less than 46 mg of it a day, which I don't understand. What does sodium do to your body? Also, the same question for sugar. Like what is the limit on that, and is the sugar in canned fruit different or the same as the sugar in fresh fruit, and what should the limit be for a day if you are trying to lose weight?

Hello again!

First what is your name? Don't want to assume something from your screen name :-)

Sodium is an electrolyte that helps maintain fluid balance in your body - which in turn affects your blood pressure. So, too low of sodium and you can have low blood pressure and of course the opposite (high blood pressure/hypertension) if you have too much sodium in your body. A big key to better nutrition is just stay away from all processed foods. They are almost always high in sodium which is used for preservation.

Sugar: Man this stuff is just bad! (:-) Especially refined (white) sugar, which you can find in a lot of foods. This sugar raises your insulin levels. (Fructose which is a "simple" sugar found in fruits & veggies, is broken down in the liver and does not affect insulin levels - but too much is still too much.) Raised insulin levels surpress the imune system and causes weight gain. Also, sugar has no vitamins or minerals in it so in order for sugar to be metabolized it draws on the body's reserves of vitamins & minerals. When these reserves are depleted it causes other metabolization to be impeded.

Fresh veggies and fruit is always better than canned. If you have to have canned fruit, look for fruit that is canned in water not syrup.

Hope this helps

Jim

[phisylus]

My real name is Weston. Yea, everyone thinks my screen name(which I use everywhere) is something else but it's not. It's pronounced "pha-sy-lus" Thanks for the help man, you answered a lot of my questions!