How Many Calories Do You Eat? (Weight Loss)

[limewave]

How does one get a BMR? I've never had one and would like to get one just to see what I need to maintain my weight. I too am gaining weight - I even gained a pound after giving blood and then doing a couple of rides this week (slow rides - I don't have much energy for about a week after I give blood).

Also, what method are people using for the body fat composition? I've had the skin fold but when I was really serious I went the underwater route. I would prefer not to do that - I'm hoping to find an easier way.......

I had a BIA done at my doctor's office. They stick little things to your feet that shoots an electronic pulse through your body. Then it feeds out all sorts of interesting facts about yourself. Like how much of your weight is fat, muscle, and water. How much of the water is intra- vs. extracellular water. You want water in your cells more than you want it outside your cells. It also tells the doctor stuff about how well your organs are functioning. I'm in a program where my doctor is going to do this once a month for 5 months. I've had two done so far. It's pretty cool. I think it cost about $50 to have each one done but I'm not certain.

[michelem]

From what I understand, BIA isn't as accurate as the underwater method.

http://www.unc.edu/~zartman/BIA/error.html

Seems like it's harder to prepare too:

No food or liquid 4 hours before test
No exercise for 12 hours prior to test
Urinate completely before test
No alcohol for 48 hours prior to test
Test at the same time of day (first thing in the morning is recommended after drinking one glass of water)

[glamgurl36]

i have been keeping my calories at 1500..but i think sometimes that its too little...you have to look up your weight/height...so you can figure out your personal intake

[PinkBike]

five weeks on a modified south beach diet and i lost nothing. then my first week on WW (flex) i lost 2.2 pounds, since then i've gained .4 the third week and .6 this week. i'm at 145. we rode 75 tough miles sunday, and i watched my points intake the whole week. i just think something is wrong. like do i need to jumpstart my metabolism? how? do i need to eliminate something specific from my diet? maybe i'm gaining muscle but i still have the love handles i never had before, and actually i was always kinda muscular, even when i weighed 127. how do i get rid of The Flab? do i need a nutritionist and how do i find one?

[Torrilin]

five weeks on a modified south beach diet and i lost nothing. then my first week on WW (flex) i lost 2.2 pounds, since then i've gained .4 the third week and .6 this week. i'm at 145. we rode 75 tough miles sunday, and i watched my points intake the whole week. i just think something is wrong. like do i need to jumpstart my metabolism? how? do i need to eliminate something specific from my diet? maybe i'm gaining muscle but i still have the love handles i never had before, and actually i was always kinda muscular, even when i weighed 127. how do i get rid of The Flab? do i need a nutritionist and how do i find one?

A nutritionist is not a bad idea. They generally work with you and a food diary to help you find the problems in your particular way of eating. No one way of eating is good for everyone.

I've been spending a lot of time terrified that I'd tip over into a diabetic weight range because of the family history of type 2 diabetes. Healthy for me is 120-135, and I'd gotten up to 168lbs. Finally, after weeks of both of us paying attention to what I was eating my partner figured out the problem. The extra calories from wine with dinner (an average of a glass a night) and from fruit juice were what was doing it. My brain doesn't treat them as food, so they're as bad for me as soda if I don't watch the portions and how often I have them. Milk, my usual tea with a spoonful of sugar and Gatorade all seem to be fine for me to drink as much as I want.

So I've stopped the wine and fruit juice, and so far it's having a measurable effect. I'm down by about 8 lbs over the last 3 weeks. That's much faster than is healthy, so if the weight loss does not slow down over the next week or two, I'll have to figure something out. I may have dropped below a sensible caloric intake by cutting them out cold turkey.

[michelem]

do i need a nutritionist and how do i find one?

PinkBike -

See post #10 here: http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=18815

I can't recommend Monika enough, and she's right in your neck of the woods--she comes to you.