Another old thread i found

Is a Calorie a Calorie?

(Thread copied from the old mssg board)

Topic: A calorie is a calorie, or not?
sparklemommy
posted 06-06-2002

Hey y'all!

I filled in my day yesterday on a fitday account, and my calories were very high, yet my carbs were just 14. I eat like this regularly, so I'm sure my carbs are usually under 15. So, why am I up this morning? 221.5?!?!?! That's gaining! I don't get it.

Yesterday:
calories, a whopping 2706
fat, another whopping 226 grams
protein, 141 grams don't know if this is high or low.
carbs, 14 grams

either calories don't really count, as Dr. A claims, or they do, it seems to ME personally that indeed they do.

What do you think?

Should I up the carbs for a day, by how much if so? I KNOW i should lower the calories, right?

btw, I drank nothing but water yesterday!

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MalliD
posted 06-06-2002

From what I've read SM...

from other posts and articles on such, extra is extra...

if you're consuming 2000 calories, but burning 4000 with activities, lifestyle and basal metabolic rate considered..than your gain probably isn't anything to be concerned about...I actually gained a few pounds, but lost enough inches to be completely out of ALL size 24 & 22. Now after losing ONLY 2 additional lbs. my 20's are noticeably loose...

But....If you're not burning what your eating...your gain matters...even if it's protein & fat. The difference with lowcarb...is you basal metabolic rate is drastically altered, because you are burning ALLLLLLLLLLL the time because the foods you are eating are more complex and require more to be broken down for fuel.

But if you know that your burning what you're eating...IMO I don't think a couple pounds a cause for major concern....check out what your clothes are telling you.

One thing to keep in mind though....SHOCKING TO ME...our bodies use the protein that it needs and discards the rest...which convert to carbs...discovering that made me reevaluate just HOW MUCH protein I need to consume.

Sometimes folks who eat for reasons outside of hunger (this would be ME)...tend to go to the extreme...when someone says you can eat as much of something as you want...you do. And I did...at first...I ate and ate...not til stuffed but when you've been overeating forever "satiated" is often far from the realm of reasonable. Consequently my calorie, fat & protein consumption numbers were frightening to me!! But I was moving...walking...biking...
aerobocizing...etc. etc...so I always burned all that I consumed.

I find in my continuing with LC that I CAN'T eat the whole steak or even chicken breast anymore...and as a result my calories, proteins and fats have dropped to more reasonable ranges.

SM...try upping your activities...

and keep your spirits up....

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Thatgirl
posted 06-06-2002

Hi SM. On Atkins you don't have to count calories, you will find that you can eat considerably more calories and still lose or not gain and the calories you do take in will tend to contribute to your health as opposed to destroying it. You should also not focus on calorie intake as a new Atkins-er, eating until you are full but not stuffed.

However, calories always count. Even on Atkins you cannot eat unlimited amounts of Protein and Fat and still lose weight.

Two things. First, 141 grams of Protein is pretty high. According to the Eades, a person with moderate activity needs 0.6 grams of high-quality complete) protein per pound of lean body mass. If you are eating too much protein, your body can convert it to carbohydrate. IOW, you may be getting more carbohydrates than you are intending.

Second, are you eating any bars or artificially sweetened food? Some people have a similar insulin response to that as they do to regular sugar. You may find that you are someone who can eat very little, or no artificial sweeteners. If you are eating any, try cutting them out completely for a few weeks and see what happens. Then try adding them back in gradually.

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Lisa H.
posted 06-06-

First, could you have eaten something that is making you retain water? or is Tom coming? As to higher calories, are you exercising more and are hungrier? Second, calorie counting is kind of a touchy subject with low carb. Technically, LCers don't count calories too much. If we go strictly by what our bodies are telling us, we won't go much over what we need calorie-wise. However, if we are doing any munching(TOM) or emotional/stress eating, we might eat more calories than out body strictly needs. For myself, I do track my calories, but my eating is not determined by it. Does that make sense? I do tend to much when I get tired and I'm trying to train myself to eat only when hungry. Having said all that! I say don't worry about one day of high calories, if you find yourself with a lot of high calorie days and still gaining, you can reevaluate and see if maybe they need to come down some. Oh and your protein is fine, minimum for women is like 70-100 grams, your getting plenty.


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sparklemommy
posted 06-06-2002

I'm not active at all. Housework, and yesterday I planted a few trees which took about an hour and I worked up a sweat, but that's about it.

I stepped on my scale again, right before I got in the shower and it's 219 again.

I was also a major overeater. I could eat 1/2 to 3/4 of a large supreme thick crust pizza by myself, but I am noticing that I seem to be full on less, and I'm not hungry as often. I'm sure this is a sign of ketosis.

What is a normal range for protein, I'm really fuzzy on that one.

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Sparklemommy
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sparklemommy
posted 06-06-2002

Lisa and ThatGirl, I don't feel like I'm retaining water right now, Tom is still about 2 weeks away. My clothes do fit alright. My 18 jeans right from the dryer are still tight, but they don't seem AS tight. I'm not keeping track of my measurements, I just can't, those number bum me worse than the weight numbers.

I don't eat any of the "fake" foods, carb bars, etc. And since I cut out most of my diet sodas, I don't get much fake sweeteners either. Just a few packets of Splenda daily.

I will try to cut down the calories a bit, but not really worry about them too much.

I do appreciate all your help, for sure!

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Sparklemommy
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Thatgirl
posted 06-06-2002

SM, you need to calculate your lean body mass to find your correct protein requirements.

1. Go to this address and figure your % Body Fat.

http://www.he.net/~zone/prothd2.html


2. Take your weight in pounds and multiply it by your percentage of body fat as a decimal. (If your body fat is 23.6% that would be 0.236)

3. Total Weight x Percent Body Fat= Pounds of Fat

4. Then, take that number (pounds of fat) and subtract it from your total weight. The resulting number is your lean body mass.

According to the Eades, if you are Sedentary, you need a minimum of 0.5 grams of protein per pound of LBM. If you are Moderately Active, 0.6. Active, 0.7. Very Active, 0.8.

They do say to rate yourself one activity level higher if you are 40% or more above your ideal weight.

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rethmanm
posted 06-06-2002

www.holdthetoast.com/archive/010509.html

Here is the Hold the Toast on calories. Sparkle, decrease your protein. I think this article talks about that too. You should be more around 100 grams. 141 is too high. In the book by Laura Richard, she feels that the main reason people stall or lose slowly is due to too much protein. Give it a thought.

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Thatgirl
posted 06-06-2002

I just noticed that if you continue on that site, it will actually do the rest of the calculations for you and even recommend a protein amount. I'll pop this up on a new thread in Newbies, in case it gets missed here.

The Zone calculator recommends 75 grams of protein for my LBM. In the Eades book I calculated a slightly higher protein recommendation. All in all, I try to keep my Protein between 70 and 90.

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Jess
posted 06-06-2002

Sparkle--are you eating a lot of salty things? How about pork rinds? Do you eat them every day??
They are VERY salty, and could easily add a few pounds of water weight.
And, I have always been suspicious of the flavored pork rinds--read the ingredients--the list of chemicals is really long! I stopped eating them because of this--Jess
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zip2play
posted 06-06-

Sparkle,

Calories DO count and 2700 is usually very high for a woman, unless she's a weight lifter or a ballet dancer.

The protein in excess of 80, you can be pretty sure is being converted to energy either burned or turned to glucose and burned. You might as well up the carbs and lower the protein...same result , lower cost.

Try 2000 calories for awhile, maybe with 30 grams carbs (get out of INDUCTION), maybe more. I bet you'll start losing well again! If not do 1800 calories.

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lynnrath
posted 06-06-

Calories do count although you can certainly "get away with" much more on lowcarb than anything else.

I have found that I lose best when I eat about 1,500-1,700 calories per day, drink AT LEAST a gallon of water per day, limit carbs to under 30 and no eating after 6pm.

Of course, I don't always do all that so, I loose really slowly but when I want to crank up the volume, I know how.

Lynn

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ghost88
posted 06-07-2002

hey sm, your most recent calorie count looks more reasonable. With such a low carb count, you shouldn't be able to eat more than 2000 calories of food without feeling STUFFED. Do you eat beyond the point of "satisfied'? If you are passed 2 weeks of induction, you should definitely increase your carbs (as stated above). Lowering your calories will help you lose faster. Also, try to exercise so you don't lose too much muscle in the process of losing weight.

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Kel

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zip2play
posted 06-07-2002

quote:Originally posted by sparklemommy:
Today wasn't as bad:
calories: 1397
fat: 117
protein: 75
carbs: 10

Good work SM,
Now take the carbs up to 35 g. Extra 25g= 100 calories will give you a good weight losing intake of 1500 calories without triggering "starvation". If you stay at a that "no-carb" diet too long you WILL regret it!
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rethmanm
posted 06-07-2002

Sparkle, you need to eat more veggie carbs. 10 carbs in a day is horribly low, even on induction. Your body needs the nutrients found in veggies (with carbs). Try some celery, green beans, broc/calf or a large lettuce salad with extra veggies. Don't limit veggies just because they have carbs. Your body needs the vitamins and fiber that they contain.

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sparklemommy
posted 06-07-2002

I usually do eat salads, lots of them. But I don't know about upping my carbs to 35! I'm worried I will be knocked out of ketosis, I'm only in trace, as of the last time I checked. But I will up them some with veggies. I have salad fixin's in the frige now, so that will be lunch, maybe with a can of tuna.

As for not weighing, well, I don't know if I can do that. I don't weigh during tom because I KNOW it will be off, but otherwise I expect each morning to see 218 pop up, but this morning was 219.5 but I know one of these mornings it will be under that!

Dh is now at 216, and while I'm very proud of him and he looks great (he was pushing 250) I don't like the fact that I weigh MORE than my husband! It just ain't right. the only time I ever have was at 9 months pregnant! And that didn't last long, as I lost about 30 lbs in 2 days when I had our baby. (that was our 3rd baby) Anyhow, I've got to get in gear just to catch up with him.

It's so unfair that men lose easier than women!

I really appreciate all the help y'all are giving me with this.

I figured my body fat % and it's ridiculous, 52% ! I'm 5'8" and the recommended weight for me was 128, (seems kinda low, but oh well) that means I have 91 to go!

I do have a goal date for losing weigh, too. Sometime in May or June 2003 will probably be my 20th year high school reunion. I didn't go to my 10th, because of being so fat, and I'm even fatter now. I'd like to go, but I also would like to go THIN. I know I won't go again if I don't lose lots of weight and be at least NEAR goal.

Today I promise I will not step on the scale again, I promise to eat more veggies, and to drink lots of water.

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Hey y'all!

Me again

This Fitday thing is really helping me a lot. It's not real convenient as far as just typing in what I ate, I've had to enter several things in myself, but, the calculations of fat, carb, and protein are really helping me out, and I love the pie chart thing.

Today, with what I've already eaten and what I plan to have for supper my day's totals will be:
1546 calories
126 fat
26 carb
81 protein

I feel like I'm doing so much better, and I'm taking several of y'all's advice (lower the cals, lower the protein, up the carbs) I hope I'm doing this right.

I know I should get in some exercise, I'll see about that too.

I just might even wait over the weekend to weigh again.

I took my kids to my uncle's pool today. I even put on my suit that I haven't worn in 3 years, a size 18. It fit! I still felt like a beached whale, so I wore shorts too, which kept falling off (old shorts, shot elastic). I just didn't have the courage to "bare all", even in front of just kids and family. I only got in with my baby, so didn't swim any like I thought I might. Oh well, at least I got out.


Hi again,

I must say, that upping my carbs today has upped my cravings for them

I didn't exactly have what I had planned, but my totals for today still come out all right I think:

calories: 1728
fat: 139
carbs: 30
protein: 88

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Sparklemommy
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Thatgirl
posted 06-07-2002

Great job! It feels good being in control doesn't it? You may be hungry not only because of the higher carbs but because you do actually still need a few more calories.

I would add a bit more fat while keeping the protein where it is, to bring your cals up closer to 2000 on most days. The added fat will help take care of your hunger too.

With exercise and your new menu you should start to see some scale movement.
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sparklemommy
posted 06-07-2002

Thanks! this will be some getting used to! I was worried about going over 1500 calories, but you think 2000 would be better? I would love some coffee with cream (decaff) but I was worried that my calories and fat were high enough.

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Sparklemommy

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Whillow
posted 06-07-2002

geez this is all so confusing. I am eating normally hardly any appetite at all.. and my protein is always up .. 111 being the lowest and 187 being the highest.

whillow

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lynnrath
posted 06-07-2002

SM-

Looks like you're figuring out a great plan. Actually, you're doing what I need to. I've been kind of "riding" along the past few months with my scale going up and down. It's time to start tweaking big time!

I think Thatgirl's suggestions are right on. Shoot for about 1800 cals a day and try that for 2-3 weeks and see how you feel and what progress you've made. If it doesn't work or if you gain a pound or two you can always drop it back down.

There's no reason to eat less if you can still lose while eating more. My husband always say he wants to lose weight, not see how miserable he can be!

Lynn
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Whillow
posted 06-07-2002

I dont think this that protein link works very well.. I measured filled all my info in. and it says that my ideal weight is 73 pounds lol..

whillow
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Thatgirl
posted 06-07-2002

Hi SM, Sure, I would say give it a try. Especially if you keep the protein under control and are planning to exercise. You definitely don't want to go into starvation mode. I have had great success these past few weeks rotating p/c/f levels. But if that is too difficult right now, at the very least, try not to eat the same foods daily.

Hi, Whillow, just try it again. I just ran through it again and had no problems. Make sure you are putting the numbers in the female boxes, that you are calculating your height in inches (60 inches for 5 ft. or 63 for 5'3, etc.) and make sure you go through all 3 screens.

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zip2play
posted 06-08-2002


<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
Originally posted by sparklemommy:

Hi again,

I must say, that upping my carbs today has upped my cravings for them [[Frown]]

I didn't exactly have what I had planned, but my totals for today still come out alright I think:

calories: 1728
fat: 139
carbs: 30
protein: 88 <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's a nice place to stay. Don't raise calories any more than that and as you increase your carbs over time during OWL, do it at the expense of fat and I am sure you'll be happy with your results. Keep that 139 grams fat as a MAX.(less will be better) and target the calorie range 1500-1700.
I know that counting everything is MUCH more tedious than just watching carbs but it pays guaranteed dividends.
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sparklemommy
posted 06-08-2002

Thanks again y'all for all your help. The fitday thing is what's helping me keep track, I never realized how many calories I was eating (or f,p too for that matter)! I only counted (mentally) carbs and kept them as low as possible!

Whillow, I too was eating lots of protein, was hardly ever hungry, and thought I was doing good, but for some reason the weight was fluctuating about 3 lbs, instead of going down.

The folks here told me that the excess protein above what your body needs is used in your body just as if it were carbs. Plus I was consuming a whole lot of calories, yet very few carbs, usually under 15, sometimes under 10 even.

I've got the protein within acceptable range now, and calories down by 1000! I'm gonna give it this weekend and see how my weight is Monday. This will be hard as I usually weigh every day, sometimes several times a day!

My weight Friday was 219.5, I'm hoping Monday morning I'll be at least 218, 217 would be even better

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Sparklemommy

OH...btw - I posted this in here, not the newbie forum because newbies DO NOT need to worry about counting calories... that may come WAY down the road, or not at all... but for some of us, we need to count those calories to get to our final destination.