food and exercise

[angielorna]

So I'm aiming for a 1200 cal diet since I was dieting at that level before starting to sway (lost 8 pounds this past month from diet alone).
If I'm incorporating the hour of exercise (on the elliptical, this works out to approx. 620 cals burned), then what? Do I need to bring my cal level back up or is a net cal of under 600 for the day ok? I'm leaning towards no, but IDK. I'm about 260, if that makes any difference.

Thanks in advance,
Angie

[Abifasc]

I'm not an expert at all but I think you need to eat at least 1500 cals, or you'll send your body into starvation mode and may not lose anymore and start gaining. Net cals of 620 is super low. I'm about 140 and shoot for minimum of 1500 a day with net of 1200, including exercise. I just don't want you to hurt yourself.

[angielorna]

Fitness pal put my calories at 1200, but I'm not sure how to get all the calories in without going over in protein and fat. 620 seems far too low to me too. hmmm, it's a pickle. Guess that means I get to eat more
Thanks!
Angie

[carmella_marie]

I agree if you're working out you need at least 1500 cals bc if your body goes into starvation mode you won't lose weight and you'll stop ovulating!!

[carmella_marie]

Fitness pal always puts peoples cals way too low, they had me at 1200 too.

Regular soda has lots of cals without fat it protein, as does fat free candy like twizzlers, starburst and jelly beans. White bread is also a great choice as it's not too high in fat or protein, if you plan your day well. Look for "fat free" versions if food as they're usually full of sugar=empty cals with no nutrients or fat,

[stephk]

I also burn a lot through exercise - 850 in an hour on the cross trainer. So the way I approach the diet is maximum calories for up to 60g protein and 30% of cals from fat. Generally this works out to 1700-2000 calories although I am more comfortable if I manage to get close to 2000. I do this monday to thursday and then relax at the weekend. I find it works for me and then if there is a day in the week where I can only manage 1800 calories I dont worry too much because I know I will eat more on the weekend.

myfitnesspal is useful to track things but I would not take their recommendations for calories, its just a computer at the end of the day, it doesnt know you are TTC and it doesnt know what is the most healthy amount of calories. It will just calculate what you need to do to lose a certain amount of weight in a certain time period. I think if your net calories are 600, you will lose ovulation pretty quickly as your body will likely be shocked into hanging onto everything it can.

[unwirklich]

You can edit fitness pals numbers yourself. Click "goals" from the "My home" tab, and then the green "change goals" button in the middle of the page towards the bottom. When it asks if you want guided or custom hit custom.

Though it annoyingly won't just let you put like "40 g protein" You can set a caloric level and the percentages for protein, fat, etc, and get it pretty close. Though with fitness pal when you enter exercise for the day it will change the levels on your food diary. It automatically adjusts calories, protein, etc to give you a net of your goal. Mine started off at 1200 too, and I wasn't losing anything after about a week. I upped it to 1400 and don't stress if I go over that as long as it's under 1800. I've been losing about a lb a week, which is not super fast, but considered a healthy weight loss rate even if you're breastfeeding.

I asked when I first started about whether or not the LE recommendations were "net" (calories - exercise burned) and was told no. So I track my exercise, but ignore the changes it makes to my food diary on fitness pal.

[atomic sagebrush]

I think it would be better for you to up cals to the normal 1500-1800 range. That having been said, since you do have some weight to spare you have more leeway on this and if you are really not liking the idea of upping cals, you can tentatively try with lower cals + exercise and go from there seeing how you do.

[atomic sagebrush]

Fitness pal put my calories at 1200, but I'm not sure how to get all the calories in without going over in protein and fat. 620 seems far too low to me too. hmmm, it's a pickle. Guess that means I get to eat more
Thanks!
Angie

You are NOT getting 620 calories a day. That is not how food works, there are all the nutrients in the food that have to be contended with and they don't just disappear becasue you've burned off some calories, KWIM?

In the Dream Member section there is an essay "quick fixes for diet disasters" that will help with ideas for getting protein and fat.

You DO have the option of including meat - this is exactly the type of scenario where a small piece of chicken will meet your protein requirement for very few calories. Not everyone can or wants to do this but I think it would be the best option here.