How many calories should I be consuming?

[dianas05]

Hi, My name is Diana! I have been on this website and reading the posts on here for as little as a month now and I thought I would finally start a topic which I have been struggling with.

I really need your help everyone! Here is my story:

I was 156 lbs. at the beginning of last year and since then, I have gone down to 129 lbs. I did this by starting to exercise and eat portion size meals and snacks. It has been about 6 months since I've seen any fat loss and I was wondering what might be the cause???

- I am 17 yrs. old
- 5'2 1/2
- 128 lbs. currently
- I do exercise by alternating weight training w/cardio plus everytime I workout, no matter which (either weight training or cardio), I add another 30- 45 min. of extra cardio. 5 days a week. If you need to know what type of workouts I do then it is "The Firm". I sometimes do my own weight training and cardio like jump-rope, running, dancing, brisk walking...for weights I do free-weights with 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10 lb. dumbbells; I do as many reps as possible until I feel I can't lift any more so I move on to the next exercise.

I have developed some nice calf, quad, hamstring, abdominal, bicep, tricep, upper back muscles but they are covered by fat which I am desperate to eliminate. All I see is that I'm toned but the fat is still there...so if someone would look at me, they wouldn't tell I am workout as much as I am.

- I am currently eating between 1,500-1,600 calories w/o any fat loss. When I get up in the morning I am hungry, when I've eaten something I'm still hungry so obviously I have a pretty high metabolism. This is what I usually eat in a day:

Morning:

2 pancakes w/ fruit spread (1 tsp.) and yogurt (1/2 c.)
OR
2 Vegetarian French Toasts (Tofu w/ Soy & cinnamon), yogurt (1/2 c.), and fruit spread (1 tsp.)
OR
1 bowl of Flax Seed cereal

Lunch:

1/2 c. cottage cheese
OR
2 slice of bread w/vegetarian simulated meat, onion, lettuce, vegetarian cheese slice, and tomatoe

Dinner:

I try to eat around 350 calories...

After my workout, I make myself a soy protein shake w/ milk, 1 or 2 bananas, flax seed oil (1 Tbs.), and oats (3 Tbs.) or wheat germ (2 Tbs.)
but once a week I alternate it w/ a can of tuna.
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That's about all I can think of to say right now but in conclusion, I eat as much protein as I can and try to eat low-fat as well. I include lots of vegetables and fruit...I juice them also! I do not eat meat but I do include tuna, eggs & milk in my diet. I hope someone can help to figure out what's the cause here in order for me to reach my goal of melting fat to see my muscles show up.


~Diana~

[TheBigness]

i think the problem lies in the diet...you eat only 3 meals a day? try making it five. have say your yogurt as a snack between breakfast and lunch and have some veggies with dip or something between lunch and dinner.

[dianas05]

No, I eat whenever I'm hungry. I aim at 1,500-1,600 calories a day, no more then that. Should I be consuming more???


~Diana~

[TheBigness]

,you keep a steady stream of calories thoughout hte day so you avoid getting really hungry and binging. your first meal should be the largest and they should get progressively smaller exept for a post workout meal which can be fairly large

[dianas05]

Is the soy protein shake w/ milk, 1 or 2 bananas, flax seed oil (1 Tbs.), and oats (3 Tbs.) or wheat germ (2 Tbs.) a good post workout meal?

Also, what other advice can you give me? I can get pretty confused sometimes!


~Diana~

[TheBigness]

it seems to fit well with your target calorie intake so yes i would say that seems fitting. although you may want to play around with the calories and see if you have any luck that way.

[dianas05]

Could I go up to 2,000 calories???

[B.A.]

Cut out all Soy products from your diet, ecspecially Tofu. I can assure you that they are anything but healthy. How are your pancakes produced?

Try to eat at least one portion of a 1st class/ essential protein food a day, whether it be a hard boiled egg, tin of microwaved mackeral/ sardines or a class of whole milk (raw and/ or organic if possible).

I'm not up to scratch on the GI table but I think some one mentioned that bananas and oats have a high GI? Try lower GI fruits like apple juice, oranges, grapes or canteloupe.

Animal fats are good for you, and despite the millions of pounds gone into advertisement (the same idiots that claim soy is brilliant), things like cheese, whole milk and butter are what make up a healthy diet. Fats that would be bad for you are crisco, margarine, (and any other solid "vegetable based" fat), canola AKA rapeseed oil, a carcenogenic plant, and also rules out soy oil), corn oil, any heat-extracted oils - including cheap olive oil, and any hydrogenated oil (hydrogenated oil = free radicals and oxidised cholesterol = arterial plaque = heart attack/ stroke/ blood clot etc., though the female hormone estrogen actually helps to protect agains this, until you reach menopause where you really have to be careful with what you eat).

- B.A.

[Griffin]

I dont beleive in all this 5 meals a day nonsense. Excersise some self control and you can survive on 3 meals a day, maybe having an apple or banana as a snack.

It's important to give your stomach time to rest, rather than it constantly dissolving food all day.

[dianas05]

My pancakes are made of:

1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup soy or skim milk
1/2 cup yogurt
1/2 banana
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder

You have to know that I only have 2 of these pancakes 1 or 2 times a week.

Also, I do not eat any hydrogenated oils...I only have essential fatty acids and a very small amount of saturated fat...if any.

Anymore advice on why I can lose the fat???

[B.A.]

Calories ingested doesn't equal calories used for energy or stored as fat, and neither does low fat approach equal lower amount of total calories. Just cut out soy products firstly anyway (IMHO of course ).

- B.A.

[dianas05]

What's wrong with soy products?

[Griffin]

You need saturated fat. No point in cutting it out cos you need it. most people get too much that's all.

Some people get obscessed about cutting fat out their diet but you need it. If you dont get any you'll die.

The reason yu cant lose the fat is you're not doing enough aerobic excersise I would have thought. It takes time and commitment, but you really shouldnt be cutting out all saturated fats. Very bad thing to do.

[dianas05]

I exercise 5 days a week alternating weight training w/ cardio. I do at least 1 hour of either and then I add an additional 30-45 min. of aerobic exercise.

Also, I do eat saturated fat and healthy fats because I know they are neccessary in order for a person to function well.

[Griffin]

Originally Posted by dianas05

Also, I do eat saturated fat and healthy fats because I know they are neccessary in order for a person to function well.

Well you said in an earlier post that you ate hardly any...