So - here it is...the long awaited rationalization of why I think Erika should consider trying to eat more to lose more.
First, I am not a nutritionist, or fitness expert
.just a person who has worked pretty hard to figure out what it takes for my body to work the most efficiently. So, anything that I post here is not intended to be medical or nutritional advice, just my personal experiences!
A few facts:
1.While we all have the same basic nutrients requirements generally speaking, each one of us is enough different that what works for one will not work for all.
2.Women generally (there are exceptions of course) dont bulk up when gaining muscle. They do become toned.
3.Muscle burns more calories at rest than fat.
4.Muscle also weighs smaller than fat. I know that may sound odd, but what I mean by that is a pound of lean muscle is more compact than a pound of fat. Therefore, a more muscular body, which burns more calories at rest, will weigh more than a same sized body with a higher body fat percentage.
5.Muscle needs protein to rebuild, restore and even maintain. If your body is not fed the protein (complete protein that is
.) it will take it from itself, causing you to lose muscle mass
6.To lose a pound of body weight, you must create a calorie deficit of 3500 calories. At a rate of a pound a week loss, that would be a deficit of 500 calories per day, through diet, exercise or a combination thereof.
7.your body requires a certain amount of calories each and every day just to function, even if you never got up out of bed. An easy, accepted rule of thumb is to figure approx. 10 calories per pound of body weight. The problem with that is it does not take into account age, gender or activity level. A more accurate way to determine your basal metabolic rate is to go to:
http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ From there you can determine (again generally, because we are not all the same
.) your daily caloric needs based on your activity level.
8.When you exercise, you burn calories (obviously!) Without going as far as VO2 testing, the most accurate way to determine your calorie burn per session is with a heart rate monitor that takes the following data: your age, gender, height, weight, heart rate measured constantly for the duration of the exercise, and of course, duration of exercise. You cannot trust the calories burned data on the cardio equipment at the gym, unless they are specifically asking for all that info and constantly monitoring your heart rate (I will say, however, they are a great tool to use as a comparison from day to day as you work out)
OK. So, Im going to use my stats as an example.
I am 41 years old, 57 tall, and 146 pounds (as of last Friday). According to the calculations, my BMR is 1412 calories per day. Thats BEFORE activity. My typical workouts range from 450 calories-700 calories burned depending on whether I am focusing on weight training or cardio, and I work out 5-6 days per week on average (always, I give myself a day off.) That puts me at a minimum in the moderately active and more likely into the very active range. (the choices are sedentary, lightly active, moderately active, very active, extremely active). But, for the sake of this well go with moderate. Now I multiply my 1412 calories by 1.55 to get my daily calorie burn, and I come up with 2189. To lose a pound a week, I deduct 500 calories per day and I am left with a total of 1689 per day.
Seem like a lot? It is. I used to eat 1200-1400 calories. I would lose weight to a certain point, and then it wouldnt budge. My trainer (who also has a background in sports nutrition) BEGGED me to eat more. I finally relented, and consented to eat 1600-1700 calories a day for 2 weeks. Within a day, I felt better. In 12 weeks I lost 11.5 pounds, 9 of which were fat (did body fat analysis as well).
I do best when I eat constantly 6 times a day, 3 meals, 3 snacks! The trick for me is to never get too hungry thats when I make bad choices and either eat the wrong foods, or too much of the good ones. AND (this was HUGE for me
) the biggest change I had to make was to make sure I had eaten fully ½ of my daily calorie allotment by the time I had finished lunch. Not eating enough early in the day made me crash hard in the afternoon. Once I balanced my day into thirds (for me its snack/meal, meal/snack, meal/snack) and divided my calories by thirds (roughly 550 calories per meal/snack set) I noticed a big difference. I build my day around my fat & protein selections (I eat protein at a minimum of 4, and usually 5 of my feedings!). Protein helps me maintain the muscle that I work so hard to achieve (thereby burning more calories at rest) and I need the fat to feel more satisfied for a longer period.
Here is a sample day randomly pulled from my journal:
7:00 am. 1 cup Kashi go-lean cereal (10g soy protein), ½ cup 1% milk, 2 TBSP dried blueberries (247 calories)
exercise
.like Erika
fiendishly!
10:30 am Smoothie: 1 container fat free, artificially sweetened yogurt, scoop of chocolate protein powder, 1 small banana, 1 TBSP shredded coconut (for the fat) 1 TBSP sugar free Nesquik choc. Milk mix, ice..(305 calories)
1:00 Lunch 1 cup minestrone soup, 3 oz. chicken breast, salad with 2 tsp reduced fat vinaigrette, 2 light rye bread, toasted, with 1TBSP Brummel & Brown spread (475 calories)
4:00 snack ½ cup low fat cottage cheese, 17 Multigrain Wheat thins (220 calories)
6:30 dinner 3 oz. grilled swordfish, 2/3 cup brown rice, carrot sticks, steamed asparagus (315 calories)
9:00 snack jello parfait sugar free jello w/ Clementine & 2 TBSP cool whip light, 2 TBSP home-made granola (115 calories)
Total for the day
.1677 calories right on my target. Eliminating alcohol is also a biggie for me....empty calories I just don't need (problem is, I love it so much!)
Like I said before. We are all different. What works for one, will not work for all. And if youve found something that works for you, thats awesome. It can be so difficult, and frustrating. But time and lots of trial and error, (and great advice from a great trainer) helped me a lot.
Just food for thought for anyone who has plateaued and can't seem to break thru! The answer isn't always "eat less". If you don't want to eat MORE, then perhaps you need to consider exercising less. Your body is way smarter than you may want it to be...now it's your job to unravel the puzzle behind it...
Very nice Ericka very nice.
)
My very good friend & workout partner just bought one as well...and now we are going to start looking for an event to ride..
) DH just booked us a trip to Cancun for the 1st week of December to celebrate our 20th Anniversary. 
(ummm..no kids...grandma already put that week on her calendar 
around here, about 45 minutes north of Saranac lake. you are going to be about an hour from me
My friend already has her eye on a 50 miler, but I can't do it that day (we are out of town...) I may do a shorter 25 miler on the first of June though. Tomorrow, I expect to get out for a good long ride...I'll let you know how it goes! 
I think the pressure is getting to me on every surface. 
) 
I'm sure you need those hockey games - positive stress release time!! 
)
