NOTE: After review it is obvious that my original calorie intake estimate was wrong. I've edited this post to revise it to 2,000 calories. I originally said that it was 1000, which makes no sense.
I am looking for dietary advice in order to maximize my results. Prior to getting into swimming I was consuming about 2,000 calories per day and trying to favor protein. Considering that I was sitting in front of a computer most of the day even 1,000 calories may have been too much. My weight pretty much stayed around the same 220lbs (lean weight target being somewhere around 185lbs).
Now that I am swimming I probably need to change my dietary intake. I do want to get rid of the extra pounds as soon as possible. However, with these 1 1/2 hour workouts and only 2000 calories I felt out of energy for the first couple of days. My lack of conditioning probably had a lot to do with it.
Some of the questions I have are:
Should I try to remain close to 2000 calories in order to expedite weight loss and then stabilize at a higher caloric intake?
My workouts are at 5:30AM. I can't have breakfast prior to the workout. This means that I am working off of energy from dinner and stored fat. Should I favor certain foods for dinner?
Also, what would be the best distribution of caloric intake throughout the day? Should I front load (heavy breakfast) or have a larger dinner to put some energy away for the morning workout?
Any other thoughts/advice would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Parents
Former Member
1000 calories is way way way too little intake!
making a few assumptions (and sooo sorry if i'm way off on them :) )- that you're a 45 YO male who is 6ft tall and weighs 220lbs, you need in the neighborhood of 2000 calories just to keep your body going (this is called your basal metabolic rate). by consistantly only eating 1000 calories, you're essentially tricking your body into thinking it's starving, so no matter how hard you tried to lose the weight, your body will be working against you.
and now that you've added in swimming, you definitely need to add calories.
i'll leave your other questions to folks who are more versed in the nutritional aspects, rather than the physical aspects
:)
Close: 48, 5' 8"
I should say that the 1,000 cal number is more of a target than a scientific fact. I would not be surprised if I am consuming 3000+ cal per day on the weekends. This isn't hard to do when you consider that most meals at restaurants are in the 1000+ calorie range by themselves.
After about six months of eating with care I haven't really lost a lot of weight. If the basal metabolic intake calculation is correct, then, I must have been consuming an average of 2000 calories per day. Otherwise I should be thin as a toothpick right now.
Now that I am working out maybe I should make a concerted effort to actually keep real numbers on my intake and see where I am. Data is always a good thing.
I guess the more general question might be: Do I stay at the basal metabolic intake of around 2,000 cal per day in order to push weight loss right now or do I up my intake to some number below what I should be consuming due to my workouts and accept a longer slim-down phase?
What's a good way to estimate calories burned during my workouts? Using various calculators on the 'net I estimate that I might be in the 750 to 1000 calorie range right now. My workouts are 1.5 hours but right now I am probably resting 20 to 30 minutes of that time.
1000 calories is way way way too little intake!
making a few assumptions (and sooo sorry if i'm way off on them :) )- that you're a 45 YO male who is 6ft tall and weighs 220lbs, you need in the neighborhood of 2000 calories just to keep your body going (this is called your basal metabolic rate). by consistantly only eating 1000 calories, you're essentially tricking your body into thinking it's starving, so no matter how hard you tried to lose the weight, your body will be working against you.
and now that you've added in swimming, you definitely need to add calories.
i'll leave your other questions to folks who are more versed in the nutritional aspects, rather than the physical aspects
:)
Close: 48, 5' 8"
I should say that the 1,000 cal number is more of a target than a scientific fact. I would not be surprised if I am consuming 3000+ cal per day on the weekends. This isn't hard to do when you consider that most meals at restaurants are in the 1000+ calorie range by themselves.
After about six months of eating with care I haven't really lost a lot of weight. If the basal metabolic intake calculation is correct, then, I must have been consuming an average of 2000 calories per day. Otherwise I should be thin as a toothpick right now.
Now that I am working out maybe I should make a concerted effort to actually keep real numbers on my intake and see where I am. Data is always a good thing.
I guess the more general question might be: Do I stay at the basal metabolic intake of around 2,000 cal per day in order to push weight loss right now or do I up my intake to some number below what I should be consuming due to my workouts and accept a longer slim-down phase?
What's a good way to estimate calories burned during my workouts? Using various calculators on the 'net I estimate that I might be in the 750 to 1000 calorie range right now. My workouts are 1.5 hours but right now I am probably resting 20 to 30 minutes of that time.
