I recently came across the caloric intake formula used by the Insanity program. My friend Yvette sent it to me, and I did the algebra to figure out what I should be consuming. I HAD been working out 6x a week, up until last week, since my year long gym contract ended, and money's been tight with the new house, I haven't renewed it. I have been doing 10 mile bike rides instead, though; I am building up my cardio stamina on the bike in preparation for the triathlon next year. I am going to renew my gym membership in September so I can continue to swim and lift weights, and ride my bike at home.
Calorie Formula
Energy required to maintain your current weight:
655 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in yrs)=
Basal Energy Expenditure
Now multiply that # by 1.55 for 3-5 days of exercise or 1.77 for 6-7 days a week
Finally, deduct 500 calories a day for weight loss
Here's the formula with my numbers plugged in:
655 + (4.35 x153) + (4.7 x 64) - (4.7 x 32) = 1470.95 Basal Energy Expenditure (the amount of calories I need to sustain life and current weight, without factoring in exercise)
1470 x 1.77= 2603.5815 - 500 = 2103 (The amount of calories I need to sustain life and lose weight at the current rate I am exercising)
What??? This is news to me. I have been eating between 1400-1600 calories. This definitely explains why I have plateaued. I have been losing inches, gaining muscle, and getting smaller in physical size, but the weight on the scale definitely has been stagnant. My body thinks I am starving. It is not going to allow me to lose any more weight unless I feed it more!
The increase of calories doesn't mean I get to "eat whatever I want," or down a bunch of junk food. The concept is simple: increase the amount of complex carbohydrates and wholesome foods I already do eat: sweet potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus, cabbage, whole grain breads, pasta, rice, and oats.
I finally bought steel cut oats and quinoa from the health food store last week. They are both protein-filled hot grain cereals and are delicious. I will NEVER again be able to eat rolled oats, or "instant oatmeal" again. It's unbelievable the difference whole grains make when you get used to them. I have been being extremely conscious of including and increasing the complex carbs in my meals, and have been doing well, except for these last few days. I seem to get out of my routine on Fridays when I am off work, and on the weekends, where I either don't eat enough, or I eat too many simple carbs or high sugar foods. When I do that, I notice immediate water weight gain. However, I have kept the 50 lbs off for over a year now. Monday - Thursday I do very well because I am at work, I pack my lunch, and I make a point to eat every 2 hours. Here's a sample of what I have been eating:
8 am: Steel cut oats and strawberries & blueberries w/Truvia
10 am: Oikos Greek yogurt and raspberries w/Truvia
12 pm: a plum or 1/2 c cherries
1 pm: spring greens, carrots, snow peas, broccoli slaw salad w/tuna, sunflower seeds and ranch dressing. Sweet potato w/olive oil based butter, Truvia and cinnamon.
3 pm: 24 raw almonds, whole wheat toast w/almond or sun butter
5 pm: work out and protein shake w/almond milk
7 pm Dinner: varies chicken, fish, 97% lean ground beef w/cauliflower, asparagus or brussels sprouts, & 1/2 c brown rice
Notably, this weekend, (during the meals I didn't fall off the wagon), I have been eating 4 or 5 egg white omelettes w/cheese, bell pepper, onion and turkey bacon, w/ a bowl of steel cut oats w/strawberries and blueberries, and Oikos greek yogurt for breakfast, tuna w/hardboiled egg on whole wheat and flax bread for lunch w/ a side of carrots and cherries, and steak w/sweet potato for dinner.
Today, I am going to the baseball game and will likely eat a hot dog. Tomorrow is my niece's 1st birthday, and I will probably eat some cake. But it's ok. I am not a yo-yo dieter. I changed my LIFE and habits. It's ok to indulge a little from time to time.
On a side note: the blood work results from my physical came in on Friday. All tests came back NORMAL. This is a blessing. In May '08 when I had my physical, I was borderline high blood pressure, borderline high cholestrol, and pre-diabetic!! In '09, all my results came back normal, as well, due to 20 lb weight loss at the time.
My BodyBugg program does all of the calculations for me of my current weight, what i want to weigh, what i want to lose per week and gives me what my deficit should be (intake vs burned) -- it set me at eating (i believe) 2100 calories and burning 3600 per day -- which seemed like a LOT to me.
ReplyDeleteBy this calculation above, I should be intaking 2646. Again, that is a LOT. Geebus! I don't know if I can do that. Even the 2100 was high and difficult and I lowered it down a bit to 1700 (and 3200 burned - you can't change the deficit without changing how many lbs you want to lose per week).
I'll let you know how this method works out. I assume BodyBugg knows what they're doing, right?