How do you set your Calorie Target?

[BSU 61]

My Doc recommended a target calorie range of 1,000 to 1,200 a day.

I was doing well staying in that range, averaging around 1,050 a day and hitting the gym regularly, then I hit an off week where I lost less than normal and said "to hell with it" and laid off the gym and stopped being so strict on the calories for a week (went to 1,379 a day on average). Surprisingly, I lost more than normal that week. Tried it for another week (1,333 a day) but went back to the gym and, again, had a better week than normal.

So, I am getting the feeling that upping my target may be a good thing. Awesome problem to have, however, the process has been haphazard so far. Does anyone have experience in how to dial-in a good calorie target?

One concern I have is that in getting in the higher calories I am also getting in a higher percentage of fat and carbs. I do not want to build bad long term habits for short term wins.

[devint 162]

I don't have a good way to dial-in to a calorie target, other than realize your body is always going to be dynamic with this and require you to respond to what it's doing at the time. It will require a lot of change as you drop weight.

But I'd like to throw in there that myself and others on the boards here swear by focusing on the grams of macronutrients as a better way to gauge nutritional success than calories. To your point, if you just eat higher calories in carbs that may not be what your body needs. This includes keeping up discipline and program when a stall happens, cause there's really nothing anyone can do to prevent that from happening at some point.

Best of luck on finding what works for you.

[JamieLogical 8,684]

It's tough. You have to find the right balance for you. If you are exercising a lot, then you need to up your calories in order to sustain that level of activity. It seems so counter-intuitive to eat more in order to lose more, but it really does work! I'm not doing intense exercise yet, but I was instructed to start doing 60-90 minutes of "brisk walking" at three weeks post-op. Well, at that point I was only getting under 600 calories a day and according to my heart rate monitor, 60 minutes of brisk walking was burning about 600 calories. Clearly I needed to eat more in order to be able able to sustain that. So I've worked very hard in the last two weeks to increase my calories and I've gotten up over 900 a couple of times. It's definitely made my walking easier, because now my heart rate doesn't go as high.

When I get to increase my intensity and start weight training at two months post-op, I intend to try to get my calories up over 1100.

Edited October 3, 2014 by JamieLogical

[livvsmum 2,368]

I focus more on my other numbers and the calories tend to fall into line. I try to get at least 80g of Protein, 30-40g carbs, and 100oz Water. Once I've done that the rest usually follows suit.

[Recycled 2,182]

I have found that it's more about not allowing the body to get used to any exact limits.....due to it's ability to adapt. If you eat too little the metabolism will slow down to prevent loss. Eat too much for a lengthy period and you will gain. I eat more (with concentration on protein), on the days I go to the gym. Then I abruptly throw in a day of minimals, but still keep the Protein up (add in some additional Protein supplements) I figure it keeps the bod from getting used to any one routine.

However for a baseline that provides me plenty of nourishment for exercise and still keeps the weight coming off, I try to stay around 800-1000 calories a day and as much over 100 grams of protein as I can get in.

As time goes on, stalls will become more prevelant and the weight loss will slow regardless of intake, Just don't get discouraged. As long as you continue to stick to your guidelines, the stalls will break and the losses will continue.

Edited October 3, 2014 by Recycled