Comments on: Calorie Shaming

By: Diane

Diane — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 17:38:22 +0000

Hi there –

I have been feeling a bit challenged with all of this information. Trying to eat anough which of course totally freaks me out because I have always been restricting someting. That said… I have jumped into the pool and eaten more than I enjoy eating. I have had advice to eat everything just to cram calories in my mouth and have subesequently blown up.. as expected and that is ok. Now then, I feel like I am at apoint where I can get back into the gym without causing harm to my recovery. I also have been wanting ti figure out my calorie requirements using the TDEE clacualtor as a gauge. I had been doing that and I usee My fitness pal which tends to be a trigger… especially when I complete my log for the day and it gives me this little message about what I would weight in 5 weeks like this. That gives me heartburn. Anyway… this is what I have done and I am not sure if it makes sense and hope that Amber will “weight in” (hahaha get it?). OK, so I used the claculator per Maber’s advice and dialied in my goal weight. I based that activity level on sitting on my heiny all day and if I were to go homne and really do nothing. I amusing that TDEE as my minimum requirement and have changed my fitness pal to reflect this number as my claorie goal. THen… I make sure to log every step I take into the darned thing and make sure I eat the calories it says I have burned too so at the end of the day I shouyld have eatne ALL of my minimum calroeis plus whatever I lost during exercise. That is the only way I could use my fitness pal without feel,ing neurotic like Iw as before and forcing myself to use it as a tool to make sure I get enough, as opposed to making sure I ate too little. I am not sure if this hels anyone but I think fitpall can be a great tool if modified to fit healthy number. Oh…and also changed my macro percentages so I can mak sure to get enough of each, as well to help me figure out how and when to tweak if needed.

By: Kara

Kara — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 21:41:54 +0000

Yeah… all of that really sounds like an eating disorder to me. The praise for cutting more and more and more calories, the binges afterwards. God. Haven’t I been through THAT.

By: What happens when the pursuits of “skinny” and “strong” collide? | Fit and Feminist

Tue, 21 May 2013 16:53:36 +0000

[…] most of us, this is just not possible. It is not possible for us to train hard without eating a considerable amount of food to support our bodies. (As a triathlete, swimmer and distance runner who lifts weights, I find I […]

By: Barry Bliss

Barry Bliss — Wed, 08 May 2013 15:42:26 +0000

Thanks.

By: Go Kaleo

Go Kaleo — Wed, 08 May 2013 14:41:24 +0000

If a person needs to gain weight to recover from an eating disorder or starvation, they should eat 2500 minimum calories a day for women, and 3000 daily for men, even if that’s more than a 500 calorie surplus. The body needs those extra calories for repair. If they are gaining for aesthetics, then a smaller surplus would be better to maximize muscle gain and minimize fat gain (assuming that was the goal). So short answer: it depends on the situation.

By: Barry Bliss

Barry Bliss — Wed, 08 May 2013 12:44:31 +0000

Amber, do you believe that if a person needs to gain weight they should do it no more than 500 calories extra per day?
I realize there may be too many other variables to consider and that your experience is in losing extra weight and then maintaining optimal weight primarily.

By: EmmaW

EmmaW — Thu, 02 May 2013 23:32:06 +0000

You need even more calories than that. Keep up the good work of healing yourself.

http://www.youreatopia.com/blog/2011/9/14/i-need-how-many-calories.html

By: Kristin

Kristin — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 04:23:33 +0000

Um. My life has changed.
I have been a chronic dieter for 12 years. You name it, I did it. I gave it up. I counted it. I did everything…saw every doctor.

Anyway. Long story short..because we all have our long stories. Reading what you post has made me realize that my problem is not enough food.
I have been living (hardly) on 1200-1400 calories a day WITH activity for the past 12 years in one form or another.
If and when I did decide to “go out” for dinner …or “eat more than normal”
I would be bloated, sick and gain 5 pounds. NO KIDDING.
Discouraging to say the least.

I enjoy working out: lifting weights and doing HIIT cardio. I got to a point that I couldn’t do these things because I would black out. I would have tunnel vision. Rapid/pounding heart beat when I walked up stairs…low blood preassue…hair loss..anger..depression.

You posted something that said something like…you need to eat to support your body. (not exact..but you know the idea 😉

and right then. it hits me. I am not eating enough to support my own BODILY functions (aka…being alive) and the activity that I like to do.

THUS…putting myself into starvation mode..(body holding weight)
down regulation my metabolism, shutting off my sex drive (who needs sex when you are starving?!) stopping my period (again who needs babies?!)
messing up my digestion (not top priority) and making my hair fall out.

I’ve done a lot of corrective work up to this point but THIS BLOG was the light bulb that I needed. I was being so ignorant.

1 week into “eating enough” (about 1800-2000) to support my body weight and activity level…I have lost 4 total inches. I AM NOT bloated or holding water anymore.
Now this is not just eating whatever I please, it is mindful eating. Not much processed food at all.
It is also working out / lifting heavy and doing cardio in the form of intervals for only about 20 total minutes 3x per week. (which by the way I can DO without feeling like I would pass out)

……ugh. and its because I am eating….
FML! Thanks Kaleo <3 seriously from the bottom of my heart.

By: Leanne

Leanne — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 20:49:39 +0000

Yes, I need to lose about 50lbs to get to my goal weight of 140lbs. I’m a mom of two small kids but never lost any of the baby weight and it’s been 4 years since my youngest was born (well, I did when I breastfed, but it came back). I’m not a horrible eater, but I get cravings (worse then when I was pregnant). have fibromyalgia so I’m always in pain and always tired (and I really do mean ALWAYS). I have chronic insomnia and don’t get more then 4-5 hours of sleep a night. Add to all that an anxiety disorder and my body has a great recipe for stress so that means high levels of cortisol (and very low levels of Vit D, but I don’t know if that has anything to do with all of it). I’ve tried counting calories but I have absolutely no will power and, like I said, I get cravings and just HAVE to have something! I eat a lot of fast food because I am so tired it’s hard to have the energy to cook. I’m confused about how this all works. I would need to eat more then the 1400-1600 calories I’m ‘supposed’ to eat based on fatsecret.com or sparkpeople.com? But what kind of food? And how much exercise? Like I said, I have no energy at all (and yes, I know exercising would boost my energy and help me sleep…such is the vicious circle of having Fibromyalgia).

By: Sue

Sue — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 22:34:06 +0000

Thank you so much for this. I maintained a healthy BMI for a couple of years (after a lifetime of obesity) eating 2500-3000 calories a day with about an hour a day of intentional — not necessarily strenuous — activity. I’m tall, and I generally ate fairly “clean”/mostly whole foods, but plenty of meat, fats, wheat, etc. in addition to lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. It was easily sustainable and I loved not having to eat like a “dieter”. Unfortunately, I let life events derail me and am struggling to find that place again where I can get in enough activity to support eating like a regular human being — you are a great inspiration!