dude, if you are going over 3000 calories a die at any kind of recollect-able amount than you will be seriously messed up in a short amount of time. that's an ASSload of calories, even if they aren't fat calories.

 

^^ NO... maintenance for me is 2600 calories. That does not take into account the fact that I do hard work alot too, carying heavy objects and what not. So working out 3 times a week = 2600 calories for me, and 5 times a week intense = 3000 calories.

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

Look at this calculator and find out what your intake should be.

My average caloric maintenance intake would be 2500 on a day that I sit around on RDT and 3000 on a day that I work the living piss out of myself.

 

DTN might have a higher caloric need due to his physical exertion.

TC is very small - very skinny. 1,000 calories is way too few, regardless of size. It's not healthy long term

BTW - tibbychick... it was actually closer to $750/mo. cut down to just over $200. Of course, I had to spend more at the grocery store, but nowhere near $450 worth

 

carrying heavy stuff at work doesnt count as working out. when your work out you keep your heart rate at a sustained high level for a prolonged period of time, which is what is classified as "working out". do you think you burn the same amount of calories as one workout session where i jog/spint 3 miles in ~20 minutes?

even jogging/sprinting 3 miles only burns like 200-300 calories.

an intense workout is not carrying medical equipment from here to there. the shit is heavy, but you aren't bench pressing it for a solid hour.

 

while lifting weights your goal is not to raise your heart rate. You are performing an anaerobic activity. If lifting weights raises your heart rate above 50% of max you need to work cardio(fatty). If you carry heavy shit all day you burn substantially more calories than say working a desk job, there for needing more calories per day. If you sit and do bench for a solid hour and call that a good work out you need to do some research and re-think how you work out.


You need to find the happy balance that works for your body. Majik don't completely shy away from the weights, just cut back. Adding weight wont totaly screw you, but focus more on cardio and mix some strenght training in there. the more muscle you have the more calories you will burn while doing cardio. So just find the healthy balance for you. One thing you can do as far as your lunch habits is replace the string cheese with some vegies. Also get away from the south beach diet bars alot of highly processed crap in them eat some fresh fruit instead.

 

i didnt mean benching for an hour, i meant going to the gym and working upper body for an hour or so. point is, lifting heavy things here and there at work is not considered a workout.

 

^^^ agreed it isn't considered a workout, but you need more calories to supply your body the energy to continue lifting and moving the heavy objects.

 

The highest catagory on that chart is hard work and working out daily. That puts me at 3600 calories. I don't do hard work all day and I work out 3 times a week, so i put it at a more conservative setting of working out 5 times a week.

 

I'm doing simple stuff around the house, not a workout routine just randomly throughout the night. I get ADD-ish when I sit down and watch TV, so everytime I get up, I do a few pull ups and sit back down. I don't have a routine, and my schedule is only getting more hectic until May. I'm working 8-5 M-F, and class 8-5 straight on Saturdays, teaching Sunday School on Sun. morning, with studying for the CPA Exam whenever I can find time.

I tried eating oatmeal (instant oats) for 2 months every morning for breakfast. Didn't help me lose weight, just made me feel like a ton of bricks in my stomach all day. I tried eating 5 helpings of fruit everyday for over a month, didn't lose weight, but felt more energized (grapes, oranges, apples, bananas - probably too much sugar). The Sargento string cheese is kind of my way to keep my temptations low... giving myself a little treat so I don't overtreat myself, but I do need to replace it with celery or something else. I agree, the South Beach bars aren't great, but it's better than a Snickers and we've had them in the cabinet forever and I'm just trying to get rid of 'em. I don't plan on buying anymore (like $9 for 5 bars!). I've stopped taking the Protein (isopure) supplement since I'm not doing any heavy lifting right now on the weight machine. It's taken almost a year for my shoulder to heal (slightly torn tendon/ligament from climbing a wall improperly). I'm not wanting to overexert myself and reinjure my shoulder. That's the last thing I want to do, but I've been doing pull ups for weeks now with no problem (alternating sternum pull ups and chin ups)

ABQ - I've talked with you briefly before about nutrition and workouts... I value any input you can give me.

 

Im generally small, 5'7" and usually around 110-115 lbs, but recently I gained about 10 lbs so I'm in the process of losing the extra 10. Thats why Im only doing 1000 calories right now. Once I go back down to around 110 then I'll eat a little more. Some days I do eat more, some less.