Calories, too high? XP

[MarissaLinnea]

Ok, so I'm using Paleotrack because I'm trying to figure out how much carbs I'm eating through the day. I'm doing that because my workouts are strenuous and I want to make sure I'm getting enough to fuel my workouts.

So today, I logged all my food and it says I consumed 2522 calories (only 69g carbs) and it was about 64% fat. This is before having any snack tonight, which I might not have now that I know how many calories I've already had today, lol!!! Today was a pretty typical day food wise, so I didn't realize I was consuming that many calories on a day to day basis.

Doesn't that seem like too much? I mean, I can cut down on fats I guess, start drinking my coffee black instead of putting coconut milk in it *groan*......but I really can't imagine cutting down on actual food, unless I make my meat portions smaller. But, I'm at 158g of protein which is think is a good amount of protein and I probably shouldn't change that, especially because I work out so much

I would like to lean out a little so I have bumped up my workouts during my Whole 30, but I'm afraid my caloric intake is too much overall. Thoughts?.

[Laura Jeanne Penrod]

I guess my question is how do you feel and how do your clothes feel? I think tracking is good but also misses the point of ISWF. I think they want you to psychologically connect with why and how much you are eating, as well as, hunger and non-true hunger. Mind you, I'm on day 2. Every diet I've done I've always counted calories, so this idea is odd to me too, but I feel free in a sense. I'm not a slave to numbers and I feel good. I don't know how I'll feel after 30 days of I don't lose an ounce, but I have faith I will. I know it doesn't really answer your question, but I'd you're burning a lot working out, you should see some physique changes, I can't imagine you won't.

[missmary]

Please please don't track, and this is why: 2500 looks like too much to you, so you imediately start thinking about restricting (and restricting fats!) and hunger and depravation, and well...it sure doesn't look like a W30 to me anymore.

You will know if your food is fueling your workouts well when your performance in the workout is good/improving and your energy post-workout is also good. It is quite likely that you are burning 2500 or more during the day (between working out and living), but even if you are not, give your body and your hormones a chance to settle before adding restriction on top of this good work.

now, if you are eating when you aren't hungry, or feeling super sluggish after meals, that sort of thing, maybe adapt a little. but if you feel good and satisfied just keep it up and try to set aside that anxiety for 30 days.

[erinepenny]

If you are doing a whole 30 I dont think they want people to track calories.In the guidelines they give examples such as the meat portion fitting into the palm of one's hand.As far as eggs for a woman that would be 2 -3 eggs.The rest should be veggies and finish up with a little bit of fruit.The protein part of the meal could be increased based on hunger.Probably best to stick to the guidelines .It seems they want people to stay away form the scale and measuring and counting calories and pay attn to hunger and how you feel

[Tom Denham]

What she said. Amen.

Increasing your workouts to lose more weight is often counter-productive. Trying harder has a nasty tendency of inspiring your body to slow your metabolism so that you conserve more instead of burning more as you intended. I know. When I started losing weight two years ago, I got enthusiastic and started trying to make it go faster by adding a few miles of running to my CrossFit workouts. I stopped losing weight. When I calmed down and just followed my normal program, I lost weight steadily.

2500 calories is nothing for someone working out hard. I remember meeting with a dietician back when I ran marathons and was genuinely skinny (170 pounds). She counted the calories in a normal day's meals for me and said I was eating 4200 calories. It was obvious she thought I was eating too many calories, but she was too wise to criticize someone as skinny as I was then.

[MarissaLinnea]

Thank you for all the responses, I appreciate it. I'm going to just continue eating the way I have been and listen to my body. Just to clarify, the only reason I'm tracking is because I'm trying to figure out the best amount of carbs for me and what to eat to properly fuel my workouts. And this is also complicated by the fact that I have to eat low FODMAP, which is something I'm not used to. I would love to be able to eat any and all veggies and fruits like I really want to, but the reality is that I can't do that or my stomach will be distended, bloated, gassy, and I will have horrible diarrhea.

So, it's hard for me to know if I'm getting enough carbs from the veggies that are allowed on FODMAP since I have never had to eat to these guidelines before. The fact that I saw how many calories I ate yesterday was secondary to what I was really tracking for, but of course I was a bit surprised to see the number so high. At any rate, I'm good with it and I'm feeling good, and I might even throw in another sweet potato a day for good measure.

[NLK]

Reading this thread I was immediately stuck by your sugar binge ticker. You seem to have found a place where you aren't being hunted so badly by sugar demons - so you are wise to stay intuitive and listen to your body rather then arbitrary numbers like calories or fat grams. If you want to fine tune for performance - just keep a journal of what carbs you ate pre/post or whenever and how you felt.

Don't fix what isn't broken and obviously you are on a great track

[MarissaLinnea]

Reading this thread I was immediately stuck by your sugar binge ticker. You seem to have found a place where you aren't being hunted so badly by sugar demons - so you are wise to stay intuitive and listen to your body rather then arbitrary numbers like calories or fat grams. If you want to fine tune for performance - just keep a journal of what carbs you ate pre/post or whenever and how you felt.

Don't fix what isn't broken and obviously you are on a great track

Thank you for the suggestion! Yes, I'm quite proud of my sugar binge ticker as it has been very difficult for me to overcome. I attribute most of the success with my sugar binges to a new book a read called "Brain Over Binge". I highly recommend to anyone who has issues with binge eating. But I agree with you, I seem to be in a place where I'm settling down and it's better not to disrupt it.

[Cindy Luong Lee]

Thanks for posting this. I was wondering the same thing. I've been W30 for 2 weeks now and on a whim tracked my calories just to see how my fat and protein added up. Similar to you, my fat/protein is high on at 55% fat, 30% protein and rest in carb. I struggled with just 3 meals and a snack and now found my sweet spot of no snacks and 4 full meals (you can say meal 1 is my post WOD meal as I work out at 5:15am). I eat a meal at 6:30am, 10:30, 2:30 and 6:30. Huh, just realized as I was typing that I get hungry and eat every 4 hours. I feel good - stronger and less tired. So I guess ditto what everyone else said, if you're eating strict whole 30 and you're feeling good, then ignore the fat ratio.