Women's Calorie Requirements?

Belle_Curvy · December 24, 2008, 6:43pm

How do you determine the calories requirement for women? It is different depending on age and measure of obesity?

I am a brand new beginner.

41yr old female
5.4"
215lbs
had gastric bypass 7yrs ago (used to weigh 258lbs, got down to 178lbs)

Do I figure calories on the weight I am, or the weight I should be?

I am obese so does this mean I can eat less calories than a healthy woman with more muscle mass?

I have Fish Oil and protein powder but I don’t know about going big into buying supplements.

Here is the eating plan I am going to follow.

Breakfast
2 eggs
1 cheese stick

snack
1/4cup of almonds

Lunch
1 can tuna
salad
banana

snack
1/2cup edamame

Dinner
6 oz chicken or ground turkey
salad
1/2 sweet potato

Before Bed
toast with peanut butter

I am an emotional/bored eater so the hardest thing for me will be consistency.

I look forward to any suggestions or tips anyone may have for me.

G87 · December 24, 2008, 10:11pm

Does edamame have any nutritional value?
You need to aim for protein with EVERY meal.
Your meals seem unbalanced. You eat too little for breakfast, and then eat all the carbs at dinner and before bed… AWFUL idea. Have some cottage cheese before bed, and move the sweet potato and toast to breakfast if you must.

You need more protein all around, less carbs before bed.

What sort of protein powder do you have?

Belle_Curvy · December 24, 2008, 9:52pm

[quote]G87 wrote:

Does edamame have any nutritional value?
You need to aim for protein with EVERY meal.
Your meals seem unbalanced. You eat too little for breakfast, and then eat all the carbs at dinner and before bad… AWFUL idea. Have some cottage cheese before bed, and move the sweet potato and toast to breakfast if you must.

You need more protein all around, less carbs before bed.

What sort of protein powder do you have? [/quote]

Edamame is soy beans per 1/2cup
94 calories, 4gs fat, 8g carbs, 9g protein

It is Designer Whey Protein

I moved the toast to before bed from reading CTs thread. He is recommending carbs at night.

How much protein per snack/meal? There is protein in Edamame and almonds.

I am aiming for between 1300 - 1500 cals a day.

G87 · December 24, 2008, 10:10pm

When CT is recommending carbs before bed, I don’t think he has a peanut butter sandwich in mind. I’m not CT, but in my humble opinion, just add a small amount of carbs to a larger amount of slow-digesting proteins before bed. So my pre-bed meal is some cottage cheese, a spoon of some healthy oil (coconut, fish, almond, etc), and a fruit.

If I were you, I’d look into the Velocity Diet:

http://www.T-Nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_diet_mass/the_velocity_diet

http://www.T-Nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_diet_mass/the_velocity_diet_part_ii

There’s a whole thread dedicated to it, and it will eliminate all thinking on your behalf for a month. It’s pretty hardcore, but it’ll get you where you want, fast. I’m thinking of doing it myself in a few months.

Also… The amount of protein in edamame and almonds is minute. Almonds are mainly fat, which is good, but not enough on its own.

Anyway, my best advice would be to do the V-Diet. It will instill discipline in you, and give you a month in which to read up on this website and decide where to go next for yourself.

Belle_Curvy · December 24, 2008, 10:18pm

[quote]G87 wrote:
When CT is recommending carbs before bed, I don’t think he has a peanut butter sandwich in mind. I’m not CT, but in my humble opinion, just add a small amount of carbs to a larger amount of slow-digesting proteins before bed. So my pre-bed meal is some cottage cheese, a spoon of some healthy oil (coconut, fish, almond, etc), and a fruit.

If I were you, I’d look into the Velocity Diet:

http://www.T-Nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_diet_mass/the_velocity_diet

http://www.T-Nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_diet_mass/the_velocity_diet_part_ii

There’s a whole thread dedicated to it, and it will eliminate all thinking on your behalf for a month. It’s pretty hardcore, but it’ll get you where you want, fast. I’m thinking of doing it myself in a few months.

Also… The amount of protein in edamame and almonds is minute. Almonds are mainly fat, which is good, but not enough on its own.

Anyway, my best advice would be to do the V-Diet. It will instill discipline in you, and give you a month in which to read up on this website and decide where to go next for yourself. [/quote]

I hadn’t considered the Velocity Diet but maybe I will look into that so thanks for the suggestion. So should I add a protein shake for my snacks or actual meat?? And I will give the cottage cheese at night a try.

mudpro69 · December 24, 2008, 10:31pm

Belle,

I agree with G87.

You need to eat your biggest meal of the day at breakfast. Also, try to eat every three hours, this will keep you feeling full throughout the day. Finally, eat lean protein with every meal. Read thru the nutrition forums on this site there are many well informed helpful people here…

Belle_Curvy · December 24, 2008, 10:35pm

[quote]mudpro69 wrote:
Belle,

I agree with G87.

You need to eat your biggest meal of the day at breakfast. Also, try to eat every three hours, this will keep you feeling full throughout the day. Finally, eat lean protein with every meal. Read thru the nutrition forums on this site there are many well informed helpful people here…

[/quote]

I will give it a try. I used to skip breakfast so why not try something new. Doing what I have been doing hasn’t worked. I like the idea of sweet potato for breakfast.

thanks!

G87 · December 24, 2008, 10:54pm

[quote]Belle Curvy wrote:
I hadn’t considered the Velocity Diet but maybe I will look into that so thanks for the suggestion. So should I add a protein shake for my snacks or actual meat?? And I will give the cottage cheese at night a try.
[/quote]

If you really are obese and don’t know much about nutrition, I think the V-Diet is a great starting point. As for the protein shake, I only have protein shakes when I can’t get enough protein from a whole source, or before bed, when having a proper meal would make it tough to go to sleep.
So, for example, if I’m having oats for breakfast, I have a breakfast shake to go with that, because there’s no way in hell I can get enough protein from milk and oats alone.

In your case, I would add egg whites to breakfast (1 whole egg, 3 egg white and 10g olive oil plus some tomatoes and bell peppers make a mean-ass, healthy, low-carb breakfast). For the snacks, I’d look into adding lean, low-carb coldcuts first, and if that’s too expensive or inconvenient, turn to protein powders. Before you go to bed, have some meat or the cottage cheese.

Whey is cool because it’s fast absorbing, but it’s not very versatile or handy for dieting because it doesn’t stay in your body for long, and doesn’t fill you up as well as egg protein + fats, or casein. If the V-Diet is out of your range financially, then look to alternative sources of slow-digesting proteins. This brings us back to cottage cheese, lean cuts of meat, eggs (less so).

As a final note, here’s how I’d rearrange your present diet and where I would add the protein to make optimal use of your resources:

Breakfast
Peanut butter, NO toast
30-40g whey
Banana
1/2 Sweet potato

snack
1/4cup of almonds
Whey

Lunch
1 can tuna
salad
(I would add some extra virgin olive oil)

snack
1/2cup edamame => this really ain’t cutting it, I’m afraid. I would not be eating the edamame at all, or I’d eat it as a side. Change this to a coldcut, add some tomatoes or whatever else you need to make it more palatable.

Dinner
6 oz chicken or ground turkey
salad

Before Bed
150-200g cottage cheese

Belle_Curvy · December 24, 2008, 11:07pm

[quote]G87 wrote:
Belle Curvy wrote:
I hadn’t considered the Velocity Diet but maybe I will look into that so thanks for the suggestion. So should I add a protein shake for my snacks or actual meat?? And I will give the cottage cheese at night a try.

If you really are obese and don’t know much about nutrition, I think the V-Diet is a great starting point. As for the protein shake, I only have protein shakes when I can’t get enough protein from a whole source, or before bed, when having a proper meal would make it tough to go to sleep.
So, for example, if I’m having oats for breakfast, I have a breakfast shake to go with that, because there’s no way in hell I can get enough protein from milk and oats alone.

In your case, I would add egg whites to breakfast (1 whole egg, 3 egg white and 10g olive oil plus some tomatoes and bell peppers make a mean-ass, healthy, low-carb breakfast). For the snacks, I’d look into adding lean, low-carb coldcuts first, and if that’s too expensive or inconvenient, turn to protein powders. Before you go to bed, have some meat or the cottage cheese.

Whey is cool because it’s fast absorbing, but it’s not very versatile or handy for dieting because it doesn’t stay in your body for long, and doesn’t fill you up as well as egg protein + fats, or casein. If the V-Diet is out of your range financially, then look to alternative sources of slow-digesting proteins. This brings us back to cottage cheese, lean cuts of meat, eggs (less so).

As a final note, here’s how I’d rearrange your present diet and where I would add the protein to make optimal use of your resources:

Breakfast
Peanut butter, NO toast
30-40g whey
Banana
1/2 Sweet potato

snack
1/4cup of almonds
Whey

Lunch
1 can tuna
salad
(I would add some extra virgin olive oil)

snack
1/2cup edamame => this really ain’t cutting it, I’m afraid. I would not be eating the edamame at all, or I’d eat it as a side. Change this to a coldcut, add some tomatoes or whatever else you need to make it more palatable.

Dinner
6 oz chicken or ground turkey
salad

Before Bed
150-200g cottage cheese[/quote]

wow!!! Thank you for some great suggestions! I love the look of the breakfast and I do like cottage cheese so I will enjoy that before bed. I didn’t know I could have cold cuts but that would be great at work.

thanks again!

Belle_Curvy · December 26, 2008, 11:39pm

I used the calorie calculations I found online and I used my weight I want to be and I should be eating between 1350 and 1600 calories a day.

I don’t think the V-Diet is for me right now. If I had the will power to drink only drinks for 28 days then I would have the will power to eat the right thing every day.

Thanks for the input. I may do the V-Diet when I get to a plateau. I wonder if they have a mini V-Diet.

byukid · December 27, 2008, 12:12am

[quote]Belle Curvy wrote:
I used the calorie calculations I found online and I used my weight I want to be and I should be eating between 1350 and 1600 calories a day.

I don’t think the V-Diet is for me right now. If I had the will power to drink only drinks for 28 days then I would have the will power to eat the right thing every day.

Thanks for the input. I may do the V-Diet when I get to a plateau. I wonder if they have a mini V-Diet.[/quote]

Belle_Curvy · December 27, 2008, 12:24am

[quote]byukid wrote:
Belle Curvy wrote:
I used the calorie calculations I found online and I used my weight I want to be and I should be eating between 1350 and 1600 calories a day.

I don’t think the V-Diet is for me right now. If I had the will power to drink only drinks for 28 days then I would have the will power to eat the right thing every day.

Thanks for the input. I may do the V-Diet when I get to a plateau. I wonder if they have a mini V-Diet.

Hey!!! that is great and might be the thing to do when I am at home and snacking. Thanks!