Some questions ... pedometers, callories and meal times (for later on)

[luv_bug]

I have some questions and would love everyone's opinions. After being stalled for about 2 months now I'm starting to get really frustrated:

Q1: Do you think it is super important not to eat after 8:00 pm??? (I've heard some people say that this can effect weight loss).

Q2: How does one determine how many callories they should be eating to keep losing after long time following the lifestyle (I have lost 100 lbs so far.. and its now 1 year, 3 months later)?

Q3: How many callories should one be aiming to burn in a day (I just bought a pedometer to keep track of excercise -- how much is enough -- OR what about # of steps) .. for today I have walked 12,207 steps and according to the pedometer burned "465.3 callories" from those steps ... roughtly 8.5 km/5 miles)

ANy thoughts?

[2big4mysize]

congrates on the 100 pounds gone forever. I hear you on that stall frustration I had a 12 week 5 day one and went nuts waiting for it to break.

First as we lose weight our bodies need less fuel to do the exact same things about 9 cals off BMR for ladies and 7.5 cals for guys, so have you adjusted your eating as you got smaller? ( cause your body needs about 900 cals less today then when you started just doing the same things) Many super heavy weights call it their ah ha moment when they reaslize this fact. You either got to increase the activity level ( that was what Dr A called exercise in DANDR) or eat less cals.

Now to answer your questions. If you were hungry after 8PM then you should eat. our bodies do burn cals while we sleep and preform cellular repairs then too. We don't flip a switch and shut down. If you are just munching to munch then no do eat. But that rule goes for the whole day 24 hours a day unless it has been 6 hours since your last awake meal you should not be eating unless you are hungry and even then Dr A sasy to just have a small protein/fat snack with some of your carbs if you are not hungry. So are you feeding hunger or boredome? Those TV commercials can trigger wantings too in the evening of you watch.

2) cals can be determined by BMR formulas and then use the Haris Bennedict formula to figur your target cals based on activity level. You should know those cals are based on carb fuel burning diets so eating Atkins you will have about a 25-30 percent metabolic advantage on those numbers so if you feel hungry eating your targe have a few more and don't sweat it. By now you should know your body's hunger signals since appetite can be supresssed and listen for them and fuel accordingly. knowing we can snack when hungry helps to stop the packing it away cause you never know when the next meal will be as folk appear to be doing at buffett lines.

Exercise needs will vary as we get in better shape our body can do the routein with less cals burned so we either need to increase the intensity or duration. I was doing HIIT and thought I was doing so well with the speed at 7.5 and the incline up slightly back in the fall of 03 until the fellow next to me pointed out I was nose breathing the whole way so it wasn't HIIT. I noticed doing the BFL lifting plan I needed to add more plates to get the 10 percieved exertion range every 2-3 weeks too.
I had a pedometer and started with the 10 K a day plan just to get in shape and then did a walk America program tallying my steps on a forum that plotted them as miles walked across the US. See if they have one ofr CA if you want to virtual walk CA. After I got in shape I didn't count my stepps as exercise just fun oh wow looking what I did today while doing my cardio and living my life. When you do your steps do you have a time where you actually are doing brisk walking/jogging/running as your aerobic part of your Atkins workout? what are you doing for your resistance part? Both are mandatory parts of the Atkins plan.
Oh and don't even think about those cals burned cause then folk think in terms of burning off that dessert or treat they had and can sabatoge their exercise plan.

[luv_bug]

Re: the Walking -->
Yes -- I have started back at the gym (I was going last summer but stopped while in school). I've been going for roughly 2.5 weeks so far - so I'm not expecting miracles yet .. That being said, yesterday I did cardio for about 20-30 minutes and then weight lifting (I'm in a physiotherapy recover program ... the arms aren't getting AS much work as my legs because I still have an injured shoulder) but I have been doing lots of activity none the less with resistance.

I have also upped what I was doing during the summer -- back then I basically just used the treadmill for walking -- NOW I'm able to jog or run on it for short intervals ... this is a HUGE improvement for me after such a sedentary lifestyle when I was fat fat fat...

I'm just frustrated that I'm not seeing any movement on the damn scale!!! Hahahaha

Thanks for the advice :-)

As for cals, I am eating less of them than I was at the beginning .. Then I was having HUGE meals every meal with snacks in between.

I'm pretty much ahving 3 meals a day .. For example, a typical menu might look like (don't quote me .. because I flip it up a little bit -- but nothing illegal)

B: (typical -- i only grabbed a pep. stick yesterday because I was running late)
2 eggs with tbsp cream mixed in scrambled in butter

L: (yesterday)
1.5-2 cups lettuce
1 egg sprinkled over top
1 mushroom (sometimes?)
1 tbsp salad dressign (LC - 0g sugar)

D: (This is last night)
1 cup green beans
roast beef (2-3 peices?)
1 tbsp salad dressing on the beaf

Do you think those are too many calories for a
163-165 lbs 23 year old woman? (I keep fluctuating between 163-167 lately)

THanks for all the help...

[2big4mysize]

good for you getting your body moving. I know what a joy you must be feeling moving faster and longer on the treadmill. I felt like rocky on those steps at a mere 2MPH back in 2002 now I'm at 7MPH keep moving and improving.

Have you measured? when I was annoynned the scales were not moving well from sept 2003- dec 2003 I was actually adding lean body mass about 11 pounds worth from 6/03-12/03 as I shed fat mass so I was shrinking in size just not showing on the scales. Have you measured yourself to see if you too are shrinking in size as the scales fail to vailidate your hard work?
No I don't think you are eating too much. Are you still doing induction? Have you seen your doc since you started to be sure you are not deficient in any vits, minerals, and/or chemicals like thyroid hormones? It is hard to meet all of the RDAs with induction food choices. I was potassium deficient during my extended induction and my thyroid levles went down during it too.

[Houston Heather]

Measure measure measure!

I thought I was "Stalled" until I measured and realized I lost 5.5 inches in 8 days!

I also added CoQ10 and some Carnitine supplements during that time, while cutting back drastically on the soda intake.

[luv_bug]

Do you think that I'm eating enough or too much??? I can't see myself cutting anything out of what I'm already eating ... like making portions any smaller etc. (especially since I have been excercising...)

[2big4mysize]

she meant measure your body, not your foods. measure your body and see how many inches you have lost. remeber an Atkins stall is defined as no scale NOR inches loss for 4 weeks.
Are you doing induction stiill if so maybe try moving to OWL and adding some more of those healthy fresh veggies from the induction lists.