Exercise Questions - How Many Calories Should I Eat Every Day?

Exercise Question:
I'm trying to lose weight. I've been having difficulty eating. Either I eat too many calories, or too little. Would I be able to lose weight eating 1200-1300 calories/day and doing 45 minutes of Tae Bo and 30 minutes of Pilates three times a week? Do I have enough calories?

Exercise Answer:
In terms of calories, if you're not eating enough, your body will most likely go into a "storage" mode. This is basically because the moment your body thinks its not getting enough food, it will horde all the calories and hold onto the fat since it thinks its going into starvation mode. Your body will also slow down your metabolism because it thinks a "fasting state" may be close and it will want to preserve as much energy as possible. This is done through holding tight onto the fat stores and not releasing them.

The key is to increase your calories with highly nutrient dense food to fuel your body! I would recommend not eating any less than 1,500 calories/day and make sure your protein levels are kept high. In terms of diet, I would focus on lean protein sources (chicken breast, turkey breast, egg whites) and lean fibrous carbs coming mostly from non-starchy vegetables (broccoli, mushrooms, yellow squash, green peppers, etc.) Try and limit all starchy carbs from your diet and limit fruit after 6pm, since it contains lots of simple sugars which will effect your insulin levels and hinder your weight loss.

Remember to also add weight training to your exercise routine. This another key is to add powerful calorie burning pounds of lean muscle which keeps your metabolism stoked throughout the day! Here are some great weight training exercises to add to your program:

• Weight Training Exercise Database

You can now keep track of your progress with our new exercise and diet journals! You can download them here:

• Exercise Journals
  
• Diet Journals
  

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