Calorie Counts

Capture

Hey Everyone!

I think I saw a thread about this a few weeks ago, but I wanted to ask, how many calories do you consume in a day? I’m 5’2 115lbs and getting between 1100-1450 a day on average. I’m coming out of an ED so my brain is a little warped when it comes to knowing and understanding how many are OK/normal. According to all the BMI calculators and calorie counters for my activity level I should be eating around 2100/day,but that number just seems extra crazy/high to me…any thoughts? Anyone willing to post their numbers for comparison?

Karuna

I have been reluctant to keep track. My focus at the moment is working towards 100% raw. I feel that my journey is more leaning towards getting to know my body and understand how it feels. I understand that you may not trust your judgement at the moment. I would say, as long as you feel well and your energy level is high then go with what feels good. Your body will tell you if you’re not getting enough. Good luck.

thecavsman

I was also relectant to care about something like calories early on, especially since weight was not even an issue before I went raw (though I lost 25 pounds). But recently, in helping my girlfriend transition, I have looked into calories and got a calorie counting program (CRONoMeter). It is now so amazing to me to see what amount of my calories come from fat, carbs, protein, etc.

Anyway, I have been keeping track since July 31st (last Thurs) and here are my numbers each day: 2,647 – 1,881 – 1,314 – 1,449 – 1,801 today.

For the background – I am 5’4.5” 120 lbs and male. I walk a mile and a half daily and I since I started with those numbers, I have only worked out 2 times (the 1881 and 1314 days) and it was pretty light and only about 45 minutes – and very out of the ordinary as I never excercize aside from the daily 1.5 miles of walking. My metabolism is relatively high. On 2 of those 5 days, 20% of my calories came from fat – on the other 2 days, only 5-7% of my calories came from fat. I would appreciate seeing anyone else’s numbers too. CRONoMeter says that I should be eating 2435 per day being “low active” but I don’t really care about suggestions, frankly.

I agree with Karuna about the body telling you what you need. I still let my body dictate what I eat – not calories. I still eat whatever I want. It’s just interesting to see what I am getting from my food. Anyone else care to share?

bitt

Capture, that sounds pretty low. But I would go more on how you are feeling and what you are eating. Don’t be afraid to eat too much.

el-bo

your body uses calories/energy for every single one of its daily processes

your bmr calculation is a rough calculation of what your body consumes at rest…it will take it from your body regardless of what you give it to eat

consider that most people, after the initial huge dump of water weight, will lose up to a pound a day of fat while water fasting…..a pound of fat is equivalent to around 3000-3500 calories….so your body is still plundering your body resources to fulfil its daily caloric needs

so , if you are underconsuming calories your body will take , first from fat and then from protein in muscle

neither of these sources is as efficient a fuel as the food we eat

consider that all food has to be broken down into sugars to fuel us…..now consider that breaking down and converting fat to sugar is an unefficient and energy wasting process….like ketosis on an extended fast…..it results in lower energy

letting your body dictate what you eat is fine when it reaches a state where it is able to do that…for many years we have eaten in a way that has completely distorted our natural instincts AND caused our stomachs to shrink through eating low water, caloric dense foods

stopping eating meat will free up energy…stopping eating dairy will free up energy…stopping eating refined sugar will free up energy…stopping eating cooked will free up energy….stopping eating foods in bad combinations will free up energy

at this stage we can see how many raw foodists feel supremely more energetic than they ever did….and this is usually where it stops

but there’s more you can do to free up energy

cutting down fat (yes, even the raw fat) which is hard to digest will free up energy BUT leave a defecit of calories for the raw fooder who relies on these fats to boost calories….without these fats taking the edge of hunger we realise that there isn’t much left in the standard raw diet…without these fats giving us calories we crave complex cooked foods because our body needs the calories

many raw fooders reach a point where these heavier, fattier foods don’t ‘sit’ well in their stomachs….once they have cleansed and become more sensitive

so where do the calories come from….????

if you want to stop your body from using inefficient fats to fuel you , then the only source of fuel available is fruit

fruit is an almost predigested source of fuel and energy…it passes through our cell walls instantly…..just like an electric current…the fruit sugars fuel our brains and bodies in a way that fits with our biological design

IT JUST WORKS

but we have to practice to regain our capacity to eat enough of this food to supply the body with its needs….working with our old cooked instincts is gonna have us feeling full very soon…..but within a few hours hungry again….so we eat again….in this way we start to re-calibrate our bodies to work with this new found hunger…the body will start to thrive on the readily available energy of the fruit and give us the opportunity to retrain our instincts

as said before, undereating calories will force your body to switch to another form of metabolism…in running this is known as ‘hitting the wall’...in cycling ‘bonking’....you may not be an athlete, but your body will still take some form of energy hit in this changeover….most people don’t notice because they are so amazed at how much energy they have relative to when they were cooked….they just never give themselves the opportunity to see just how much MORE energy they COULD have by cutting down fat consumption and eating their cloric requirement from the easiest of foods to digest

it is no coincidence that people who do start to meet their calorie requirements this way spontaneously find themselves becoming way more active and energetic…even after a long time being standard raw

you may be better than you were, but not yet what you could be :o)

SO

from what i can see, these bmr calculations seem very high considering your height weight

gonna put you both at age 28 and get some calculations for you

CAPTURE…...your bmr comes to 1315…this is how much your body would burn just lying in bed all day…what you add to this in terms of calories will depend on how much activity you are doing, but also how much activity you want to be doing

THECAVSMAN….yours is 1436 at rest

for comparison…at 250 pounds and 5’7” , mine is 2229.6 at rest :o)

please do yourself a favour….

we all read many books on this lifestyle….there is one more book that you need to read and that’s the 80/10/10 diet….

i’m not saying you have to try it….i’m not saying that you will be damned to hell for all eternity if you don’t agree with it 100%...i’m just saying that it represents a completely different perspective on food and health than that which is presented my most others in the raw and cooked world…..

if you don’t adopt it , you will at least have some different information that will inform some of your eating practices for the better

hope this helps :o)

elliot

thecavsman

ahhh…1436 at rest. So I’m not doing bad at all, considering I’m not really at rest – that’s great. Interesting info all around, el-bo. Thanks. Will be getting the book

Capture

Thanks everyone!

El-bo—yes! I really want to read the 8/1/1 i have it on order from the library and just waiting for it to come in!

I totally use the cron-o-meter! I love it, but it does tend to trigger my ED a bit, and seeing how much fat i’m eat scares me, I know it’s all from nuts, avocados or olive oil (so all healthy fats) but it just seems like a lot! I’ve tried not counting but that just leads me to binges and those are worse…blah blah blah anyways, I guess I’ll try eating when I’m hungry and not on a schedule, and as soon as 8/1/1 comes in I’m going to give it my full attention.

Thanks :) karma and kisses to you all!