| jadufault
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| Hi, I'm returning to the south beach diet. Last time I tried it, I completely failed, I had like a bag of almonds a day on top of everything I ate (I hadn't found out about the limit) Now, I'm trying this diet again with the nuts in check. But a question is playing around my mind, about how many calories are you supposed to have each day, I know on this diet it says not to count your calories, but I have to know about how many I'm at to make sure I don't go too overboard on stuff I eat. (And believe me, do I go overboard if I don't even eyeball the calories) Is it supposed to be the normal 2,000 calories a day, or is the secret behind this that you cut calories to like 1,500 without knowing? Any answer would help. |
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Sun Jan 23, 2005 5:22 pm |
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| SBDteen
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| for sweet treats it is 75 calories |
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Sun Jan 23, 2005 5:52 pm |
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| Ramona
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| You talk about 2000 calories. Are you a man or woman? I don't know that woman ever require 2000 calories. But yes, cutting back on calories does help. Many of us track that stuff at fitday.com. It's free and tracks your calories, activities, nutritional information, and has a journal. Reading your book again will help and look for all the updates on dairy and such. |
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Sun Jan 23, 2005 6:06 pm |
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| jadufault
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I'm 15 and a guy, and looking online it doesn't really tell me how many calories I need, does that mean that I should be eating less? I'm not too sedentary (Like every week I go on a 2 mile run, but some weeks I do more, like this week I went on 3 four mile runs in addition to my 2 mile run) and I'm at 145 lbs, I don't know if that's too high or too low... I'm doing South Beach to make sure that I eat healthy stuff, it is about being healthy, it seems like a good fit. I'm not real good on portion control, or eating at different times, so counting calories to make sure that I'm in the general area of what I should be eating is a tool that I like to use to make sure that I don't go overboard on nuts or anything like that.
So far today I've had, let's see:
Breakfast
1 bag of brocolli
2 Cups Low Fat Cottage cheese
2 Egg whites ( I hard boiled 2 eggs and removed the yokes)
Snack
1 bag of brocolli
Lunch
1 can of tuna
1 bag of brocolli
I'm planning for the afternoon:
Mid afternoon Snack
A cup or two of Tea, we got this Almond Vanilla tea, it smells FANTASTIC, but the ingredients say it's only Black tea. Zero calories too.
Dinner:
String Beans
That calculates to be about.... 1135 calories, I think.
That's probably WAAAY too much for anyone on south beach to eat, that's why I look at my calories to make sure that I'm getting the right amount and not too many.
Do you have any advice for me? I like South Beach, but am I doomed, should I be eating way less? I'm confused. (But making me confused is not too hard) |
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Sun Jan 23, 2005 8:55 pm |
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| Ramona
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| Ohhhh, you're a guy and you're 15. That makes a difference. I really don't know how many calories you should be eating, but if you want to lose weight, then cut out maybe 300-500 calories a day. I think you should have at least 1500 a day. More if you are very active. If you aren't looking to lose weight and just want to eat healthy, then stick to the approved foods and don't count calories. Also, because you are a growing boy, skip P1 and go right to P2. The Dr. does not suggest P1 for people who are still growing. Be sure to get lots of protein and some dairy. Eat the good grains that we are allowed and you should do fine. :) |
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Sun Jan 23, 2005 10:21 pm |
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| grace-e
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It sounds like you have the vegetable thing down for sure! That's great since a lot of people have trouble with that. You want to be sure and get in a little fat...something like an olive or canola oil. You should also try to have some protein at each meal.
I really think you should worry less about calories. 1135 is kind of low for someone your age. I'm assuming from your post that you're not exactly trying to lose weight, but are trying to learn to eat in a healthy manner. And, no, cutting calories is not the secret to SB. It's a balance of protein, good carbs which should include vegetables, beans and milk/yogurt, and some fat. Ph2 gives you grains and fruit. I agree with Ramona in that you should start on phase 2. You're a growing boy and need what it offers.
I don't want to sound like a broken record but please read or re-read the book and check out Kimboroni's FAQ's. You are in this to get healthier and don't want to do yourself more harm than good.
Okay, enough of sounding like a mom. Good luck and keep us posted. :) GRACE |
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Sun Jan 23, 2005 11:51 pm |
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| Sis
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| Someone correct me if you think I'm wrong, but just today I read in the book that the egg yolks contain stuff that we need. Eating a complete egg helps to BALANCE out the good and bad cholesterol, and adds vit E and other antioxidants that we need for health. |
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Mon Jan 24, 2005 1:38 am |
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| jules305
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Uhh... I just wanted to say, isn't 1200 calories or less per day considered a semi-starvation diet? So if you're a 15-year old boy and you're consuming somewhere around 1100 calories, AND you run between 2 and 4 miles several times a week... I kind of think you might not be getting enough calories.
I know this is a diet and it's about losing weight, but you also aren't supposed to be hungry on SB. Plus, you're eating all the right stuff. So I would say, stop worrying about calories; eat up! |
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Mon Jan 24, 2005 4:53 pm |
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| ScarletLondon
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Wait, you're having green beans for dinner? JUST green beans?
And for your second snack, you can have more than just TEA! I think you might be trying to ration your food just a little too strictly. I've got a 15 year old brother and I can't imagine him ever being able to survive on what you say you're eating. It's not that he eats fast food or anything, but you DO need something more than green beans for dinner. Also, you don't say how tall you are, but 145 seems to sound quite low for a 15 year old boy.
Also, these "bags" of broccoli you're eating -- you've had three today so far! What are those? Like pre-packaged broccoli for stir-fries and stuff? There are tons and tons of other veggies you can do things with, and you don't just have to eat them straight from the bag; that's going to get old REALLY fast. You can't just have a can of tuna and a bag of broccoli for lunch; you need some variety. There are tons of ways you can make a good salad and still be eating all the right things. If you insist on these bags of broccoli, then there are at least low-fat dips you can make on P1 to dip them in.
Eat more! I'm sorry to sound like a nagging older sister, but please! |
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Mon Jan 24, 2005 9:38 pm |
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| jadufault
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I absolutely love Vegetables with all my existance. I love the way tomatos add that Zing, the crunch of celery, everything about lettice, brocolli with salt makes my mouth water. I LovE VEGGIES!!! Today is my 4th day, and I had:
Breakfast:
A 16 oz. bag of celery hearts with 4 tablespoons of peanut butter.
Snack:
2 Cups of Vanilla Almond Tea
Lunch:
2 Cans of Tuna
Mid-Afternoon Snack:
1 Bag of Romaine Lettice (like 50 calories)
Dinner:
2 Cups of Kraft Fat Free Cottage cheese (And 3 cups of Tea)
Cottage Cheese is actually the best thing I've tried. But actually I lie, Meringues are my favorite food on earth, I'm actually going to try and make some tonight, wish me luck! (With Splenda, of course!) |
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Tue Jan 25, 2005 3:56 am |
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| Kimboroni
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You are definitely not eating enough, and it concerns me! (yes, I'm a mom)
I'm only reiterating things that were already said but I think need repeating:
Please have some actual food for a snack in addition to tea
You need some good fats with your meals, like 1 tbsp or so of olive or canola oil, or some avocado or olives (look at the fats/oils section of the food list in my FAQ for more ideas)
Add some kind of dip or something to your veggie snacks-- you really need to be looking for ways to add calories, as you're not getting nearly enough calories
Please, please, please move to phase 2!
It's terrific that you're a fan of veggies (I think that's rare for a teen!), but you need to try to get out of this low-calorie rut by adding some good fats. Just peanut butter in one meal isn't enough (and I read in another thread that you don't want to eat pb), so there's a ton of other options that you can look at.
I'd also like to see more balanced meals-- think of carbs, good fats, and proteins at every meal rather than eating a bunch of tuna at one meal and nothing else, and a bunch of veggies with nothing else at another meal. I don't know if that's too much to ask. You seem like a great kid! |
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Tue Jan 25, 2005 8:29 am |
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| RedRox
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Do you see the problem with being 15 and coming to a board filled with Moms!! ;) Seriously, it is all good advice from people who really understand this stuff.
Now, here is the somewhat technical "Dad" speech on calories! When you look at overall calorie levels, it is hard to look at just a number and say if it is enough, too little, or too much. What is more important for us is looking at the calorie differential between the # of calories we take in and the # of calories we expend all in relation to the # of calories it takes to sustain our current body mass. Here are a couple calorie facts:
1. The higher your body mass, the more calories you need to sustain that weight and vice versa. This also means as we lose weight, we need fewer calories to sustain our current weight and if we keep all our portions and general food intake the same, eventually these will come into balance and we will need to take some kind of action in terms of fewer calories in, or more calories out, to continue to lose weight.
2. You need to create a 3500 calorie deficit of calories in vs. calories out to lose a true pound of non-water weight. This is pretty immutable! If you can create a 500-1000 calorie deficit per day, you can lose 1-2 lbs per week. I'm pretty sure that this is how that generally recommended rate of loss was arrived at, as it is pretty hard to create a deficit of more than that and still eat a healthy amount of food. At more than that you also run a good chance of invoking your body's starvation response that will actually prevent you from losing more weight even with a larger deficit. Basically, you can only "trick" your body a little bit into going without some of its energy needs. More is not better in this instance.
So to pick a number for caloric intake requires understanding how all of this comes together. The more active you are and the more exercise you participate in, the more your calories out are increased and that either creates a bigger deficit, or allows you to increase your caloric intake and maintain a smaller deficit. Obviously the less active you are, the reverse is true. It is also why diet AND exercise are both important in a weight management program!
Here is a link to a page that someone here posted a long time ago that may help you sketch this out a little bit better and determine what range of calories you should be shooting for! Good luck!
http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm
P.S. While SB doesn't require us to count calories and really doesn't focus on it very much, it does provide a general structure that reduces our caloric intake and does so while still providing a healthy range of foods to choose from. Basically we want to try maximize the health benefits of the calories we do consume and SB really does a very good job of doing that, often without us realizing it or having to focus on it.
P.P.S If you follow the link on SBD on the left side of that page about popular diets, you will find that this particular site has a lot of good things to say about SB and notes the important differences between it and Atkins and the Zone. |
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Tue Jan 25, 2005 5:27 pm |
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| BuffBride
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| Excellent site RedRoxCo! |
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Tue Jan 25, 2005 5:39 pm |
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| KennyD
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| Well, I'm a guy with no kids and I can definitely say that these ladies are absolutely right. Tea as a snack? Only cottage cheese for dinner? You're heading for trouble, get on Phase 2 and start eating more, otherwise your metabolism is going to slow right down and the only thing you are going to lose is muscle mass. |
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Tue Jan 25, 2005 6:26 pm |
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| jadufault
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No! Not a slowed metabolism! Isn't that like bad for you and stuff? Okay, today, I didn't fool around, I ate, here's my list:
Breakfast:
1 Bag of Green Beans (440 Grams)
4 Egg Whites (For Meringues W/ Splenda)
1 Apple
Snack:
2 Tablespoons of Natural Peanut Butter
Lunch:
2 Bags of Brocolli (455 Grams in each bag)
1 Tuna Can
Mid-Afternoon Snack:
2 Cups Cottage Cheese
Dinner:
12 Leaves Romaine Lettace W/Safflour oil (about 1-2 tbsp) and Morton's Hot Salt sprinkled on it
1 cup milk
Did I do good? I hope I did. |
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Wed Jan 26, 2005 5:03 am |
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