(｡･д･｡)ノ･☆':*;':*;':*;hello everyone♪
I'm sort of new here. So~~ nice to meet you! I'm actually new to dieting in general, so I didn't know a lot about weight loss until I spent hours reading topics on this forum today and now I realize I've made a huge mistake.

It was around January this year that I figured I should go on a 'diet' because I was so tired of being overweight and I finally wanted to be normal like all other people at school. So I decided to do a lot of sports and to eat as few calories as possible. I go to school by bike now which means I spend about 7h a week riding my bicycle and I spend another 3 hours at the gym every week. In the weekends I go jogging for about 40 minutes every day.

Now, all that is really good but my problem is calories.. I took it way too literally when I found out losing weight was 'burning more calories than you consume' so I thought if I kept my calories on about 800~1000cal every day and kept exercising all the time, I'd lose weight. Like I wouldn't eat anything but apples or pears for like a whole week. I wasn't completely wrong, I lost about 11kilos (24lbs) in three months and I was planning on losing another 6kilos (13lbs). But after reading all this I just realize how stupid I've been because now I'm afraid that after I go back to eating more calories I'll put on so much weight again. I also realize how unhealthy my diet actually was and I'm really angry with myself for that. I should have done at least a little research on the internet before starting all this.

Now I want to go back to a normal dietary calorie intake but I'm sort of lost on how to do that. Any advice would be really welcome o( > _ < )o
thanks!! hachimitsu.

Rilakkuma! Or actually...Korilakkuma.

I would first suggest using a tool like TheDailyPlate.com to estimate the number of calories you use in an average day -- Base Metabolic Rate (BMR). This excludes exercise.

For weight loss, I would aim for BMR - 500 calories at most. So if your BMR is 2,000 then aim for 1,500 total calorie intake.

Remember total calorie intake is food calories - exercise calories! So if you're exercising, don't eat 1,500 calories! Eat more. If you're running and burn 600 calories, you need to eat 2,100 calories to get a net total of 1,500.

Meanwhile, also try to change what you eat towards healthier foods. There are several good sources out there, but Dr. Ornish's new book has a very nice chart. Better yet, you can see the chart for free on Oprah's site! Print the PDF file from there.

So to sum up:
#1: Eat more. Use TheDailyPlate.com to figure out how much more.
#2: Keep exercising. Learn to exercise more efficiently -- that's a whole new topic!
#3: Change what you eat. Choose healthier alternatives from that Spectrum of Food Choices chart.

Always listen to your body and re-evaluate your diet and exercise every three months when you're starting out. You'll be learning a lot, so you might make a few mistakes in the beginning, but that's okay.

Good luck, and welcome to Traineo!

Thanks so much!! I'll register at those websites right now!!
and yes! I'm a huge fan of rilakkuma and korilakkuma! （・∀・）ｲｲ!!

I swear, I should be getting a commission for this book, but you should give "The Abs Diet" by David Zinczenko a read.

Bottom line: building muscle is the best way to burn fat; the exercises that build muscle burn calories for longer than "standard" cardio and having more muscle mass makes your body naturally burn fat as it boosts your metabolism. He talks a lot about that kind of stuff as well as the obvious food stuff (which he presents well).

I would not suggest going from 800 Cal a day to 1500 Cal a day instantly. Add 100 or 200 Cal every week or so till you get back up to a healthy amount, otherwise you may put on some weight very quickly since your body has probably gotten used to the 800. Oh, and make sure you get some protein in that diet!!

Oh, and you're not stupid. Don't be so hard on yourself

(*^－^)ノ Thank you for your comments everyone!

>Clifford
Thank you for your recommendation! (*^〇^*)～♪ I went to the library to borrow the book. I read the first 100 pages of it yesterday and so far;; it says the complete opposite of what I thought I was supposed to do! Like with the dairy and meat and such. So I'm a little confused right now,, o(＞＿＜#)o The 59lbs you've lost, did you do that with this diet? Does it really work? At first glance it sounds too good to be true.

>Rachael
Thank you for your encouragement! (~∩_∩~) It means a lot to me!!
I'll follow your advice and try to build up calories little by little.

I also wanted to ask; is it normal that your weight differs a lot from the day before? With me; it's like this: one day I weigh 62kg (136 lbs) and the day after that it can change to 64kg(140 lbs) and sometimes even 65kg(142lbs) easily and then go back to 62kg (136 lbs) again. I think this is strange.

Do you always weigh 1st thing in the morning right after you get up (after you use the bathroom but before you eat or drink anything)? My weight can vary a lot just over the course of the day depending on how much food and drink I have in my stomach and bladder.

Also, weight can fluctuate from day to day depending on salt intake, alcohol intake, constipation, bloating, ect, ect.

The fact that you've admitted your diet wasn't the greatest is proof enough for me to know you're not stupid. You would not believe how many people would say "Oh, I lost 24 lbs eating pears - of course I know what I'm doing!"

1) Take tape measurements of yourself. Use these measurements to find out what your (roughly estimated) % body fat is. This is important to know, because as you begin tweaking your diet you will be able to tell if you weight loss is coming from muscle or fat. Obviously, you want it to be 100% fat.

2) If you're losing muscle, you're not eating enough protein. The volume of protein you need to eat depends on your workout intensity. It is different for everyone. The best thing you can do is just keep track of your body fat and do the math on whether you've lost muscle or not. If you haven't - congrats!

3) Don't go on some crazy diet where you're eating nearly 100% of your calories from two out of three macronutrient groups. For example, don't leave out protein from your diet; likewise, don't leave out carbs or fats either! Try to have a balanced diet with 30-40% comes from protein, and the rest is evenly divided between carbs and fats.

4) Between knowing what your protein intake should be, and keeping a balance between carbs, proteins and fats, you can calculate how many calories you should consume in a day.

I agree, 800-1000 is terribly low for your workout level, and it seems you probably weren't eating much protein. I hope your weight loss didn't come from muscle, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did. I eat 1100-1200 calories a day, with my only consistent exercise being walking. I have 124 lbs of LBM. You should probably eat more than that, because if I were working out as much as you are, I would probably eat about 1400-1500 per day to lose weight. However, we are all different. Find a starting point and go from there.