Have no idea how many calories I should eat.

Question

I'm a 23-year old female, 5' 4", and about 110 pounds. I run 5 days a week for an hour, and bike to get around. I've been wearing a heart rate monitor, and I find that between the hour of running and the hour or so of biking I tend to do in a day, I burn 900-1100 calories. On the weekends I don't run, but I do do the same approximate amount of biking, so I burn probably 300-400 calories those days. What I don't know is what that means in terms of my calorie intake. I don't want to lose weight, but I feel like I'm not eating enough calories and I'm suffering from over training-like symptoms (lack of motivation to run, persistent injuries/pain, inability to get my exercise heart rate up, etc.) Right now I'm eating 17-1800 calories a day. 

Anyone have any ideas about the appropriate amount of calories for me? Online calorie calculators only have vague distinctions like "active" and "very active" and "moderately active", and I don't readily trust them.

Paxiled · Accepted Answer

Many serious female athletes stop having periods.  So that's not so unusual for a very athletic female.  As for the amount of food, you need, if you really want to get into this you have to find out what's going on with you, not what the average person needs.  For that you'll need a nutritionist, who will test you to find out what you might be low on.  You have to start with where you are, and without testing, you're just guessing.  But on a simple level, if you think you're not eating enough and you have good instincts, then eat more.  Given that all your exercise is aerobic, that would indicate a need for more carbs for energy, meaning whole grains and fruit, and colored vegetables for antioxidants.  But you might want to consider adding in some resistance training to build your muscles to support all that aerobic activity -- stronger thighs, for example, better support the knees, stronger glutes support the back, etc.  And resistance training usually means more quality protein.  You might also check how much of the good fats you're consuming -- the omega three oils particularly, found in fish oil and flax oil and hemp seed oil.  They provide for your hormonal production, provide lubrication, and help with inflammation.  You might also consider propping up your adrenals -- eleuthero, American ginseng, rhodiola, teng kwei are all possibilities for this.  But for diet, you're really going to have to tailor that to who you are, not who we are.  Good luck.

Nmmumaw · Answer

I had been working to lose weight, for over a year. I'm not trying to any longer, but considering the amount of exercise I do and the calorie restriction for so long, I'm pretty sure my metabolism is a little off. I don't see how eating 1700-1800 calories when I burn 1000 or more five days a week can be enough. 

I know that depressed exercise heart rate and super-rapid recovery time are symptoms of parasympathetic over training, which occurs after sympathetic over training is ignored for long enough. And as I am stubborn about my exercise routine, I have ignored signs of the latter, such as unhealing injuries, persistent fatigue, etc. 

I haven't gotten my period in about 4 months either, and pregnancy is off the table. 

So all evidence points to a body that isn't getting the resources, i.e. calories, it needs. I don't think I need to take more rest, as I take two days off of exercise a week and that seems pretty reasonable.  With that in mind, I ask again about how many I should be eating, maybe how I should go about adding them. Macronutrient advice is welcome, but the bottom line is going to be energy intake.

Paxiled · Answer

Calorie indicators are a generalization, a starting point, but not what you in particular need.  If you're not losing weight, you're not eating too little.  Pretty simple.  But the quality of your food might not be just right, or the time of eating, which can account for some of the pain.  For example, after running, if you don't cool down and then stretch, lactic acid will build up and cause pain.  High antioxidant foods such as berries and colored vegetables help control lactic acid build-up.  As you can see, if you're going to be on such a high output exercise program, you'll need to learn more about nutrition.  The other thing is proper body movement -- if you're moving wrong, you can end up with problems down the road -- that's what athletic trainers are (theoretically) for.  And running is a high impact activity.  If you run, play basketball or football or soccer, you know, anything high impact, eventually many people are going to hurt and injure something.  It's a balancing process of how much someone gets out of the activity vs. what it does to the body.  As for heart rate, the more you exercise, the slower your heart rate will be.  That's a good thing -- that means your heart has gotten stronger.  I've been exercising forever, and it's really hard to maintain a high heart rate because my body just slows it down, it's used to exercising, but that also means I have no blood pressure problems and the like. I do, on the other hand, have a lot of injuries now that I'm in my fifties, so there you have it.  I'm healthy in my organs, but my body needs a lot of fixing.  For example, I just learned in physical therapy I virtually have never used my glutes.  I've done martial arts, running, basketball, bicycling, and weight lifting and I have no strength whatsoever in my glutes.  That's what I mean by learning later you're exercising incorrectly.

harrald · Answer

If you will look at the Nutrition Facts Label on any box of cereal or bread pieces, the calories burn are based on a 2000 to 2500 calorie diet per day. You are very near the average number of calories used based on an active diet. Add a piece of cheesecake to your diet, and you should hit the weight scales just right.

Harrald

Have no idea how many calories I should eat.

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