Posts: 354
2/15/10 9:05 A

I agree with Angelique

I'm aiming for around 1500 on non-lifting days and about 1700 on lifting days. I can totally tell after a lifting day if i didn't eat enough. My energy level plummets.

listen to your body

Posts: 38
12/4/09 3:52 P

Spark calculates LOW! I would aim in the middle. If you look around on posts from here and JP Fitness you will see most people gained or did not lose in Stage 1 or until they lowered the calories. I think he has a valid point. NO ONE should starve themselves but the basline BMR is just high for me. If you play with your intake a little you will feel when you go to low you won't have the strength in the gym.

SparkPoints: (30,214)
Fitness Minutes: (21,633)
Posts: 516
12/4/09 2:38 P

I was too nervous to follow his recommendations for nutrition because I was afraid I wouldn't lose weight.
Right now I have been following spark's recommendations, though recently those numbers aren't working for me either.
I'm not sure who to "believe" about the calories. According to him, I'm not eating enough for the strength training, and should be able to cut out all my cardio and still lose weight. According to sparks, that is too much, I need cardio, and no matter how much strength training I do I shouldn't alter my calories based on it to lose weight.

Posts: 38
12/4/09 12:03 P

Hi! The calories were too high for me too. I am 400-450 under what they said. I am feeling leaner and less bloated now. I would go with what they say and not go 500 or more under. GREAT program so far. I will finish stage 1 on Christmas. YAY! Best of luck!

SparkPoints: (14,060)
Fitness Minutes: (12,607)
Posts: 940
12/3/09 11:02 P

Hi fellow fans of the New Rules ... I've finally gotten around to reading the nutrition part of the book and since I like equations, I followed the instructions for how to figure out my calories and protein. I wrote a blog post with the results.

http://bit.ly/caloriegoals

Just thought I'd share this with the group and see if anyone has comments or thinks I need to reconsider these numbers. I'm trying to hit weight loss goals too of course, which is why I subtracted 300 calories from each day's calorie limit (based on his assertion that cutting more than 300 calories while doing strength training will not help you build muscle).

I'd be much obliged if anyone would comment!

Thanks!
Jennifer

current weight: 189.6

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