The_Sweetest_Thing said:
1300 calories isn't nearly enough, on average. Women normally need approx. 1800 calories daily, men around 2500. Really. Of course, this changes depending on your muscle mass, your size, current weight, etc. You don't have to lose 2 lbs a week. 1/2 lb/week is actually quite normal.
I think the "on average" part should be emphasized. If my 5' 7" frame weighed 250 lbs, THEN I would need 2,500 calories per day just to get by (see the health calculators at
www.stv.org website for St. Vincent's Hospital). If I were to take in 2,500 calories per day, I would put on about 1 pound every 5-7 days. As it is, starting out at about 180 lbs, I was using closer to 2,000 calories daily, and my goal of losing 30-40 meant burning more of those than I was taking in daily. At my current weight, height and age, I use about 1,700 - 1,800 calories daily. If I had only lost 1/2 pound per week, it would have taken me 80 weeks to lose 40 pounds.
At no time did I experience any lack of energy or other symptoms of a lower than usual calorie intake; No lightheadedness, dizziness, fainting, etc. In fact, I have had more energy than I did in the past. I probably owe that to the fact that I have kept plenty of carbohydrates in my diet (this is recommended for athletes and active people). I don't think it is necessary, or perhaps even healthy, to strictly go buy the food pyramid or average calorie needs, etc. The food pyramid gives a good level of
proportions, but not
portions. I can get by without all of the servings of meat and such that it recommends.
I have always had a good rate of metabolism, but I have not taken advantage of it in the past 8 years or so. In high school and college, I ate even more fast food and drank more Cokes (and beer in college) than I have in recent years, but I was more active at that time in my life with exercise and work and such (mowing 7 lawns a week), and thus I did not put on a lot of weight until after college when I got a desk job. Now I am finding that it's quite easy to sustain my current weight than I thought it would be, just from running/walking/working out (and eating better).