Too few calories and not enough sodium?

Wow, it’s almost a week since I last posted! Rather than recap everything I did last week, I’ll just direct you to my Fitness Friday (1/24/13) post on my other blog, mylifeaworkinprogress.com. It was an okay week. Not super fantastic, but okay. The weather has definitely made things difficult.

This morning I had a 5.4 mile run with my running buddy, and then I walked around leisurely for 45 minutes or so around the playground while Baby J got some exercise. By the way, walking is how I lost the biggest chunk of my pregnancy weight. You don’t have to be a superstar to lose weight. Just watch what you eat and be active! In just a few minutes, I’m going to do a light workout with adjustable Bowflex weights as well as some calisthenics-type exercises.

Organization is not my thing, but it really needs to be. I think I’ve settled on making MON, WED, FRI my big cardio days with light strength training. Then TUES, THURS, and SAT I’ll focus on building muscle and just light cardio. Sunday will be a complete rest day.

It’s doable, but my diet is a bit of a concern right now. Since I’ve been losing weight for a while now (really, almost 2 years), I’ve had MyFitnessPal set at 1,500 calories forEVER. Other than my weekly cheat day (when I have one), I rarely go over my calorie limit. It’s worked thus far. I’ve lost all but a few stubborn pounds around my middle. Well, as I’m working out more, I’ve found my appetite is even less. I’m full at 1,000-1,200 calories a day. With trying to build muscle, that’s not going to cut it. I need to figure out a way to eat more, but it has to be the right types of food.

But then I also wonder…shouldn’t I keep restricting my intake, since I have fat to lose? Or will the fat eventually melt off, even at a high calorie limit…as long as I’m working out/building more muscle? I just don’t know enough about this stuff. I mean, I know how to eat right, but building muscle is new to me. I don’t want to make all this effort and not see results, because I’m going about it the wrong way.

When I worked out with my running buddy at the YMCA the other day (I came as her guest, but that was my only freebie, booooo), I felt really sick in the beginning when we were doing sets of ab exercises along with push-ups. It took about 45 minutes before my stomach settled. I was really pale and felt lightheaded and nauseated. After some Googling, I have self-diagnosed myself.

My mother has hypotension, and I’ve always had great blood pressure, no matter whether I’m in shape or overweight. In fact, I had “beautiful” (<my OB’s exact description) blood pressure during my pregnancy, even though I gained 70lbs or so. I think I’m genetically predisposed to hypotension. Add on to that the fact that I rarely eat processed foods. It’s amazing how little salt you consume when you make things from scratch. Well, I usually put a Propel Zero packet in my water when I run. This time at the gym, I didn’t. So I think my BP dropped real low, especially because my head was on level with my heart and feet. Now I know I need to always have access to electrolytes when I’m exercising. I may need to increase my overall sodium intake too.

So that’s about it. I’ll leave you with a picture of my littlest running buddy from this morning:

Running with my toddler- ThisMamaRuns.com

Do you think I should up my calorie intake or wait until I’ve lost the stubborn last few pounds?

11 thoughts on “Too few calories and not enough sodium?

  1. Nicole

    You know my answer to that question ;). Eat more, yes. The fat will come off if your body has the appropriate fuel to burn it off. More importantly, you won’t build muscle as well and will just be tired and cranky (kind of like a milder version of the juicing episode), making you a LOT more likely to not succeed at this.

    That said, I need to go eat something else…

    Reply
    1. Elisebet Post author

      Ohhh the juicing episode, yes. So what kinds of calories should I be eating more of? Protein? I don’t eat a ton of carbs. Maybe I should be adding more of those too?

      Reply
  2. Jill @ Fitness, Health and Happiness

    When my performance is affected and I’m listening to my body one of the first things I check is quality and quantity of calorie intake for the day. You probably should look at quantity and quality of what you’re eating…if it were me ;)

    Good luck. Listen to your body and you’ll figure it out.

    Reply
    1. Elisebet Post author

      Hi Jill, thank you for the advice. I think the quality of what I’m eating is good, but I probably should listen to the little voice telling me to eat more. =D Thanks!

      Reply
  3. Courtney @The TriGirl Chronicles

    Eat more, but making it more protein calories should help cut the fat. Also, healthy fats from things like avocados and nuts will help with decreasing the bad fat. As for sodium levels, you might want to switch from propel zero which has a lot of excess sugar in it to something with less sugar and more sodium. Something like Nuun would easily do the trick and it’s pretty cheap and tasty.

    Reply
    1. Elisebet Post author

      Hi Courtney, thanks for the advice! Sounds like avocados and nuts are the way to go. Propel Zero actually doesn’t have any sugar in it (zero sugar/zero calories), but I’m not opposed to other options, since I’m not a huge fan of artificial sweeteners either. I’ll check out Nuun, thanks!

      Reply
  4. Kimberly

    Personally, I want to eat as many calories as I can that will still allow me to lose weight. It sounds like you’re doing a lot of exercise, so I definitely think you could up your calorie intake. It seems counter intuitive, but it works! You can increase it by adding in some healthy fats without having to increase the quantity of food — coconut oil, almond butter, olive oil, avocados. And healthy fats actually benefit you on the cellular level to let go of the last few stubborn pounds. I’ll be interested to watch your progress. :) Good luck with whatever you decide.

    Reply
    1. Elisebet Post author

      Hi Kimberly, thanks for commenting! I have coconut oil but don’t use it as much as I should. I’m also a big fan of avocados, so that’s a great idea. Maybe some almonds too for snacks?

      Reply
  5. Pingback: 2-ingredient fruit and nut balls recipes (Fitness Friday)

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