Expert: Ryan Hale - 7/21/2010

Question
Ryan Hale,

I am currently 5'2" and 105, I do cardio 5 days a week, yoga 1, and weights 2-3 times a week. I am VERY aware of what I eat and have recently lost 40 pounds. I don't believe that I have a eating problem but I am concerned about how much I have damaged my metabolism. Also, I am wondering how many calories to consomme on an average day without workouts.

Thank you for your time.

Answer
Katherine- when someone attempts to lose weight, it takes a lot of thought and effort.  Once you achieve a healthy weight, however, all of that time and thought can become an obsession.  It's a scary thing to go back to how we were, especially if we have been rewarded for our efforts with people compliments and we've bought new cloths, etc.  Your activity level seems high but fine for someone wanting to lead an athletic lifestyle.  You just have to make sure you are feeding the machine (you).  Your activity takes caloric energy as you already know.  If you are doing the activities simply to lose weight and burn calories, rather than for the enjoyment of moving your body or the joy the activity itself brings, then you need to look at what you are doing.  The U.S. government has a pretty good web site on diet and exercise if you search "my food pyramid."  they have suggested calorie intake for  different activities and body types.  The best way, is for you and a qualified trainer to figure out your resting metabolism (how many calories you burn at rest) and add the number of calories you are burning with your workouts.  Those two numbers added together will be your caloric need for the day.  Find someone certified by the ACSM, NATA, ACE or CSCS for training.  Those are the most well recognized certifications and they can sit down with you and help you figure it out.  There are also Iphone applications (if that applied to you) that can help.