eat less, more protein or what?? to lose weight
ok im kind of getting confused reading so many blogs that i dont know what path to follow . I Want To Lose weight! i am only 5′2 and 144lbs with a pear shape and i seriously want to lose weight but whats confusing me is that some articles say eat ‘less’ calories than you burn in order to lose weight OR eat less carbs and more proteins OR eat six meals to lose weight etc etc what should i do?? What i dont get is that im only 5′2 and a female with a pear shaped body, these articles or calculators dont calculate on the basis of gender they just give you ratios and total calories needed in a day to lose weight; my question is are they giving you stats for a male or a female becouse a guy of my height will have a greater matablic rate due to obvious gender difference , so what should i do????? how many calories should i be eating to lose weight and still be gaining a decent amount of muscle??? and if i am suppose to be on a technically 1400calories diet since i am 144lbs how can 5 to 6 meals still be under that to lose weight and should i be eating 1200 calories to lose then????? It will be great if anyoen can help me out with this 
December 2, 2008 at 4:56 pm
It’s important to remember your physical activities; you probably know this but calories are a measurement of energy (the ability to do work), you either store it in body tissues (muscle, fat, etc.) or transfer it (working out) so the more you work out the less you store. So if you feel like you’re starving yourself, instead of eating less maybe work out more.
I wouldn’t stress out about it too much though because on your profile it looks like you’re making good progress!
December 8, 2008 at 11:12 am
Well I know for me I eat 3 main meals and 3 snacks throughout the day, which in most cases can be considered the 6 meals you’re suppose to eat a day.
Usually when I count my calories I calculate how much I’ve eaten for the day (i.e. 1600 calories) and how much I burned at the gym (i.e. 400 calories) which comes to 1200 net calories for the day.
To help calculate my calories I use The Daily Plate on Livestrong.com: http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/
If you play around the site a little you should be able to have a better understanding on how calorie counting works.
I would start off with that first if you’re just looking to lose weight.
As far as determining how much carbs, proteins and fats you should consume. I would look at a national nutrition table. The US has one and it’s a pyramid, with fats at the smallest part of the pyramid. That should give you some idea of the ratio you should consume.
Seeing a nutritionist might also be helpful to reaching your goals. Good luck, hope this was helpful!