Exercising and Caloric Intake - any Nut/RD's out there?

I posted a question about dietary guidelines back in August and got some wonderful advice from Sara. I am back with a follow up question. I exercise 5 days a week for an hour each time. I burn between 700-900 calories during that time. I am taking in approximately 650 calories per day. In doing the math - am I putting myself at jeopardy of going into starvation? Should I up my calories? I am getting at least 65G of proteing each day. Thank you, kyla

I wanted to follow up and say that today I am 16 weeks post op - and I have lost 86 pounds since surgery. :) Kyla

There are a lot of things to consider - So I can't give you a straight answer. If you are only eating 650 kcals a day - that's low. After you get your protein, you only have 390 kcals left to work with. Is your weight loss stalling? How is your lab work? How do you feel? As far as your workouts - calculating calories burned is still an estimate (unless you got hooked up to a machine to measure this).  There are differences between cardio workouts and resistance training and the needs associated with this. So it is hard to say without more analysis how big your calorie defecit is. Also consider this, You account for the calories burned in exercise, but not for the energy it takes to sit & breathe, walk around the house, etc. My personal opinion - your calories are low and yes, you are in a good position to put your body into starvation mode.  Don't let me contradict your dietitian, but I think your calories should be higher. hope this helps!

Thanks Danielle. I don't have a dietician, but am trying to find one so this was very helpful. My workouts are all on the treadmill, and cardio in nature. I didn't even mention the weight lifting I do in addition to cardio.  Currently I am losing a pound every other day. Prior to starting my exercising (6 weeks ago) I had hit a stall for almost 4 weeks. I'm happy with my weight loss, just have started to feel like I need to eat more, but didn't know if I should.  I have no idea what my blood work looks like. I go in for my next appointment in 2 weeks and will know better then.  I think my greatest concern was that if I need "x" amount of calories to sit, breathe, and function - then am exercising on top of that, how do I find that "magic" number of calories to consume in a day? I am sure getting a dietician will help with this - hopefully I will find one soon. Thanks again, Kyla