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[Azulsky]

So yeah, that's a little about me. I was hoping for a bit of advice on a few things. Hope you don't mind being bombarded with questions, and apologies if it's a bit rambling...

When using MFP, do people usually eat the calories "earned" through exercise, or stick to their target calories only? Is it ok to eat those calories?

I was also wondering about how many calories I'm eating - I set a goal of 0.8kg lost per week in MFP with activity set at sedentary (desk job), and target weight 100kg (I've not really decided a target weight yet, but I want it to be <100kg) and it has me at 2200 calories a day. This seems like a lot compared to what I've seen others posting in here tho? I also just purchased a Fitbit (which hasn't arrived yet) and had a browse of the app setting up my profile etc, and it's telling me 1900 for the same goal, so I'm a bit confused. I guess I'm losing weight tho, so I'm doing something right.

Is it normal for weight to fluctuate a lot in a short period of time? For example I weighed myself 48 hours apart a few days ago and appeared to lose a kilo in that time which seems a lot. I also seemed to put on a kilo last night from the night before, but I was wondering if that was because I'd drank a lot of water before weighing myself? (I also discovered my clothes weigh 2kg while figuring out these fluctuations as I realised I'd taken one reading unclothed and the next clothed. Won't make that mistake again!)

I'm not really doing anything special in terms of *what* I'm eating, just counting the calories and trying to avoid fast food etc. I see loads of posts about macros etc but that just seem so complicated. Similarly I don't know about this whole keto thing as although I'm not, my wife is vegan and won't allow meat in the house, so I was curious if anyone had any vegetarian/vegan diet tips? I'm free to eat meat outside the house but in terms of home cooking I'm a bit limited. Also bearing in mind I'm diabetic so I think intermittent fasting is out. Oh, and I hate eggs (which seem to be a staple in a lot of diets) and mushrooms (which seem to be the basis of so many vegetarian dishes)!

One other thing - I'm absolutely terrified of loose skin if, no WHEN, I shift this weight. Is it avoidable? Is there anything I can do to prevent it? I need to lose the weight regardless but I've seen some documentaries etc about weight loss that had some pretty scary images. Is the only way to stop that to fill the skin with muscle? I already have plenty of stretch marks so I'm guessing the skin won't just snap back. Maybe I'm getting a bit too far ahead of myself...

My starting # for calorie counting was my Basal Metabolic Rate, which essentially is the calories you would use if you were in a coma. That is a pretty conservative, not going to make you crazy hungry, start if you are a sedentary or just light exercise(walking) type of person. If you exercise a bunch then you need to do more complicated math. I ended up going lower than my BMR and I currently eat between 1300-1500kcal. Im okay with this because one of my knees is an asshole so I really am sedentary except for a few things I do.

Personally the best way to track exercise is with performance metrics that matter like distance, avg heart rate, reps, weight, pace.. I don't log exercise calories. I don't think that they are estimated very accurately so I don't let them affect my eating.

I think in general the only thing with macros is that increasing protein % helps a bit with keeping muscle mass, nearly all calorie deficit diets will induce some muscle mass loss. Moving up in protein helps with that. We have a vegan thread here, should appear in the search results for vegan. The only thing I find IF good for is knocking off water weight. Honestly the day after fasting your hunger signal is trying to get you to make up for it so I have only done it a few times because it burns the willpower meter pretty low. You seem to have the right attitude about this, its about making sustainable changes, not any get rich quick schemes.

I fluctuate several pounds depending on water. Loss is not linear, its more like nothing ... nothing ... nothing ... -6 lbs, then you fluctuate back up 3 pounds, but the amount that previously was my low water amount is now my hi water #. The phenomenon is called whooshing in the fitness community. Scientifically I think the research is flimsy but its fairly common among guys, and girls have extra effect from it due to their cycle. It is more common as you get closer to goal weight.

So as a person with extra skin(I'm currently -160 probably going to go to -200), some of the stretch marks do kind of subside in that they are less noticeable. I am your height, broad framed, started @ 196kg and its still not as bad as you see in some of those documentaries. Not going to sugarcoat it any more than that, I wear compression shirts and undergarments to hold shit together. It fucks with me, and I make enough that I will probably get it fixed out of pocket even if I cant get insurance to throw me a bone. You might be okay because you didn't start at such a high weight. I know you are terrified of it but it is infinitely better than the fat was.

 

[MrT]

Thanks for the replies, very much appreciated.

In terms of the intermittent fasting/diabetes, I don't actually take insulin, just some tablets in the morning and evening. I probably just have a poor understanding of it but I just assumed I would have really low blood sugar on the fasting days, which probably isn't good (not least for the fact it makes me incredibly irritable ha). I did a very quick search for IF and diabetes last night and it seemed like it does work, but they were talking more about skipping breakfast every day, rather than having days of fasting. Definitely something I'd need to look into in more detail if I were to go down that route. For the moment though it seems like it's probably best for me to stick with what I'm already doing, don't want to get over-complicated or bogged down in the details of counting carbs/protein/fat as well as calories and end up getting frustrated with the whole thing. I subscribed to the vegan thread a while back just to get ideas etc and for supporting my wife, so I've got a few ideas from it already and will keep checking back. I've also bookmarked the nutrition and fitness threads to take a look through when I get a chance.

I'll just stick to the MFP calories for now then as they're obviously working. It started me on about 2500 a day and with the losses I've recorded so far it's down to the 2200 figure. I decided not to increase my activity level in the app, even though it has increased with my gym outings, as I don't want the temptation of calories I don't really need. I'll just try and keep the exercise calories for if I'm feeling particularly low on energy. Just got an email saying my Fitbit is getting delivered tomorrow, so can't wait to play with it at the gym!

I'll try to put aside the loose skin worries for now, that's definitely something to tackle if/when it comes. You're absolutely right that it's better than keeping the weight.

 

[Azulsky]

Suffice to say there are different forms of IF.

5:2 is different than Warrior is different than Leangains.

I haven't done much looking into the scientific viability of the skip a meal or the eating window ones but 5:2 basically has you day skipping which is heavily taxing on willpower and I would suspect a high dropout rate.

 

[BigWeather]

I poked around FitBit and didn't see a NeoGAF group. Did I miss it? Should I set one up if there is none?

 

[MrT]

I've been wearing my Fitbit (Surge) for a few days now, the wife thinks I'm mad spending so much on it but the geek in me loves seeing all the graphs etc. I'm a little concerned that it's overestimating my calories burned though as it seems to give me a lot more calories than MFP ever did (and way more than the machines in the gym show). I guess I'm a lot bigger than the average gym user though, which those machines are presumably calibrated for. It seems to be pretty much spot on for my heartrate and it's got all my vitals programmed in so perhaps it's right?. There's also a slight added layer of confusion as I do most of my cardio on the static bikes, and there's no cycle mode in the Fitbit. I tried the same time/intensity 2 nights in a row and got the following resutls:
45 mins @ avg 124bpm using "workout" mode on Fitbit - 663 calories burned
45 mins @ avg 129bpm using "spinning" mode on Fitbit - 712 calories burned
For both of these the bike showed around 400 calories.

Either way I'm just going to stick to around my 2200 mark for now, with maybe a few extra allowed if I've been good at the gym. It seems to be working for me as I'm down another 2kg in the last week - now sitting at 133.2kg, which is the lowest I've been in forever.

I'd be up for a NeoGAF Fitbit group if such a thing exists. Is that just in the community section on the website?

 

[Azulsky]

Presumably you have more data programmed into the fitbit like weight and height right? That is helping it make a better estimation.

 

[MrT]

Yeah the Fitbit is all programmed up, the machines at the gym obviously have none of my details. It's nice to see I'm (potentially) burning more calories than I thought, but I don't want to get tempted into eating more lol

 

[Zoe]

Yeah the Fitbit is all programmed up, the machines at the gym obviously have none of my details. It's nice to see I'm (potentially) burning more calories than I thought, but I don't want to get tempted into eating more lol

How do the numbers compare to this calculator?
http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/heart-rate-based-calorie-burn-calculator.aspx

 

[MrT]

How do the numbers compare to this calculator?
http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/heart-rate-based-calorie-burn-calculator.aspx

Ah that's really useful, thanks. They were way off until I realised I forgot to make myself male, now they're a little bit higher than that calculator, but not too far off. Guess I don't need to worry about it too much after all.

 

[Azulsky]

I never based my consumption off NET calories when I was working out. Only off BMR.

I was also plummeting in weight back then but I also had much more to lose.


January looks like -11 lbs for me. I think my current goal is still -19 more then to reassess goals. I am really down to typical problem spots and am hoping the paper towel effect starts kicking in for this last push.

 

[Seanspeed]

January looks like -11 lbs for me.

Congrats. Same here, though I didn't start weighing myself til the 6th.

But uh, what is the 'paper towel' effect? My imagination is turning up nothing.

 

[Subaru]

December 26th: 128.5 kg
February 1st: 120.3

 

[Deleted member 325805]

This month has been awful. I was sick for a week last month and lost 9lbs, ever since I have gone 0, +1, +1, 0. I can't remember what it feels like to see the scale go down. Before being sick I was losing 2 - 3lbs every week :/

 

[MrT]

Been a bad few days for overeating for me - work does free takeaway if you work late on a friday (which I had to do), then I was roped in to a trip to 5 guys on saturday, then I ate untold numbers of doritos during the super bowl last night. All my time at the gym recently saved me though as I still managed to lose another 0.7kg since my last weigh in so I'm now at 132.5

Speaking of the super bowl, I checked out my fitbit heart rate graph, and it tells the story of the game pretty well. It was up/down/all over the place most of the game (between 70-100), then when the Pats got that int in the dying moments it spiked over 120bpm!

I had to google the paper towel effect - if it's what I think it is (essentially the visible effects of the weight loss speeding up the more weight you lose, like a sheet from a roll of paper towels wrapping round the roll more times as you get closer to the center of the roll), then it's pretty interesting analogy and makes a lot of sense. Can't wait to see it in action.

 

[Azulsky]

Congrats. Same here, though I didn't start weighing myself til the 6th.

But uh, what is the 'paper towel' effect? My imagination is turning up nothing.

Probably should've called it paper towel theory or analogy.

Oh so its the idea that when you are very fat and you lose a pound(s) it doesn't seem like much because its like just taking the first few paper towels off the roll. As you get lighter losing x pounds is more noticeable because there are fewer paper towels left on the roll.

I haven't really taken pictures of myself to notice it, but I see it in others progress pictures all the time.

St3v3, that happened to me with the Flu in December. I put a few pounds of weight back on right after it cleared up, you will be fine.

MrT, you can order sandwiches at 5 guys without the bun and it brings the calories down quite a bit. Just get sauteed mushrooms and onions for topping and it makes a decent salad. I want to say the double that way is ~500kCal

 

[wenis]

I'd be up for a NeoGAF Fitbit group if such a thing exists. Is that just in the community section on the website?

I'd also too like to know if there is a group!?

I just received mine and am really liking it so far.

 

[Big Papa Husker]

December 28th: 266.7 lbs
February 1st: 254.4 lbs

Woot!

 

[Badosh]

Dec 16th = 216 lbs
Feb 3rd = 192 lbs

People keep saying I'm losing weight too quickly.

I've basically only cut out junk food/soda etc and have started working out for an hour a day 5 days a week.

Not sure what I can do differently so people stop saying this.

 

[Deleted member 325805]

Dec 16th = 216 lbs
Feb 3rd = 192 lbs

People keep saying I'm losing weight too quickly.

I've basically only cut out junk food/soda etc and have started working out for an hour a day 5 days a week.

Not sure what I can do differently so people stop saying this.

As long as you're eating the right amount of calories and getting all the nutrients you need you're golden, you'll start to lose slower soon enough.

 

[Badosh]

As long as you're eating the right amount of calories and getting all the nutrients you need you're golden, you'll start to lose slower soon enough.

All right, good to know.

 

[Deleted member 325805]

All right, good to know.

Do you have a MyFitnessPal account? It has helped me a lot. It'll tell you exactly what you need to eat for a healthy weight loss, I currently have my goal set to 2lbs/week, which lets me eat just under 1700 calories a day. Also, are you eating back your calories? Say you burn 500 calories, are you eating 500 calories extra? While you don't have to, if you're not you might be dropping well under the minimum calories per day.

 

[Badosh]

Do you have a MyFitnessPal account? It has helped me a lot. It'll tell you exactly what you need to eat for a healthy weight loss, I currently have my goal set to 2lbs/week, which lets me eat just under 1700 calories a day. Also, are you eating back your calories? Say you burn 500 calories, are you eating 500 calories extra? While you don't have to, if you're not you might be dropping well under the minimum calories per day.

I do not, so I'll look into it.

Typically speaking, yeah, when I joined my gym, the personal trainer talked to me about that, and gave me a rough outline explaining that kind of stuff. I try to even that out, between my intake of calories and how many i burn. I may not be doing that as well as I should. I'll try to watch that more. Thanks.

 

[Daffy Duck]

Cross posting from the other thread:

So I am wanting to join the gym and get in shape (I'm not stupidly fat) but I have a bit of a gut I want gone.

Problem I have is I am absolutley abysmal at knowing what type of diet I should be eating/portion sizes, I mean totally useless.

The exercise will take care of itself but what guides/recommended foods can I eat? What about snacks throughout the day when I'm hungry?

I'm not lookind for nutri bullets etc, I just want some good recommendations for things to have which will get me over being hungry.

So anyone have anything I can look at/start doing?

Thanks,

I've not weighed myself but I am around 15st and 6ft 2" tall.

 

[Azulsky]

Cross posting from the other thread:

So I am wanting to join the gym and get in shape (I'm not stupidly fat) but I have a bit of a gut I want gone.

Problem I have is I am absolutley abysmal at knowing what type of diet I should be eating/portion sizes, I mean totally useless.

The exercise will take care of itself but what guides/recommended foods can I eat? What about snacks throughout the day when I'm hungry?

I'm not lookind for nutri bullets etc, I just want some good recommendations for things to have which will get me over being hungry.

So anyone have anything I can look at/start doing?

Thanks,

I've not weighed myself but I am around 15st and 6ft 2" tall.

So i mean generally the recommendation is to take a guess at your BMR.

http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/

For macros the most common recommendation for starting out is to cut out obvious snack foods like soda, candy. Reduce or remove alcohol consumption.

From then on macro %'s vary. Most people cut down simple carbohydrates like white bread and pastas while increasing protein intake. Eat plenty of green veggies without drowning them in butter or sauces. Saturated fat has gotten a bad rap while veggie oils probably are worse than we thought. Dairy is hit or miss some people swear by it, other swear it off.

The easy thing to do after you cut out the snacks and beers is to portion control. Use tricks like smaller plates for dinner, don't bring serving dishes to the table as to avoid the encouragement for seconds. Or just think about the portion you would normally take and cut it by some amount before you serve yourself.

Planning out your meals a day or more in advance helps with "i dont know what i want to eat scenarios"

I'm going to recommend calorie counting. Use MFP or do it in a physical journal. Its just to build awareness and it provides you with feedback.

In general however even if you don't juornal your calories it is good to be mindful of the relative caloric content of foods.
For instance 6oz of Pork Tenderloin vs 6oz Beef Tenderloin(filet). The latter has 33% more calories.

Gym stuff is a totally different animal.

Generally you can get some beginners gains out of lifting while cutting your calories. It will probably just make you hungrier and you may recover more slowly than being on a surplus, or 'bulk' as it is know.

Cardio is cardio.

 

[Seanspeed]

Probably should've called it paper towel theory or analogy.

Oh so its the idea that when you are very fat and you lose a pound(s) it doesn't seem like much because its like just taking the first few paper towels off the roll. As you get lighter losing x pounds is more noticeable because there are fewer paper towels left on the roll.

I haven't really taken pictures of myself to notice it, but I see it in others progress pictures all the time.

Ah yea, that makes sense. And sure enough, I've lost about 12lbs over the last month now but after taking a picture, I cant really see it. But my pants are already looser and all, so yea, progress is definitely being made, its just hard to see it.

Somebody in another thread recently was suggesting that people not use a scale to track progress and instead use the mirror. I think this 'paper towel effect' is exactly why that's a bad idea. I could easily see somebody getting quite discouraged if they don't see much noticeable progress in the mirror in the beginning(when people are most likely to quit) whereas a scale will continually prove to you that you *are* making progress even if you cant see it.

 

[Azulsky]

Ah yea, that makes sense. And sure enough, I've lost about 12lbs over the last month now but after taking a picture, I cant really see it. But my pants are already looser and all, so yea, progress is definitely being made, its just hard to see it.

Somebody in another thread recently was suggesting that people not use a scale to track progress and instead use the mirror. I think this 'paper towel effect' is exactly why that's a bad idea. I could easily see somebody getting quite discouraged if they don't see much noticeable progress in the mirror in the beginning(when people are most likely to quit) whereas a scale will continually prove to you that you *are* making progress even if you cant see it.

I think it is good to use both. They both have ups and downs

The scale can make you over obsessive. When I started scale progress was fairly linear. Since 320 I have been like this

Day 1) x lbs
Day 5) x + 3 lbs
Day 10) x - 2 lbs
Day 15) x = x - 2
...

Data is not the plural of anecdote but it seems like many people lose weight that way, especially when you get closer to normal body fat %. This causes some to go crazy. Luckily for me I just have lost enough weight that I know my method works and its just a matter of time scales getting longer. I still weigh everyday but its just to see when the transition to the net negative is going to happen.


Pictures are a weird thing and the mind seems to be very resilient at holding onto your old self image. I get comments on how different my face looks from people I only know as acquaintances. I don't see it as having changed that much. But I have to admit it when i look back at the set of pictures I took @ 375 vs me in the mirror now at 265. I have a mugshot of myself at 430 and it horrifies me.

You have to trust that you are making progress by any metric you can use to measure it, and then you need to use that feedback to reinforce that your method is working and your effort is paying off.

The issue is not unique to people like me who have lost a whole person. Folks who only need to lose 30 feel like they aren't making progress because the scale # is relatively small and they don't acknowledge the differences in photos. See it all the time on /r/progresspics.

In the end its a personal journey and I think people are just sharing what worked for them in the hopes that it works for someone else. If something is clearly discouraging you then i would stop doing it.

 

[Seanspeed]

The problem is that people don't just actively analyse what's discouraging them and then adjust their habits. They just get discouraged and stop.

I'm all for encouraging people to do what works for them, but I think using a mirror as your main progress tracker and actively avoiding scales like the guy said, is fairly bad advice to give to others. Yes, it may work for certain people, but I imagine it will not work for a significant amount of other people, especially those less well versed in how to lose weight effectively who are probably quite substantial in number.

Its like insisting that people should go keto. Yes, that does work for some, but not for many, many others. When I recommend people use a scale to track progress, I say that because I see it is probably the most common method of doing it and what seems to keep a whole hell of a lot of people going, especially in the beginning. It is a much safer bet and I'd rather recommend safe bets when it comes to trying to help somebody stay on-track as I know full well how easy it is to fall off.

 

[Deleted member 325805]

I'm smiling today for the first time in 5 weeks, as I've said I've been really struggling since I was ill but this week I lost 5lbs but more importantly I'm finally out of the obese category, being "just" overweight has been my goal for awhile now.

59lbs down
24lbs to go

 

[MrT]

I'm smiling today for the first time in 5 weeks, as I've said I've been really struggling since I was ill but this week I lost 5lbs but more importantly I'm finally of the obese category, being "just" overweight has been my goal for awhile now.

59lbs down
24lbs to go

Awesome news, congrats. That must feel pretty damn good

 

[Azulsky]

The problem is that people don't just actively analyse what's discouraging them and then adjust their habits. They just get discouraged and stop.

I'm all for encouraging people to do what works for them, but I think using a mirror as your main progress tracker and actively avoiding scales like the guy said, is fairly bad advice to give to others. Yes, it may work for certain people, but I imagine it will not work for a significant amount of other people, especially those less well versed in how to lose weight effectively who are probably quite substantial in number.

Its like insisting that people should go keto. Yes, that does work for some, but not for many, many others. When I recommend people use a scale to track progress, I say that because I see it is probably the most common method of doing it and what seems to keep a whole hell of a lot of people going, especially in the beginning. It is a much safer bet and I'd rather recommend safe bets when it comes to trying to help somebody stay on-track as I know full well how easy it is to fall off.

No i wouldn't encourage the mirror as the main tracker either. The scale is better to use.

Its just that you have edge cases where people are adding so much new exercise that they are recomping instead of 'cutting' and they would get more reaffirming feedback through just measuring themselves or potentially pictures. Maybe in that case getting support groups is even more important.

Good work St3v3, keep smiling!

 

[Deleted member 325805]

Awesome news, congrats. That must feel pretty damn good

Yes sir, it's starting to sink in that I'm actually doing it this time. I started as a 5xl, I'm hoping to wear a regular large when I'm done. At this point I have no clothes that fit so I'm really looking forward to a new wardrobe in a few months.

 

[Sadetar]

Yes sir, it's starting to sink in that I'm actually doing it this time. I started as a 5xl, I'm hoping to wear a regular large when I'm done. At this point I have no clothes that fit so I'm really looking forward to a new wardrobe in a few months.

You are definitely doing it, I have no doubts. That is so awesome! Congratulations. Your hard work is paying off.

 

[Hoagmaster]

Been way too long since I've said anything here. Holidays were a bit bumpy but I've since gotten back to a nice routine of monitoring my intake and walking a lot. And people around here are noticing. I've gotten at least three compliments on my progress. The latest being earlier this evening when I was at the campus market and the clerk told me I look like I've "lost a hell of a lot of weight."

Comments like this are huge motivators.

 

[Godan]

Looking for a bit of advise as to what to do with the calories you have left over.


Started back last week dieting as I have been on and off it over the past few months and to lose about 2 pounds a week my calories should be about 2300 (weight is 288 - 290 lbs). Now all of last week I would only take about 1700 calories a day and I was fine as in hunger wise and stuff. Now I have about 500 calories a day left and this is no taking into account the exercise that I have done. Should I try and eat more to bring it closer to my daily limit? I think I could maybe get it up to 2000 a day but then that just having something to eat for the sake of it.

Could I even just use the calories left over for one day like a cheat day or something?

 

[Seanspeed]

Been way too long since I've said anything here. Holidays were a bit bumpy but I've since gotten back to a nice routine of monitoring my intake and walking a lot. And people around here are noticing. I've gotten at least three compliments on my progress. The latest being earlier this evening when I was at the campus market and the clerk told me I look like I've "lost a hell of a lot of weight."

Comments like this are huge motivators.

Yea, that sort of thing can definitely add a hell of a lot of incentive to not give up.

Looking for a bit of advise as to what to do with the calories you have left over.


Started back last week dieting as I have been on and off it over the past few months and to lose about 2 pounds a week my calories should be about 2300 (weight is 288 - 290 lbs). Now all of last week I would only take about 1700 calories a day and I was fine as in hunger wise and stuff. Now I have about 500 calories a day left and this is no taking into account the exercise that I have done. Should I try and eat more to bring it closer to my daily limit? I think I could maybe get it up to 2000 a day but then that just having something to eat for the sake of it.

Could I even just use the calories left over for one day like a cheat day or something?

Personally, so long as I've gotten enough protein for the day and I'm not hungry or tired feeling or anything, I roll with whatever deficit I turn up for the day. Your recommended deficit is simply a recommendation, not a mandatory guideline, after all.

So first thing I would check is yea - Did I get enough protein today? At least 1g per lb of lean body mass(so basically just figure what your ideal weight for your body size would be and subtract around 15%, as that's essentially what you are without most of the fat). For instance, if you're 200lbs, but your ideal body weight is 160lbs, then you'd want at least 136g of protein for the day. Alternatively, if you know your fat %, then just take your current weight and subtract by your fat %. This is gonna help stave off muscle loss as much as possible.

And if you've gotten enough protein, I really don't think it matters much what else you do. Obviously if you've eaten little to no fiber or veggies for the day, you might want to eat a bit more just for the nutrition and digestion.

As far as 'saving up' for a cheat day, I mean, it doesn't really work like that. Of course if you're losing weight faster than normal by being on a bigger deficit, you may feel you've earned a cheat day and still keep to your target, but my opinion is that beating a target is even better than hitting a target, so why limit your progress? I take cheat meals/days when I feel like I need to, to keep sane, or if I'm going out and want to order some alcoholic drinks and not feel guilty about it or something. I feel you should take as many cheat days/meals as you think you need so long as you're still making progress that you are happy with.

 

[Godan]

Personally, so long as I've gotten enough protein for the day and I'm not hungry or tired feeling or anything, I roll with whatever deficit I turn up for the day. Your recommended deficit is simply a recommendation, not a mandatory guideline, after all.

So first thing I would check is yea - Did I get enough protein today? At least 1g per lb of lean body mass(so basically just figure what your ideal weight for your body size would be and subtract around 15%, as that's essentially what you are without most of the fat). For instance, if you're 200lbs, but your ideal body weight is 160lbs, then you'd want at least 136g of protein for the day. Alternatively, if you know your fat %, then just take your current weight and subtract by your fat %. This is gonna help stave off muscle loss as much as possible.

And if you've gotten enough protein, I really don't think it matters much what else you do. Obviously if you've eaten little to no fiber or veggies for the day, you might want to eat a bit more just for the nutrition and digestion.

As far as 'saving up' for a cheat day, I mean, it doesn't really work like that. Of course if you're losing weight faster than normal by being on a bigger deficit, you may feel you've earned a cheat day and still keep to your target, but my opinion is that beating a target is even better than hitting a target, so why limit your progress? I take cheat meals/days when I feel like I need to, to keep sane, or if I'm going out and want to order some alcoholic drinks and not feel guilty about it or something. I feel you should take as many cheat days/meals as you think you need so long as you're still making progress that you are happy with.

Thanks. Was just wanting to know what people do if they are consistently under what their calorie target for a day. I guess I will keep doing this for a few weeks and see how it works for me and then maybe change it up a bit.

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

Wow, calorie counting and meticulously writing down EVERYTHING I eat has completely opened my eyes.



Ignore the spelling mistakes, they're not important. Before I started my log, I was having 7-8 scoops of chili a day (I made a huge batch), which alone was my full daily allotted amount, and that was just snacking. Now I have the tools and knowledge to be successful. Hope I can do it.

It's pretty amazing right? I started looking at calories and such about 6 months ago and it's amazing how even small portions of things can be so packed with calories. I never really ate too huge of portions but the things I was eating could be all the way or half the way to what my daily allowance should be. It's really crazy once you look at what exactly you're taking in.

 

[DopeToast]

The holidays and the first month of the semester was a total bust, and I put on like ten of the pounds that I lost, but I've got back in a good rhythm in the last week. I lost 8 pounds! last week, and am back in my slimmer jeans that I was wearing right before Christmas. By the end of next week I expect to be back at 230 and then keep losing. I graduated high school at 225 and am excited to get back to that weight.

 

[Azulsky]

Thanks. Was just wanting to know what people do if they are consistently under what their calorie target for a day. I guess I will keep doing this for a few weeks and see how it works for me and then maybe change it up a bit.

Calorie counting makes me meticulous enough that I am rarely more than 100-200kCal low. If thats the case and I really feel I need the extra calories I just add a Tbsp of butter to my veggies at dinner or eat a Tbsp of peanut butter.

My overall issue at the moment is that I need to start eating more. I feel(fullness) like i ate too much today and it was only 1650. I stayed at 1200ish for long enough to get too used to it.

 

[Beer Monkey]

Here's an alternate approach to calculating BMR and measuring your exercise, though it only works if you are are already on an exercise program and you are not going to be changing that program. It worked for me because I was already powerlifting 3x a week and was not going to be changing it.

Step 1: Count your calories religiously for two weeks. Every.single.thing that goes into your mouth gets measured and counted. Weigh yourself daily to make sure your weight is stable during this time period.
Step 2: Add them all up and divide by 14. That's your maintenance caloric intake!
Step 3: Set your new goal (maintenance minus 500 calories, maintenance minus 20%, whatever you choose). Keep counting and sustain your exercise/activity level.

I don't even record my exercise because it's the same exercise I've been doing for the better part of a year. All I do is count my calories and I'm getting very solid results. I'll post pics when I hit my goal in a few months.

My maintenance intake was well beyond what any of the calculators come up with. Honestly I don't think the BMR calculators work well at all for some people. Possibly because some people are so bad at self-reporting and this has skewed the standards that the people who design the calculators are working with.

Another piece of possibly useful advice: The guidelines about watching out for doing too much cardio, how you need to lift weights, how much protein you need to get, et al. are generally sourced from ideals for weight lifting, strength training, body builders and so on. The whole bulk/cut culture where everybody is trying to burn fat while preserving muscle mass. Thing is, the more obese you are, the more your body will burn fat instead of muscle to begin with. So the fatter you are, the less you need to be concerned about what kind of exercise you are getting and how much protein you are eating, your body is automatically going to prioritize burning muscle over fat. Once you lose a lot of that fat you'll need to do more work to preserve lean mass, but starting out, it just isn't that big of a deal.

Regardless of what you do, mad props to all you members who are changing your lifes!

 

[GreenTornadoX]

February Update:

I'm at now 334, at a lost of 122 lbs! Hopefully soon, I'll be at the right weight to use a non-bariatric crossfit trainer or a treadmill. (They cost more than a high end pc, and I don't have much money at all.)

 

[bengraven]

I'm think I'm ready to devote myself to starting.

 

[bequietdrive]

December: 185 lb
Today: 178 lb

Haven't been to the gym that much but have been focusing on improving my diet.

Ideally I want to lost fat without losing too much muscle, is the best way to go about that to carry on slowly reducing calories while going back to lifting weights?

 

[Azulsky]

I'm think I'm ready to devote myself to starting.

All I can say is I'm so glad I did 13 months ago.

Good work Dord, you are killing it.

Bequiet, I held onto my legs pretty well and I have just been eating ample protein, about 100g daily, usually more.

 

[bequietdrive]

All I can say is I'm so glad I did 13 months ago.

Good work Dord, you are killing it.

Bequiet, I held onto my legs pretty well and I have just been eating ample protein, about 100g daily, usually more.

Hmm, may just focus on upping my protein. What kind of work out regime are you doing, mix of cardio and weight lifting, or is this mainly just a diet change?

 

[GreenTornadoX]

All I can say is I'm so glad I did 13 months ago.

Good work Dord, you are killing it.

Bequiet, I held onto my legs pretty well and I have just been eating ample protein, about 100g daily, usually more.

Thanks!

 

[Azulsky]

Hmm, may just focus on upping my protein. What kind of work out regime are you doing, mix of cardio and weight lifting, or is this mainly just a diet change?

90% of my progress has been diet. I have learned in retrospect that for my weight I was actually particularly active so in many ways the legs were there Im just trying to preserve whatever I can on the way down.

Eh i was doing this stationary bike for 30mins a day eventually at max resistance.

Also some walking(3.5mph) for several miles a day, preferred this to the bike due to sunshine.

But i havent done anything in several (nearly 5) now except some casual walking due to a knee injury that is unresolving or just chronic arthritis that never appeared until now.

So at the moment its just diet. Trying to do some dumbell lifting to help out my arms but its silly to expect mass gain when Im still eating 1500kcal.

 

[Sadetar]

90% of my progress has been diet. I have learned in retrospect that for my weight I was actually particularly active so in many ways the legs were there Im just trying to preserve whatever I can on the way down.

Eh i was doing this stationary bike for 30mins a day eventually at max resistance.

Also some walking(3.5mph) for several miles a day, preferred this to the bike due to sunshine.

But i havent done anything in several (nearly 5) now except some casual walking due to a knee injury that is unresolving or just chronic arthritis that never appeared until now.

So at the moment its just diet. Trying to do some dumbell lifting to help out my arms but its silly to expect mass gain when Im still eating 1500kcal.

I have been doing quite much the same as you - I already had the muscles on my legs but I just try to maintain the muscle mass while losing fat. I need to add that I do pilates once a week, gym twice a week and Nordic walking twice a week. Even if I have been eating very few calories I have been able to add muscles to some parts of my body. At least my ass is siginificantly bigger and rounder compared to my starting point a bit under a year ago. When I do photo comparison I can definitely see the difference. Before it was flat, no it is actually 3D.

Even if my calves are way smaller, I am very happy with the changes this far. I have lost around 50 pounds. 30 more to go to hit my original goal.

 

[Azulsky]

I've definitely lost size in my thighs and calves, and wouldn't mind losing more in the calves aesthetically. I'll need to work more on glutes when my knee gets better, the feeling on sitting directly on the pelvic bones is odd to say the least.

At least my arms are improving strength wise, I think a Ken doll had stronger shoulders than I did a few months ago.

 

[Fistwell]

the feeling on sitting directly on the pelvic bones is odd to say the least.

lol yeah, having to sit on my (all of a sudden) "bony ass" (so to speak) was pretty disconcerting and uncomfortable for a while.