How many calories should i be getting?

[joshuaseu]

Many of the calorie needs calculators that i've seen, the have a section to choose your activity level, but none really explain what constitutes each level.

usually it's sedentary, lightly active, moderatly active, or Very or Extremely active (the one i use)Howstuffworks

three days a week i use the eliptical for 20 minutes doing HIIT and the fat loss 1 workouts. two days i do 25 minutes of HIIT on the eliptical. other then that, i have a desk job 8-10 hours a day and take my kids to the park and try and play fairly actively with them 4-5 days a week for 1-2 hours each time.

so what am i? i usually use sedentary or light, because while i am active outside work, for 8-10 hours a day, i'm in a chair. so according to that, i should have 3003-3123 calories a day, minus 500 for a pound of fat loss a week, so 2503 calories a day.... Right?
5'11", 260lbs, 27yrs

[Chris Correia]

Check out this recent topic , and make sure you follow the links to Leigh's three part article/series.

It should answer your questions.

[BjsAust]

I always found that a struggle to work out myself. I could never work out where sitting on my ass all day with 1 hr of ass-busting workout fit into those descriptions :p.

[OldGuy]

How many calories are you eating? Are you gaining or losing weight?

[joshuaseu]

well i have 6 meals a day, 3 at 575 calories, 3 at 300, so a total of 2625, plus a workout shake to roughly replace the calories i burn from the workout, so that puts me at a 500 calorie defecit from what the calculator says i should have for being lightly active.

for weight loss, don't know yet, it goe's up and down 255-260, i'm going to get measurements, which i'm sure will be a muc better indicator, because usually, my wt changes very little, but i will lose inches like crazy. the last workout i did, i didn't count calories, only worked out and tried to eat carefully, and only lost 5 pounds over 4 months, but lost around 16 inches. i'd like to continue to lose inches, buti want to get my actual wt down as well.

and thanks for those fat loss trouble shooters paegs, definaetly a good idea, but seems like a lot of work, if i can't fgure it out this way right now, i might try that.

[OldGuy]

So 2,625 plus the workout shake does not put you at 500 below what your maintenance would be. You're probably pretty close to what you should be eating.

I would try to go about 2,200 calories. And that would include the calories from your shake.

[Chris Correia]

Losing lots of inches but not much weight should mean muscle gain. Cool!

So, it's Thanksgiving and the holidays. Follow the protocol of continuing to work out. If you're essentially losing weight now, then up your cals a bit for a week or two and see what happens. Let's assume you stay the same. Eat more for another week or two. When you start to gain weight, you've crossed the threshold of maintenance and know what that level of cals is. Then you can judge and adjust from there, depending on your goals -- lean up or add muscle

You won't trim up any more until the new year, but you'll probably add some muscle, at least.

[coach hale]

There are various methods that you can use to determine calorie levels

Here is a really simple method

to lose weight
8-12 cals per day

There are various forumlas you can use as well as numerous tables and methods of indirect calorimetry, but the simple method used above should work

I have yet to find anyone that did not lose weight when eating 8kcals per lb/day. I worked in a Prader Willi faciltiy for 2 years and all of the clients lost weight when consuming 8-10 cals per day. Prader Willi patients have everything working against them as far as weight loss goes so if works for them it should work for basically everyone.

thanks
Coach Hale
www.maxcondition.com

[Cynic]

Originally Posted by coach hale

There are various methods that you can use to determine calorie levels

Here is a really simple method

to lose weight
8-12 cals per day

Read that as 8-12cals/lb of body weight. Coach Hale is a busy man and likely had to write that on the run.

[JoeKingss]

I'm glad I found this topic!!
So for someone weighting in at 270lbs, they should be eating 2160-2700 cal a day? That's a big difference. How do you know where to stand? Is the 8cal/lb mark for low activity and the 10cal/lb mark for high activity??

[coach hale]

Adjust downwards if you are not losing weight with higher levels drop to lower and as i mentioned i have yet to find anyone who needed to go lower the 8kcals/lb

thanks
coach hale
www.maxcondition.com

[banderbe]

Hi Coach Hale, who is that in your avatar? How old are they? Amazin'!

[Frank.S]

8cals per lb is ridiculously low. I would be looking at a variety of other things before going near that low.

For someone that weights 270lbs, what have you done so far to 'diet'. Honestly, at 270lbs (and im not saying thats all that big, i was 250lbs just a few weeks ago. ). Most people could just get by with not eating fast food, processed foods (chips, candy etc). The results for most, will come. If you got to 270lbs, im pretty sure you where not eating chicken breasts, seeds and salads.

Weight loss when you weight a little more is easier to start with, often 3+ lbs per week with just small changes. It is different for everyone though, I drop the burgers and pizza out and almost instantly im noticeably leaner.

[Chris Correia]

Originally Posted by Chris Correia

Check out this recent topic , and make sure you follow the links to Leigh's three part article/series.

It should answer your questions.

I again refer you to that topic I noted earlier; Leigh has some additional posts that speak to this issue, very convincingly IMO.

Work hard. Eat more. Lose weight.

[JoeKingss]

Frank, My scale topped out at 295 and I was over that. I don't even know what my true weight was to begin with. I'm thinking around 300-305. Been working on it though since April of this year. I've been holding my calories most days now around 2000 because of this calculator Recommended Daily Calorie Intake Calculator for Adult males, females & Children & Pregnant Women - Hpathy.com. 6'2", 270lbs, 28 years old loosing 2lbs per week states 1991.92 calories with a desk job. Single dad so gym time and even basic weight time it not easy right now. This past summer I used to take about 2mile walks during my lunch hour, but once it hit cold in New York, that changed.

I was mainly wondering because I'm hitting 2000 cal, and it was suggested 8-10cal/lb, which is way more than I'm doing. Shouldn't I be loosing like mad fast?

[LWilson212]

One thing I learned on this forum, it is better to lose weight eating the most you can so you don't mess up your metabolism. If you eat too little you will put yourself in starvation mode, and be more susceptible to binging.
I did weight watchers for a long time eating around 1200 - 1500 calories a day and I lost about 50 pounds. I couldn't maintain eating that way and I gained back 10 - 15 pounds. This time I am trying to lose it on 1800 - 2000 calories per day. It is slower, but I think, more sustainable.

Leah

[OldGuy]

Originally Posted by JoeKingss

Frank, My scale topped out at 295 and I was over that. I don't even know what my true weight was to begin with. I'm thinking around 300-305. Been working on it though since April of this year. I've been holding my calories most days now around 2000 because of this calculator Recommended Daily Calorie Intake Calculator for Adult males, females & Children & Pregnant Women - Hpathy.com. 6'2", 270lbs, 28 years old loosing 2lbs per week states 1991.92 calories with a desk job. Single dad so gym time and even basic weight time it not easy right now. This past summer I used to take about 2mile walks during my lunch hour, but once it hit cold in New York, that changed.

I was mainly wondering because I'm hitting 2000 cal, and it was suggested 8-10cal/lb, which is way more than I'm doing. Shouldn't I be loosing like mad fast?

Depends. Your body will adapt to the lower calories and slow down your metabolism if you've been eating this low for a while. Sometimes you need to increase the calories for a few weeks (but add them slowly) to speed it up again so when you drop it you will lose. Also you need to remember that these calculations are guesstimates, everyone is different. You need to find your set points.

As far as the gym goes there are a lot of bodyweight routines you could do if you can't make it to the gym. Done as a circuit they will stoke your metabolism so you will lose when in deficit.

[banderbe]

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