Diet, Nutrition and SupplementationPost here for supplement reviews or nutritional advice. If you're trying to get "ripped abz" THIS is where you should be.
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
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.
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.
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.
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"A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have."
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.
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.
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??
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
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.
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?
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.
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.
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"A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have."
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.
What does "work hard" mean?
I lift three times a week. I work hard when I am in the gym. A workout usually burns 450 calories, plus the EPOC effect I get from the fat loss workout I do. I can't work any harder. I can only work more, and I'm not willing to do that.
I have a wife and two boys. I'm just not going to spend more time in the gym to drop weight faster. I'm going to cut calories, carb cycle and take a week to two week break from dieting every three to four months.
"Work hard" sounds like lofty rhetoric to many people with busy lives who still want to lean out and get muscular.
It's doing a disservice to those people to imply that they aren't working hard enough, and that they need to eat more and spend even more time at the gym. Someone who doesn't know better is going to read that and shrug and give up at their goals because they think they're unattainable.
Obviously there's a limit to how low one should cut calories but I see no problem with letting at least half of one's caloric deficit come from diet.
If someone stops losing fat there are many things they can try if spending still more time in the gym isn't an option. Most folks will do fine just returning to maintenance eating for a few weeks before dieting again.
For Frank :the contents of my diet are pretty good i think. i have a breakfast shake with 575 calories of yogurt, milk, frozen and/or fresh fruit, olive oil, and whey protein powder.
three snacks, one with 300 cal's of nuts, (peanuts, almonds, walnuts, all mixed together) one with 300 cal's of fresh vegetable and cheese, and or a little meat.
then lunch and dinner, usually consist of eggs, beef, chicken, occasionally pork, lot's of fresh/frozen/canned vegetables and other things, but always limited to 575 calories. and never things like hotdogs, boxed foods, etc. I don't eat chips, again, haven't since a teenager, and i don't care that much for desserts, i'd rather have a second helping of the meat.
i haven't eaten at a mcdonalds, etc, in over a year, i don't drink pop and haven't since i was a teenager, just iced green tea or water or 100% juice (which when i do, i count them into my calories, and it's usually only about 1-2 times a week). My wife does have a weaknes for pizza, but i've only had it about 5 times in the past 6 months, and again, i know the calorie content from postings at the pizza place and don't overdue it.
All's i can figure is what got me was too much meat, i could pack away a big steak and eat a half a chicken. and i liked the fried appetizers, especially the bloomin onion type, i know that didn't help. for the most part, i ate good food, i just ate a whole lot of it. when i was in college, i worked out all the time and was one of the strongest guys at the gym 190lbs, with a 30 inch waist. after college, no more free gym, so, i stopped that, but continued eating like i did. oh, and beer, i liked beer a lot. but no more. well, once a month i'll have a few at social gatherings.
and for Old guy: sorry if it wasn't clear, but the 2625 is about 500 below maintenance (actually about 450) according to the calculator's i should be getting 3100 a day. 2200 would 900 below. when i posted it, they were in different sections, so, sorry if it was confusing.
I agree with coach hale on this, I think your counting my be slightly off on this.
BTW, as far as calculating how many calories a person needs with an online calculator, has anyone used the one here Precision Nutrition - Calorie Estimator ? Although I'm hittin plateaus in weight gain every so often, and having to bump up my cals again, I have found that the numbers it gives me seem to be on the high side? Anybody else use this calculator with accuracy?
I agree with coach hale on this, I think your counting my be slightly off on this.
BTW, as far as calculating how many calories a person needs with an online calculator, has anyone used the one here Precision Nutrition - Calorie Estimator ? Although I'm hittin plateaus in weight gain every so often, and having to bump up my cals again, I have found that the numbers it gives me seem to be on the high side? Anybody else use this calculator with accuracy?
Yeah those results are crap.
My guess would be that the numbers are high because Berardi pushes his "G-Flux" theory of eating more and exercising more. Those results would have people eating more, and not losing fat without exercising more.
I think this is a fine idea in theory. Obviously, it's ideal to get your caloric deficit from exercise. For people with family, kids, job, etc., it doesn't really pan out. Most normal people with busy lives have to cut calories because they don't have the time to workout even more than they already do.
It says my maintenance calories are 3366. Yeah, right. Try about 2400.
If you are a member at Tom Venuto's website you can use his calculator that uses the Harris Bennedict forumula. Much more realistic.
OK so I want to go on slow fat loss the next month. I'm also going to increase my martial arts oriented general conditioning work. So, I'm going to go with Berardi's calculation of about 2,400 cals a day and see if I actually drop any fat. This will be week one . . .
Berardi doesn't even bother to explain HOW he arrives at the numbers the calculator gives.
Harris Bennedict, and Katch McCardle both totally disagree with Berardi's calculator.
Given that those are the two best, most widely accepted formulas for calculating TDEE, I see no reason to regard Berardi's calculator results with anything but deep skepticism.
That said, I'm all for experimentation so knock yourself out! Let us know how it goes!
How many calories should i be getting?
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