7 Day Experiment.

0somuchbetter0

I think OP is just trying to get his head back in the game after slipping a bit. I get it.

silverstringbp

UPDATE: Three days in and lost about 6-7 pounds in about 7 days, and almost 2 pounds in the first 3 days of this week.

Clearly exercising LESS makes it easier for me to eat less. Now only exercising 40%-50% of what I was doing.

tulips_and_tea

0somuchbetter0 wrote: »

I think OP is just trying to get his head back in the game after slipping a bit. I get it.

I agree. Different things work for different people. It should be easy to see that after reading these forums for a short time.

tulips_and_tea

silverstringbp wrote: »

UPDATE: Three days in and lost about 6-7 pounds in about 7 days, and almost 2 pounds in the first 3 days of this week.

Clearly exercising LESS makes it easier for me to eat less. Now only exercising 40%-50% of what I was doing.

Good! Thanks for the update. I hope you are doing weight training during this time. IMHO it's important to keep as much muscle mass as possible.

silverstringbp

OK, I did my weigh-in this morning and that concludes the 7 day experiment.

*Started at a weight of: 219.4
*Ended at a weight of: 217.0

I ate an average of 1717 calories a day. It was fairly easy to do. The goal was 1500 a day.

I did eat more calories than planned due to a single day. It was planned and expected, but still... Luckily that won't be a regular thing.

Not only did I eat less calories than before (presumably, since I lost weight), but I ate better. More than half of my non-breakfast meals were chicken and vegetables. I always eat fruit for breakfast.

I only exercised twice a week, this is because eating less seemed to drain my energy so I didn't feel able to workout as much as I normally do. So it's a catch-22...

OK - onto the NEXT 7 day challenge this week.....

silverstringbp

7 DAY EXPERIMENT PART 2!!!! THE SEQUEL

November 17th to November 23rd:

1. Eat AVG 1500 calories a day.
2. Weigh raw ingredients and use UPC data.
3. Keep sodium under limits.
4. Drink only water.
5. Do 3 days of cardio burning at least 250 calories each time.
6. Do 2 days of workouts with 8 exercises each day.

The same as last week, but still trying to do the exercising with lower calories. It's all about timing eating and exercising together. Here we go!

STARTING WEIGHT: 217.0

queenliz99

Good luck and thanks for update!

leggup

1,500 calories is very low for a male. Where did you come up with that number? With 37 lbs to go..

If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal

Set your MFP to lose 1 lb/week and see how many calories it gives you. That number will be sustainable and will slowly get lower and lower as you lose weight until you have 25 lbs to lose, at which point you will then drop your goal to .5-1 lb per week, etc.

You're more likely to stick to this in the long run if you are losing at a healthy rate given how much weight you have to lose. You will also retain more muscle mass as you lose fat if you're doing so slowly. You will also have more energy for workouts if you're feeding your body adequately.

WalkingAlong

"Is ideal" is an opinion based on assumptions about a person's needs and wants. Some want to lose faster and then their "ideal" rate is different. Some people are more likely to stick to a plan that shows more results. And some their energy doesn't depend on their food consumption for the day, since they use calories stored in fat to fund their deficit. I don't think 1500 plus 'eating back' is unsafe for a man.

silverstringbp

Thanks for the comments Broccoli!

That calorie intake is just for the weekly experiment, to get a sense of how I feel with 1500 a day, and what kind of weight loss it results in.

I'm working towards a better mixture of eating less vs being able to exercise more. After this week I'll make adjustments.

WalkingAlong - I am definitely more likely to stick to a plan that shows REAL results. That's me for sure.

auddii

britishbroccoli wrote: »

1,500 calories is very low for a male. Where did you come up with that number? With 37 lbs to go..

If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal

Set your MFP to lose 1 lb/week and see how many calories it gives you. That number will be sustainable and will slowly get lower and lower as you lose weight until you have 25 lbs to lose, at which point you will then drop your goal to .5-1 lb per week, etc.

You're more likely to stick to this in the long run if you are losing at a healthy rate given how much weight you have to lose. You will also retain more muscle mass as you lose fat if you're doing so slowly. You will also have more energy for workouts if you're feeding your body adequately.

It's ok, he's eating more than he thinks anyways. He's logged several days of pizza hut pepperoni pizza, and according to their own website it has at least 50-250 more calories than he logged (depending on the type of crust). Without weighing and inaccurate entries in the database, he's probably eating closer to what his calorie level should be.

OP: If you do try and clean up and be more accurate with your logging, you should likely eat more than 1500 calories per day, but if nothing else, you should eat back your exercise calories.

wilsoncl6

Your program sounds incredibly like my own. At first I thought you were talking about doing this for 7 days only and then checking your results. I was getting ready to tell you to get ready for disappointment. In the first month of this program, I lost about 10lbs and lost an additional 10lbs over the next month but could have probably been more if I was more stringent about food calculations. Sounds like you have things well thought out but make sure you find a good strength training program that works for you and doesn't lead to burn out. I love free weights and over the years, I've managed to create a personal program that works well for me.

silverstringbp

Week 2 I ate to maintain my weight essentially... not good... the challenge is eating socially and still keeping calories low. Eating well at home has been easy.

WEEK 3 has started. This week will be interesting. Good news is holiday eating will just be one meal since it's NOT at my house! Thank goodness.

Starting Weight: 217.6
Ending Goal: 215 (tough goal, but why not?)
Goal: 4 Days at the gym. 1 HR each of cardio or 8 exercises.

ndj1979

rabbitjb wrote: »

silverstringbp wrote: »

elphie754 wrote: »

No sugar at all? So you are not going to eat and fruits or veggies?

I was thinking more of sweet foods. I have always ate just fruit before noon.

That's for the first 7 days to clear out the food in my house ( no eating out either )..

The NEXT 7 days I'll be eating only freshly cooked things. So my rules for then are:

Eat only fruit, fruit juice for a smoothie, vegetables, chicken thighs, fish.

No grains, no cheese, no dairy, no beef. Most of which I never eat anyways.

PS: I bought a scale today to get REAL here..

Why all the exclusions and complicated rules?

Eat at a calorie defecit

That's it

seriously, this is like the rubrics cube of weight loss ..

OP so you are not going to eat sugar, but then you are going to eat fruit aka sugar???? ehhhhhhh????????

Just calculate a 500 per day calorie deficit, ditch the rules and complex back flips, eat the foods you like, and watch the weight come off ….

queenliz99

You're doing great! Keep it up!!

ndj1979

OP - just an FYI it takes about four to six weeks for your body to adapt to any change…so I do not think this 7 day experiment is really going to do anything…

making sustainable choices that will last for 7 years is going to be a much better path ….