why does my daily energy expenditure seem so big?

johnna_g

Hello fellow dieters! I'd be grateful if people could help me with the following question.

First, my key data...

I am a 49-year old man, height 5'11" (1.80m), with a medium build and a fairly sedentary lifestyle. I am on my way down in weight from 13st 10lb (192lb, 87kg) to my target of 11st 3lb (157lb, 71kg). My current weight is 12st 7 lb (175lb, 79kg), so I am halfway there!

Over the past 7 days, I have eaten 6105 calories (872 per day) and my weight has fallen by 4.79 lb.

I calculated the weight loss figure using exponential smoothing, so it is not significantly affected by daily fluctuations. My rate of weight loss, my calorie consumption, my exercise and lifestyle have been pretty constant for several weeks, so there has been nothing special about the past 7 days.

My question is, why is my indicated total daily energy expenditure so high?

In 7 days, energy expenditure in calories has been 6105 (food) + (4.79 * 3500) (burnt fat) = 22780. Dividing by 7 gives a daily figure of 3267 calories.

Surely that's far too high a figure, given my shape and lifestyle? I would have thought the figure should be around 1950-2200 calories, and certainly no higher than 2500 calories.

So why am I losing weight at such a high rate?

Thanks for any help with this!

Best regards,

John

uconnwinsnc1

You're only eating 872 calories per day?

Velum_cado

Wait, why are you eating only 872 calories daily? Is that what you meant to say?

Iri_2

Am I getting this right? You've been eating 872 calories per day for the past few weeks?

If so, you're losing weight at such a fast pace because you're eating less than a toddler. This is not healthy, you need to eat more food.

johnna_g

That's right, yes. And I seem to be using up 3267, including the 872 I eat. And my lifestyle is sedentary. I can't work out where all that energy is going!

Can you be more specific about why I'm losing weight so fast?

Velum_cado

I think your bigger worry should be how you can eat more.

asdowe13

Losing weight.....you are doing it wrong.

Velum_cado

You lose weight when you burn more calories than you eat. You're burning WAY more than you eat. It's very unlikely that you'll be able to sustain your diet, first of all. Second, it's very unlikely you're getting the nutrients to keep you healthy while eating so little. Honestly, you need to be eating more. I eat more than 872 calories for dinner on a daily basis!

JonathanLepoff

You have a BMR of approximately 1725 calories a day (the number of calories you burn just living)

nentecular

johnna_g wrote: »

So why am I losing weight at such a high rate?

Because you're eating about half the amount you should.

asdowe13

1 week in....mostly water weight, some fat, some mucle.

Iri_2

Your body is using that energy (burning the fat) to keep you alive. You need calories, and even more important, nutrients, to stay healthy.

Again, you need to eat more. Way more than what you're eating now.

Serah87

*facepalm*

Say goodbye to muscles.......which your heart is a muscle.

You need to eat more ASAP!!!!!

johnna_g

Does anybody here know the answer? Many people on diets eat 900 or fewer calories per day. Is it a known result that their rate of weight loss exceeds what you'd expect from doing the usual calculations

daily weight loss = (total daily energy expenditure - daily calories consumed )/3500,
where weight is in lb and energy is in calories

?

If so, has anyone got some links to where I can find out more?
Thanks!
John

ChrisM8971

adowe wrote: »

1 week in....mostly water weight, some fat, some mucle.

week 2 no water weight, some fat, lots of muscle

Seriously eat more and with what you have to lose aim for 0.5 to 1.0 lb per week

socalkay

Yes - try using the TDEE method to calculate the calories you need. You are way below recommended intake for healthy weight loss (one-half to 1 lb/week). Using the calculator on the site listed below, your daily calories should be around 1550 - 1650. I think 4+ pounds a week loss is dangerous if you aren't under close medical supervision.

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055/setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets/p1

cwolfman13

The whole 3500 calories to lose a pound is just a guideline, it's not hard and fast math. Also, you're not burning just fat...you're losing water and fluids and muscle. To actually have a reasonably good idea of your true energy expenditure, you would have to watch the trend over a longer period of time, a week isn't going to tell you anything.

I also think you should eat more, but really I don't care what you do.

johnna_g

Thanks adowe, serah87 and chrism8971 for addressing the question.

I've been doing this for 3 weeks and my rate of weight loss has been constant.

So you are saying that as well as fat I've also been losing water and muscle, with the rate of water loss going down and the rate of muscle loss increasing.

Links?

@cwolfman15 - As I said, what I've been doing has been constant for much longer than a week. It's just that I've counted calories more precisely in the past week.

socalkay

Good post to read:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

johnna_g

Thanks socalkay. The post says losing muscle's bad for "metabolic", "aesthetic" and possibly also "functional" reasons. Which doesn't explain much at all. Metabolism is a function.

If something's going wrong, what symptoms should I be getting?

Why can't losing a bit of muscle while eating a low-calorie diet for a few weeks or months be sorted out by doing more exercise? Either after I've reached my target, or starting before?

ChrisM8971

johnna_g wrote: »

Thanks socalkay. The post says losing muscle's bad for "metabolic", "aesthetic" and possibly also "functional" reasons. Which doesn't explain much at all.

If something's going wrong, what symptoms should I be getting?

Why can't losing a bit of muscle while eating a low-calorie diet for a few weeks or months be sorted out by doing more exercise? Either after I've reached my target, or starting before?

You will lose some muscle while dieting anyway but the ratio of fat to muscle loss depends on a lot of things, including genetics. The amount of muscle loss can at least be reduced by resistance training, increased protein intake and by not having to large a calorie deficit.

You can address the muscle loss once you reach your goal weight but you might want to look up the term "skinny fat", its not a good look and that's something I can say from experience

As to links have a good delve around on this site http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/

scottacular

Dieting is not eating 900 calories or less a day, that's an eating disorder. Most dieters do not eat so little, but all people with an illness from eating so little do. Dieting is cutting calories by just enough to lose fat at a steady rate. For me for example, that's just over 2000 calories a day I'm eating (based on gym x 4 a week/165 cm tall/31 inch waist/144 lbs). Your body needs energy to perform its vital functions, and that includes requiring energy to burn fat. You wouldn't put a few drops of fuel into a car for a long journey.

scottacular

Dieting is not eating 900 calories or less a day, that's an eating disorder. Most dieters do not eat so little, but all people with an illness from eating so little do. Dieting is cutting calories by just enough to lose fat at a steady rate. For me for example, that's just over 2000 calories a day I'm eating (based on gym x 4 a week/165 cm tall/31 inch waist/144 lbs). Your body needs energy to perform its vital functions, and that includes requiring energy to burn fat. You wouldn't put a few drops of fuel into a car for a long journey.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

JosieRawr

I'm 5'8.5" 170ish pounds eating more than double what you're eating and losing weight...

J72FIT

johnna_g wrote: »

Over the past 7 days, I have eaten 6105 calories (872 per day) and my weight has fallen by 4.79 lb.

My question is, why is my indicated total daily energy expenditure so high?

Your height, weight and sex have most to do with your TDEE...

johnna_g wrote: »

So why am I losing weight at such a high rate?

Most likely because you are only eating 872 calories per day. You are most likely losing muscle... Maybe not the first week (water loss etc). That said, if you keep it up you will lose muscle mass...

johnna_g

Thanks chrism8971 and drmerc for addressing where I'm coming from!

ChrisM8971 wrote: »

johnna_g wrote: »

If something's going wrong, what symptoms should I be getting?

Why can't losing a bit of muscle while eating a low-calorie diet for a few weeks or months be sorted out by doing more exercise? Either after I've reached my target, or starting before?

You will lose some muscle while dieting anyway but the ratio of fat to muscle loss depends on a lot of things, including genetics. The amount of muscle loss can at least be reduced by resistance training, increased protein intake and by not having to large a calorie deficit.

You can address the muscle loss once you reach your goal weight but you might want to look up the term "skinny fat", its not a good look and that's something I can say from experience

As to links have a good delve around on this site http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/

Many thanks for this. I will look up on what people have said about resistance training and increased intake of proteins as ways to reduce muscle loss when on a low-calorie diet.

I'm not so interested in the aesthetics, really - I'm halfway towards my target, my paunch is getting smaller, my face is getting less fat, and I've no great problems with how other people may view my body shape - but I will look up about "skinny fat" because it sounds interesting and I'm trying to find out more about what's happening to my body!

__drmerc__ wrote: »

OP, the reason your calculations seem off are a) you probably do burn more than you are expecting AND b) You're not accounting for water loss due to restricted carbs

Thanks for this too.

Just some background... My aim was to lose 2.2 lb (1kg) per week, which would correspond to 7700 calories if it was all fat, using the usual 3500 per lb figure. That's 1100 per day. I reckon my total daily energy expenditure is about 1950, so I decided to eat around 1950-1100=850 per day. I've now been doing that for a few weeks, and I was surprised to find that my rate of weight loss has been constant at around 4.9 lb per week.

I was aiming to reach my target in Feb 2015, but if my rate of weight loss continues I could reach it in Dec 2014. December isn't far off, and of course I am looking forward to stabilising my weight and eating more food too. (Thanks for your concern, scottacular, but no, I haven't got an eating disorder!)

As for water loss, I haven't been urinating more, but one thing I have noticed is that I haven't felt like drinking so much water. Is that common when people are on low-calorie diets?

As a result of not giving sufficient attention to that change in how I've been feeling (until now), I have just drunk less and not bothered about it. So I will force myself to drink at least as much as I did before, or even more.

__drmerc__ wrote: »

Serah87 wrote: »

*facepalm*
Say goodbye to muscles.......which your heart is a muscle.
You need to eat more ASAP!!!!!

LOL. You think your body will burn away your heart if you eat 800 calories a day? Let's stay in the realm of reality

Don't worry - I'm not likely to start stuffing my face with food out of fear of an imminent coronary! Nor do I go weak when I see strings of exclamation marks

To summarise, where I'm at after today's cogitations and reading the advice here is as follows:

* do more exercise - and really there's no reason I can't start now rather than waiting until after I've reached my weight target
* drink more water
* look into increasing the protein proportion in my diet
* look up on the notions posted by chrism8971 and drmerc
* consider increasing calorie intake (but only slightly - I don't buy the apocalyptic stuff, sorry), especially given that I'll be doing more exercise

Best regards,
John

gabrielleelliott90

The taller the person, the more calories.

Aemely

Your BMR is about 1,700 calories/day. You are already at healthy weight, so you have no reason to eat way below the recommended daily calories. Cross-check the calculators below if you don't believe the people on MFP.

TDEE Calculators:
http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/
http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

How to Change your Goals:

Click Goals > Change Goals > Guided, Continue, enter in your accurate information and realistic goal weight, and click Update Profile. MFP will give you good information on how many calories you should eat each day to safely lose weight. You can lose weight without feeling like you are starving all the time. I promise! Good luck!

Direct Link: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/my_goals
BMI Calculator: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/tools/bmi-calculator
BMR Calculator: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/tools/bmr-calculator

999tigger

Just what I hope they all said 872......... seriously.