Possibly a silly question on daily calorie needs...?

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Nakeshia88
Nakeshia88 Posts: 119 Member
edited May 2015 in Health and Weight Loss
This might be a silly question but I'm going to ask anyway...

I'm currently 7-9 kilos over my ideal weight and I was wondering if I set my calorie allowance to what it would be if I was my ideal weight, will I eventually reach that weight? Then if/when I lose that weight, would I just carry on eating the same amount of calories permanently?

A few calculators I've used have varied calorie allowances, most set my allowance at around 1600 calories if I weighed 60 kg. I'm currently eating 1400-1500 calories and weigh 69 kg, however a few factors have stopped me from successfully losing weight (eating 1000-1200 calories a day for several months messed with my metabolism, I'm also taking Zoloft and have stopped intense exercise due to chronic fatigue). My weight has been hovering around 68-70kg for the last few months.

Just curious :-) In a few weeks I'll be making a weight loss plan with the help of my nutritionist (currently we're focusing first on treating my fatigue, working through a low FODMAP diet and then coming off Zoloft), until then I'm just doing my own research on a simple fool-proof plan for permanent weight loss.

Thanks :-)

Replies

  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
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    Yep, that should work, your rate of loss will be quite slow but so long as you're at a deficit you will get there eventually. Remember, the online calculators are a guide, your maintenance calories may be a little more or a little less, but you can do the 1600 for a few weeks and adjust if necessary :). Actually a smart way to do it if you're prepared for the time it takes!
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    It's certainly a valid theory

    I'd be trying to work out what my TDEE is and where my maintenance sits at present by just logging whatever it is I'm eating on a daily basis, with no view to particular control .. this should also give you good logging habits and give you good info to base your eventual weihgt loss on

  • hmaddpear
    hmaddpear Posts: 610 Member
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    It should definitely work- it's been my theory from the start. I figured that as it was going to take me 2+ years to get to my goal weight, I may as well use that time to practice eating sensibly. The weight did fly off at first (I was 100lb - 45kg - over goal), but now that I'm getting closer to my ideal weight, it's starting to slow down massively.

    As Nony_mouse says, you need to base it on your own maintenance calories, and that's going to take trial and error, but I'm sure you'll get there!

    Good luck!
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
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    If you eat at maintenance for your goal weight, you will eventually reach that weight and stay at that weight. Unfortunately, weight loss becomes very slow as you get closer and closer to that weight. But on the bright side, you don't have to transition to maintenance if you do that.
  • joyfuljoy65
    joyfuljoy65 Posts: 317 Member
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    What a great idea - I am going to try that - maintenance has been really hard and due to gallbladder issues (so eating carbs more than I should) I have put on a stone. After the op in a couple of weeks to get rid of the blighter I have been looking at how to get back into the swing of things - this sounds like a plan B)
  • joyfuljoy65
    joyfuljoy65 Posts: 317 Member
    Options
    What a great idea - I am going to try that - maintenance has been really hard and due to gallbladder issues (so eating carbs more than I should) I have put on a stone. After the op in a couple of weeks to get rid of the blighter I have been looking at how to get back into the swing of things - this sounds like a plan B)

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