A very interesting and informational read on deficits...

Cedarwren

saving...

freidapb

You have to be a member of that site to read it. No thank you.

I'm not a member and I was able to read it...I got it off of Google. I'll just copy and paste the whole thing here...

It's pretty lengthy though.. but a good read

christianteach

I wish he would have explained what those in my situation should do... I started out with a lot to lose and eating 1200 calories per my doctor. I am still losing but I only have 17 lbs left before I hit my goal...i will reevaluate at that point to determine if i want to lose anymore. He said you will need to decrease calories as you go but he also said those with a higher percentage of body fat can have a higher deficit. Now that I've lost and don't have as much body fat, do I continue eating 1200 since I'm still losing or should I start increasing calories even though I'm still not to my goal?

jennbeaudry

bump

mslh84

Well, I just read this, and it makes a lot of sense, and kind of clears up a lot of things for me that I may not have understood, and yep, no more 1200 calories for me!

Azdak

I wish he would have explained what those in my situation should do... I started out with a lot to lose and eating 1200 calories per my doctor. I am still losing but I only have 17 lbs left before I hit my goal...i will reevaluate at that point to determine if i want to lose anymore. He said you will need to decrease calories as you go but he also said those with a higher percentage of body fat can have a higher deficit. Now that I've lost and don't have as much body fat, do I continue eating 1200 since I'm still losing or should I start increasing calories even though I'm still not to my goal?

Part of the answer depends on body fat percentage. Most dietitians would recommend increasing your calories a bit. It will slow down your weight loss, but that's going to happen even with the large deficits and the large deficits can leave you going in circles.

This is also the time when things like HIIT and higher-intensity resistance training become more important vs steady-state aerobics.

Shadowcub

I wish he would have explained what those in my situation should do... I started out with a lot to lose and eating 1200 calories per my doctor. I am still losing but I only have 17 lbs left before I hit my goal...i will reevaluate at that point to determine if i want to lose anymore. He said you will need to decrease calories as you go but he also said those with a higher percentage of body fat can have a higher deficit. Now that I've lost and don't have as much body fat, do I continue eating 1200 since I'm still losing or should I start increasing calories even though I'm still not to my goal?

The original article didn't answer your question and the e-book that had information about the adjustments is "out of print" pending a new edition in December. My first thought is that as long as you still have weight to lose, and are losing, not to mess with success. Second, due to the fact that you've lost weight, your BMR has gone down. (TDEE maybe not so much because you're probably more active now than you were in the beginning.)

What I would do is before you see your doctor next, to use MFP (or a similar site) to calculate your TDEE given your current weight and activity level. Compare that maintenance level with your 1200 calorie diet and discuss it with your doctor.

ctalimenti

bump for later

aprilslusher

bump

christianteach

I don't know my body fat percentage. I still have plenty of fat, just a lot less than I started with.

auroranflash

♥

sweetyedie

ty, bump for later

christianteach

I wish he would have explained what those in my situation should do... I started out with a lot to lose and eating 1200 calories per my doctor. I am still losing but I only have 17 lbs left before I hit my goal...i will reevaluate at that point to determine if i want to lose anymore. He said you will need to decrease calories as you go but he also said those with a higher percentage of body fat can have a higher deficit. Now that I've lost and don't have as much body fat, do I continue eating 1200 since I'm still losing or should I start increasing calories even though I'm still not to my goal?

The original article didn't answer your question and the e-book that had information about the adjustments is "out of print" pending a new edition in December. My first thought is that as long as you still have weight to lose, and are losing, not to mess with success. Second, due to the fact that you've lost weight, your BMR has gone down. (TDEE maybe not so much because you're probably more active now than you were in the beginning.)

What I would do is before you see your doctor next, to use MFP (or a similar site) to calculate your TDEE given your current weight and activity level. Compare that maintenance level with your 1200 calorie diet and discuss it with your doctor.

I'm not under a physicians care anymore. She just got me started. I'm pretty tall so my TDEE and BMR are fairly high, at least based on online calculators. The lowest TDEE was 2432.. less 20% would be 1963. Of course that includes my exercise so to better compare, i gross about 1400-1600 calories a day. I also have a cheat meal at least once a month. The BMR calculators put mine around 1570. My son is going to a weight loss specialist. They do metabolic rate testing there. I could get mine tested next time I take him to get a more accurate number. They charged $277 for his since he's a patient but said I could have it done for around $75.

Graelwyn75

Bump, very interesting read.

joeysfacts

bump

Shadowcub

The lowest TDEE was 2432.. less 20% would be 1963. ... The BMR calculators put mine around 1570.

Personally, I'd be hesitant to go much below BMR, but like I said before, if you have more to lose and are losing at 1200, I might not rock the boat.

Might be a bit of a pain, but since you have a cheat meal once a month (not sure how you define that) you might sit down and add up your total calories for, say, May and come up with an average daily caloric intake and compare that to the range of 1570-1963 (which is about where I would want to be in your shoes).

Then again, I'm not any sort of professional or expert. I'm going largely off what I've read in these forums. And again, if 1200 is working for you, that is a SOLID vote in it's favor....

laynie878

That was very interesting. Thanks for the info!

heybales

I wish he would have explained what those in my situation should do... I started out with a lot to lose and eating 1200 calories per my doctor. I am still losing but I only have 17 lbs left before I hit my goal...i will reevaluate at that point to determine if i want to lose anymore. He said you will need to decrease calories as you go but he also said those with a higher percentage of body fat can have a higher deficit. Now that I've lost and don't have as much body fat, do I continue eating 1200 since I'm still losing or should I start increasing calories even though I'm still not to my goal?

No don't keep eating 1200, yes eat more so there is less deficit.

You just stated what was said - apply it.

Select 1 lb weight loss goal.

astrovivi

Article is not bad, but there is nothing new in what it puts forward.

04ward

BUMP