Help a new guy out please!?

robertw486

If your primary goal is weight loss, calories is the big driver. Macros/micros are the nutrition, and are good gauges for health drivers, but not carved in stone. You can make up for vitamin shortages easily with a multi vitamin when needed. But it's wise to at least try to get near your goal on protein for muscle retention/repair. Fat and carbs have a bit more leeway IMO, and are somewhat individual. I seem to stay more full on fats vs carbs, and have to be really low in carbs before it affects my energy level, but that seems to vary.

Keep in mind you are working at a loss goal of 1000 calories per day. That's a chunk for a guy your size, so if you choose a middle ground there is no harm in that either. If you aren't hungry and can tolerate it, you will lose weight quicker, but 1500 calories per day isn't a lot.

Also, based on your previous posts, be cautious about how you calculate exercise calories, especially if you do exercise frequently. If you have them right, no harm in eating them back. If they are overestimated, you just slow your loss progress. There are plenty of free apps, but be cautious of the calorie estimates unless you can at least confirm against something considered somewhat reliable. Many apps report gross calories, and many overestimate in general.

kchuskey

robertw486 wrote: »

If your primary goal is weight loss, calories is the big driver. Macros/micros are the nutrition, and are good gauges for health drivers, but not carved in stone. You can make up for vitamin shortages easily with a multi vitamin when needed. But it's wise to at least try to get near your goal on protein for muscle retention/repair. Fat and carbs have a bit more leeway IMO, and are somewhat individual. I seem to stay more full on fats vs carbs, and have to be really low in carbs before it affects my energy level, but that seems to vary.

Keep in mind you are working at a loss goal of 1000 calories per day. That's a chunk for a guy your size, so if you choose a middle ground there is no harm in that either. If you aren't hungry and can tolerate it, you will lose weight quicker, but 1500 calories per day isn't a lot.

Also, based on your previous posts, be cautious about how you calculate exercise calories, especially if you do exercise frequently. If you have them right, no harm in eating them back. If they are overestimated, you just slow your loss progress. There are plenty of free apps, but be cautious of the calorie estimates unless you can at least confirm against something considered somewhat reliable. Many apps report gross calories, and many overestimate in general.

Great info. Thanks. I was skeptical about this.

Sued0nim

kchuskey wrote: »

rabbitjb wrote: »

No scooby is a TDEE calculator and you are not sedentary even though your day job is

Go for 3 x moderate

But it's just to be aware / double check

I would follow MFP, plus log exercise and eat back 50-75% of those calories ...because it motivates me to move more / keep to my walking and workouts

So what activity level should I start with at MFP? Sedentary, light, active, or very active? Sorry for all the questions.

No ...questions are great

This is what I did, others had different approaches ...my way worked for me

I have a desk job so I set to sedentary

I picked an initial goal of 2lbs a week..rapidly reduced that (after 6 weeks) to 1lb a week then 0.5lb a week as I got closer to goal

I weigh every food and log it accurately (double checking MFP entries if it's new to me cos a lot are wrong)

I walked daily ...got a fitbit tracker (finally settled on a zip as it clips to my pocket / waistband), synched it to MFP and enabled negative calories. I allow that to determine my actual activity level and eat them all back ..the dog has certainly benefited from my fitbit

I lift and do about 20 mins cardio 3 times a week, once is with a PT because he helps me work on form and progress and motivates me to keep it up... I have a Polar HRM and I take a cut down on my HRM calories due to the nature of the workouts and log those separately in MFP...these overwrite any calories from fitbit by time

I set up a trendweight.com account and I monitor my weight over rolling 6-8 weeks (the weights logged in MFP automatically update on trendweight via fitbit)

I did the tech / data things slowly over time...I didn't go for it all at once...I was working out and started reading about fitbits so got one ...it all kind of just fell into place over months

I treated my calorie goal as a weekly target ...I would save calories over weekdays for the weekend ...or not eat back one workout to go out the next night

Over 10 months I lost 48lbs, set it to maintenance and lost another 5lbs finding that level and have maintained at around 160lbs for almost a year. My body is tight and taut cos of the lifting, my energy levels are much higher cos of the movement and I'm generally in a happier place.

I think the rolling feedback from 6 weeks tracking of my actual weight was the most beneficial because the other stuff..the logging, the fitbit, the HRM it's all estimates...good enough estimates ...it's what your body does that counts

Sued0nim

By the way I'm a 48 year mother of 2 and lost most of my weight eating around 1800 calories ...my maintenance is now around 2300 but I still have a 100g minimum protein which is the only macro I focus on

I reckon your TDEE is around 3000 ..so you should be fine around 2000-2300

kchuskey

rabbitjb wrote: »

kchuskey wrote: »

rabbitjb wrote: »

No scooby is a TDEE calculator and you are not sedentary even though your day job is

Go for 3 x moderate

But it's just to be aware / double check

I would follow MFP, plus log exercise and eat back 50-75% of those calories ...because it motivates me to move more / keep to my walking and workouts

So what activity level should I start with at MFP? Sedentary, light, active, or very active? Sorry for all the questions.

No ...questions are great

This is what I did, others had different approaches ...my way worked for me

I have a desk job so I set to sedentary

I picked an initial goal of 2lbs a week..rapidly reduced that (after 6 weeks) to 1lb a week then 0.5lb a week as I got closer to goal

I weigh every food and log it accurately (double checking MFP entries if it's new to me cos a lot are wrong)

I walked daily ...got a fitbit tracker (finally settled on a zip as it clips to my pocket / waistband), synched it to MFP and enabled negative calories. I allow that to determine my actual activity level and eat them all back ..the dog has certainly benefited from my fitbit

I lift and do about 20 mins cardio 3 times a week, once is with a PT because he helps me work on form and progress and motivates me to keep it up... I have a Polar HRM and I take a cut down on my HRM calories due to the nature of the workouts and log those separately in MFP...these overwrite any calories from fitbit by time

I set up a trendweight.com account and I monitor my weight over rolling 6-8 weeks (the weights logged in MFP automatically update on trendweight via fitbit)

I did the tech / data things slowly over time...I didn't go for it all at once...I was working out and started reading about fitbits so got one ...it all kind of just fell into place over months

I treated my calorie goal as a weekly target ...I would save calories over weekdays for the weekend ...or not eat back one workout to go out the next night

Over 10 months I lost 48lbs, set it to maintenance and lost another 5lbs finding that level and have maintained at around 160lbs for almost a year. My body is tight and taut cos of the lifting, my energy levels are much higher cos of the movement and I'm generally in a happier place.

I think the rolling feedback from 6 weeks tracking of my actual weight was the most beneficial because the other stuff..the logging, the fitbit, the HRM it's all estimates...good enough estimates ...it's what your body does that counts

Well great job! That sounds similar to what my plan of attack is. I mean I know I'll have to make adjustments as I go on, but I'm going to stick with the way I have it now to start. I'll start initially with 1500 cals, and whatever I gain thru exercise I'll eat what I can. I think I have close to the right idea. Hard to believe I weighed about 165 as a Senior in HS...lol. Thanks again! Btw...I'm 42.

Sued0nim

A good initial rule of thumb for checking your exercise burn estimates are the METS tables ..google search should bring them up

Personally I was happy to judge from the feedback from my weight tracking, averaging over 6-8 weeks for water fluctuations