Calorie deficit for men?

BrokeBirkin

Me and my bf are trying to lose weight. He's at 280 lbs so it tells him to eat about 1700 cals a day min. Now my calorie goal is 1200 and I know I can't go under because that's starvation. He has the mindset that it's okay if he's under 1700 because he's bigger. I think yesterday he was around 1400, is this really okay? I know guys have different needs but I don't know much about them and I need to learn because I'm the one who cooks for him.

jemhh

1500 is the minimum for men. A loss of 1% of bodyweight per week is an okay maximum loss.

rileysowner

Anything under 1500 is considered too low for a man to get the nutrition he needs to say healthy. It is not just about sufficient calories, it also has to do with getting sufficient vitamins and minerals which your body fat cannot provide. 1700 seems awfully low for a man who is 280 pounds. I am 50, only 220 or so, and I can lose at 2000 calories, although I am currently at 1700 to lose a little faster, come November I plan to go back to 2000-2100. I am assuming he does not exercise or if he does he doesn't eat his exercise calories since he obviously considers the 1700 as purely a suggestion.

Short term it will likely not hurt him. He does have a lot of fat to use up. However, it will not help him long term either to learn the correct amount to eat, or to maintain the muscle he has. I lost the last time on a much lower calorie level than I am at now (1450 for a long time, then dropped to 1200) and I lost a lot of muscle mass. It takes a great deal of work to put it back on, and some of my struggle keeping the fat off was directly related to the amount of muscle mass I lost.

In short the 1700 is likely a large deficit already, it is a goal to reach, not something to stay far below. He should eat more.

Gena575

I'm a 40+ yr old female weighing 214 and I eat near 1600 per day. If he's set to sedentary (not very active) is that true for his activity? 1700 seems shockingly low for someone his current size.

Beyond the nutritional effects of 1400 calories on a man, the mental effects are risky. Sure, right now when everything is new and motivation is intense, it's easy to bear being hungry. That high wears off fast though! If nothing else, encourage him to hit his protein goals for the day. The blessing of testosterone is muscle mass. Muscle mass means more fuel needed for daily living. He should be thrilled to have more calories to play with!

And, while we are at it...1200 is really tough for you too. If you've got less than 75 or so lbs to lose and you're set to 2lbs per week loss, consider dropping your lbs per week goal to 1.5 or 1 lb per week. Losing weight does not need to be punitive!

Chieflrg

BrokeBirkin wrote: »

Me and my bf are trying to lose weight. He's at 280 lbs so it tells him to eat about 1700 cals a day min. Now my calorie goal is 1200 and I know I can't go under because that's starvation. He has the mindset that it's okay if he's under 1700 because he's bigger. I think yesterday he was around 1400, is this really okay? I know guys have different needs but I don't know much about them and I need to learn because I'm the one who cooks for him.

For a 280lb person 1700 calories is quite low. I'm assuming he is trying to lose a bit aggresive though.

What is his weight loss on average right now?

BrokeBirkin

Thanks guys for this I told him what you said and am trying to coach him how to do it healthy. Yeah he is set to sedentary, he spends basically half his day at work which is sitting. My next step is going to be to try and get him active on his days off, but right now he doesn't have the energy. As for me when I'm eating healthy 1200 is actually really filling so it doesn't feel punitive except not being able to eat chips all day like I want.

DisneyDude85

when I was at 263, I was able to eat 1860 and lose 1.5 a week. Now I'm down to 246 and am at 1790 losing the same amt.

kshama2001

BrokeBirkin wrote: »

Thanks guys for this I told him what you said and am trying to coach him how to do it healthy. Yeah he is set to sedentary, he spends basically half his day at work which is sitting. My next step is going to be to try and get him active on his days off, but right now he doesn't have the energy. As for me when I'm eating healthy 1200 is actually really filling so it doesn't feel punitive except not being able to eat chips all day like I want.

The more (moderate) exercise I do, the more energy I have. If I go for a walk or do yoga at lunchtime, I am energized throughout the afternoon and into the evening, and thus have energy for some exercise at night as well.

Do encourage him to not drop calories too low or exercise too high - that's a recipe for burnout.

Because I exercise, my gross calories are often over 2,000, and I'm 5'6", female, and almost 50 years old.

cee134

He'll have a better chance of keeping the weight off if he bumps it up to 1 lbs of weight loss a week. Than figuring out what is healthy and what he, and you, can keep up for the rest of your lives. Losing weight is easier then keeping it off.

GauchoMark

The 1200 and 1500 calorie rules of thumb are just that - rules of thumb. They have absolutely NOTHING to do with starvation or decreased metabolism. Rather, they come from a nutritional standpoint. It is difficult for the average person to meet proper protein and fat intake on diets lower than that. However, it can be done at lower calorie levels, but you have to be pretty diligent in your food choices.

If he is managing to eat at least 175-200g of protein/day and at least 70g of fat and still eat under 1500 calories, he is getting his requirements. Of course, a multivitamin would not hurt either. However, 175g protein is 700 calories and 70g fat is 630 calories, so that is 1330 calories right there - that doesn't leave much room for any carbs.

A couple of thoughts -
He is tired because he isn't eating enough.
If he loses weight too fast, he will have big baggy skin.
He didn't gain the weight in a couple of months, he shouldn't try to lose it that quick.

At 280lbs, he should probably aim for about 1-2 lbs/wk and actually learn how to eat properly.

TR0berts

~1400 every day? Probably not a great idea. Here, there, once in a while? Probably OK.

kshama2001

@BrokeBirkin how tall is your BF?

Aaron_K123

BrokeBirkin wrote: »

Me and my bf are trying to lose weight. He's at 280 lbs so it tells him to eat about 1700 cals a day min. Now my calorie goal is 1200 and I know I can't go under because that's starvation. He has the mindset that it's okay if he's under 1700 because he's bigger. I think yesterday he was around 1400, is this really okay? I know guys have different needs but I don't know much about them and I need to learn because I'm the one who cooks for him.

What is the point of establishing a goal if you are going to ignore it is my question. Going under your goal is missing your goal, it isn't doing a better job. There is nothing magical about the number 1200. If your deficit is too large that can cause you trouble, whether that trouble starts at 1200 or at 1700 depends on the person and their stats.

jdb3388

BrokeBirkin wrote: »

Me and my bf are trying to lose weight. He's at 280 lbs so it tells him to eat about 1700 cals a day min. Now my calorie goal is 1200 and I know I can't go under because that's starvation. He has the mindset that it's okay if he's under 1700 because he's bigger. I think yesterday he was around 1400, is this really okay? I know guys have different needs but I don't know much about them and I need to learn because I'm the one who cooks for him.

I'm not sure how tall he is or where he falls on the Anorexic to Morbidly Obese scale, but if you are morbidly obese the most important thing there is, is to not be obese anymore. There are many immediate health risks to morbid obesity that outweigh the potential pitfalls of a VLCD. I would HIGHLY recommend that anyone who falls into a catagory above "Overweight" do everything they can, including rigorous exercise, and under eating, to get down into the "overweight" category. Once you've do that, then you need to adjust accordingly and eat at an appropriate deficit to achieve a weight loss of no more than 2 lbs per week.

Many people will disagree with this, but the problem is, they have tunnel vision and are only looking at the weight loss process. They aren't looking at the entire picture involving high blood pressure, hearth failure, diabetes, etc. I will say it again, there is NOTHING MORE IMPORTANT than ceasing to be obese. Once you get out of that area, it is paramount that you switch to a healthy, maintainable diet.

ryry_

When I was around 60 pounds overweight. I ate 2000 calories a day. It was probably around 1400 - 1500 net calories after excercise is factored in (I was just eating 2000 flat). I lost weight very fast and had a lot of success, until I didn't, and I was so burned out I gained 20 lbs back.

It could work as a temporary solution if there is plan to move to a more moderate approach soon after.

dr_soda

BrokeBirkin wrote: »

Me and my bf are trying to lose weight. He's at 280 lbs so it tells him to eat about 1700 cals a day min. Now my calorie goal is 1200 and I know I can't go under because that's starvation. He has the mindset that it's okay if he's under 1700 because he's bigger. I think yesterday he was around 1400, is this really okay? I know guys have different needs but I don't know much about them and I need to learn because I'm the one who cooks for him.

That's a misunderstanding of where these numbers are coming from. Is his goal set for a loss of 2lbs per week? If so, then eating less than 1700 is very likely to result in excessive loss of muscle. This is a double whammy issue for him.

• Most men are likely going to want to preserve muscle for aesthetic reasons
• Muscle mass is more metabolically expensive to maintain than fat.

In other words, if he consistently eats 1400 then he'll eventually find that the original 1700 number is too high to maintain that 2lbs loss. He won't have the muscle burning through his consumed calories anymore.

You can lose more than 2lbs per week, sure. Do you really want that at the expense of muscle definition and long-term fat loss ability, though? I think most men would say no.

Aaron_K123

The only difference between men and women is that men tend to be heavier in general and they tend to have a higher percentage of their bodyweight as lean mass. Given your BMR caloric requirement is largely driven by your size and the amount of lean mass you have men's BMRs tend to be significantly higher than womens and thus they have significantly higher caloric requirements. But that is really the only difference. The way you lose weight is the same, stay at a reasonable deficit for how much weight you need to lose and be consistant.

Using myself as an example (not because I think I am average but because that way I am speaking from experience) I'm 6' tall and 172 pounds, aiming to get down to 155 again. I'm a bit low lean mass for a man (small framed) so I'm a bit overweight at 172 (although still healthy BMI range). Right now I am losing a little over one pound per week averaging an intake of about 2400 calories a day. My BMR is ~1700 so my TDEE is about 3000 calories per day. Sure, perhaps I "could" eat 1500 calories in a day and not keel over, but I don't want to do that because I want to be fit not just lose weight and to be fit you need to get exercise and to exercise you need to have fuel.

If your boyfriend is 280 pounds 1700 calories is way low. Heck I'm almost half his size and my BMR is 1700, so that is definately below his BMR. Honestly I'd argue that as a goal is too low as it is anyways and I definately wouldn't try to eat even less than that. I mean being obese he does have more room to create a large deficit so can probably lose weight safely at 2 pounds a week, but even then with a 1000 calorie deficit I'd assume his TDEE is probably higher than 2700.

BrokeBirkin

For those asking his height, he is about 5'11. I'm sorry I meant to say his calories for the day are 1800 and never noticed my mistake until now. His bmi is 39 (I know it's not completely accurate, but seems to be for sedentary people) so I set his goal to 175 on here (just in the healthy range) and the 2 pounds a week and that is what this site said for calories. As far as aesthetics I don't care if he bulks up or slims down as long as he's healthy and he doesn't care either. We are only going hard on the calories because we are not working out yet so it's the only place we are getting the deficit. Thanks for all the advice I know the best thing is to know your body and adjust intuitively, but it's good to have the basic information when you are just starting out. But thanks to this thread I've talked to him and the other day he was under again and was actually trying to eat something to get it up as close to his goal as he could, so it is already helping!