A Calorie Math Problem... Calories in? Lost 20 pounds in 1mo

Hypsibius

So I recently finished Whole30 (and started another round). I'm a 32-year old 6'1 male who weighed an average of: 224-227 at the start of the month, and now consistently weight in at 204-207 at the end of the program.

I lost 20 pounds in 30 days on Whole30... that's a loss of 70,000 calories.

Curious, I wondered what this meant for calorie math, since I wasn't counting calories -- just eating a lot of veggies and meats (cooked in olive oil).

Working out? Not a ton. I work a desk job and 2 or 3 days a week would lift some weights and do some light cardio. Nothing serious.

According most calculators, a light/moderately active person of my starting weight needs around 2,777 calories a day to maintain weight.

That's 98,854 calories expended in one month.

Subtracting that from calories lost, that comes to 28,854 calories lost in the month of March, or 961 calories per day.

For folks wondering, my a standard day consisted of: Breakfast: egg or two, half avocado, some compliant chicken sausage). Lunch: a cucumber/tomato salad w/ half chicken breast. Dinner: Lamb burger and Brussels Sprouts & some mixed berries and chia seed kombucha for dessert.

With all the olive oil I was consuming and the occasional big meal (roast, or almond-meal dredged chicken strips, sweet potatoes) -- I was generally back-of-the-napkin calculating a 1500-2000 calorie day... but if that were the case, I wouldn't have lost nearly this much weight, right?

Thoughts on what I could be calculating incorrectly? It seems incomprehensible that I was eating less than ~1000 calories per day, but I guess possible during the week. Or could it be my exercises were more intense than I gave credit for and I was simply burning more?

Or is math the wrong way to think about this?

Thanks all --

Danny

janejellyroll

Your meals look lower carbohydrate -- some of what you lost was likely water and wouldn't be included in your calorie calculations.

Hypsibius

janejellyroll wrote: »

Your meals look lower carbohydrate -- some of what you lost was likely water and wouldn't be included in your calorie calculations.

That make sense...

jemhh

Yeah, a 20 lb weight loss is not equivalent to 70,000 calories. A 20 lb fat loss is (approximately) equal to that but you didn't lose only fat.

Here's an article about the 3500 calorie per pound idea: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/3500-calorie-rule.html/

steph2strong

My husband is 6'0, started at 200 lbs 6 weeks ago. I started him on a 2400 calorie per day diet, more food and carbs than you listed in your post, and he has lost 2 lbs per week, he is now 185 lbs 6 weeks later, has 5 more to go. You very potentially are netting a 1000 calorie per day deficit from your maintenance baseline.

annacole94

You're probably at about a 1500 calorie deficit per day. You went from eating around 3,000 calories/day to eating around 1,500 calories/day, which is totally possible based on what you posted. Give or take some exercise, yes, you lost a lot of weight.

The downside is the "30" being over, now you need to transition to something you can do long term. Keeping that weight off is hard.

Hypsibius

annacole94 wrote: »

You're probably at about a 1500 calorie deficit per day. You went from eating around 3,000 calories/day to eating around 1,500 calories/day, which is totally possible based on what you posted. Give or take some exercise, yes, you lost a lot of weight.

The downside is the "30" being over, now you need to transition to something you can do long term. Keeping that weight off is hard.

I hear you there. I dropped down to 179 doing a successful round of P90x a couple years back, but over time gained it back. Whole30 just sounded like fun because my wife and I love to cook and thought we'd enjoy the challenge of using limited ingredients.

I'm a little concerned because my first day back at eating "regular" foods (went out for Indian food and had naan, masala, and samosas) and I felt terrible the next 24 hours... so I instantly went back to my Whole30 meal plan just to avoid feeling bad.

xsmilexforxmex

jemhh wrote: »

Yeah, a 20 lb weight loss is not equivalent to 70,000 calories. A 20 lb fat loss is (approximately) equal to that but you didn't lose only fat.

Here's an article about the 3500 calorie per pound idea: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/3500-calorie-rule.html/

Thanks for sharing this! It was an interesting read.

Theo166

Did you track your weight weekly? I'd wager that you lost the majority of it in the beginning and then you leveled out with more modest weekly losses.

I lost ~18 lbs my first month and then the loss leveled out. I think it was mostly water weight that a changing diet allowed me to flush out.

annacole94

I believe you're supposed to introduce foods back to your diet gradually, not all at once! Take it easy, build on what you've got. You may actually find you're sensitive to some foods, which is really the point of Whole 30 (not weight loss, although that generally happens with a limited diet initially). Good luck keeping your momentum going; even if some of it is water weight, you've had a really good month and built a great base to work from.

Katiebear_81

Hypsibius wrote: »

annacole94 wrote: »

You're probably at about a 1500 calorie deficit per day. You went from eating around 3,000 calories/day to eating around 1,500 calories/day, which is totally possible based on what you posted. Give or take some exercise, yes, you lost a lot of weight.

The downside is the "30" being over, now you need to transition to something you can do long term. Keeping that weight off is hard.

I hear you there. I dropped down to 179 doing a successful round of P90x a couple years back, but over time gained it back. Whole30 just sounded like fun because my wife and I love to cook and thought we'd enjoy the challenge of using limited ingredients.

I'm a little concerned because my first day back at eating "regular" foods (went out for Indian food and had naan, masala, and samosas) and I felt terrible the next 24 hours... so I instantly went back to my Whole30 meal plan just to avoid feeling bad.

That's normal. You can chose to avoid the things that made you feel bad (biggest culprits being dairy and bread - not that they're bad for you, but if you avoid beans for a really long time, there's always an adjustment), or you can slowly desensitize yourself to them. Your call.

toxikon

When you start a low-carb diet, your water weight is flushed out of your body very quickly (which is why consuming more electrolytes is suggested). You can expect to lose between 3-10lbs of water weight right off the bat. So you could've very well only lost about 10lbs - which is still very respectable but makes a whole lot more sense.

rileysowner

janejellyroll wrote: »

Your meals look lower carbohydrate -- some of what you lost was likely water and wouldn't be included in your calorie calculations.

Even without the lower carb, there will generally be water weight loss for other reasons as well. I am sure there are overweight/obese people who are not retaining extra water, but most I know are retaining a lot.