weight loss concerns

coreysawyer1975

Hello, I'm 5'11", 38 years old and currently weigh 313 lbs. I've been actively using MFP to track my weight loss and calorie intake, but I'm afraid that I may be losing weight too fast. I started my diet approximately a month ago and I have currently lost 27 lbs. I heard that weight comes off easier when you're as big as I am until you get to around 250 lbs and then it starts to slow down. I take in 1500-1800 calories a day and burn about 600 a night on the treadmill at the gym 5-6 days a week. If I'm on the right track, great, but if I'm destroying my body I'd like to know that too. Any advice would be appreciated.

Also, I should mention that I eat enough food during the day that I'm not remotely hungry (well, except for when I head to bed at night, but I've been told not to eat before bed).

Vorenus85

If you're really burning 600 calories on the treadmill, then you are only netting 900-1200 calories a day, which is extremely low given your current weight. At 313 pounds you can afford to eat a lot more and lose just fine. Additionally, the eating before bed thing is irrelevant to weight loss, provided that you're at a calorie deficit. If you asked me, I would say that you aren't entirely on the right track. When I plug your numbers into the link below, it suggests that you should be netting around 2500 calories (assuming sedentary activity level). And that number is on the higher end of the calorie deficit spectrum (20%). Although, many on here say going as high as 30% is okay too if you're severely obese. I know the concept to eat more to lose weight can be strange to people, but more often than not it's the right way.

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

GeorgiaBGent

Heya, this may or may not be right but a friend of mine told me that the heavier a person is the faster they lose it at first then they slow down the only problem is if the heavy person loses it too fast they can end up having excess skin because a) it hasn't had the chance to adjust or b) the skin lost its elasticity. One help avoid this is weight training as well as cardiovascular exercises but if you want to be certain about your weight lost and how it can affect you go and see your doctor/GP


Hope this helped

snazzyjazzy21

If you're really burning 600 calories on the treadmill, then you are only netting 900-1200 calories a day, which is extremely low given your current weight. At 313 pounds you can afford to eat a lot more and lose just fine. Additionally, the eating before bed thing is irrelevant to weight loss, provided that you're at a calorie deficit. If you asked me, I would say that you aren't entirely on the right track. When I plug your numbers into the link below, it suggests that you should be netting around 2500 calories (assuming sedentary activity level). And that number is on the higher end of the calorie deficit spectrum (20%). Although, many on here say going as high as 30% is okay too if you're severely obese. I know the concept to eat more to lose weight can be strange to people, but more often than not it's the right way.

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

Ditto this.

MelissaPhippsFeagins

You need to eat back what you are using on the treadmill so that you are keeping 1500-1800 calories per day. Too few calories are dangerous because it tends to mess with sodium/potassium/calcium balance and that can cause cardiac arrest. (Yes, sometimes I do wish I didn't work for a medical group,but mostly it keeps me from doing the really dumb stuff.) Other than that you are probably okay. Talk to your doctor though and see what he/she thinks. My doc is good with 2 lbs per week and it is easier to keep it off if you lose it slowly, on the other hand if you feel good don't sweat it too much.

DopeItUp

If you're really burning 600 calories on the treadmill, then you are only netting 900-1200 calories a day, which is extremely low given your current weight. At 313 pounds you can afford to eat a lot more and lose just fine. Additionally, the eating before bed thing is irrelevant to weight loss, provided that you're at a calorie deficit. If you asked me, I would say that you aren't entirely on the right track. When I plug your numbers into the link below, it suggests that you should be netting around 2500 calories (assuming sedentary activity level). And that number is on the higher end of the calorie deficit spectrum (20%). Although, many on here say going as high as 30% is okay too if you're severely obese. I know the concept to eat more to lose weight can be strange to people, but more often than not it's the right way.

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

Pretty much. Just wanted to reiterate that 27lbs in a month is beyond extreme, I'm not sure where you got the idea to eat such a small amount but it's a really bad idea. Shoot for 8-10lbs a month at your current size. Even if you don't follow the above advice, just use MFP as it was designed and it should give you a similar goal. Select 2lbs loss per week, eat back your exercise calories and go from there.

cdahl383

I'm 31 yrs old, 5'11" and currently weigh 203 lbs and I'm eating 2200-2300 calories a day and losing 1-2 lbs a week on average. I would think at over 100 lbs heavier you should be eating more than I'm eating.

I just plugged in some numbers on a calorie calculator and it said 3600 calories to maintain your current weight and 2900 to be at a 20% deficit. That's assuming 1-3 hrs of light/moderate exercise per week. But 1800-1900 calories for a 313 lb dude seems quite low to me. I would at least up it to 2300-2500 calories a day and see what happens. Then you could adjust from there. That just seems like a very extreme calorie drop.

emancipateurself

I lost fast right away as well....started at 360...went on MFP at 320 lbs. It will go fast at first....however it doesn't seem to me that you are eating enough...why limit so much right now when you will have to limit alot more later...I have lost close to 150 pds and I currently eat 1500 calories a day without excercise...when I burn calories I always eat them back....so please eat yours back or in the long run it won't work.

This last year I have only lost 30 pounds on the scale however my bf% is decreasing hugely because I love heavy strength training...

Don't be scared about losing fast right away because it will slow down. I plateau for months on end now...it just happens.
Best of luck to you!

coreysawyer1975

thanks for the advice everyone, it is really appreciated. It's not that I eat very little during the day, I just stopped drinking soda and eating fast food. I changed the things that I eat regularly and exercise more and it's been coming off at an extremely fast pace. Now I see that I should try to either eat more during the day or eat things with higher calories in them. At the gym, I sometimes do an hour on the treadmill and then do the 30 min circuit at planet fitness to do a mix of cardio and weights. Maybe fast food once or twice a week wouldn't be such a bad thing.

DopeItUp

thanks for the advice everyone, it is really appreciated. It's not that I eat very little during the day, I just stopped drinking soda and eating fast food. I changed the things that I eat regularly and exercise more and it's been coming off at an extremely fast pace. Now I see that I should try to either eat more during the day or eat things with higher calories in them. At the gym, I sometimes do an hour on the treadmill and then do the 30 min circuit at planet fitness to do a mix of cardio and weights. Maybe fast food once or twice a week wouldn't be such a bad thing.

Oh and I nearly forgot, if you're hungry at night, don't be afraid to eat. Meal timing is essentially irrelevant. Going to bed hungry is a great way to be miserable. And being miserable is a great way to fail at your weight loss goals.

Yes, a little fast food is fine too. Moderation is the key. Long-term sustainability of diet is of utmost importance. After all, it doesn't matter how good your diet is if you can't stick to it. I try to follow the 80/20 rule, 80% whole nutritious foods and 20% garbage (usually beer for me).

cdahl383

You could easily add in some higher calorie foods like nuts, cheese, burgers, etc. and still be around your daily goal for calories. I've found that the healthier my diet is, the better I feel overall. It's easier to get full when eating a lot of fruits, vegetables, nuts, meat than it is when you just eat fast food and junk food like chips and crackers. I'd focus on adding more healthy foods into your diet and still allow yourself some junk food/fast food now and then so you dont miss it and end up binging on it later.

gigglesinthesun

You do have a lot of weight to lose. A considerable amount of those 27lbs will have been water. Keep your eyes out for the symptoms of under-eating like being really tired and hungry all the time, having no energy, feeling off or sickly frequently, and having sudden pains. The issue with eating the exercise calories back for me is that it is actually difficult to determine how much you have really lost. MFP is overestimating the calories burnt, as much as it hurts me to say, because if cleaning and tidying up would really burn that much I'd have it sorted.

I understand that I can't say this to someone with an eating disorder, but since that is not your problem, I wouldn't worry too much about this just now. Keep your protein up, eat plenty of veggies and fruit, see how you go next month and then re-evaluate. Good luck :-)

PikaKnight

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1105036-article-on-flexible-dieting-by-armi-legge?page=1#posts-17068746

For more information about fitness and nutrition, I highly suggest checking out and joining this group. Make sure to read all the stickies:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/10118-eat-train-progress

elmanre

Just eat normally dude, when you have a lot of weight to lose, it comes very very easy, don´t worry if you feel good, dont starve yourself, believe me, if you are having too less energy, your body is going to tell you with bad feelings and low energy...