morbidly obese, 300+lbs to lose - calories/day?

WalkingAlong

I wouldn't go to 1200-1500 but I wouldn't do 3000+, either. Losing slow isn't better for you when you're morbidly obese. Talk to your doctor, if you haven't already. I imagine he/she would say you'd be ok to aim for more than a 7000 calorie/week deficit, the usual recommended max. Good luck!

Mr_Knight

I'm currently 532lbs, and was wondering what my calories per day should be to lose weight? I have myself at 1900, as that was what I was at when I tried dieting before, and can meet or stay under that goal pretty easily. Should I go less, maybe 1500 as that's an average healthy woman's cals per day, and decrease it to 1200 as I lose weight, or just go to 1200 now? Eek! Not sure what my calorie goal should be!

Those would all be fine. The most important thing right now is to pick one and stick to it. If that's 1900, then that's great. If you can manage on less, that's even better.

But right now, it's about establishing a good habit. There will be plenty of time to fine tune the exact numbers later.

Good luck!

PS For the sake of completeness...you're at about 75% body fat, so your BMR is going to be around 1700 calories/day. MFP doesn't account for lean body mass, so for heavy people it will always over-estimate your baseline calorie burn.

parkscs

I would do 2000 or perhaps slightly over if you end up very hungry and miserable at 2000. Honestly you could probably go a bit lower and be perfectly fine, provided you eat nutrient-rich food. You definitely don't need to be eating 3000+ calories per day on a diet, even if you're 500 pounds. MFP is generally pretty good at estimating calories, but honestly at higher weights it probably overestimates your TDEE. Regardless, at 500 pounds, your body is able to pull all the energy it needs from your fat stores. The notion that you will plateau and have no where to go, your body will go into starvation mode, etc. is honestly all wrong (no offense to anyone, I'm sure it's well-intentioned). 2000 calories is plenty.

You run into problems when your body cannot pull the calories from your fat stores to make-up your caloric deficit. At 500 pounds, your body has tons of fat to tap into for energy and can easily make-up the caloric deficit from you eating 2000 calories per day. It varies from person to person, but 31 calories per lb of fat per day is an average I've seen tossed around. Figuring the OP has 350 pounds of fat to lose... that's a ton of calories her body can potentially tap into per day. Trust me, you don't need to worry about "starvation mode."

Myxalplyx

Chick,
I'd stick with the recommended weekly calorie intake. It'll work. Take your time with all this and by all means, do not try to rush it. It'll come off. See the success stories section. And good luck! I can't wait to read about your results as it works out for you. You'll get there.

Oh...and take your before pictures of yourself NOW. Save them for yourself. It'll be a great motivator when you take pictures further down the line and compare them to when you start.

lucan07

This seem like an idiotic question, if someone were to say eat all there calories. stay in deficit on donuts will they still lose weight? I eat a generally healthy diet just now smaller portions and measuring pretty much everything. I mean say you go over on a few things in your macros or a person goes over a lot on there macros would a typical person still lose?

Calories are calories so weight loss is same whatever the source health would probably suffer in other ways tho!

eyleene

3000 calories is probably not a crazy number. Unless you have some kind of a metabolic disorder MFB cannot account for. As you lose weight that number will decrease. You don't want to drop too many calories too fast or your body will go into starvation mode which makes it even harder to lose weight.

she'd have to lose at least 400lbs before she'd go into starvation mode as it doesn't affect people until they are down to like 5% bf or something

actually not true, you will not lose weight if your body is starving itself . . .so all the hard work will be fore nothing and you can make permanent damage on your metabolism

thats what happens to yoyo dieters and why they end up going backwards . The 1st time you restrict calories , you body doesnt know whats happening . if you put weight back on , and then go on another diet and restrict calories , your body remembers and uses what it gets more efficiently . unfortunately this efficiency doesnt stop when you stop dietting which is why it is so much easier to regain lost weight , the more often you yoyo the worse it gets and the harder to lose AND keep off . Changing your lifestyle by retraining yourself to eat healthier AND do enough exercise is the only solution for long term quality of life .

laceandbits

If you stop thinking of the 300+lbs you want to lose as part of you (as they won't be there for ever) and think of yourself as the slimmer person inside carrying 300lb of weights, or shopping, or bags of garden compost with you at every single step you might realise how hard your body is working to just move you around, and why even with over 3000 calories a day you will still be using more than you eat.

As you lose weight, or need to carry less with you, your body won't be working so hard and your calorie allowance will decrease to keep the weight loss going.

Forget counting the calories as such, MFB will do that for you. Your job is to make sure you weigh or measure every crumb which passes your lips, and record it honestly in your food diary. If you were to do that for a week on what you eat now, before you even start the 'diet' you might be surprised at just how many calories you have been taking on board.

pain_is_weakness

Also I can't even begin to count the amount of MFP users that have played around and found that they actually are lose more weight when they upped their calories. Myself included, sure you will lose weight, eventually, but to consistently lose weight you start big and work yourself down and yes you can hold weight form not eating enough, eventually you will start losing again when your body starts eating away at the muscle and storing the fat

davepearson86

Some good advice and some terrible advice here. Try whatever mfp suggests (3k+) for 2 weeks, if you lost weight keep calories the same. If your weight stayed the same drop 200 calories wash rinse repeat. Re evaluate every 2 weeks. You're going to need a defect for 2-3 years probably so this has to be sustainable. I would aim for 4 lbs a week for the first good while.

It's easy to want good numbers this month but in reality there's going to be 30-40 months involved here, take your time and dial it in slowly ask anyone whos dropped significant weight long term this is the best way.

RhonndaJ

Chick,
I'd stick with the recommended weekly calorie intake. It'll work. Take your time with all this and by all means, do not try to rush it. It'll come off. See the success stories section. And good luck! I can't wait to read about your results as it works out for you. You'll get there.

Oh...and take your before pictures of yourself NOW. Save them for yourself. It'll be a great motivator when you take pictures further down the line and compare them to when you start.

This!

SolitudesMuse

At sedentary to lightly active, right now to maintain your current weight, you'd need almost 4000 calories a day... So cutting down to 2500-3000 isn't as insanely high as you'd think.

_TastySnoBalls_

Thanks everyone! MFP has me set at 3400 cals / day, will give it a try for awhile and see how things go.

Yeah, I'd stick with what MFP recommends. You have a lot to lose, so you get to eat, what may seem like a lot, to start off. MFP will lower your calories as you lose weight. Make sure you get a digital scale so that your logging is accurate. And congratulations on taking the first step in getting healthy, good luck to you! :flowerforyou:

hastingsmassage

Listen to MFP ...You can't go straight to 1200. You start eating slightly less at the start, It's a long process, good luck, you can do it!!!

Azdak

The only thing this thread needs is someone telling her to "lift heavy and do HIIT workouts".

shearnerve

Go get a check up & ask the doctor what he/she thinks.

Azdak

What you really need right now is to make realistic lifestyle changes and build on success. At your weight, you don't really have to be precise about determine the amount of calories. It is more important that you measure and count what you are taking in.

In your case, the daily calorie choice should be based on maintaining adequate nutrition and containing enough food that you are more likely to stick to it. People don't realize that MFP is more of a series of databases and calculators than anything else. It does not take into account different individual conditions. In your case, the daily calorie recommendation from MFP does not have any real authority.

You will likely do well at 2000-2400 calories per day. That is plenty of food, will lead to weight loss that is steady, and will not require radical changes down the road. Again, in your case, amount is not as important as your consistency. You will not go into "starvation mode" and you can ignore the "metabolism alarmists". This is going to be a long process and your body will undergo a number of changes if you are successful. It will likely be necessary to adjust your program several times along the way--and no one can predict exactly what will be necessary, so I would worry about it.

If you have the resources, I would highly recommend that you seek professional advice from a registered/licensed Dietitian. There may be some other physical/health concerns involved with this and an RD is best equipped to address them.

Congratulations for taking the first steps. I wish you all the best in your journey.

chickidee87

Thanks for the responses everyone! I'll be seeing a nutritionist on Monday that's at my gym, so they'll tell me the definitive answer. Right now though, going to try to aim for 2500-3000 a day, just had to get some good healthy foods that will add up to that!

youdontknowwhatyousaw

A really simplified formula for calories, when you have a lot of weight to lose, is your weight multiplied by 7 to get your daily calories. Most (not all) lightly active women need between 10 and 12 calories per pound of body weight to maintain weight. So 7 calories per pound will give you a nice steady weight loss without restricting yourself to much.

This worked really well for me, and every 10 lbs lost I would lower my daily calorie intake by 70 calories, unless I was still seeing big losses with my current calorie intake. Cutting out 70 calories every couple of weeks is much easier to do and keep doing then immediately restricting.

fruttibiscotti

Thanks for the responses everyone! I'll be seeing a nutritionist on Monday that's at my gym, so they'll tell me the definitive answer. Right now though, going to try to aim for 2500-3000 a day, just had to get some good healthy foods that will add up to that!

Good luck, sweetheart. Just remember to stay focused and recognize that you are WORTH IT. As anyone who embarks on a journey with goals, they are faced with challenges, surprises and roadblocks that either stalls them or throws their focus off. Stay focused. Don't get discouraged or diverted off the path. You can do it.

lcfairbairn74

I would eat the calorie amount that MFP gives you. When I started I had about 200 pounds to lose and I had about 2000 calories a day, to lose 2 pounds a week. Your body needs more calories when you're heavier, and if you drastically cut them, you'll probably have problems sticking to the plan.

Best of luck!

evileen99

MFP told me something crazy, like 3000 cals/day.

I used to do metabolic testing in a hospital, and it's very common for someone your size to have a BMR of 2500 to 3000. If you're even slightly active, you certainly could eat 3000 calories and lose weight.

As your weight decreases, your BMR will decrease and you'll need to scale back on calories. You don't want to restrict yourself too severely as this just leads to binging, feeling crappy about yourself for binging, and quitting. Try 3000 calories for a couple of weeks and see what kind of results you get before you go slashing your calories.

PinkyFett

Honestly, I would ask my doctor or someone who's educated in stuff like this. I would think too much of a drastic change could somehow startle your body. Wouldn't want to see you end up sick or something from it. 1900 sounds like a good start though. I'm not sure I'd listen to MFP's 3000!! Just make sure to do your best to make those 1900 healthy calories.

Lesa_Sass

Thanks everyone! MFP has me set at 3400 cals / day, will give it a try for awhile and see how things go.

:flowerforyou:

I am sending you a friend request as I want to be a part of your journey. I am excited to see what you are going to achieve.

parkscs

What you really need right now is to make realistic lifestyle changes and build on success. At your weight, you don't really have to be precise about determine the amount of calories. It is more important that you measure and count what you are taking in.

In your case, the daily calorie choice should be based on maintaining adequate nutrition and containing enough food that you are more likely to stick to it. People don't realize that MFP is more of a series of databases and calculators than anything else. It does not take into account different individual conditions. In your case, the daily calorie recommendation from MFP does not have any real authority.

You will likely do well at 2000-2400 calories per day. That is plenty of food, will lead to weight loss that is steady, and will not require radical changes down the road. Again, in your case, amount is not as important as your consistency. You will not go into "starvation mode" and you can ignore the "metabolism alarmists". This is going to be a long process and your body will undergo a number of changes if you are successful. It will likely be necessary to adjust your program several times along the way--and no one can predict exactly what will be necessary, so I would worry about it.

If you have the resources, I would highly recommend that you seek professional advice from a registered/licensed Dietitian. There may be some other physical/health concerns involved with this and an RD is best equipped to address them.

Congratulations for taking the first steps. I wish you all the best in your journey.

Great post. I'd agree 2000-2400 calories per day is almost certainly plenty. To me the question isn't "can you lose weight at 3000 calories/day" but rather what's the minimum healthy caloric that you can sustain for the long haul. Just my $0.02, but 2lbs/week is not aggressive enough when you weigh 500+ lbs. If you aren't going hungry on 2000 calories/day, you will lose weight faster than at 3000 calories/day - rough math would indicate approximately 2lbs/week faster. I'd personally find the faster weight loss more motivating than just getting to eat more food every day, but you need to find the right balance for you. The most important thing is to stick with it long term, so if you find 2000 is too few, by all means go a bit higher.

SapiensPisces

What you really need right now is to make realistic lifestyle changes and build on success. At your weight, you don't really have to be precise about determine the amount of calories. It is more important that you measure and count what you are taking in.

In your case, the daily calorie choice should be based on maintaining adequate nutrition and containing enough food that you are more likely to stick to it. People don't realize that MFP is more of a series of databases and calculators than anything else. It does not take into account different individual conditions. In your case, the daily calorie recommendation from MFP does not have any real authority.

You will likely do well at 2000-2400 calories per day. That is plenty of food, will lead to weight loss that is steady, and will not require radical changes down the road. Again, in your case, amount is not as important as your consistency. You will not go into "starvation mode" and you can ignore the "metabolism alarmists". This is going to be a long process and your body will undergo a number of changes if you are successful. It will likely be necessary to adjust your program several times along the way--and no one can predict exactly what will be necessary, so I would worry about it.

If you have the resources, I would highly recommend that you seek professional advice from a registered/licensed Dietitian. There may be some other physical/health concerns involved with this and an RD is best equipped to address them.

Congratulations for taking the first steps. I wish you all the best in your journey.

^ This is superb advice.

OP, congrats on taking your first steps to a healthier life! It's never easy, but it's totally worth it! Best to you!

Lesa_Sass

What you really need right now is to make realistic lifestyle changes and build on success. At your weight, you don't really have to be precise about determine the amount of calories. It is more important that you measure and count what you are taking in.

In your case, the daily calorie choice should be based on maintaining adequate nutrition and containing enough food that you are more likely to stick to it. People don't realize that MFP is more of a series of databases and calculators than anything else. It does not take into account different individual conditions. In your case, the daily calorie recommendation from MFP does not have any real authority.

You will likely do well at 2000-2400 calories per day. That is plenty of food, will lead to weight loss that is steady, and will not require radical changes down the road. Again, in your case, amount is not as important as your consistency. You will not go into "starvation mode" and you can ignore the "metabolism alarmists". This is going to be a long process and your body will undergo a number of changes if you are successful. It will likely be necessary to adjust your program several times along the way--and no one can predict exactly what will be necessary, so I would worry about it.

If you have the resources, I would highly recommend that you seek professional advice from a registered/licensed Dietitian. There may be some other physical/health concerns involved with this and an RD is best equipped to address them.

Congratulations for taking the first steps. I wish you all the best in your journey.

I think this is, hands down, the best advice I have ever seen posted in the MFP forums.

DannyProsser

1200 calories is insanely low for your size. Work out your BMR and reduce it by 1000 that will give you results.

SLLRunner

1200 calories is insanely low for your size. Work out your BMR and reduce it by 1000 that will give you results.

You are mistaken in this advice. You don't reduce calories from your BMR, your reduce from your TDEE. You can find one of the calculators here: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

JohnDowding

Also, talk to your doctor.

violetgb

I started at 323 and have been keeping my calories between 1800 and 2200 and have been losing weight quite well. I think you should go with at least 2000, but it would probably be best to try the amount MFP told you for a month and see where that puts you. There's no point in making yourself miserable with a super low calorie count when you can probably lose weight quite well without going so low.