For the beginners on here how to determine what is safe

Newfiedan

From everything I have learned about the diet side of it is that its more about the deficit that what you are allotted, and yes I know its important to stick to what you are allotted for a day do not worry. When you join mfp and put in your info they give you a 500 cal deficit right off the bat for a 1 lb a week weight loss. This next part has applied to 99% of those I have helped so far so it may work here it may not I am not judging. If you workout you can increase that to whatever you like but for those with a lot of weight to lose (60ish lbs or more) 1000 cal/day deficit is the max before the body reacts and slows metabolic rate down. For those who have say 30 pounds of less to drop its a different ball game as it gets tricky here, 500-600 a day would be the max before the body reacts in that way, and the more you lose the lower the deficit can safely be. (the same reason why that last 10 pounds is usually so hard to shed). The main goal is to make sure you preserve your muscle and shed the fat so that means eating right as that is 80% of the equation, its not as simple as in vs out which many think it is. Society has taught many of us this exact message more out vs less in means weight loss and to some extent that is true but you really need to look into making small changes at a time to make it last. 1 lb/week is fine for a lot of ppl, and you did not gain that weight 1 lb/week so really when you look at it 1 lb/week is a pretty fast weight loss. It is a shame that in today's instant gratification train of thought that we do not take the time to slow down and really put the effort into ourselves that we really need to be doing. Its time to be "selfish" if that is what you want to call it (personally I think its one of the opposite of that) and take care of yourself.

So for those people who join and gun for 2 lbs/week or more (with not that much to shed) please be careful as you are more than likely being very counterproductive towards your goals.

For those whom ask "should I eat my exercise cals back?" the answer is not all of them if you have a lot to lose but try to stick to what mfp gave you for caloric intake and not exceed that unless you have done your homework.

I hope this helps clear things up for people and if not then feel free to msg me I will be happy to help.

aristel

thanks!

Nikk5588

Hello, I'm kind of new I've had my account for a while, but have recently started using it more. .

SO I just want to see if I got this right,
My BMR is 1,856 calories/day*
My BMI is 38.4

I walk for 40 minutes a day at a fast pace, and I workout to Jillian Michaels Cardio Kickboxing everyday and do weight training every other day for 20minutes - according to MFP - I burn 773 or 881 calories from my workouts .

SO I am allowed to have a 1000 calorie deficit, because I am obese. . SSOO my I can eat 1600 one day -1700 calories the next day [depending on if i'm doing my weight training that day too] and still be safe?

My net calorie intake would be * 875

MsPitt

My net calorie intake would be * 875

I strongly suggest keeping you NET above 1200. Even better if it's in the 1500-1600 range.

baisleac

Hello, I'm kind of new I've had my account for a while, but have recently started using it more. .

SO I just want to see if I got this right,
My BMR is 1,856 calories/day*
My BMI is 38.4

I walk for 40 minutes a day at a fast pace, and I workout to Jillian Michaels Cardio Kickboxing everyday and do weight training every other day for 20minutes - according to MFP - I burn 773 or 881 calories from my workouts .

SO I am allowed to have a 1000 calorie deficit, because I am obese. . SSOO my I can eat 1600 one day -1700 calories the next day [depending on if i'm doing my weight training that day too] and still be safe?

My net calorie intake would be * 875

Your BMR is what your body needs just to lay in bed all day. If you're up and moving around, your maintenance calories will be higher. Maintenance calories are the starting point for your deficit.

You'd have two ways of maintaining a 1000 calorie deficit:
1) Eat your maintenance calories (NOT BMR) and burn 1000 calories per day exercising.
2) Eat 750-1000 calories less than your maintenance AND eat back 1/2 - 2/3 of the calories you burn through exercise.

I recommend Option #2. It's a lot easier.

Another note - Many nutritionists and trainers, though by no means all, recommend that you do not eat less than your BMR, usually recommending you eat 80% of your maintenance calories, minimum.

Therapist_mama

Ok now I'm feeling a bit confused again by all the technicalities of eating your exercise calories......I thought I had it understood and then this post comes along and I am back to being confused! So because I have a lot of weight to lose, I should not eat back all of my exercise calories only 1/2 to 2/3rds? What exactly does Net calories mean on this site.....can you help me understand?

baisleac

Ok now I'm feeling a bit confused again by all the technicalities of eating your exercise calories......I thought I had it understood and then this post comes along and I am back to being confused! So because I have a lot of weight to lose, I should not eat back all of my exercise calories only 1/2 to 2/3rds? What exactly does Net calories mean on this site.....can you help me understand?

If you have significant amounts of weight to lose, there's a little more flexibility in the amount of exercise calories you should eat. Primarily because your BMR/Maintenance ratio is larger.

Today, for instance, I wouldn't fret about those last few hundred calories for you. For someone who only had 30 lbs to lose, I would encourage them to eat them all today or tomorrow.

MsPitt

What exactly does Net calories mean on this site.....can you help me understand?

Net calories according to the site is: The number of calories you eat minus the number of exercise calories you burn.

So, if you eat 1700cal, and burn off 300cal at the gym, your net is 1400.

Your body needs a certain number of calories each day to work at optimum levels. If your long-term average Net is a lot higher than your daily need, you will likely gain weight. If your long-term average Net is a LOT lower than your daily need, you will lose weight, but you may have health problems such as lack of energy/dizziness, amenorrhea, brittle nails and hair, etc. because you are not providing your body with enough fuel to work well.

The ideal is to make your long-term average Net slightly less than your daily need, until you reach your goal weight. That will result in reasonable and healthy weight loss over time.

I strongly suggest people keep their Net above 1200. I'm 5'6" and if I weighed the lowest healthy BMI for my height - a mere 118lbs - my body would STILL require more than 1200cal per day to maintain optimum health at that weight.

Newfiedan

Basically what has already been said but to make sure that it got through disregard bmr for a minute here, what we are looking at is what mfp gave you based on a 1 pound a week loss. If you only have 30 pounds (I know some of you have more we can deal with that at the end of this example) or so to lose then do not exceed this unless you want to be counterproductive. Yes you can exceed it but you can also go smoke crack it does not mean its healthy for you. If you are allowed say 1500 cal/day and you go out and exercise and burn off 900 then you are are now allowed to eat 1500+900 so that now means you have 2600 for the day. Net is all the food you ate minus exercise. So if you did not eat that 900 that then means 1500-900 which means 600 net calories for the day. You need 1200 minimum to function (yes I know that there are some of you who require less because you are very small people, this does not include you for the example) So you have to eat at least another 600 calories to hit that minimum. What happens here though is that the body already started the day with a lack of 500 cals than what you needed to maintain your current weight, so if you were to not eat past that 1200 net min that would then give you a deficit of 800 cals for the day. Good right? that means more weight lost. WRONG, the reason why is that when the body sees this big of a deficiency it will say "ooooo no you don't f**k you and slow you down". Think of it as the fat police, they do not want you sneaking away with the fat. You can get away with it in short bursts but not maintain it. Anything above and beyond 500 cal/day lack and the body will start to slow down the metabolic rate irregardless of how much you work out. You can literally work your body into a slower metabolic rate if you ignore this by working out like nuts without feeding the body properly.

I know you are thinking no way, we were taught more out, less in works and there are some of you who are still stuck in that mindset. What you need to really make it work is proper diet in and an intelligent amount of workouts to get max results. For instance I am down just under 20% bodyfat now, 27 pounds down in just over 3 months using this principle. There was a book I read called the 4 hour body which explained it best to me, its the minimum effective dose. Finding that magic number of in vs out to maximize results. Once you hit it you are golden, the body never plateaus if you learn how to shake it up and you just keep losing. 3 months 0 plateaus except for 1 week where the scale stayed the same but my measurements went down. The key thing I want to get across to you is that be patient and allow it to work for you, there are no instant gratification fixes here, no instant diet that will turn you skinny in 2 months. Its patience, intelligent application of workouts, proper diet and hard work on your part that will get you to a life long goal which should be to maintain muscle or add to it, and shed the fat.

Newfiedan

Now onto those who have a lot to lose, meaning more than 30 pounds. You are the lucky ones of the bunch here believe it or not as you can use that added weight to your weight loss advantage. The smaller of your brethren have to work twice as hard to burn as many calories as you do from simply walking. It takes tremendous energy to do high paced workouts when you are bigger. This is not a bad thing though and here is why, you can use it to your benefit. Meaning you do not need to work out as hard as they do to drop the weight. The same idea applies to you as it does to then but here is difference, you can have a larger deficit than they can and do it safely. There are 2 major differences here though when I talk about intelligent application of workouts. Firstly you would be much better off doing a resistance workout with weights, now you may ask why. Well its simple really, your body has stored energy that will feed the muscle, it is fairly readily available weight training along with extra protein will allow you to build muscle, your legs and supporting muscles are already really strong just from carrying the weight you have. Ever wonder why you get tired doing the same walk as a "skinny" friend? That my friend is a high intensity workout for you. Yep that 30 min walk up a small hill will drive your heart rate through the roof. Yay for extra weight right? You probably hate me for saying that but look at it this way for someone to relate to you they would need to carry a weight vest to make them the same weight as you, now have them do the same walk as you. Different story then, they will probably drop out before you do. So how far can you push it safely, well for a lot of you with 50 pounds of more to drop you can go to around 800 cal/day deficit so you do not need to eat back all the workout cals, but you do need that extra protein and that is a must have for that muscle growth. For those with 70 pounds or more, 900/day and for those with 100+ 1000/day. So you can drop weight twice as fast as the smaller ppl. As you drop though you will have to drop that deficit as the weight comes off.

Now to address those who are going to say I am wrong and that they have done it successfully because for every one of who has done it right there is going to be a few who say we are wrong. To those I say are you as strong as you were when you started? Can you lift as much weight now as when you started. The answer I can almost guarantee you is no, why? simple you lost muscle, you only cared about the scale and not the measurements. For those who did it smart and maintained that muscle using that as a tool to shed fat congrats your a smart cookie. More muscle burns more fat, so keeping and building upon that will burn more fat every hour of every day with you sitting on you butt. Cardio is great for short term cal burns, but the affects do not last as long as a weight program will. Unless you do circuit, or HIIT or MRT (metabolic resistance training) you are not getting the maximum results for time spent in the gym.

Jenni268

Newfiedan, I think you are my hero.

Newfiedan

lol thats funny you should say that its amazing the number of people who have requested me to be their friend and the reaction i got from a previous post about the common mistake many women make when joining mfp and trying to shed weight. I offended some on that one and it got a huge number of replies, but my intention was to provoke a response with that one.

Jenni268

lol thats funny you should say that its amazing the number of people who have requested me to be their friend and the reaction i got from a previous post about the common mistake many women make when joining mfp and trying to shed weight. I offended some on that one and it got a huge number of replies, but my intention was to provoke a response with that one.

Yeah, I weighed in on that one! It was in your favor. I think a lot of ladies don't like taking advice from a man simply because it's a man! I know that sounds harsh, but I think it's the truth. But let me say this, if someone is obviously better at something than me, then I'll listen. It's being plain contrary for a woman to brush off what you say just because you're a different gender! And I know a good percentage of ladies do just that. It's a shame.
I like what you have to say. It's informed, it makes sense, it's rational and you're very well spoken.

Newfiedan

Yes there definitely some penis phobic women who do not want any advice from a man just like there are some vagina phobic men who do not want advice from a woman. To each their own lol.

sbrake

lol thats funny you should say that its amazing the number of people who have requested me to be their friend and the reaction i got from a previous post about the common mistake many women make when joining mfp and trying to shed weight. I offended some on that one and it got a huge number of replies, but my intention was to provoke a response with that one.

your post was very enlightening thank you... i just have one more question. i still have a lot of wieght to lose, i have lost about 55pounds. it has taken me about 2.5 years but i lost 50 just working out and generally becoming more active. i started mfp and have lost 5 more pounds. i know i have a lot of muscle. when most people find out that i weigh 220lbs they say they never would have guess i wiegh that much. my question though is, it okay to want to lose muscle? my calf muscle have become bigger from carrying the wieght. but i dont know how to lose the wieght and not have them gain even more muscle

Newfiedan

your post was very enlightening thank you... i just have one more question. i still have a lot of wieght to lose, i have lost about 55pounds. it has taken me about 2.5 years but i lost 50 just working out and generally becoming more active. i started mfp and have lost 5 more pounds. i know i have a lot of muscle. when most people find out that i weigh 220lbs they say they never would have guess i wiegh that much. my question though is, it okay to want to lose muscle? my calf muscle have become bigger from carrying the wieght. but i dont know how to lose the wieght and not have them gain even more muscle

Yes it is ok but its hard to be selective over where you lose it, my advice though is that if you aim to lose it then adjust the workouts and gear them to cardio only with little weight lifting for that area. A runner's body will naturally want to shed some muscle to make it easier to run. The body will adapt to that on its own, just do not starve the body to lose it. If you are naturally more muscular in one area do not work it as much. Running will focus more on tone than building muscle for the legs unless your leg muscles were lacking to begin with. How much protein do you take in for a day on average?

hedleyrocks247

THANK YOU!!!!!! I totally get all this but it's frustrating reading some of the posts in the forums and seeing how difficult it is for people to wrap their heads around all these numbers! I am glad that there is someone who can put it out there and help make sense of it all!!! BTW - read your post on "The most common mistakes women make" and I totally agree.

I really wish that there was a better education when it comes to nutrition, your body & how it works etc in schools b/c then maybe a lot of us wouldn't be in this boat! I LOVE reading books/magazines on nutrition with a passion and as I read I always think "Why didn't anyone teach us this????"

I'm here b/c when I lost weight 6 yrs ago I did it the "right way" but when I plateued 15 pounds away from my goal weight - I tried to fix it (even with all the reading etc that I did) by working out more, eating way less......well it didn't work......then I got pregnant, starting upping my calories to be healthier for the baby and the weight just piled on, even though I wasn't eating terrible - I had just deprived my body for so long that it wanted to hang onto everything, I swear even just looking at food put weight on!!! Then I had my daughter, and the weight didn't budge, then I got depressed and gained some more. It took me until 4 yrs after she was born to finally say "Enough is enough" So here I am!!! A friend of mine posted this site on facebook and I was hooked!! This time I'm going to do it the right way - and when I up my work outs I'm going to make sure I'm eating enough to compensate. I will not go through this again So again, I just want to thank you for being a voice of reason in a sea of confusion

Just wondering.....are you a nutritionist or a fitness trainer or something? Oh and do they still have the "Wash and Slosh" in Saskatoon???

sbrake

your post was very enlightening thank you... i just have one more question. i still have a lot of wieght to lose, i have lost about 55pounds. it has taken me about 2.5 years but i lost 50 just working out and generally becoming more active. i started mfp and have lost 5 more pounds. i know i have a lot of muscle. when most people find out that i weigh 220lbs they say they never would have guess i wiegh that much. my question though is, it okay to want to lose muscle? my calf muscle have become bigger from carrying the wieght. but i dont know how to lose the wieght and not have them gain even more muscle

Yes it is ok but its hard to be selective over where you lose it, my advice though is that if you aim to lose it then adjust the workouts and gear them to cardio only with little weight lifting for that area. A runner's body will naturally want to shed some muscle to make it easier to run. The body will adapt to that on its own, just do not starve the body to lose it. If you are naturally more muscular in one area do not work it as much. Running will focus more on tone than building muscle for the legs unless your leg muscles were lacking to begin with. How much protein do you take in for a day on average?

ive only been on this site about 2.5 weeks. but i looked through my food diaries and my average ranges from about 50-70g.

Newfiedan

Just wondering.....are you a nutritionist or a fitness trainer or something? Oh and do they still have the "Wash and Slosh" in Saskatoon???

nope I am a nutrition enthusiast who has spent a lot of time educating myself on this stuff and just recently started to put it all together for my game plan to get much healthier, stronger and happier.

Newfiedan

ive only been on this site about 2.5 weeks. but i looked through my food diaries and my average ranges from about 50-70g.

Ok good you are on par then, stick to a more cardio oriented routine with some running, if you do not see results in about 3-4 weeks msg me we can go from there but just remember that it may be slower coming off of there as selective muscle loss is another matter altogether from fat loss.

sbrake

thank you!!!