Questionable Math

sharidiane

Just to be clear, I don't question your effort or dedication AT ALL. Anyone who can burn anywhere NEAR 2000 calories a day, AND eat 800 calories a day is seriously dedicated, and giving 100% effort. That is awesome.

Is it clear now that the 1700 calories per day gives you a 2 lb a week weight loss, even with NO exercise? So, if you want to ramp it up more, try eating around 1700 cals/day, and burning around 1500-2000 per day, as you've been doing. THAT combination will give you a 4 lb per week deficit.

You won't be able to do it for too long, and I suspect some people might jump all over this answer crying 'starvation mode, starvation mode'. But I'm with you - I don't see why you can't try it for a couple of weeks and see how you do, how you feel. If you start to feel fatigued, and achy like you're getting the flu - I would up your calories by about 200-300 and see if that helps.

No one here knows the exact right formula for you - you're going to have to sort it out on your own. I am still REALLY impressed with your calorie burn. Even if it's off by double, it's an amazing effort. Great job!

erickirb

Just to be clear, I don't question your effort or dedication AT ALL. Anyone who can burn anywhere NEAR 2000 calories a day, AND eat 800 calories a day is seriously dedicated, and giving 100% effort. That is awesome.

Is it clear now that the 1700 calories per day gives you a 2 lb a week weight loss, even with NO exercise? So, if you want to ramp it up more, try eating around 1700 cals/day, and burning around 1500-2000 per day, as you've been doing. THAT combination will give you a 4 lb per week deficit.

You won't be able to do it for too long, and I suspect some people might jump all over this answer crying 'starvation mode, starvation mode'. But I'm with you - I don't see why you can't try it for a couple of weeks and see how you do, how you feel. If you start to feel fatigued, and achy like you're getting the flu - I would up your calories by about 200-300 and see if that helps.

No one here knows the exact right formula for you - you're going to have to sort it out on your own. I am still REALLY impressed with your calorie burn. Even if it's off by double, it's an amazing effort. Great job!

With only 20 lbs to lose a 4 lb/week goal is way too aggressive and will result in a loss of muscle, most likely 50-75% of a 4lb loss would come from muscle, unless you have 100+lbs of fat to lose. And if over 50% comes from muscle you will lose weight, but your BF% will be higher at the lower weight than it is now.

With your 20 lb/ goal, you should be set to lose no more than 1 lb/week, and should be eating back exercise calories to limit the amount of muscle you lose.

beernutz

Just to be clear, I don't question your effort or dedication AT ALL. Anyone who can burn anywhere NEAR 2000 calories a day, AND eat 800 calories a day is seriously dedicated, and giving 100% effort. That is awesome.

Is it clear now that the 1700 calories per day gives you a 2 lb a week weight loss, even with NO exercise? So, if you want to ramp it up more, try eating around 1700 cals/day, and burning around 1500-2000 per day, as you've been doing. THAT combination will give you a 4 lb per week deficit.

You won't be able to do it for too long, and I suspect some people might jump all over this answer crying 'starvation mode, starvation mode'. But I'm with you - I don't see why you can't try it for a couple of weeks and see how you do, how you feel. If you start to feel fatigued, and achy like you're getting the flu - I would up your calories by about 200-300 and see if that helps.

No one here knows the exact right formula for you - you're going to have to sort it out on your own. I am still REALLY impressed with your calorie burn. Even if it's off by double, it's an amazing effort. Great job!

With only 20 lbs to lose a 4 lb/week goal is way too aggressive and will result in a loss of muscle, most likely 50-75% of a 4lb loss would come from muscle, unless you have 100+lbs of fat to lose. And if over 50% comes from muscle you will lose weight, but your BF% will be higher at the lower weight than it is now.

With your 20 lb/ goal, you should be set to lose no more than 1 lb/week, and should be eating back exercise calories to limit the amount of muscle you lose.

Your first paragraph math is only correct if the person is at 50% bodyfat now. If however he is at 25% bodyfat, only 25% of the weigh he loses needs to be fat for him to stay at the same bodyfat %.

For example, say he is 200 lbs now at 25% bodyfat (he has 50 lbs of fat) and loses 4 lbs, 1 of which is fat (25% fat loss), 3 of which are lean body loss (75% of the loss is not fat). He will then weigh 196 and will have 49 lbs of fat (50-1).

49/196 still is exactly 25% bodyfat.

The more I read about so-called starvation mode the more I agree with you. I think it does exist in a manner of speaking in that studies show your body's metabolism does adjust when caloric intake falls dramatically, however, it apparently takes quite a long time (weeks?) for this to begin and even when it does start, studies have shown obese people still lose primarily fat when in this mode. It is normal sized people who apparently start to equally catabolize muscle and organ tissue (but still lose fat) when they eventually go into "starvation mode". So while I don't think starvation mode is a myth, I do think it is very much misunderstood.

I like your recommendation to shoot for a sensible (IMO) 1 lb/week loss and adjust your calories and exercise around that goal. A 3500 calorie/week deficit should be maintainable for most people.

joeygirl84

All I can say is... I was only netting 200 calories a day after considering my 1000 calorie burn a day. I got REALLLLLLLLLLLY sick. It's 4 weeks... and I still don't feel well. My body completely shut down after I started blacking out (although I had felt GREAT!) even the day before.
Your body will get back at you. So as some suggested, I agree... you should try to net no less than 1200 a day for your body type.