Some guidance for a beginner

alung2k3

Firstly, I am so happy I found this website, it's amazing and has helped me actually aim for a goal rather than being reckless and failing a month down the line while trying to become healthy/diet.

OK so my Stats are:

Age:25
Weight: 247
Height: 6"4
Sex: Male

Aiming to lose 2lb a week and am sedentary mostly during the day.

My goals are to eat roughly 1700 calories per day and I am using the food log religiously. My problem is, after seeing quite a good result in roughly 4 days, weighing in today I saw it had jumped back up. Is this water retention? Can weight flucuate much? Bar one meal which I ate out at a resturante I have been 100% commited. ( I even budgeted the meal into my allowance!).

I have a cycling machine in the house so am planning to do that 4 times a week.


Any help/ideas would be great! Thanks

andyc_law

i can literally gain and lose 8 pounds in the matter of a couple days. and i'm 5'7" 130. so i'm guessing if you're actually staying on track and strayed once that it's food/water weight. do you weigh yourself at the same time of day? also, if you just check your weight once a week you're more likely to get more accurate weight readings. good luck!

kaitlynnesmommy

I weigh daily and I am the same way...I fluctuate. I take an "official" weigh in the same time every week...that way I have a fairly steady bais.

I would say water retention is your biggest culprit...just drink lots of water the next day and flush it out.

afigueroa_pr

It would be a good idea to find out what your basal metabolic rate is and cut around 350-500 calories from that BMR daily. If you have any questions feel free to add me and we can shed those pounds!

alung2k3

Thanks for the fast replies.

My BMR is 2,207 calories/day so I think my target of 1700 odd is pretty close.

afigueroa_pr

You're on top of it then. Just remember to account your sodium intake in your diet also. Regardless of what the app says about your diet, I believe the FDA recommends sticking under 2000-2500 mg of sodium a day.

H_Factor

Thanks for the fast replies.

My BMR is 2,207 calories/day so I think my target of 1700 odd is pretty close.

1. if your BMR is 2200 per day and you're goal is 1700 per day...then assuming you're not exercising (or that you're eating back your exercise calories), that amounts to 1 pound lost per week (500 calories x 7 = 3,500.... 1 pound of fat = 3,500 calories).

2. stop weighing yourself daily...or, if you do, accept daily fluctuations. there can be a lot of reasons for them. Until last week, I was weighing myself daily, but I accepted that the weight went up and down somewhat during the course of the week.

3. there can be a lot of reasons for quick weight loss followed by times that your body needs to adjust throughout your journey, but especially at the beginning. stay committed to your healthy lifestyle plan and success will follow in time.

alung2k3

Wow I didn't know that 3500 cals = 1 pound of fat.

I would like to lose 2lbs a week if possible. So would you suggest to exercise say 4 times a week and eat back the cals, or just continue as I am?

kapeluza

"
I just wanted to post something about what to expect during the phases of weight loss.

Overview (why I'm posting this)
Over the course of about 7 months on here, I have seen many people suceed, I have also seen some drop off the map. I expect this is because some succumb to the demon that is temptation, and some to the devil that is dissapointment. I wanted to give a few "heads up"s to both new commers and vetrans to the site. Some may know already, some may not. But either way, if this helps anyone to set more realistic goals in their own head, I feel like it has done it's job.

Phase 1. The start of a brand new day! (or week, or month, or year)
Expectations are sky high, usually so is motivation and intentions. This is where most people lose the most weight. At the start it's not uncommon to see 4 to 8 lb losses per week. The reasons for this are mostly (sorry to disappoint) water weight. You drop excess water quickly, and you can have up to 5 lbs of water weight. The next biggest reason is the fat that is right next to the blood vessels, the stuff that you put on in the last month or three, it will melt like butter usually.

Phase 2. Reality setting in.
At about week 3 to a month or so, people suddenly realize that they are no longer dropping 8, 6, or even 4 lbs a week. This is a crutial phase in your journey. Expect this, it is natural. You have shocked your body by changing both eating habits and exercise routine. Now it has had a little while to become used to the new lifestyle, it's going to compensate. Your body still doesn't believe it's permenant yet, so it will still try to store some fat, so now that it knows how to regulate it's new metabolic levels, it tryies to store fat in earnest. It's not uncommon for people to hit a wall here, no loss for weeks. Expect this as well.

Phase 3. The routine.
At about 2 months or so, your routine is pretty much set, your body is beginning to believe that you really want to STAY the way you are going now. You will start to see more consistant (but lower, usually 1 to 2 lbs a week) loss, also, you should start seeing some muscle tone (depending on how much you had to lose in the first place). If you stop to think, you should realize that you have improved dramatically in your exercise levels. If you do cardio, you should notice how much longer and harder you can work. This is important to realize as it is just as big of an indicator as weight loss. Also, by now you may notice that your clothes no longer fit right. This is also very important. The weight may not be falling off anymore, but you are becomming a smaller person. Weight is arbitrary, if you are building muscle (which your body is doing at a furious pace by now) you won't notice huge losses, but you will notice wholesale changes in the mirror!

Phase 4. Really digging in.
This is where the second wall can happen. You're probably at between 3 and 4 months by now, and if you have gone this far, you feel like you have already suceeded. This is where many people stumble. they are tired of the routine, tired of eating different things from all their friends, limiting their alcohol intake. Basically the shine has worn off. this is when your really need to plant your feet. Maybe change up your exercise routine, make a concentrated effort to find different, but still nutritional food. Talk to people. And examine how far you have come. At this point, no matter how much external motivation you receive, it's all about believing in yourself!

Phase 5. End game.
5 or 6 months in you are probably working on that "last 10 pounds". This can be discouraging for many as it is a slow burn. Remember, your body probably feels like it is where it needs to be, your brain might think you need to lose 10 more, but your body is quite proud of itself now, it feels like it has "Done enough" and it wants to stay RIGHT HERE. The body LIKES to have a little fat around just in case, especially for the ladies (sorry girls, it's just human physiology). If you feel like you still need to lose it, prepare yourself for some guerrila warfare against your body. Design an exercise regimen that is very dynamic, forget the "same thing every day". Make a plan that challenges you both physically and mentally. Make sure you give yourself a day off here and there to just veg. And by all means, remember, muscle burns fat at rest. So get some weight or resistance training involved.
The last 10 may take 3 to 6 months to lose. I know nobody wants to hear that, but it's true. And forget the idea of increasing your calorie deficite, healthy bodies need good nutrition, your body no longer has the fat reserves to handle the large deficites you could when you were 30 40 or 50 pounds overweight. Better to make it a 3 or 400 calorie deficite (NET, please count your exercise calories too!). It may take a bit longer, but your body will like you for it. Plus it feeds those new muscles and keeps them burning fat, keeps your skin healthy (elasticity is important when you want those places that were stretched out to "snap back") and keeps you from getting head aches and depressed.

Conclusion:

this is what I have learned, not just from my journey, but from others as well on here. It saddens me sometimes to see people hit one of these stages and not recognize it for what it is, a part of the process. If we all can have realistic expectations, then we are more prone to win the fight and stay healthy in the long run. Note that some people will hit these stages harder then others, some may take longer, but for the most part, this is the rule that the exceptions will come from.

"

kapeluza

and this


"So often people personal message me asking me if I think their calories are correct. It seems that people think there is some magical formula that only a very few can figure out. I see so many people on here just popping in numbers and following them heedless of what the numbers mean. I feel it's ULTRA important to know why MFP (and me, and a few others) gives you certain numbers. To that end I will try to empower YOU to be able to understand the basics about calories, calorie deficits, and why we recommend eating exercise calories. With this knowledge you should be able to easily figure out what your calories should be at for reasonable, healthy weight loss. So without further ado, lets get started.

1st things first, a few givens must be stated:

-Everyone's body is slightly different. ALWAYS keep in mind your numbers may not be exactly what MFP thinks simply because everyone's bodies all burn energy at a different rate. Tweaking may be needed.

- MFP's goals wizard is a "dumb" tool. That means it doesn't care whether a specific goal is healthy and/or right for you, it just subtracts the goal deficit from projected maintenance calories. This means that even if you shouldn't be trying for a 2 lb a week loss, MFP won't care, it will still try to help you get there.

-1200 calories is a generic number. It's not right for everyone. It's a baseline minimum given out as a floor by MFP based on prior research by the medical community. NOT everyone will need a minimum of 1200, very small people can go under, and bigger people need more.


OK with those facts firmly set in your mind (please go back and re-read the givens until you have them firmly planted in your skull!), we can continue. Figuring out your perfect deficit isn't magic, it's a few simple formula's base on some basic, worldwide standards, and generally with slight modefication, will work for just about anyone who (besides weight) is generally healthy.

Here's what you need:
Height, weight, age, activity level, sex

NOTE: activity level isn't as mysterious as it sounds. If you have a desk job, and do very little walking throughout the day and don't really perform any sports or physical activities, then you are sedentary, if you do some walking every day (or at least 4 days a week) or other light activity for at least 30 minutes cumulative at least 4 times a week, you are lightly active. If you do 60 minutes of light activity 5 days a week or do some kind of sport that requires walking or light jogging (say swimming or mailman or warehouse employee) then you are active, If you do a physically demanding activity (one that makes you sweat) for 4 days a week or more and for more than 1 hour a day, you are very active (like a coach that runs drills or you play volleyball). When in doubt, go down 1 level, you'd rather burn more than you think than less.

With all these numbers you can generate your BMI. Now I realize BMI is flawed, but for what we're doing it's good enough. After years on here, and doing lots and lots of research, I've been able to associate general BMI ranges with approximate goal levels. This works for about 80 to 85% of people out there (there's always a few that are outside the curve).

So now we can figure out where your goal should be.
Go to the tools section and figure out your BMI:

Generally someone with a BMI over 32 can do a 1000 calorie a day (2 lbs a week) deficit
With a BMI of 30 to 32 a deficit of 750 calories is generally correct (about 1.5 lbs a week)
With a BMI of 28 to 30 a deficit of 500 calories is about right (about 1 lb a week)
With a BMI of 26 to 28 a deficit of about 300 calories is perfect (about 1/2 lb a week)
and below 26... well this is where we get fuzzy. See now you're no longer talking about being overweight, so while it's still ok to have a small deficit, you really should shift your focus more towards muscle building, and reducing fat. This means it is EXTRA important to eat your exercise calories as your body needs to KNOW it's ok to burn fat stores, and the only way it will know is if you keep giving it the calories it needs to not enter the famine response (starvation mode).

With this quick guide you can figure out your goal rather easily. I know many people will say "I can't eat my exercise calories, I gain weight when I do". Well I have news for you, that's not correct. I submit this, if you eat your exercise calories and gain weight 1 of 3 things happened:
1 you were previously in starvation mode, and you upped your calories, and had an immediate weight gain, that's normal, to be expected, and necessary to get your body on track. Give it a month, that will stop, and you, once again, will begin to lose, but this time, in a healthy manner.
2 you incorrectly calculated something, either your exercise calories, your calorie intake, or you put in to large of a goal. Go back and check all your numbers.
3 you haven't given it enough time to work. This site promotes HEALTHY weight loss people. Healthy weight loss doesn't happen in days or weeks, it takes months and years. Each change you make in how you eat needs a month or more to work, be patient, give it time. It will happen.

And to everyone who has a trainer that doesn't agree with eating your exercise calories. I also submit this: In 90% of the cases (and I have talked to a LOT of trainers about this exact topic) they actually DO agree with this method, you just explained it wrong.
Just saying to a trainer "should I eat my exercise calories?" isn't enough, you have to explain to them that MFP already generates a deficit prior to any exercise, therefore the deficit will remain whether you exercise or not. Once you give them that idea, and you are relatively sure they understand the concept then I'll bet they change their tune.

I hope this helps, it's pretty straight forward if you've been here a while, and to you new guys, I recommend going to the message boards link, clicking on the "general diet and weight loss" area, and clicking on those first few posts that have the little mouse trap next to them, they are sticky and will always be there, and are a wealth of knowledge about this site, exercise calories, starvation mode...etc."

MikeSEA

1700 doesn't seem a like enough calories for 6'4" 25 year old male to me, but see how it works for you. If we take a sloppy, rule-of-thumb guess of 12*your weight of 247 we get 2964 for maintenance. that would be almost 2000cal/day to lose 2lbs per week, but everyone is different.

H_Factor

Wow I didn't know that 3500 cals = 1 pound of fat.

I would like to lose 2lbs a week if possible. So would you suggest to exercise say 4 times a week and eat back the cals, or just continue as I am?

if you want to aim to lose 2 pounds of fat per week, you need to create a 7,000 calorie deficit for the week...or 1,000 calorie deficit for the day. thus, if your BMR is 2,200, your net calories should be around 1,200 per day. if you exercise, you can eat additional calories equal to whatever you burned that day. so, if you burn 500 calories on monday, you can eat 1,700 calories that day and still be at a net of 1,200 for the day

H_Factor

1700 doesn't seem a like enough calories for 6'4" 25 year old male to me, but see how it works for you. If we take a sloppy, rule-of-thumb guess of 12*your weight of 247 we get 2964 for maintenance. that would be almost 2000cal/day to lose 2lbs per week, but everyone is different.

...and I agree that 2200 seems a little low for your BMR. my previous reply assumes that the BMR you posted was correct. you might want to check that out.

MinnieInMaine

It could be water retention. Even if you stay within calories for a restaurant meal, that food is typically LOADED with sodium and that can throw the number on the scale off for at least a few days. Drink your water to flush out the excess and keep doing what your doing.

And yes, weight will tend to fluctuate quite a bit on a daily basis depending on when you weigh, what you've eaten, how active you are, etc etc.

alung2k3

After using the BMR calculator under tools the result was:


" Your estimated BMR is: 2,207 calories/day*"


Do you think it may be a little too low? Im happy to try anything as I am a total new beginner. I will definately start doing more exercise from tomorrow.

MikeSEA

After using the BMR calculator under tools the result was:


" Your estimated BMR is: 2,207 calories/day*"


Do you think it may be a little too low? Im happy to try anything as I am a total new beginner. I will definately start doing more exercise from tomorrow.

It might be your BMR, but assuming you're not comatose, you're burning a fair chunk more than that. You need to figure your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) and then adjust that for caloric deficit to suit your goals.

PBJunkie

"
I just wanted to post something about what to expect during the phases of weight loss.

Overview (why I'm posting this)
Over the course of about 7 months on here, I have seen many people suceed, I have also seen some drop off the map. I expect this is because some succumb to the demon that is temptation, and some to the devil that is dissapointment. I wanted to give a few "heads up"s to both new commers and vetrans to the site. Some may know already, some may not. But either way, if this helps anyone to set more realistic goals in their own head, I feel like it has done it's job.

Phase 1. The start of a brand new day! (or week, or month, or year)
Expectations are sky high, usually so is motivation and intentions. This is where most people lose the most weight. At the start it's not uncommon to see 4 to 8 lb losses per week. The reasons for this are mostly (sorry to disappoint) water weight. You drop excess water quickly, and you can have up to 5 lbs of water weight. The next biggest reason is the fat that is right next to the blood vessels, the stuff that you put on in the last month or three, it will melt like butter usually.

Phase 2. Reality setting in.
At about week 3 to a month or so, people suddenly realize that they are no longer dropping 8, 6, or even 4 lbs a week. This is a crutial phase in your journey. Expect this, it is natural. You have shocked your body by changing both eating habits and exercise routine. Now it has had a little while to become used to the new lifestyle, it's going to compensate. Your body still doesn't believe it's permenant yet, so it will still try to store some fat, so now that it knows how to regulate it's new metabolic levels, it tryies to store fat in earnest. It's not uncommon for people to hit a wall here, no loss for weeks. Expect this as well.

Phase 3. The routine.
At about 2 months or so, your routine is pretty much set, your body is beginning to believe that you really want to STAY the way you are going now. You will start to see more consistant (but lower, usually 1 to 2 lbs a week) loss, also, you should start seeing some muscle tone (depending on how much you had to lose in the first place). If you stop to think, you should realize that you have improved dramatically in your exercise levels. If you do cardio, you should notice how much longer and harder you can work. This is important to realize as it is just as big of an indicator as weight loss. Also, by now you may notice that your clothes no longer fit right. This is also very important. The weight may not be falling off anymore, but you are becomming a smaller person. Weight is arbitrary, if you are building muscle (which your body is doing at a furious pace by now) you won't notice huge losses, but you will notice wholesale changes in the mirror!

Phase 4. Really digging in.
This is where the second wall can happen. You're probably at between 3 and 4 months by now, and if you have gone this far, you feel like you have already suceeded. This is where many people stumble. they are tired of the routine, tired of eating different things from all their friends, limiting their alcohol intake. Basically the shine has worn off. this is when your really need to plant your feet. Maybe change up your exercise routine, make a concentrated effort to find different, but still nutritional food. Talk to people. And examine how far you have come. At this point, no matter how much external motivation you receive, it's all about believing in yourself!

Phase 5. End game.
5 or 6 months in you are probably working on that "last 10 pounds". This can be discouraging for many as it is a slow burn. Remember, your body probably feels like it is where it needs to be, your brain might think you need to lose 10 more, but your body is quite proud of itself now, it feels like it has "Done enough" and it wants to stay RIGHT HERE. The body LIKES to have a little fat around just in case, especially for the ladies (sorry girls, it's just human physiology). If you feel like you still need to lose it, prepare yourself for some guerrila warfare against your body. Design an exercise regimen that is very dynamic, forget the "same thing every day". Make a plan that challenges you both physically and mentally. Make sure you give yourself a day off here and there to just veg. And by all means, remember, muscle burns fat at rest. So get some weight or resistance training involved.
The last 10 may take 3 to 6 months to lose. I know nobody wants to hear that, but it's true. And forget the idea of increasing your calorie deficite, healthy bodies need good nutrition, your body no longer has the fat reserves to handle the large deficites you could when you were 30 40 or 50 pounds overweight. Better to make it a 3 or 400 calorie deficite (NET, please count your exercise calories too!). It may take a bit longer, but your body will like you for it. Plus it feeds those new muscles and keeps them burning fat, keeps your skin healthy (elasticity is important when you want those places that were stretched out to "snap back") and keeps you from getting head aches and depressed.

Conclusion:

this is what I have learned, not just from my journey, but from others as well on here. It saddens me sometimes to see people hit one of these stages and not recognize it for what it is, a part of the process. If we all can have realistic expectations, then we are more prone to win the fight and stay healthy in the long run. Note that some people will hit these stages harder then others, some may take longer, but for the most part, this is the rule that the exceptions will come from.

"

alung2k3

It might be your BMR, but assuming you're not comatose, you're burning a fair chunk more than that. You need to figure your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) and then adjust that for caloric deficit to suit your goals.

I wouldn't have a clue to start with that. I work for a chemical storage company. I would say it would be light duties, nothing too strenous or physical.

MikeSEA

It might be your BMR, but assuming you're not comatose, you're burning a fair chunk more than that. You need to figure your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) and then adjust that for caloric deficit to suit your goals.

I wouldn't have a clue to start with that. I work for a chemical storage company. I would say it would be light duties, nothing too strenous or physical.

Ok, so let's say you're lightly active (not a desk job, but no real gym time either). Given your stats, I'm putting your TDEE close to around 3200 cal/day. So if you want to lose 2lbs/week, you're looking at eating approx 2200 cal/day.

EDIT: as a point of comparison, if you're not active at all (desk job, no gym), you'd probably eat around 1900 cal/day to lose 2lbs/week.

alung2k3

Wow, OK so in this instance the BMR calculator is quite abit off. Were talking an extra 1000 calories.

MikeSEA

Wow, OK so in this instance the BMR calculator is quite abit off. Were talking an extra 1000 calories.

Not exactly. Your BMR is your BMR. It's what you'd burn by doing nothing but sleeping all the time. You have to figure in other energy expenditures...such as getting out bed, getting to work, work in general, going to the gym, digesting food. The BMR itself doesn't figure that in.