Eating 3400 calories???

Fubar_Bill

I haven't done it.

I don't plan to do it.

But...

I am allowed 1400 calories a day due to my size.

Last week I burned over 2000 calories a day at the gym (close to 1000 before work and I would make up the difference after work).

I eat normally, but according to what I have read here I should be eating back the full 2000 calories.

Question: How can I do that in a healthy way?

I am here to lose weight. I am not satisfied with just losing 2lbs a week. At my size, I want to lose closer to 3 a week for the first 3 months and then 2 a week after that.

Is it really that crazy?

I am willing to work for it.

Help me out here, please.

rileysowner

I haven't done it.

I don't plan to do it.

But...

I am allowed 1400 calories a day due to my size.

As a male you should not be eating less that 1500 calories a day excluding exercise. This is a flaw in MFP where it will put men down at calorie levels that only women should be at. 1500 is the generally accepted minimum for male from organizations like the World Health Organization. What is your activity level and weight loss goal per week set at?

Last week I burned over 2000 calories a day at the gym (close to 1000 before work and I would make up the difference after work).

I eat normally, but according to what I have read here I should be eating back the full 2000 calories.

Question: How can I do that in a healthy way?

Lean meat, almonds, avocado, and other calorie dense foods.

I am here to lose weight. I am not satisfied with just losing 2lbs a week. At my size, I want to lose closer to 3 a week for the first 3 months and then 2 a week after that.

Is it really that crazy?

It is very understandable, but realize by going fast you will also lose A LOT of muscle mass with the fat. That will lead to difficulty maintaining your loss. Slow and steady is a much better way to go unless you have a major medical problem that requires the weight to come off quickly. A short time losing faster won't hurt, but it would be better, IMHO, for you to take is slow and train yourself to eat better.
I am willing to work for it.

Help me out here, please.
[/quote]

jskaggs1971

From what I'm told, people with a lot of weight to lose can tolerate larger calorie deficits and faster initial weight loss than people who have less to lose.

Here's what worked (and still works) for me: I look at my calorie goals as a budget. If I'm hungry and have room in my "calorie budget", I eat. If I'm over budget, I don't eat. If I'm not hungry, I don't eat.

Now that I'm less of me than I used to be and have a lower caloric budget, I find myself having to pay closer attention (or work harder) to avoid breaking the calorie budget.

maryjay51

i burn up a lot of calories at the gym too but i dont eat them back unless my body is saying it needs more of something. i try to stick to 1200-1400 calories a day. there are times im actually hungry which is usually when i really out did myself at the gym so i will have more of something in that case

UponThisRock

What in God's name did you do at the gym to burn 2000 calories??

HMonsterX

Remember also that the speed at which you lose will have a huge effect on how much loose skin you end up with. The slower, the better. Faster loss - more loose skin. Obviously there are more factors to it, but that is a major one.

Imagine 1 years time from now. If it took you a year of low losses to get to your goal you'd look better than if you did it in 5 months losing lots each week.

tross0924

What in God's name did you do at the gym to burn 2000 calories??

Seconded.

blue04711

From what I'm told, people with a lot of weight to lose can tolerate larger calorie deficits and faster initial weight loss than people who have less to lose.

Here's what worked (and still works) for me: I look at my calorie goals as a budget. If I'm hungry and have room in my "calorie budget", I eat. If I'm over budget, I don't eat. If I'm not hungry, I don't eat.

Now that I'm less of me than I used to be and have a lower caloric budget, I find myself having to pay closer attention (or work harder) to avoid breaking the calorie budget.

This is a great analogy. I also operate in a similar fashion.

Sl1ghtly

1. The elliptical is almost never correct when estimating calorie burns.
2. MFP is almost never correct when estimating calorie burns.

Going4Lean

bump

honeymonster

I eat normally, but according to what I have read here I should be eating back the full 2000 calories.

Question: How can I do that in a healthy way?

If you know how to eat 1400 calories in a healthy way then you know how to eat 3400 in a healthy way. Don't let the big numbers scare you. Just eat more of the same.

The 2000 a day burn scares me a little tho. You really want to be sure thats accurate before eating that much!

PS I kinda assumed when I was writting the above that when you say "normally" you mean healthy!:)

DopeItUp

I too think the biggest question here is the 2000 calorie burn. That's a lot of calories and would take hours of hard work a day. Where are you getting that number from? You definitely want to make sure it's accurate before you start eating 3400 calories a day, or you're gonna end up with an unfortunate surprise.

lmarshel

I haven't done it.

I don't plan to do it.

But...

I am allowed 1400 calories a day due to my size.

I'm a 5'5" woman. I weigh about 155 pounds, and I regularly eat between 1700 and 2000 calories EVERY day. Why would you not plan to eat 1400 calories?

I do agree with the posters who said your exercise calculations are probably off. Do NOT believe what those machines at the gym say you are burning. My elliptical machine at home tells me every day that I am burning 1100+ calories in a 40 minute session. hahahaha...if only!

I only recently bought a heart rate monitor. I used the calculations on MFP for my exercise calories for months and months with success. They're probably close enough.

Best of luck to you!

gregpack

I think if you have that big of a caloric deficit and continue to work out that hard, you're probably gonna crash sooner or later.

I can get too goal oriented also. I am paying the price for a plan that included rapid weight loss. Lose fast now and you will have to spend more time later rebuilding lost mass.

A good compromise might be eating back half of your exercise calories.

Fubar_Bill

What in God's name did you do at the gym to burn 2000 calories??

In the morning I would push hard on the elliptical and burn around 900 calories in about an hour.

After work I would put in another hour on the elliptical and depending on whether it was a really hard burn (my max on the elliptical was 1109 calories) or a slower day (another 900 calories), I would add a half hour inclined walk on the treadmill for another 250 calories or so.

Note: When I list my calories for cardio I include my cooldown time calories. i.e. 60 minutes of elliptical is actually 65 minutes.

Also: I am 220lbs. and used to be really fit (3 years ago), so I have the muscle under the fat to sustain the effort, but the extra weight means more calories burned.

kd_mazur

Long story short I think you should listen to your body. If you are working out (and keeping in mind that the machines and MFP may be overstating the burned cals) and you are hungry eat...if you are not hungry don't eat. Your body will tell you when your working too hard for the calories you are taking in. The main thing to learn to recognize is the difference between the hungry signal and the bored signal

Phrak

I suggest reading this article:

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html

2hrs of cardio a day is extreme on a 1400cal diet for a 220lb man.

Sidesteal

I suggest reading this article:

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html

2hrs of cardio a day is extreme on a 1400cal diet for a 220lb man.

^ Is this the same Phrak on bb.com?

bcattoes

Eat foods high in calories, vegetables fats and/or protein. Nuts, nut butters, whole grains, beans, lean meats, and fish in addition to a variety of vegetables and fruit. Cook your food in healthy oils (evoo, canola, sunflower, peanut, etc.) to add calories and flavor.

Phrak

I figured someone would catch that. Yes same person.

Fubar_Bill

What in God's name did you do at the gym to burn 2000 calories??

In the morning I would push hard on the elliptical and burn around 900 calories in about an hour.

After work I would put in another hour on the elliptical and depending on whether it was a really hard burn (my max on the elliptical was 1109 calories) or a slower day (another 900 calories), I would add a half hour inclined walk on the treadmill for another 250 calories or so.

Note: When I list my calories for cardio I include my cooldown time calories. i.e. 60 minutes of elliptical is actually 65 minutes.

Also: I am 220lbs. and used to be really fit (3 years ago), so I have the muscle under the fat to sustain the effort, but the extra weight means more calories burned.

What are you using to measure the burn? Machine, MFP or HRM? While 900 seems high to me-- I use a HRM and never approach that even when doing really intense cardio like Insanity, however, I weigh a lot less than you, so I am sure your burn is much higher than mine.

I am using the machine to measure the burn, but I have to note that my heart rate typically rates at the very high end of cardio for the entire workout. I monitor my heart rate throughout the workout to make sure I don't have a heart attack and to pull it back down when it gets to high (by easing off and breathing deeply).

I would have thought that with my big caloric deficit that I would be losing energy, but I have found that since I began my energy has increased and I have been able to do more and more without getting stiff.

As my heart rate comes down I increase the resistance. I originally started at level 4 on the elliptical. In a month I have increased that to level 14.

Now, I could not imagine a morning without my workout.

carrie_eggo

I suggest reading this article:

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html

2hrs of cardio a day is extreme on a 1400cal diet for a 220lb man.

^this.

Good lord, cut down on the cardio

peacemongernc

Someone posted an article here last week that said that elliptical machines regularly over estimate calorie burn by 47%. Exercise bikes by 4%. Treadmills were somewhere in the middle. I don't know how accurate the personal HRMs are.

But a muscular 220 pound man should be able to lose weight eating more than 2000 a day, I think. I don't have any educational background to base that on, but it seems like a safe bet.

Shannon

tross0924

What in God's name did you do at the gym to burn 2000 calories??

In the morning I would push hard on the elliptical and burn around 900 calories in about an hour.

After work I would put in another hour on the elliptical and depending on whether it was a really hard burn (my max on the elliptical was 1109 calories) or a slower day (another 900 calories), I would add a half hour inclined walk on the treadmill for another 250 calories or so.

Note: When I list my calories for cardio I include my cooldown time calories. i.e. 60 minutes of elliptical is actually 65 minutes.

Also: I am 220lbs. and used to be really fit (3 years ago), so I have the muscle under the fat to sustain the effort, but the extra weight means more calories burned.

What are you using to measure the burn? Machine, MFP or HRM? While 900 seems high to me-- I use a HRM and never approach that even when doing really intense cardio like Insanity, however, I weigh a lot less than you, so I am sure your burn is much higher than mine.

I am using the machine to measure the burn, but I have to note that my heart rate typically rates at the very high end of cardio for the entire workout. I monitor my heart rate throughout the workout to make sure I don't have a heart attack and to pull it back down when it gets to high (by easing off and breathing deeply).

I would have thought that with my big caloric deficit that I would be losing energy, but I have found that since I began my energy has increased and I have been able to do more and more without getting stiff.

As my heart rate comes down I increase the resistance. I originally started at level 4 on the elliptical. In a month I have increased that to level 14.

Now, I could not imagine a morning without my workout.

Well for starters 220 isn't big enough to justify the massive calorie burn. 15 calories a minute is a crazy burn. 15 lbs lighter and on a really good day I average just over 10. Maybe it's just my ego, but i doubt you're working 50% harder than i am. So first thing - get a HRM with a chest strap and enter all the information in and see what it tells you you've burned. Second thing - more lifting less cardio. Cardio's great for burning calories, lifting is better for everything else. And third - the most common reason people stop dieting and exercising is that they burn themselves out. They try for too much too fast and get dissapointed that they didn't get their 6 pack in a month of hard work. It's ok to lose 1 lbs a week. That's nearly 1/2% of your body weight per week. Healthy sustainable weight loss. 3 lbs a week is 1.5% and not that healthy.

nixirain

I suggest reading this article:

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html

2hrs of cardio a day is extreme on a 1400cal diet for a 220lb man.

^ Is this the same Phrak on bb.com?

I love articles like this. They just make things make sense.

grinch031

What in God's name did you do at the gym to burn 2000 calories??

In the morning I would push hard on the elliptical and burn around 900 calories in about an hour.

After work I would put in another hour on the elliptical and depending on whether it was a really hard burn (my max on the elliptical was 1109 calories) or a slower day (another 900 calories), I would add a half hour inclined walk on the treadmill for another 250 calories or so.

Note: When I list my calories for cardio I include my cooldown time calories. i.e. 60 minutes of elliptical is actually 65 minutes.

Also: I am 220lbs. and used to be really fit (3 years ago), so I have the muscle under the fat to sustain the effort, but the extra weight means more calories burned.

I could run a half marathon at a 7:30 pace and be lucky to burn 2000 calories (6'1" 180 male). And you are exercising at this kind of intensity on a daily basis? Personally, I think elliptical machines are full of crap when it comes to calories burned. If I were you, I wouldn't give yourself more credit than 1500 calories for your daily 2 hour workouts just to be safe.

eayal002

I looked at your diary and I can't how much protein you are taking but seems it won't be high enough if you are mostly eating cereal in the morning.
Do you do any weight training? Your body in a drastic calorie deficit will begin using muscle as fuel, that's the last thing you want. A 1lb of muscles burns approx. 50 to 70 cals a day, so you want to gain not the other way around.
Saw this posted by one of people on my friends list, it's very accurate and hope it helps when it comes to diet. She's a personal trainer and respect her knowledge.

WHY CAN'T YOU LOSE WEIGHT?? The concept is called INTERNAL STARVATION, which means you drink coffee in the morning after not eating all night long, then when when you do eat you choose oatmeal, cereal, bread or a banana for energy. Now you have gone from low blood sugar to high blood sugar which then gets pushed into your fat cells and your body begins to starve, your brain then sends a signal to eat again & again NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU WORKOUT YOU DON'T LOSE WEIGHT
so, eat protein and fats for breakfast!

She's not saying load up in fats but do eat something that contains fats, eggs, cheese, ham ect. Mix in cardio and weight training, last thing you want is for your body to begin using muscle as fuel.
I have been trying to gain weight, been eating over 2600 a day most days but that was still not enough for me and I'm not doing any cardio. I'm 5'8" 185lbs. Lift 4 days a week, I do play volleyball 2 nights a week so I do burn calories doing that but I stop with cardio to gain but I'm still at a calorie deficit. I started at 190, doing 4 days lifting 2 days cardio and went down to 180 then I stopped cardio all together. You can eat more and still shed the lbs, what you eat is key in doing so.

MattAxtell

I am 5'9 200 lbs and when I do HIIT and or long runs I burn 1000 calories an hour. (heart rate monitor, avg heart rate around 180)

I bet your calorie burn is pretty accurate

kryptonitekelly

gimmie thouse 3400 ?
hahaha, i'd happily eat those for you

ArroganceInStep

I haven't done it.

I don't plan to do it.

But...

I am allowed 1400 calories a day due to my size.

Last week I burned over 2000 calories a day at the gym (close to 1000 before work and I would make up the difference after work).

I eat normally, but according to what I have read here I should be eating back the full 2000 calories.

Question: How can I do that in a healthy way?

I am here to lose weight. I am not satisfied with just losing 2lbs a week. At my size, I want to lose closer to 3 a week for the first 3 months and then 2 a week after that.

Is it really that crazy?

I am willing to work for it.

Help me out here, please.

What are your goals with this diet? Beyond the simple 'lose weight', what are your specific goals and do you have checkpoints thought out to reassess progress? How much weight do you want to lose total? What do you want your BF% to be? Do that and it will help you organize a more effective action plan.

Maintaining a 3 pound per week loss is a LOT. I would strongly suggest tempering your goal somewhat.

It sounds like you're not doing any lifting and are sticking with cardio, incorporating a good lifting regime can go a long way towards helping you maintain LBM.

Additionally instead of your second hour cardio session, consider HIIT, you might find you get better results.