Will I eventually " catch my calories " so to speak?

tdlsaint

Hey guys, I've been wondering about what to do when I hit my goal and start a maintenance calorie amount instead of a losing calorie amount.

Right now , I average 1400 calories a day , 43 year old male, walk 1.5 - 2.5 miles every day. If it rains me out of walking, I'll do the Your Shape xbox 360 stuff for half an hour. And yes, I know my calorie goal is 1900 - but that's based on 1 pound a week, and I'm being more aggressive that just 1 pound a week, if I input 2 pounds, then it's 1400.

What I'm curious about is, if I just stayed on 1400 calories indefinitely, wouldn't you eventually hit a weight that 1400 would then maintain? I started at 265 pounds ( before I joined MFP) , and ultimately I want to get to 185 before re-assessing where I'm at and where I'd like to be with my weight.

amuhlou

Calculating your BMR for your age, height, activity level, and a healthy weight (not current weight) would give you an idea of what maintenance would be for you.

http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/calories-burned.php

1400 sounds way low to me for a male

ElizabethRoad

I'm sure you'd eventually hit a weight where 1400 was maintenance, but it would be really low. As a sedentary female weighing 140 pounds, my maintenance is about 1700.

For a maintenance of 1400, you'd probably have to be about 100 pounds.

magerum

It all depends on what you want to keep doing. I hit my "goal weight" about 4 months ago. I didn't want to stop exercising because I enjoy the fitness level. Long story short; I'm maintaining at 3200 calories daily (every day, including rest day) with continued exercise.

-M

susannamarie

Yes, you would eventually hit a point where 1400 would maintain. It'd probably be underweight by BMI charts, though.

I had an bf who usually (I tracked him for a bit while he was trying to gain weight) would eat one one-thousand-calorie meal per day and about 600 calories worth of cream/sugar in coffee throughout the day. He just wasn't very hungry. He maintained at about 150 lbs at 6 4, but he had practically no muscles.

tdlsaint

Thanks Amuhlou, that gave me 2440 for a maintenance at my current weight and 2310 at 185. Awesome info to have, ty.

Thanks Elizabeth, good info to know, appreciate it!

AngryDiet

Yes, your theory is sound, though your number of 1400 kcal/day is questionable given your other information.

But his technique is how fat2fitradio.com suggests one go about losing weight. You might want to try the tools section and see what it recommends you eat per day.