Under BMR and Losing Weight

paxbfl

This ought to get some responses.

I am rapidly losing weight (2-3 pounds a week) by decreasing calories and burning a large amount of calories at the gym.

I'm male, 45 years old, 6'2", currently 223.5 (down from 250 8 weeks ago). My body fat % is approximately 28%.

Plugging those numbers into my Fat 2 Fit Radio's BMR calculator, I get a BMR of 1951.

6 days a week, I eat around 1900 calories and burn 500 calories at the gym for a net of 1400 calories.

1 day a week (free day) I eat 3,500 calories and rest.

That averages out to about 2130 calories/day - 430 exercise calories = 1700 average net calories/day. This is still significantly under my BMR of 1951.

I'm also lifting 3 days a week and eating lots of protein (over 100g/day). I have not noticed any decrease in my strength (in fact I've increased weight lately in some areas).

My body type is such that I gain muscle rapidly and easily, so I'm not overly concerned about muscle loss. My focus right now is on losing fat, I figure I can shift focus to muscle-building once I'm lean.

I feel great... I'm not tired, not losing hair, not noticing a lot of loose skin. Just a lot less fat.

I wonder if the free day is helping avoid a metabolic slow down with that high-calorie day.

I fully recognize and accept that what I'm doing is NOT sustainable over the long-term, and probably not the healthiest way to drop weight. But it's working like CRAZY and I want to keep it going a little longer - at least until the end of the year. At that point I plan to have my body fat measured again, talk to my trainer and come up with a sustainable, long-term strategy.

So am I crazy doing this... or should I say "If it's not broken, don't fix it" ?

drmerc

I wonder if the free day is helping avoid a metabolic slow down with that high-calorie day.

I don't think so

paxbfl

I wonder if the free day is helping avoid a metabolic slow down with that high-calorie day.

I don't think so

Maybe the high-intensity cardio (High Intensity Interval Training) I'm doing then? Or the fact that I still have significant fat stores?

I see no evidence of a metabolic slowdown thus far. I realize it will happen eventually if I stay on this path. I just wonder if it's ok to stay on this path for a while longer.

drmerc

I wonder if the free day is helping avoid a metabolic slow down with that high-calorie day.

I don't think so

Maybe the high-intensity cardio (High Intensity Interval Training) I'm doing then? Or the fact that I still have significant fat stores?

I see no evidence of a metabolic slowdown thus far. I realize it will happen eventually if I stay on this path. I just wonder if it's ok to stay on this path for a while longer.

Yeah you'll be fine, you could probably eat a bit more and still be successful

paxbfl

Yeah you'll be fine, you could probably eat a bit more and still be successful

Good point. No sense making things harder on myself, right?

Thanks for the advice.