Over 300lbs, how many calories are you eating?

hobbeskastiel

I try to stick to 1500, but floats a bit here & there. 1400-1600. I f I get to tired and think i'm missing my nutritional goals I add calories in the form of foods with better nutrition. If that makes sense... Today I still have 350 calories to use and am trying to figure out what to eat to hit my macros. I fully admit I need to plan my meals better so that I can hit my #'s better. I find carbs the hardest to fill because carb calories are usually high and I don't want to go over my calorie goals. Macros suck. As in, trying to balance my eating to hit my macros sucks........

Supertact

Eat like you were at weight you want to be.

MKEgal

I'm not over three hundred but I calculate 10 calories for each pound of my "Goal Weight" 150=1500 calories 145=1450...and so on.

That's what my doctor & dietician said to do.

Actually, do it 2 ways - what do you need to maintain your current weight, and what do you need to maintain your goal weight.
If the difference is more than 1000, take the larger number & subtract 1000 for your daily goal.
As you lose weight, tweak it downward until you hit your goal-maintenance number.

So if you're starting at 350, you need 3500.
If your goal is 150, that takes 1500.
Start with 2500 and gradually edge it down to 1500 as you lose weight & get used to eating less.
As you get closer to goal, you're going to lose weight more slowly, which is OK. You might even drop to a 500 cal deficit.

"evidence shows that people who lose weight gradually and steadily (about 1-2 pounds per week) are more successful at keeping weight off ...
To lose weight, you must use up more calories than you take in. Since one pound equals 3,500 calories, you need to reduce your caloric intake by 500-1000 calories per day to lose about 1-2 pounds per week."
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/losing_weight/index.html

MKEgal

A bit of research I found which has changed how I eat.

This study compared eating a small breakfast, medium lunch, and large dinner, [200, 500, 700 cal]
with eating a large breakfast, medium lunch, and small dinner [700, 500, 200 cal].

"The [large breakfast] group showed greater weight loss and waist circumference reduction ... fasting glucose, insulin [&] triglycerides ... decreased significantly to a greater extent in the [large breakfast] group."

In addition, hunger was less and satiety was greater.

Here's the research summary: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23512957

Here's a PDF of the whole article.
http://genetics.doctorsonly.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Jakubowicz-at-al-Obesity-2013-oby20460.pdf

So have half your calories for breakfast, and the majority of what's left for lunch.

SomeNights246

The more you weigh the more energy it requires for you to just live. So yes, you will eat significantly more calories than someone who weighs 200 pounds that's trying to lose weight. And yes, you will still lose weight, the point is to drop down gradually.

Exactly.

Going from eating saying, 3000 calories a day to just 1500 is pretty drastic. My mom is around 300 lbs. She has been slowly cutting back. She is losing, consistently, on about 2,700 calories a day. There will come a point when she has to cut that (say, down to 2300 or so), but she hasn't reached that point yet.

It's usually best not to cut too much too fast. That's not to say that people haven't had success doing so. Just that it's usually easier to slowly cut calories rather than to instantly go all out.

nicsflyingcircus

A bit of research I found which has changed how I eat.

This study compared eating a small breakfast, medium lunch, and large dinner, [200, 500, 700 cal]
with eating a large breakfast, medium lunch, and small dinner [700, 500, 200 cal].

"The [large breakfast] group showed greater weight loss and waist circumference reduction ... fasting glucose, insulin [&] triglycerides ... decreased significantly to a greater extent in the [large breakfast] group."

In addition, hunger was less and satiety was greater.

Here's the research summary: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23512957

Here's a PDF of the whole article.
http://genetics.doctorsonly.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Jakubowicz-at-al-Obesity-2013-oby20460.pdf

So have half your calories for breakfast, and the majority of what's left for lunch.

Wouldn't work for me. I just try to follow my body's cues, and I've lost 50lbs without feeling deprived.

fiveohmike

5'8" started at 300+ - eat 2200 - 2800 depending on how much I burn with my HRM. 2000 is minimum. I am trying to retain as much muscle as I can while I lost fat.