Fitness advice

ryanh89
ryanh89 Posts: 13 Member
in Introduce Yourself
I am a 6'4 male, 25 years old. I unfortunately had a rough winter and ballooned up to 267 lbs. i'm starting back on MFP, and my goal is 215. They gave me about 2600 cals/day to start, i'm going with 2000. I go to the gym every other day, do i need to be going more? my only concern is losing muscle i've worked hard for the past few months, someone want to reassure me i'm being crazy

Replies

  • fredgiblet
    fredgiblet Posts: 241 Member
    3 days a week should be plenty for maintaining muscle provided you're lifting heavy. Is 2600 at a deficit? If so then you're pushing pretty hard if you're cutting off another 600 calories, it's certainly doable, but it might be better to take it slower.
  • ryanh89
    ryanh89 Posts: 13 Member
    2600 was what they suggested to me based on wanting to lose 2 pounds a week. I figured since the average person takes in about 2000 calories, that it wasn't too low, am i wrong?
  • soatwd
    soatwd Posts: 19
    Your resting metabolic rate would be 2458 calories. I would start around 2200 calories. I wouldn't go much below that. Shoot for that with your exercise calorie burn factored in, see how you do for a few weeks. If you're not doing much drop it to 2100, then 2000 but I definitely wouldn't go below 2000. I think if you set it at 2200 you'll be right on your 2lbs a week goal.
  • KariOrtiz2014
    KariOrtiz2014 Posts: 343 Member
    3 days a week should be plenty for maintaining muscle provided you're lifting heavy. Is 2600 at a deficit? If so then you're pushing pretty hard if you're cutting off another 600 calories, it's certainly doable, but it might be better to take it slower.
    THIS!
  • Forty6and2
    Forty6and2 Posts: 2,492 Member
    If your goal is to lose 50 lbs, you should start out with a goal to lose 1lb/week. The option to lose 2lbs/week is for people who have much more to lose than you do. You want to do what you can to make your weight loss sustainable and if you take it too quickly and restrict too much you risk the possibility of gaining the weight back when you go to maintenance. Remember: slow and steady wins the race.
  • fredgiblet
    fredgiblet Posts: 241 Member
    2600 was what they suggested to me based on wanting to lose 2 pounds a week. I figured since the average person takes in about 2000 calories, that it wasn't too low, am i wrong?

    Then you're talking about 3 pounds a week, which is, again, doable, but it's probably not the best idea. This isn't a race, you can certainly do 3 pounds a week if you want, I'm not going to say that you can't or shouldn't, but I think it may end up being difficult for you to sustain. I would recommend going with 1-2 pounds per week for a bit and if you find you aren't having problems with blood sugar or hunger you can go further.

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