Is My Dietitian Crazy?

Your net calories should be as close to 1200 as possible. But I believe what your dietician is talking about is your total intake of calories. She wants you to eat 1800 calories per day, and not calculate your workouts into that. It seems like she's telling you to do that because you're working out a LOT and not getting enough calories in.

Assuming she is a certified nutritionist/dietitian and you are paying her, I would listen to her, but definitely request an explanation for her instructions based on other knowledge you are balancing it against. I would think she would be willing to provide you with a diagram/chart that illustrated her recommendation and how it relates to exercise calories that you burn. How great that you are working with someone! I read your inspiration (regarding your grandfather) and think you have a noble goal and such motivation. In the end, you will be the beneficiary of weight loss and a healthier life!

No, she isn't crazy. Your weight and height effect how much calories you burn just by sitting around.

For example, I'm 5'5, and 225 lbs. If I did absolutely nothing but sit a computer all day my body would burn 2100 calories. Most people are around the 2000 range.

I think she's just making sure you don't undereat so your body doesn't go into starvation mode.

edit: To clarify, you can exercise as much as you want and burn it all off as you choose, making your net whatever you feel is appropriate, you just need to digest that many calories so your body doesn't try to retain everything, and so you don't screw up your digestive system.

I think it makes sense! My PT worked out my basal metabolic rate of 2200 including all the workouts I do, so I have to aim for 1700 - 1800 calories a day to lose 1lb a week. And so far, it's working!!

If you were truly in starvation mode for some time than coming out of it slowly is usually a good idea. Could be part of her concern.

I wouldn't listen to her. Listen to your body. It tells you, when your are hungry, you should eat (healthy), and if your are full, don't eat (just because it has to be 1800 ca., doesn't mean you have to eat all that).

ok, Now it's starting to make sense to me. I've got my BMR calculated at 2580 calories per day at 6' tall and 366.2 lbs

I just don't want to make my body think it's dying if I keep working out the way I do.

I've been at it for a little under a month now and lost a little over 13 lbs

No, your dietician isn't crazy.

If you want a comprehensive but excellent breakdown of the various different methods in which calorie needs are calculated then read this:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/172515-frantic-about-adhering-to-the-right-calorie-intake-read-t

In fact, the usual approach is factoring in calorie expenditure from exercise when determining a deficit and then providing an average daily number to shoot for with this included. MFP is unusal in this regard in that you have to add back calories as it doesn't include exercise in its deficit calculations (or some I am lead to believe.)

In reality you could probably eat much more than 1,800 calories a day, especially of you are exercising hard, and still lose a significant amount of weight safely. Given your high starting weight a different set of rules are in play in comparsion to leaner individuals so don't be worried if you drop more than 2lbs a week in the short term.

Honestly, if you find yourself eating 200, 300, or 400 more than your daily goal of 1,800 then don't sweat it. You will still do amazingly well.

I would also recommend getting a weighing scale for food rather than measuring cups. They tend to be a much more accurate method of calculating calories and it will help give you an idea of reasonable portion size etc.

Now get to work...

This is not based on science but on deduction/instinct... so take it with an appropriate pinch of salt ... but having read a lot of comments on MFP about exercise calories and starvation mode I have reached the following conclusions.

- If you don't do a lot of exercise then it is really important that you average 1200 calories per day minimum. Sure, some days can be over and others can be under but if you don't eat 1200 calories on average there is a good chance you are not getting sufficient nutrition.

- a caveat to the above is that if you had a perfectly balanced diet which is high in protein and carbohydrate and contains all the essential vitamins, minerals, essential oils etc then you could probably come in a little under: but the second you through in, say, a kit kat (personal favorite) you have got to go the whole 1200.

- another caveat: 1200 is a semi-random number - I mean men and women have different bodies and it should be different for them both - right? and a small woman compared to a large guy should be even more extreme. On this basis - listen to what your body is telling you: if you are feeling tired all the time eating 1200 then you are not getting enough nutrition! increase your intake!

- A really good way to work out what you should actually be eating is to go 24 hours wearing a heart rate monitor which calculates your bodies Calorie use. A 500 Calorie deficit per day will be approximately 1lb of fat. Given that the average man with a sedentary lifestyle would burn about 2000 Cals a day its simple to see that to loose more than a pound a week without exercise is going to be dangerous. The answer: do some exercise

Which brings me to the more controversial topic of exercise calories.

- Not all training does the same thing to your body and you should consider your personal goals: Gaining muscle is a really good way to loose fat as the muscles themselves will consume more calories even when they are at rest! In my opinion you don't really need to consume any more calories if you are just strength training – an hour in the gym is only going to be 300 calories… However it is important to ensure you are getting enough protein and carbohydrate both before and after training sessions (you will need to do some research to find out what ‘enough’ is for you). If the only way you can do this is to increase your overall intake for the day, do it! Failure to do so will result in your body cannibalising your muscles – so you will re-use leg muscle to build arm muscle and vise versa depending on the circuit you are doing. Not harmful but pointless!

- If you are doing CV then you will burn a lot more calories. Normally 600 per hour but up to 1000 depending on how hard you are working. As with the weights you need to ensure you are getting sufficient protein and carbs for that days work out – but I don’t believe you need to consume all the calories.

HOWEVER – If you are doing regular exercise then your base rate of calorie burn is going to increase – even on days you don’t exercise! In my experience, you start getting major fatigue if you don’t increase your base intake. It’s better to do this and eat the same way every day than to do constant adjustment based on your workout.
A final, really, really important point but slightly off topic: muscle is 18% more dense than fat. So, if you gain 1 kg of muscle and loose 1 kg of fat (4 blocks of butter) then you will be 20% smaller (3.2 blocks of butter). In other words – ditch the scale in favour of a tape measure if you are getting fit to get thin! Scales are only meaningful if you don’t change the amount of exercise you do.