can anyone answer a few questions?
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TheAnayalator
Posts: 41 Member
Hey guys im generally new to eating healthy and ive been using My Fitness Pal for about a month now. A few questions i have is
1. Will the weight loss start to slow down or will it keep going at the same pace? Currently im eating 1200 calories per day and i do about 30 minutes to an hour of excercise per day.
2. As of today i have lost 17 lbs in a month. I have 66 more pounds to lose so i was wondering if this a healthy speed to be losing the weight? Or am i restricting my calories too much?
3. I've read a lot of bad things about calorie restriction on the internet. Is it healthy to restrict calories? I try to eat mainly protein and veggies but many people are saying i need carbs or im unhealthy.
Thanks in advance for answering my questions
1. Will the weight loss start to slow down or will it keep going at the same pace? Currently im eating 1200 calories per day and i do about 30 minutes to an hour of excercise per day.
2. As of today i have lost 17 lbs in a month. I have 66 more pounds to lose so i was wondering if this a healthy speed to be losing the weight? Or am i restricting my calories too much?
3. I've read a lot of bad things about calorie restriction on the internet. Is it healthy to restrict calories? I try to eat mainly protein and veggies but many people are saying i need carbs or im unhealthy.
Thanks in advance for answering my questions
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Replies
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1. At 1200 calories per day, your weight loss will probably slow down. From the looks of you, that may be too steep a deficit to sustain. If that is the case, you will likely become less energetic, more lethargic, lose muscle mass, and stop burning as many calories when sedentary.
2. If you have lost 17 pounds in a month, much of that is likely water weight. There are roughly 3500 calories in a pound of fat. Thus, there are (17lbs*3500cals=)59,500 calories that you would need to burn to lose 17 pounds. If it is one month, and your daily energy expenditure is on the order of 2,000 calories, then in one month your body would burn (2,000cal*30days=) 60,000 calories. Thus, you would need to eat nothing for 30 days in order to lose 17 pounds of fat. So, no.
3. It is healthy to restrict calories. You don't want to restrict them too much. 1200 is probably too little for you. Your body does need carbohydrates to function.
With love,
Burt0 -
In my Opinion - 1) the weight loss will slow down, but should settle in to a nice even pace. You will probably hit a plateau or two, but just keep on doing what you are doing.
- 2) restricting to 1200 calories is a healthy calorie count. You can exercise and eat back your calories if you like, but the idea is to have a deficit. Keep it at a deficit and you should continue to loose.
- 3) You should have some carbs in your diet. The protein and veggies are great, but carbs are also needed. What you don't burn in carbs will turn to sugar and that turns to fat, so when you have carbs make sure you get some exercise in that day
I am a true carboholic and if I don't keep a close check on my carbs they creep up and up on me. Just be mindful of what you are eating... you've got this!0 -
You are asking open ended questions so you will get the wide array of opinions.
But I just had a discussion about number 3 with my dietitian this morning. You need fiber, and with fiber you get carbs.. so yes you need carbs, but high fiber carbs and not a ton of it.. ( the high fiber way to lose weight is a strategy ).. But the low carb diet does have carbs in it, just not at the levels MFP will set by default.
So if you are doing a low carb diet, actually stick to the numbers for your individual diet and make sure you are getting as much fiber as you can out of it.. ( also you subtract the grams of fiber from the carbs. I never heard this before but my dietitian says so ).0 -
Burt_Huttz wrote: »1. At 1200 calories per day, your weight loss will probably slow down. From the looks of you, that may be too steep a deficit to sustain. If that is the case, you will likely become less energetic, more lethargic, lose muscle mass, and stop burning as many calories when sedentary.
2. If you have lost 17 pounds in a month, much of that is likely water weight. There are roughly 3500 calories in a pound of fat. Thus, there are (17lbs*3500cals=)59,500 calories that you would need to burn to lose 17 pounds. If it is one month, and your daily energy expenditure is on the order of 2,000 calories, then in one month your body would burn (2,000cal*30days=) 60,000 calories. Thus, you would need to eat nothing for 30 days in order to lose 17 pounds of fat. So, no.
3. It is healthy to restrict calories. You don't want to restrict them too much. 1200 is probably too little for you. Your body does need carbohydrates to function.
With love,
Burt
Thanks so much thats really informative. Its kinda of discouraging to find out that ive only lost mostly water weight but would you reccomend continuing what im doing now or increase my calories?
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Burt_Huttz wrote: »1. At 1200 calories per day, your weight loss will probably slow down. From the looks of you, that may be too steep a deficit to sustain. If that is the case, you will likely become less energetic, more lethargic, lose muscle mass, and stop burning as many calories when sedentary.
2. If you have lost 17 pounds in a month, much of that is likely water weight. There are roughly 3500 calories in a pound of fat. Thus, there are (17lbs*3500cals=)59,500 calories that you would need to burn to lose 17 pounds. If it is one month, and your daily energy expenditure is on the order of 2,000 calories, then in one month your body would burn (2,000cal*30days=) 60,000 calories. Thus, you would need to eat nothing for 30 days in order to lose 17 pounds of fat. So, no.
3. It is healthy to restrict calories. You don't want to restrict them too much. 1200 is probably too little for you. Your body does need carbohydrates to function.
With love,
Burt
Solid info. :flowerforyou:0 -
Burt_Huttz wrote: »1. At 1200 calories per day, your weight loss will probably slow down. From the looks of you, that may be too steep a deficit to sustain. If that is the case, you will likely become less energetic, more lethargic, lose muscle mass, and stop burning as many calories when sedentary.
2. If you have lost 17 pounds in a month, much of that is likely water weight. There are roughly 3500 calories in a pound of fat. Thus, there are (17lbs*3500cals=)59,500 calories that you would need to burn to lose 17 pounds. If it is one month, and your daily energy expenditure is on the order of 2,000 calories, then in one month your body would burn (2,000cal*30days=) 60,000 calories. Thus, you would need to eat nothing for 30 days in order to lose 17 pounds of fat. So, no.
3. It is healthy to restrict calories. You don't want to restrict them too much. 1200 is probably too little for you. Your body does need carbohydrates to function.
With love,
Burt
Thanks so much thats really informative. Its kinda of discouraging to find out that ive only lost mostly water weight but would you reccomend continuing what im doing now or increase my calories?
What is your height, weight, and general activity level (e.g. do you sit at an office desk or student? or do you work in a warehouse or as a waitress)?
What is your current macronutrient ratio target? (% protein, % fat, % carbs)?0 -
Burt_Huttz wrote: »1. At 1200 calories per day, your weight loss will probably slow down. From the looks of you, that may be too steep a deficit to sustain. If that is the case, you will likely become less energetic, more lethargic, lose muscle mass, and stop burning as many calories when sedentary.
2. If you have lost 17 pounds in a month, much of that is likely water weight. There are roughly 3500 calories in a pound of fat. Thus, there are (17lbs*3500cals=)59,500 calories that you would need to burn to lose 17 pounds. If it is one month, and your daily energy expenditure is on the order of 2,000 calories, then in one month your body would burn (2,000cal*30days=) 60,000 calories. Thus, you would need to eat nothing for 30 days in order to lose 17 pounds of fat. So, no.
3. It is healthy to restrict calories. You don't want to restrict them too much. 1200 is probably too little for you. Your body does need carbohydrates to function.
With love,
Burt
Thanks so much thats really informative. Its kinda of discouraging to find out that ive only lost mostly water weight but would you reccomend continuing what im doing now or increase my calories?
Burt gave you great solid info. DOn't be discouraged! Doesn't matter if it's water - it's still really on your body. Increasing your healthful eating gets rid of bloat - so that's awesome!!! It's entirely possible you lost 8-10 pounds of fat...
With 60+ pounds to lose, you probably do need to increase calories. Have you gone through MFP and asked it to set your calories for you? If you want rapid but safe weight loss, set your target at 2 pounds a week and see what it comes up with for you. The risk of eating too few calories is that your body will only tolerate for so long, before you go on a massive binge, and then bingo - all progress ruined. There are also health risks, but I'm not a dr, so i won't talk about that...
Restricting calories is healthy- its the ONLY way to lose weight, what is not healthy is doing that to an extreme. Good luck!0 -
Burt_Huttz wrote: »Burt_Huttz wrote: »1. At 1200 calories per day, your weight loss will probably slow down. From the looks of you, that may be too steep a deficit to sustain. If that is the case, you will likely become less energetic, more lethargic, lose muscle mass, and stop burning as many calories when sedentary.
2. If you have lost 17 pounds in a month, much of that is likely water weight. There are roughly 3500 calories in a pound of fat. Thus, there are (17lbs*3500cals=)59,500 calories that you would need to burn to lose 17 pounds. If it is one month, and your daily energy expenditure is on the order of 2,000 calories, then in one month your body would burn (2,000cal*30days=) 60,000 calories. Thus, you would need to eat nothing for 30 days in order to lose 17 pounds of fat. So, no.
3. It is healthy to restrict calories. You don't want to restrict them too much. 1200 is probably too little for you. Your body does need carbohydrates to function.
With love,
Burt
Thanks so much thats really informative. Its kinda of discouraging to find out that ive only lost mostly water weight but would you reccomend continuing what im doing now or increase my calories?
What is your height, weight, and general activity level (e.g. do you sit at an office desk or student? or do you work in a warehouse or as a waitress)?
What is your current macronutrient ratio target? (% protein, % fat, % carbs)?
Im 5'6 and 191 pounds im a student and i have a part time job in an office. I excercise 30-60 min per day.
Im not sure about macronutrients. So far i have been trying to eat mainly protein.
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17 lbs of water weight?.... I doubt it. The first week to two weeks was probably mostly water weight... I'm sure you've lost at least Half of that amount in fat after a full month tho.
1200 is a little low. But if you need to lose almost 100 lbs to be in a healthy weight range, 1200 may be okay for you.
For me, I need to lose about 100 and I was doing 1200 once upon a time and I lost about 15 lbs in 30 days but I was just too damn hungry! So I went up to 1500 which is perfect. It's hard to maintain if you feel like you're going to gnaw your hand off. If 1200 is satisfying then you can maintain just fine0 -
Burt_Huttz wrote: »1. At 1200 calories per day, your weight loss will probably slow down. From the looks of you, that may be too steep a deficit to sustain. If that is the case, you will likely become less energetic, more lethargic, lose muscle mass, and stop burning as many calories when sedentary.
2. If you have lost 17 pounds in a month, much of that is likely water weight. There are roughly 3500 calories in a pound of fat. Thus, there are (17lbs*3500cals=)59,500 calories that you would need to burn to lose 17 pounds. If it is one month, and your daily energy expenditure is on the order of 2,000 calories, then in one month your body would burn (2,000cal*30days=) 60,000 calories. Thus, you would need to eat nothing for 30 days in order to lose 17 pounds of fat. So, no.
3. It is healthy to restrict calories. You don't want to restrict them too much. 1200 is probably too little for you. Your body does need carbohydrates to function.
With love,
Burt
Thanks so much thats really informative. Its kinda of discouraging to find out that ive only lost mostly water weight but would you reccomend continuing what im doing now or increase my calories?
I started out on 1200 calories, but after a month or so i found that it was unsustainable for me, plus i was losing weight way too fast. I eat around 1500 calories a day now. 1200 is the floor that everyone gets when they select a 2-lb loss and mfp calculates that to go below 1200 calories. (If that made sense...)
I don't think it would hurt you to raise your calories, and could benefit you. Certainly do it if you feel terrible or get the urge to start binging. Otherwise, my only suggestion is to basically find something you can do for the rest of your life so that you can maintain any weight you do lose. For me, that means eating whatever i want but being mindful of how it fits into my day. I know i can't successfully, permanently cut a food group out of my diet, so i learned how to incorporate everything.
Good luck!0 -
Blueseraphchaos wrote: »Burt_Huttz wrote: »1. At 1200 calories per day, your weight loss will probably slow down. From the looks of you, that may be too steep a deficit to sustain. If that is the case, you will likely become less energetic, more lethargic, lose muscle mass, and stop burning as many calories when sedentary.
2. If you have lost 17 pounds in a month, much of that is likely water weight. There are roughly 3500 calories in a pound of fat. Thus, there are (17lbs*3500cals=)59,500 calories that you would need to burn to lose 17 pounds. If it is one month, and your daily energy expenditure is on the order of 2,000 calories, then in one month your body would burn (2,000cal*30days=) 60,000 calories. Thus, you would need to eat nothing for 30 days in order to lose 17 pounds of fat. So, no.
3. It is healthy to restrict calories. You don't want to restrict them too much. 1200 is probably too little for you. Your body does need carbohydrates to function.
With love,
Burt
Thanks so much thats really informative. Its kinda of discouraging to find out that ive only lost mostly water weight but would you reccomend continuing what im doing now or increase my calories?
I started out on 1200 calories, but after a month or so i found that it was unsustainable for me, plus i was losing weight way too fast. I eat around 1500 calories a day now. 1200 is the floor that everyone gets when they select a 2-lb loss and mfp calculates that to go below 1200 calories. (If that made sense...)
I don't think it would hurt you to raise your calories, and could benefit you. Certainly do it if you feel terrible or get the urge to start binging. Otherwise, my only suggestion is to basically find something you can do for the rest of your life so that you can maintain any weight you do lose. For me, that means eating whatever i want but being mindful of how it fits into my day. I know i can't successfully, permanently cut a food group out of my diet, so i learned how to incorporate everything.
Good luck!
Thanks for the advice. So far 1200 isnt killing me at all. I dont feel like im starving myself. I do get the occasional craving on weekends but i just drink water and i feel fine afterwards.0 -
Burt_Huttz wrote: »Burt_Huttz wrote: »1. At 1200 calories per day, your weight loss will probably slow down. From the looks of you, that may be too steep a deficit to sustain. If that is the case, you will likely become less energetic, more lethargic, lose muscle mass, and stop burning as many calories when sedentary.
2. If you have lost 17 pounds in a month, much of that is likely water weight. There are roughly 3500 calories in a pound of fat. Thus, there are (17lbs*3500cals=)59,500 calories that you would need to burn to lose 17 pounds. If it is one month, and your daily energy expenditure is on the order of 2,000 calories, then in one month your body would burn (2,000cal*30days=) 60,000 calories. Thus, you would need to eat nothing for 30 days in order to lose 17 pounds of fat. So, no.
3. It is healthy to restrict calories. You don't want to restrict them too much. 1200 is probably too little for you. Your body does need carbohydrates to function.
With love,
Burt
Thanks so much thats really informative. Its kinda of discouraging to find out that ive only lost mostly water weight but would you reccomend continuing what im doing now or increase my calories?
What is your height, weight, and general activity level (e.g. do you sit at an office desk or student? or do you work in a warehouse or as a waitress)?
What is your current macronutrient ratio target? (% protein, % fat, % carbs)?
Im 5'6 and 191 pounds im a student and i have a part time job in an office. I excercise 30-60 min per day.
Im not sure about macronutrients. So far i have been trying to eat mainly protein.
For a 21 y/o woman at 5'6" and 191 pounds with a desk job, you burn about 1960 calories per day using the Mifflin St Jeor formula, with a basal metabolic rate of 1650 calories per day. Note that these numbers are estimates.
Note also that I did not include your 30-60 minutes of exercise per day in the above estimating.
So, if you were to do no exercise, and eat 1950 calories per day, you would likely maintain your weight assuming the information is sufficiently accurate and you're precise in your measurements.
What you might consider is trimming about 20% off your daily energy expenditure (excluding exercise) which would be a daily intake of roughly 1600 calories. Then, when you exercise, conservatively estimate the calorie burn and treat yourself to a cookie or something with the burn.
As my earlier post indicated, we cannot lose weight as quickly as we would all wish. You would need to eat nothing for a month to lose 17 pounds of fat. That is just starvation.
So settle in for a slow process and pick some targets that are comfortable and sustainable. The only way to lose the weight is to be patient and consistent and that's very hard to do if you're eating 25% under your BMR and trying to make your body do an hour's exercise every day.
To recap - shoot for 1600 and eat back perhaps half of your exercise calories in foods you like. High protein is great but fats and carbohydrates are critical for proper body function. We could all argue all day about what precise mix of macronutrients is best and so I won't make recommendations. Eat a bit of everything - you're not going to get fat because you had 40% carbs vs 25% carbs one day.0 -
Burt_Huttz wrote: »Burt_Huttz wrote: »Burt_Huttz wrote: »1. At 1200 calories per day, your weight loss will probably slow down. From the looks of you, that may be too steep a deficit to sustain. If that is the case, you will likely become less energetic, more lethargic, lose muscle mass, and stop burning as many calories when sedentary.
2. If you have lost 17 pounds in a month, much of that is likely water weight. There are roughly 3500 calories in a pound of fat. Thus, there are (17lbs*3500cals=)59,500 calories that you would need to burn to lose 17 pounds. If it is one month, and your daily energy expenditure is on the order of 2,000 calories, then in one month your body would burn (2,000cal*30days=) 60,000 calories. Thus, you would need to eat nothing for 30 days in order to lose 17 pounds of fat. So, no.
3. It is healthy to restrict calories. You don't want to restrict them too much. 1200 is probably too little for you. Your body does need carbohydrates to function.
With love,
Burt
Thanks so much thats really informative. Its kinda of discouraging to find out that ive only lost mostly water weight but would you reccomend continuing what im doing now or increase my calories?
What is your height, weight, and general activity level (e.g. do you sit at an office desk or student? or do you work in a warehouse or as a waitress)?
What is your current macronutrient ratio target? (% protein, % fat, % carbs)?
Im 5'6 and 191 pounds im a student and i have a part time job in an office. I excercise 30-60 min per day.
Im not sure about macronutrients. So far i have been trying to eat mainly protein.
For a 21 y/o woman at 5'6" and 191 pounds with a desk job, you burn about 1960 calories per day using the Mifflin St Jeor formula, with a basal metabolic rate of 1650 calories per day. Note that these numbers are estimates.
Note also that I did not include your 30-60 minutes of exercise per day in the above estimating.
So, if you were to do no exercise, and eat 1950 calories per day, you would likely maintain your weight assuming the information is sufficiently accurate and you're precise in your measurements.
What you might consider is trimming about 20% off your daily energy expenditure (excluding exercise) which would be a daily intake of roughly 1600 calories. Then, when you exercise, conservatively estimate the calorie burn and treat yourself to a cookie or something with the burn.
As my earlier post indicated, we cannot lose weight as quickly as we would all wish. You would need to eat nothing for a month to lose 17 pounds of fat. That is just starvation.
So settle in for a slow process and pick some targets that are comfortable and sustainable. The only way to lose the weight is to be patient and consistent and that's very hard to do if you're eating 25% under your BMR and trying to make your body do an hour's exercise every day.
To recap - shoot for 1600 and eat back perhaps half of your exercise calories in foods you like. High protein is great but fats and carbohydrates are critical for proper body function. We could all argue all day about what precise mix of macronutrients is best and so I won't make recommendations. Eat a bit of everything - you're not going to get fat because you had 40% carbs vs 25% carbs one day.
Wow this is great! Thanks so much for your detailed help0 -
I ate 1200 calories for a very, very long time a couple years ago. My weight fell to 125 (which was my goal at the time) and I thought that I looked pretty good. However, I got really, really sick. I was tired, I had constant headaches, I lost motivation. 1200 will get you where you want to go pretty quickly, but it's not going to get you there in a healthy manner.
1600 is a good goal, as Burt pointed out. Whatever you do, just listen to your body. If you don't feel right, then make a change. You don't want to drop down to your goal weight, and then rebound above where you started. Trust me.0 -
Since you asked...
I am not a big fan of 1200 cals. My daughters and wife (are tiny) and couldn't make it work and be happy, full, and energetic. Again, this is our experience only.
They made the jump to 1500 and attained their goals, were happier about it.
Rate will slow down, but I think you lost those 17lbs pretty darn quick
It is not unhealthy, assuming we are talking not a serious calorie deficit. Which is why MFP recommends not less than 1200
Good luck0 -
White_n_Nerdy wrote: »I ate 1200 calories for a very, very long time a couple years ago. My weight fell to 125 (which was my goal at the time) and I thought that I looked pretty good. However, I got really, really sick. I was tired, I had constant headaches, I lost motivation. 1200 will get you where you want to go pretty quickly, but it's not going to get you there in a healthy manner.
1600 is a good goal, as Burt pointed out. Whatever you do, just listen to your body. If you don't feel right, then make a change. You don't want to drop down to your goal weight, and then rebound above where you started. Trust me.
So far for me 1200 doesnt feel horrible i dont feel tired or anything and i dont really feel hungry. I usually just drink a lot of water when im hungry and then im fine. Maybe after a long time though, ill start to feel sick who knows.0 -
aside from what others have stated a few other things to keep in mind
in a 24 hour span your weight can fluctuate 2-5lbs. if you are going to weigh yourself weekly be sure to do so at the same time (first wake up, noon, before you go to bed)
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I am not a personal trainer so this comment is my own personal experience. I started my weight loss journey on January 19, 2015. On February 11 I had lost nineteen pounds. From February 11 until March 1 I only lost one pound. I still exercised three to four times per week and I work with a personal trainer twice a week for a private session. Please if your weight loss slows just keep exercising and watching your food intake. Those eighteen days seemed like a nightmare but I continued towards my goal. Good luck.0
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White_n_Nerdy wrote: »I ate 1200 calories for a very, very long time a couple years ago. My weight fell to 125 (which was my goal at the time) and I thought that I looked pretty good. However, I got really, really sick. I was tired, I had constant headaches, I lost motivation. 1200 will get you where you want to go pretty quickly, but it's not going to get you there in a healthy manner.
1600 is a good goal, as Burt pointed out. Whatever you do, just listen to your body. If you don't feel right, then make a change. You don't want to drop down to your goal weight, and then rebound above where you started. Trust me.
So far for me 1200 doesnt feel horrible i dont feel tired or anything and i dont really feel hungry. I usually just drink a lot of water when im hungry and then im fine. Maybe after a long time though, ill start to feel sick who knows.
1200 would be the bare minimum with no exercise. If you are on such a low intake you should be eating the calories you burn from exercise in addition to the base 1200.
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I always weigh myself first thing in the morning when i wake upJerrypeoples wrote: »aside from what others have stated a few other things to keep in mind
in a 24 hour span your weight can fluctuate 2-5lbs. if you are going to weigh yourself weekly be sure to do so at the same time (first wake up, noon, before you go to bed)
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