How many calories, Any all all answers welcome.

I think you need to give more details for better answers. If you have been following the IIFYM 20% deficit resulting in 1800 calories a day, and you know you are logging very accurately so you are actually EATING 1800 calories a day, yet are not losing after giving it 3 or 4 weeks, then you may need to eat less.

However, I doubt it.

Have you lost anything at all since you started eating 1800 calories a day?

Losing weight is really as simple as controlling the amount of calories you eat. But, unless you are positive how many calories are in each serving size of every single thing you eat, you can't control the amount. If you aren't already weighing your foods on a digital food scale, I suggest you start there.

I'm a 33 yo 5' 11" lightly active guy, weighing in at about 236 right now. I've dropped from 250 since February 1 on 2100-2200 calories a day. When I was 320 I dropped to 280 on about 2500 a day. I've tried 1800 and I was too hungry to pull that off.

kalbo798 wrote: »

how many calories should a 6 ft 0, 288 lb male be eating to be at a deficit.....putting out the question, because my results suggest that I'm clueless

First thing to realize is that metabolically, you're not 288 lbs. You're (approx) 188 lbs with a 100 lb fat jacket. I'm not saying this to be a butthead, I'm saying it because it matters when calculating your basic burn.

That puts you at roughly 50% body fat. Which in turn puts your BMR at 1800-ish and your lightly active TDEE at 2500-ish.

At this weight your body can easily support a 20% deficit -> 2500 * 0.8 -> 2000 calories/day. You can in fact support a whole lot more than that, but it can become an exercise in mental fortitude and not too pleasant - depending on the person.

So my suggestion is to set your intake at 2000 calories/day. Go for 3-4 45 minute walks a week. Make sure you eat ~150g of protein, and fill up the rest of the calories with whatever makes you happy or makes your diet manageable for *you* (nobody can answer that but *you*! ).

Stick with that for a month, then it'll be time to review what happened, and if necessary adjust.

Good luck!

:drinker:

Oh, and open your diary for more detailed help.