Started one month ago...

DO NOT take C4 Ripped with Cutting Formula if you suffer from anxiety!

It is a stimulant and can leave you feeling jittery and could cause issues that will distract you from the progress you are making.

Move more. Cut out all added sugar.

keep it up

Also, don't worry about cutting out added sugar unless you have a medical issue. Sugar -- even, gasp, refined sugar -- isn't inherently a problem.

I know you mentioned not wanting to lose weight slowly, but do you realize that it is the BEST way? MFP helps to set that goal and the calorie goal in order for you not to optimally lose the least amount of lean muscle mass while still losing fat. 16lbs loss in one month is a crazy rate of loss, and most likely more muscle mass than you would have wanted. Please take everyone's advice, including the MFP's general advice, that losing slowly is the best and most healthy way to do this. Don't take the weight loss supplements (they will aggravate your anxiety and make you jittery), and just focus on the correct foods (mostly protein). You only want to lose another 20 or so pounds so your rate of loss should be like 1 lb. per week (4-5 lbs max a month) not 4 lbs/week (your 16 lbs in one month).

If you crash diet like this, you won't be able to sustain your weight loss and maintain when you get to your goal weight. At your height, weight, and activity level, 1200 calories per day is not a lot and your body will not be able to sustain this rate of weight loss for long. Slow and steady wins the race! Up your calories to fuel your work outs! Good luck!

adityashah94 wrote: »

I started on May 26th with a restricted diet of high protein, medium carbs, low fat and low sugar and a caloric intake of ~1200.

No offense, but: Dude, really? 1200? oO I am 5'3, and even I eat more than that. Eating this little will do more harm than good in the long run. Set your goal to a sustainable amount and then tweak it a little. Also, low fat is not your friend. Your body needs fat (think nuts, avocado, salmon). Your fat intake should never drop below 15% of your total daily calories. For me, upping my fat to 30% has actually helped me lose weight ... by body likes the fact that I cut down on carbs a little (but by no means avoid them, they are equally important to losing weight, building muscle and sustaining a healthy body). So please rethink what you are doing. None of us really like the "slow and steady wins the race", but it's the healthiest and most sustainable way to lose weight.

eileensofianmushinfine wrote: »

I take a thermogenic. When I first started it, I would get REALLY, really hot during exercise -- almost to the point of feeling faint.

Yeah, that sounds safe ... not -.-

eileensofianmushinfine wrote: »

You might want to consider upping your calories and making sure you're getting a decent amount of proteins and fats...those will be your best friends in fighting hunger.

100% agree with you here!

adityashah94 wrote: »

Here is how I portion out my calories:

~140 g of protein a day (eggs, chicken, low carb protein shake)
~40-50 g of fat per day (good fats such as nuts, and avocados)
~75-100 g of carbs per day
<25 g of sugar per day (from fruits).

I do not feel hungry with this 1200 calorie diet; as you can see, the protein keeps me satiated and also water is my friend. There's nothing wrong with eating 1200 calories a day in my opinion AS LONG as the calories are nutritious and satiating. Moreover, I understand the necessity of getting fats into your body; it helps with feeling fuller.
This is not a crash diet either. Eating 1200 calories/day is actually a minimum for men when dieting (1200-1500; even listed on this website). Also, my metabolism doesn't seem to have slowed down; rather, it seems to have increased! I have more energy throughout the day, I go to bed before 11 pm instead of around 2 am, and my mood has improved in an amazing way.
What do you think about this? No offense taken, also! Just wanted to clarify!

After gorging myself with over 3500 calories a day, I had to seriously let my body know that it's not normal to be eating that much. I started at 2500, lowered it to 2000, and then found a really nice minimum of 1200 WITHOUT even trying. Sometimes, I struggle to reach the 1200 calorie intake because I'm simply not hungry and am already satiated. Maybe it has to do with the leptin hormone in my body, but I seriously doubt it. Any inputs on this?

How are you getting to 1200 calories with the amounts of protein, fat, and carbs? Do you weigh your food? I am jut asking because I eat 98 g of protein, 114 g of carbs and 51 g of fat, and that's around 1300 calories.

Fat: 1 gram = 9 calories
Protein: 1 gram = 4 calories
Carbohydrates: 1 gram = 4 calories

Now, if you calculate your intake with the following numbers, you are over 1200 calories:

140 g protein x 4 calories = 560
45 g fat x 9 calories = 405
85 g carbs x 4 calories = 340

= 1305 calories.

Notice I used an average number for fat and carbs, since you said you are eating between X and Y. If you are going all the way to the max number, your actual calorie intake is more around 1400.

As far as your other comments are concerned:

You are not feeling hungry because your metabolism DOES slow down if you eat too little over a long period of time. I know because it has happened to me and has crashed my metabolism. Granted, I've eaten less than 1200 calories for close to one year, so it takes a while for that to happen, but the "I am not hungry" feeling came long before that for me.

Where do you get the 1200 minimum for men for? That's for women. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, men should eat at least 1800. Maybe less if you are really short, no idea, but 1200 for guys is definitely not the recommendation. Where on MFP does it say that 1200 is enough for men?

Also, going to bed earlier than later ... I don't understand how you can say that you have more energy. If you have more energy, you don't need to go to bed earlier. If you EXPEND more energy during the day, you are more likely tired earlier. Changes in diet can also help with having more energy (for me, eating less carbs help). So, if you are feeding your body more nutritious stuff instead of crap, and are more active during the day, yes, you have more energy but also expend more energy by exercising, which makes for a good night's sleep. If you fed your body crap before and were very sedative, of course you'd have less energy but can stay up longer because, well, bodies hardly get tired from just sitting around

One last comment about "not reaching the 1200": That's easy to do with nuts and nut butter. Just eat 30 g of almond butter (or whatever), and BAM, calories reached.

I can't speak for the leptin hormone, I have no experience with that.

Why don't you use the IIFYM or scooby's calculator to figure out what your body needs to survive (BMR) and then calculate your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure), subtract 20% for weight loss and go from there?

Hope this helped a little. I am not trying to be mean, but in the long run, eating this few calories will do more harm than good.

PAV8888 wrote: »

You are at the prime muscle building stage of your life. If you feed your body TDEE - 15% to -20% and lift heavy items you may well achieve the magic of both losing weight and gaining muscle at the same time. And in any case you would achieve a healthy weight loss and improved health and physique... in other words ripped.

Why don't you go ask all the ripped guys in the exercise section how long it took to get where they're at?

But young = indestructible. Results now. Even if you sacrifice extra lean mass to get there.

Re: "I am not hungry when I eat blah blah".

You know, it is nice how you trust you hunger signals now that you're losing weight and they agree with what you'd like to do anyway.

How were the hunger signaks working for ya while you were gaining weight? Trustworthy much?

Re: 1200Cal recommendation for men?

Not discussing whether you're actually eating 1200 or 1800, just addressing your RESEARCH that leads you to believe that 1200 is an appropriate target. College level research?

Or are you saying 1200 plus eating back exercise calories and I've misunderstood?

Your money, your call with most legal supplements. Many of them do nothing or don't include any of the active ingredients you think you're buying. Some help a bit.

Many of the grey area ones...are grey. Stimulants will get you to lose weight and they will also cause/exacerbate mood disorders.

One of the side effect of drugs that actually induce inneficiencies in your cells in order to make them waste energy (which results in an increase in body temp) is death. I don't believe that they are legal, nor do they sound particularly safe.

Anyway: don't hit the gym well fueled and at a moderate deficit such that you have the best workouts, feed your brain, and actually have loads of energy to do things, enjoy life, lose weight, and actually become ripped.

Look for quick results instead!

Thumbs up, especially re. "Why don't you go ask all the ripped guys in the exercise section how long it took to get where they're at?"

Suit yourself You asked for advice and stories, you got it. Of course you can do whatever you like, it's your body, but don't be surprised if, in the long run, you see unpleasant side effects from eating so little.

If you are ever curious about what your body actually needs if you were in a coma (BMR), check this out: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

adityashah94 wrote: »

Basal Metabolic Rate -- 1900 calories.

1200-1300 calorie diet is a little more than a 500 calorie deficit, which I think is fine? Or am I incorrect?

You are incorrect.

BMR is the metabolic needs for simply breathing, not even moving around. As if you were comatose.

MFP uses the NEAT calculation, which includes your expected activity, but not purposeful exercise. That's why you log exercise and it increases the calorie allotment for the day based on that, to approximate your TDEE.

TDEE is your total metabolic burn, including purposeful exercise.

Using your stats in the IIFYM TDEE calculator, with NO exercise, you would have a TDEE of 2133. Exercise 4x/wk, and it goes up over 2500.

Plug it in and see for yourself.

http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

You are deriving your deficit from your TDEE, not BMR