Calories

JesseiLeigh · September 2015

Hello, my name is Jessei. I just started working out last wednesday. I never had motivation to workout until a health issue has occurred and because of it I need to lose 100lbs. Since Wednesday I'm now currently down to 276 by working out on my own and counting calories. I recently saw a fitness trainer yesterday who has told me that my plan that I was doing on my own is one that will work quick at first and then I will hit a stand still. When I figured out things on my own I figured I needed about 2300 calories a day so I additionally cut out another 500 calories... for 5 days I was only consuming 1800 calories a day. Now after meeting with the trainer he says I need atleast 2800 a day and he cut out 500 which leaves me with needing 2300 calories a day... he also says that when I work out at the gym I also need to eat those calories back.... I'm just having trouble understanding how i can lose any weight like this because my calorie intake isn't really changing any from before I started this.... any help would be appreciated thank you!!!!

WBB55 · September 2015

Give us your height and tell us about your activity level outside of the gym for more targeted advice.

In general, you can do it two ways. You can eat a set level every day whether you work out or not. Or you can set your goal lower, but eat back at least a portion (maybe 1/2 or 3/4) of the exercise calories you "earn" via exercise.

At 276 lbs, you essentially can't go wrong at the beginning. All you REALLY need is to stick with it for 1-2 years (sorry if that sounds depressing) and adjust when needed.

If it helps, I gave you an average height and put your info into here. If you don't exercise, it estimates your TDEE at 2400. Various amounts of sensible exercise for a newbie will raise that estimate to 2800-3100.

I think 1800+eating back calories OR just a flat 2100 (not eating more when you workout) to start with would be fine. And here's why, at 100+ lbs overweight, you can tolerate a 1000 calorie deficit fairly easily. If you find at those levels you're hungry, then you can safely add a couple hundred more. As long as you're accurate.

If you find after a month that you're lethargic or losing too fast, then add a couple hundred more.

nordlead2005 · September 2015

Your best bet is to take everything with a grain of salt and double check that what is said matches with what science says. The most important thing is Calories In < Calories Out. Since I don't know your overall plan I can't say you'll hit a standstill any more than you would with the trainers plan. You didn't post your stats, so I can't give an estimate, but as an example.

If you are 5'5" and 28 years old, and weigh 276lb and are lightly active and you want to lose 1lb/week (500 calorie/day deficit), then you should be eating.... ~2250 calories/day to (excluding exercise calories). Now, if you are sedentary, that number would be closer to 1880 calories/day (again, excluding exercise)

As a quick note, to calculate intake estimates, I'm using the MFP BMR estimator and multiplying that by 1.39 for lightly active, and 1.2 for sedentary and then subtracting 500 to get daily intake.

So, what should you do? It sounds like you estimated sedentary, and the trainer estimated lightly active. My suggestion is to go with the sedentary estimate and eat back 50% of your exercise calories and see how things shake out 6 weeks from now. If you were truly sedentary (outside of exercise), then you'll lose ~1lb/week, but if you were really lightly active, then it would be ~2lb/week.

Update your calorie intake estimate every 10lb and your plan should work indefinitely. If you accurately log food intake and weight loss, then you can even ditch estimating BMR and just adjust calorie intake to keep the rate of loss you are aiming for.

As for eating this much before, I doubt it. You may have thought you were eating this much before, but it is very easy to eat a lot without realizing it. Weigh and log your food intake and you'll see the difference. My wife swore she was eating 1200 calories and gaining weight. After she started weighing food she is now actually eating 1400 calories and losing 1lb/week.

EDIT: For the simple way, just plug your info and goal into the MFP app and eat that + exercise calories you will lose weight. Do that for 6 weeks and see if you have to adjust.

XavierNusum · September 2015

Remember most trainers are not trained dieticians or nutrionists. They are using the same calculators that MFP, Scooby and the others are using.

CountessOCandy · September 2015

Hi Jessei,

We have almost the same stats (except I'm a lot older than you are!). I started at 271 on Jan 1/15 and my goal is 165. I am currently at 227.6. When I started I think I was eating around 1700 - 1800 calories (I don't remember the actual number) and I am now eating around 1700 + exercise calories each day. I can assure you I have not "hit a wall". I haven't stalled in the 9+ months and on average I lose approximately 1 to 1 1/2 pounds per week. If you eat 1800 + your exercise calories, I think you'll be just fine

ColinsMommaOC · September 2015

I am 5'7 30 y/o @ 279 and MFP has me eating just shy of 1600 for sedentary and 2lb/week loss. When I exercise, I may or may not eat SOME of the exercise cals back depending on if I feel hungry.

From personal experience- Trainers do not always know about nutrition, especially male trainers making recommendations for females IMO. I started training at 327 lbs 2 years ago and had my trainer tell me to eat 1200 cals and not eat back any additional exercise cals. I failed that plan...

Calories

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