Some general advice for average guys

jsa_mason
jsa_mason Posts: 17 Member
edited November 24 in Health and Weight Loss
So I've been logging for 52 days now. I started at 238 and i'm down to 219 so far. I have been eating 1500 calories a day and it's definitely the lowest amount i would recommend for all males. I know a lot of guys come on here looking for a calorie recommendation, so i figured i'd share. It works it's just a wating game. Choose an easy goal for you that you know you can hit every day for a year and you'll look great, i promise.

Replies

  • siluridae
    siluridae Posts: 188 Member
    You say this, but as the low king of manlets 1500 would be like a 300 deficit for me.
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
    You
    siluridae wrote: »
    You say this, but as the low king of manlets 1500 would be like a 300 deficit for me.

    you'd still lose weight though. if you're eating less than 1500, please make sure you're under medical supervision during it.
  • acuraman636
    acuraman636 Posts: 1 Member
    I can honestly say these last 4 weeks have been great. I lost 21 pounds. I can not do much exercise because of my legs but I can watch the foods I eat. I am going to try even harder these next 4 weeks.
  • FrankWhite27330
    FrankWhite27330 Posts: 316 Member
    1500 calories at 230lbs is STARVATION if your active I could never maintain that amount for any length of time and still hit the gym, and ride the bike...

  • PinkPixiexox
    PinkPixiexox Posts: 4,142 Member
    Well done on your loss - but 1500 calories is VERY low for a man. I'm a 5'2 126lb female and I lose weight on 1500 calories..

    You can lose weight and eat a lot more than you are now. I'd be very careful with encouraging such a low calorie diet plan. Be careful.
  • samhennings
    samhennings Posts: 441 Member
    Not sure sex matters, so much as size.

    Im a short guy - 5'6, and 1500 was the sweet spot for losing 1.5 pounds a week and was enough that I could sustain it.

    Were you a 6'2 girl I probably wouldnt recommend it!
  • scottwilson16
    scottwilson16 Posts: 71 Member
    I'd echo the others concerns about how low your energy intake is. You are looking for a steady, sustainable weight loss and I think your calories should be way higher. 1,500 for a guy could potentially be in the final stages of a physique competition prep... I would up your calories by 100-200cals a week for the next 4 weeks. You will be surprised how your body reacts to the extra intake. Once you reach 2,500kcals I would stay there for 10 days and see if you gain or lose on that. Then take it from there with a 100kcal reduction every 10 days. If you don't already I would pay attention to macronutrients within your calorie total. With calories so low and potentially not monitoring protein intake you could be losing muscle mass as well as fat.
  • betuel75
    betuel75 Posts: 776 Member
    samhennings wrote: »
    Not sure sex matters, so much as size.

    Im a short guy - 5'6, and 1500 was the sweet spot for losing 1.5 pounds a week and was enough that I could sustain it.

    Were you a 6'2 girl I probably wouldnt recommend it!

    Yup, im with you. 1500 is my sweet spot. Plenty of energy and hit my macros no problem. I do have days here and there where i am lower than that too and have no problems. Not sure everyone here who is giving advise as to what is too low for a male are medical professionals...
  • dhimaan
    dhimaan Posts: 774 Member
    I lost a lot of muscle mass on 1500 calories as it was too much of a deficit. I agree with old adage start with a lower deficit so you have a better chance of preserving your muscle mass. Will not make that mistake again.
  • scottwilson16
    scottwilson16 Posts: 71 Member
    betuel75 wrote: »
    samhennings wrote: »
    Not sure sex matters, so much as size.

    Im a short guy - 5'6, and 1500 was the sweet spot for losing 1.5 pounds a week and was enough that I could sustain it.

    Were you a 6'2 girl I probably wouldnt recommend it!

    Yup, im with you. 1500 is my sweet spot. Plenty of energy and hit my macros no problem. I do have days here and there where i am lower than that too and have no problems. Not sure everyone here who is giving advise as to what is too low for a male are medical professionals...

    Don't have to be. The OP suggests that 1,500 is the lowest "all males" should go, which is a fairly sweeping statement. If there is a 6ft guy with an incredibly active job and trains 6 days a week reading this and thinks that's what he needs to do, it's clearly misleading.

    It's clearly a bespoke requirement based on many factors. If you can diet on 1,500 and performance doesn't suffer, your getting sufficient fat, micros and minerals, then fantastic and well done.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    No we are not medical professionals, but on the whole, we are talking from personal experience.

    1500 is the lowest recommended for a man of average height. It is enough to sustain everyday activity and should provide the bare minimum of micro and macro nutrients.

    People caution about eating at that level when there is quite a lot of weight to lose because as you lose weight your calorie requirement has to be adjusted down as your BMR drops, and if you have no calories to drop, you can either stall at your weight loss, or lose those last pounds extremely slowly.

    Quite often a person will be fine for a while on a lower than optimum intake, but in the long term, if your not adequately fuelling your body and mind, fatigue will set in, especially if you are not eating back at least a portion of your exercise calories as well.

    LBM will also suffer from inadequate fuelling.

    Make your own decision, just wanted you to know why you are being advised to eat more.

    Cheers, h.
  • hamlet1222
    hamlet1222 Posts: 459 Member
    You could try the katch-mcardle formula for working out your BMR:

    http://www.calculatorpro.com/calculator/katch-mcardle-bmr-calculator/ It's based on lean body mass, so you need to know your body fat % to use it.

  • arb037
    arb037 Posts: 203 Member
    1500 cals, with 200 pro, 60 fat, 50 carbs. A 200lbs man would not lose much if any muscle mass.
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
    Depends on the rate of loss. If the male in question isn't very large, and is only losing a pound or two per week, it's not going to hurt the lean muscle mass. If the rate of loss is higher, 4 pounds a week, the lean muscle mass is going to take a hit.
    also, we have no idea how accurate OP is with calorie counting. A lot of people think they are eating a certain amount of calories (1500 in this instance) but we have no idea if OP is weighing all of his food and logging every single thing he eats, so he could be underestimating his calories.
  • scottwilson16
    scottwilson16 Posts: 71 Member
    arb037 wrote: »
    1500 cals, with 200 pro, 60 fat, 50 carbs. A 200lbs man would not lose much if any muscle mass.

    He would also probably not be likely to stick to the diet with such low CHO intake and also protein would be too high for ketosis, so pointless really.
  • msujack
    msujack Posts: 84 Member
    I am a 230lb male, on a 1770 cal/day goal since I started at 247lbs about 90 days ago. I haven't been perfect with the goal, going over sometimes and under others, but overall: I totally get what he is saying. Its not a medical definition for everyone to follow. Its a guideline for people to gauge their number. I personally think 1500 is the lowest you can sustain as a guy of average or above height to lose weight as well. How many posts are people asking: "how many calories for a X size with Y to lose?" A ton.
  • coachRichie
    coachRichie Posts: 27 Member
    1500 calories a day is way too low for me as well .. I guess I would drop to that if I was not doing any kind of exercising but since I do workout just about 6 days a week I am comfortable with 2100 calories a day. I am maintaining my weight with this amount of calories.. anything more or less does make a big difference for me.
    We are all different and we all have different numbers that work for us. You will have to discover that on your own but the most important thing I have to say is WORKOUT !!! #paystobefit
  • yusaku02
    yusaku02 Posts: 3,472 Member
    siluridae wrote: »
    You say this, but as the low king of manlets 1500 would be like a 300 deficit for me.
    We're all gonna make it brah.
  • jsa_mason
    jsa_mason Posts: 17 Member
    I just want to jump in and clarify that I was not trying to advocate all males doing 1500, but simply that it works well for me, and that you shouldn't go below it. I also don't work out much and eat back my cals when I do.

    I get just enough energy and hit my macros but I could of course eat a little more. I just see a lot of men asking if they are eating too much so i wanted to encourage them and reassure them that they should in no way go lower.

    I completely disagree with the notion that it's starvation though. It's just really really low.
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