High deficit - opinions
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emrahm23
Posts: 3 Member
Hi everyone I am new to dieting and want to get your feedback on my weight loss plan.
I am 30 yrs old, 6'2 and 240kg, currently going into my third week of a diet and exercise program.
My maintenance calories come in a little over 3000 per day. I am currently eating 1500 calories per day, and one day a week I have a high calorie day which is anywhere between 2500 and 3000 calories. 5 days a week I ride the exercise bike at my gym which burns 500 calories per session, or 2500 per week.
I know that I need a 7500 calorie deficit per week to lose 1kg (2lbs) which I have no problem with, as I am averaging a deficit of approx 8500 per week, which I plan to continue for 6 more weeks, and then reduce the deficit to a more acceptable level.
My question is, has anyone tried a 1500 calorie deficit before and what has you experience been? I've read online that a high deficit is not necessarily a good thing, but I've lost 3kg in 2 weeks and seeing a tangible result increases my motivation to do better. Knowing myself if I had a lower deficit and only lost a marginal amount after 2 weeks of strict diet and painful exercise I would lose motivation and give up, as has happened numerous times in the past. To that end I like the fact that results are visible quickly, and I want to see if anyone else out there has had similar experiences and if you have any recommendations.
I am 30 yrs old, 6'2 and 240kg, currently going into my third week of a diet and exercise program.
My maintenance calories come in a little over 3000 per day. I am currently eating 1500 calories per day, and one day a week I have a high calorie day which is anywhere between 2500 and 3000 calories. 5 days a week I ride the exercise bike at my gym which burns 500 calories per session, or 2500 per week.
I know that I need a 7500 calorie deficit per week to lose 1kg (2lbs) which I have no problem with, as I am averaging a deficit of approx 8500 per week, which I plan to continue for 6 more weeks, and then reduce the deficit to a more acceptable level.
My question is, has anyone tried a 1500 calorie deficit before and what has you experience been? I've read online that a high deficit is not necessarily a good thing, but I've lost 3kg in 2 weeks and seeing a tangible result increases my motivation to do better. Knowing myself if I had a lower deficit and only lost a marginal amount after 2 weeks of strict diet and painful exercise I would lose motivation and give up, as has happened numerous times in the past. To that end I like the fact that results are visible quickly, and I want to see if anyone else out there has had similar experiences and if you have any recommendations.
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Replies
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given your size, you're fine with that large a deficit for now. as long as 1500 cals isn't making you feel deprived. and i hope that is net 1500 on exercise days?6
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Agreed with Tavistock - you have enough extra that you'll be fine for a while. Just remember don't give up - it is a journey that will be filled with high and low points. Remember also that scale weight can fluctuate wildly depending on exercise, food types, and if you're holding a lot of water for any number of reasons. I've had weeks where I was targeting a 2 lb loss and it went up 2 lbs despite very careful eating and exercise control, just to have it drop by 6 lbs the next week when the old body flushed the extra water out.2
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You shouldn't have any problems with it physically given your starting point. The bigger issue is sustainability. I'd keep going as you are until you start to feel the mental strain of the large deficit and then increase your levels to something that you feel you can sustain for the long-term. I think your plan makes sense.1
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Like the others have said, at your size you can put up some huge numbers as far as loss goes. At 528lbs you can realistically lose 5-10lbs per week (2.5-4.5kg). That maintenance rate seems a bit low to me too given your stats.
Now with that being said... I'm not sure I'd go straight for a 1500/day target, due to the fact that you WILL have to drop that at some point, to continue losing. I would probably go with a more moderate deficit of 750-1000 cals (so 2000-2250/day) to give yourself some more wiggle room down the road.3 -
Hey, I'm 30,too, but started at a lower weight of 113kg. I went straight for the 1200 calories (but this is not everyone's cup of tea - it takes a LOT of advance planning!!) with working out 3-5 times per week for 30 minutes. I consistently dropped 1kg per week until recently (as weight loss naturally slows down). The important thing is that you find something that you can do, every day, consistently over a long period of time. If you can't do what you plan for a long time, you need to change it to something that works for you, as the journey ahead of you is long, and full of terrors (just kidding, that's a Game of Thrones reference) - full of winding roads, sometimes it'll be easy, sometimes it'll be hard, and it's most important that you don't give up
I'm sending you a friend request and wishing you the very best on your journey! 3 -
Ditto to you can probably sustain it for 6 weeks, and then lighten up to more realistic level.
But also to point that seems mighty low for maintenance level. Obviously daily activity may be a tad more sedentary for now until easier to move around.
The 1% of bodyweight lost weekly and deficit to cause it is reasonable for you now.
But not for extended periods. No need to force body to adapt more than needed, though I'd imagine your daily activity levels might go up easier as it's easier to move.2 -
Hi everyone thank you for the feedback, I really appreciate it. Just a correction I'd like to make, I mistakenly wrote that I am 240kg in my original post, it is actually 240 pounds0
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Which translates to 109kg. Sorry for the confusion everyone0
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You are officially classified as obese at BMI 30.8; but, you're probably closer to being overweight given your height and how bmi works.
Your deficit target is aggressive and even though you enjoy seeing (or in reality NEED to see) results this starts from the incorrect premise that you NEED to engage in extreme measures in order to lose weight.
You need a caloric imbalance (deficit) between the calories you spend and the calories you consume. This deficit does not need to be huge in order for you to see results OVER TIME.
Have a look at how and what you eat and drink. Record it.
See where you can achieve some "savings" to create a 15% to 20% deficit as compared to what you spend in terms of calories.
Apply the deficit for a good amount of time.
Measure your resulting weight trend over time...
have fun and reach your goals.
A 6ft 2" male in his 30's (baring special circumstances) has no business eating only 1500 Cal a day to lose.
Here's what a 50 yo 5ft 8" male ate to lose (yes, he also walked a lot):
Don't make things more difficult than they have to be
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OP - your are 240KG, right? So, 530lbs? Or, are you 240lbs and simply mis-typed.0
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At 240 pounds with 1500 calories 6 days a week and 2500 for the seventh day,
you are probably o.k. for a while.
Listen to your body. 1 -
Recommend don't listen to your body - that's why the majority are here trying to lose weight.
First learn the foreign language your body is speaking, then learn some knowledge about how you could misunderstand it - and combined you hopefully can keep from putting it in a bad state using your brain.
Vast majority that have a vitamin or mineral deficiency don't have a clue until it's gotten bad enough to notice, and that there are some serious side effects that eventually get checked out.
And then recovery from those can take awhile - and even then some effects could have been caused that will last a good long while.
Just saying - it's a feel good phrase - that in practice for most is meaningless.6 -
Hi everyone I am new to dieting and want to get your feedback on my weight loss plan.
I am 30 yrs old, 6'2 and 240kg, currently going into my third week of a diet and exercise program.
My maintenance calories come in a little over 3000 per day. I am currently eating 1500 calories per day, and one day a week I have a high calorie day which is anywhere between 2500 and 3000 calories. 5 days a week I ride the exercise bike at my gym which burns 500 calories per session, or 2500 per week.
I know that I need a 7500 calorie deficit per week to lose 1kg (2lbs) which I have no problem with, as I am averaging a deficit of approx 8500 per week, which I plan to continue for 6 more weeks, and then reduce the deficit to a more acceptable level.
My question is, has anyone tried a 1500 calorie deficit before and what has you experience been? I've read online that a high deficit is not necessarily a good thing, but I've lost 3kg in 2 weeks and seeing a tangible result increases my motivation to do better. Knowing myself if I had a lower deficit and only lost a marginal amount after 2 weeks of strict diet and painful exercise I would lose motivation and give up, as has happened numerous times in the past. To that end I like the fact that results are visible quickly, and I want to see if anyone else out there has had similar experiences and if you have any recommendations.
OP - this will fly directly in the face of some of the conservative advice generally given on this board, but like you, I started at 6'2" and 230 pounds. I ate a net of 1500 calories per day for the duration of my weight loss efforts (intake less exercise calories) and was absolutely fine. My nails haven't fallen out, I still have the hair I started with, and I'm fairly certain that my brain is still functioning properly.
4 months later and I'm just about 5 pounds away from my goal of 180 pounds. I did lose faster than many here would recommend (about 3lbs per week in steady state) but I knew myself and that it was fine. I didn't fall off the wagon and go into a monster binge, nor did I become a lethargic brittle zombie brain.
1500+ calories per day is still quite a bit of food to work with, especially when you consider that your pre-exercise intake is probably going to be something closer to 2000 per day or so. It's definitely one of the advantages of losing weight as a larger male. I never felt like I was depriving myself of food - I achieved my reduction by cutting out the gluttony (large desserts every night, huge portions for every meal, etc.).
The advice to lose at a moderated pace is generally because of two issues: 1.) falling below the calorie level your body needs just to survive, and 2.) a very large deficit makes it too mentally hard on yourself to sustain your efforts and can lead towards binges and reverting back to old ways.
With a gross caloric intake target of ~2000 calories and one day per week at a smaller deficit, you're not in much danger of #1. The bigger issue will be #2 and if you can sustain that deficit for however long it will take for you to get to target. I didn't find it terribly hard especially once I got used to the routine of eating at the reduced calorie level; like you, the more I lost the more I was motivated to stick with it.
Based on your writing, you sound intelligent and self-aware enough (save for the kg to lb snafu). I say you're fine to keep doing what you're doing, even without the planned taper. Just monitor your energy levels and add some calories back in real-time should you ever feel like you're lagging. It probably won't happen but keep an eye out for it and don't be too worried to eat a bit more if you need to.1 -
I'm about your weight and trying to lose 1.5 lbs per week. Biggest fear for me for losing more than 2 lbs for me is gallstones.
From here https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/digestive-diseases/gallstones
Rapid weight loss. As the body breaks down fat during prolonged fasting and rapid weight loss, the liver secretes extra cholesterol into bile. Rapid weight loss can also prevent the gallbladder from emptying properly. Low-calorie diets and bariatric surgery—surgery that limits the amount of food a person can eat or digest—lead to rapid weight loss and increased risk of gallstones.0 -
Hi everyone I am new to dieting and want to get your feedback on my weight loss plan.
I am 30 yrs old, 6'2 and 240kg, currently going into my third week of a diet and exercise program.
My maintenance calories come in a little over 3000 per day. I am currently eating 1500 calories per day, and one day a week I have a high calorie day which is anywhere between 2500 and 3000 calories. 5 days a week I ride the exercise bike at my gym which burns 500 calories per session, or 2500 per week.
I know that I need a 7500 calorie deficit per week to lose 1kg (2lbs) which I have no problem with, as I am averaging a deficit of approx 8500 per week, which I plan to continue for 6 more weeks, and then reduce the deficit to a more acceptable level.
My question is, has anyone tried a 1500 calorie deficit before and what has you experience been? I've read online that a high deficit is not necessarily a good thing, but I've lost 3kg in 2 weeks and seeing a tangible result increases my motivation to do better. Knowing myself if I had a lower deficit and only lost a marginal amount after 2 weeks of strict diet and painful exercise I would lose motivation and give up, as has happened numerous times in the past. To that end I like the fact that results are visible quickly, and I want to see if anyone else out there has had similar experiences and if you have any recommendations.
OP - this will fly directly in the face of some of the conservative advice generally given on this board, but like you, I started at 6'2" and 230 pounds. I ate a net of 1500 calories per day for the duration of my weight loss efforts (intake less exercise calories) and was absolutely fine. My nails haven't fallen out, I still have the hair I started with, and I'm fairly certain that my brain is still functioning properly.
The advice to lose at a moderated pace is generally because of two issues: 1.) falling below the calorie level your body needs just to survive, and 2.) a very large deficit makes it too mentally hard on yourself to sustain your efforts and can lead towards binges and reverting back to old ways.
Totally forgot about the big #3 - loss of muscle mass.
Those other side effects mentioned are results of body not able to slow you down daily enough to leave enough calories for basic metabolism functions.
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Hey, I'm 30,too, but started at a lower weight of 113kg. I went straight for the 1200 calories (but this is not everyone's cup of tea - it takes a LOT of advance planning!!) with working out 3-5 times per week for 30 minutes. I consistently dropped 1kg per week until recently (as weight loss naturally slows down). The important thing is that you find something that you can do, every day, consistently over a long period of time. If you can't do what you plan for a long time, you need to change it to something that works for you, as the journey ahead of you is long, and full of terrors (just kidding, that's a Game of Thrones reference) - full of winding roads, sometimes it'll be easy, sometimes it'll be hard, and it's most important that you don't give up I'm sending you a friend request and wishing you the very best on your journey!
I am where you are. I started working out again this week and i'm 5'6" and 98 KG. Currently my plan is to go run or run/walk everyday for 30+ minutes. I'm basically following a c25K program 3x a week and the other days I walk for about 1-2 miles which usually takes anywhere from 30-60 minutes.
MFP put me at a 1200 calories intake goal and so far it's been okay and haven't felt deprived. I make it work. It isn't the best nutrition in terms of food but calorie wise it fits my goals and has been working. Today for instance:
Breakfast - EAS AdvantEdge 100 calorie protein shake (11 oz. container), 1 cup of Chicka Pop sweet/salty popcorn TOTAL Calories: 270?
Lunch - 6-8 oz. of ground turkey (italian seasoning), 1.25 cups of green giant broccoli & cheese, cup of 10 calorie & sugar free black cherry jello TOTAL Calories: 385?
Dinner - 6-8 oz. of ground turkey (italian seasoning), 1.25 cups of green giant broccoli & cheese TOTAL Calories: 375?
Snack: 1 centrum pill, 2 fish oil pills TOTAL Calories: 10?
Anyway it rounds out to somewhere around 1,025 calories or something like that which isn't enough so I think I am going to incorporate an evening snack. Not sure what yet or maybe add something to dinner. Plus maybe a little more post exercise. (I exercise a couple of hours after dinner).
Anyway, surprisingly the meals listed above plus the snack i ultimate choose today satisfies any hunger i have, granted it doesn't feel full but i'm not really hungry0 -
sheepingly wrote: »Hey, I'm 30,too, but started at a lower weight of 113kg. I went straight for the 1200 calories (but this is not everyone's cup of tea - it takes a LOT of advance planning!!) with working out 3-5 times per week for 30 minutes. I consistently dropped 1kg per week until recently (as weight loss naturally slows down). The important thing is that you find something that you can do, every day, consistently over a long period of time. If you can't do what you plan for a long time, you need to change it to something that works for you, as the journey ahead of you is long, and full of terrors (just kidding, that's a Game of Thrones reference) - full of winding roads, sometimes it'll be easy, sometimes it'll be hard, and it's most important that you don't give up I'm sending you a friend request and wishing you the very best on your journey!
I am where you are. I started working out again this week and i'm 5'6" and 98 KG. Currently my plan is to go run or run/walk everyday for 30+ minutes. I'm basically following a c25K program 3x a week and the other days I walk for about 1-2 miles which usually takes anywhere from 30-60 minutes.
MFP put me at a 1200 calories intake goal and so far it's been okay and haven't felt deprived. I make it work. It isn't the best nutrition in terms of food but calorie wise it fits my goals and has been working. Today for instance:
Breakfast - EAS AdvantEdge 100 calorie protein shake (11 oz. container), 1 cup of Chicka Pop sweet/salty popcorn TOTAL Calories: 270?
Lunch - 6-8 oz. of ground turkey (italian seasoning), 1.25 cups of green giant broccoli & cheese, cup of 10 calorie & sugar free black cherry jello TOTAL Calories: 385?
Dinner - 6-8 oz. of ground turkey (italian seasoning), 1.25 cups of green giant broccoli & cheese TOTAL Calories: 375?
Snack: 1 centrum pill, 2 fish oil pills TOTAL Calories: 10?
Anyway it rounds out to somewhere around 1,025 calories or something like that which isn't enough so I think I am going to incorporate an evening snack. Not sure what yet or maybe add something to dinner. Plus maybe a little more post exercise. (I exercise a couple of hours after dinner).
Anyway, surprisingly the meals listed above plus the snack i ultimate choose today satisfies any hunger i have, granted it doesn't feel full but i'm not really hungry
Only because you are newish and this is misunderstood by many, and your post doesn't sound like it includes it.
That 1200 is ONLY on days you do exactly the non-exercise Activity level you selected on MFP - which majority seem to select Sedentary out of hand, true or not. A kid and household duties makes you Lightly-Active in vast majority of cases.
So you would only have 1200 on days you did NONE of the things you describe - but since that is daily it appears - your eating goal should never be 1200 if you are doing it correctly.
Basic premise MFP is following is a life lesson many need to learn regarding weight.
You do more, you eat more.
You do less, you eat less.
In a diet, a tad less in either case.
It's the latter situation that gets people, usually as they age and slow down.2 -
Okay so... I've skimmed other responses and I saw my BIGGEST pet peeve.
To everyone that tells people who are very heavy that "given your weight, you can afford a bigger deficit" ... this is a terrible blanket statement to apply to the super obese, because it's not a universal concept.
I started at 535lbs and 6'1" with a maintenance of around 3600 calories in a sedentary lifestyle. Can you afford a generally bigger deficit? Yes. However, a person should NOT cut more than perhaps 1/3 of their daily basic need calorie intake when losing weight, regardless of how big they are when they start, unless being actively supervised by a physician and taking appropriate supplementation for their body. That being if they are propelling their loss through diet alone. If exercising, you have to balance it out, and having one big spike day isn't the way to do it, I promise.
My minimum calorie goal WITHOUT EXERCISE when I started was 2400 calories per day. If I exercised, I had to eat more. There were days when I started where because of my exercise activities, I ate upwards over 4k calories a day, and saw a much more significant rate of loss than what you're stating. This dictated by a physician stating very clearly that it was not healthy or safe for me to drop lower than this... This being stated after he found out that I had cut my intake to 1800 calories per day. All my bloodwork was awful, showed malnutrition, and indicated a need to increase my intake. I did, and I had much more success.
Here's the thing... If you were healthfully and safely cutting 1500+ calories a day, you would be losing more than 1.5kg per week. Period. If you were supporting your body's natural metabolic functions, you'd be seeing a faster loss. Not to put down what you're talking about but we started at about the same place and my initial average loss rate was 6-7lbs per week (2.7-3.1kg/week) after I *increased* my intake to what was considered medically appropriate for my size. Prior to that, I dropped 10lbs in water weight and almost immediately stalled after 2 weeks. Once I got my stuff together? I lost 50lbs in about 2 months, and I never did gain it back. This utilizing, at most, a 1200 calorie cut per day.
I strongly, strongly urge you to discuss this with your doctor. So many people on here think that if you're super big, you can just cut everything out without problems... which is completely not the case. I'm glad that at least one person here encouraged you to have a more modest calorie cut.
We have to remember that nutritional guidelines are based on a 2k diet and that the bigger the body, the higher the basic calorie needs, and the higher the nutritional needs. It's greatly important that the exceptionally large people have a doctor monitor their progress and make sure that their efforts are safe and healthy for them. Even if not a bariatric patient, I recommend reading about the dietary science behind the process if you are going to maintain a 1500 calorie diet. That's effectively what I do now (I lost a chunk without surgery, and a chunk after surgery) and maintaining a 1200-1400 calorie diet requires me to take multiple vitamins... Not just because of surgery absorption problems, but because the amount of food does not provide my body with enough nutritional value to maintain normal vitamin levels. Every time I've had a regular diet this low, surgery or otherwise, I've had deficiencies evolve.
Please, be safe.2 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »I'm about your weight and trying to lose 1.5 lbs per week. Biggest fear for me for losing more than 2 lbs for me is gallstones.
From here https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/digestive-diseases/gallstones
Rapid weight loss. As the body breaks down fat during prolonged fasting and rapid weight loss, the liver secretes extra cholesterol into bile. Rapid weight loss can also prevent the gallbladder from emptying properly. Low-calorie diets and bariatric surgery—surgery that limits the amount of food a person can eat or digest—lead to rapid weight loss and increased risk of gallstones.
Being overweight also increases your chances for gallstones.
In the gallstone study, something like 1% of people on a calorie restricted diet developed gallstones and of that 1%, approximately 75% of them were on a 'crash' diet of 500 calories per day. Studies suggest that a loss of 3 pounds is the upper limit before gallstone risks increase. At a 1500 calorie/day deficit plus one day per week at a smaller deficit (<2.5 pounds per week), the OP wouldn't seem to trigger much extra risk. I don't disagree that the risk is out there, I'm just saying that it's no more or less than what most people trying to lose weight face.0
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