When you have 90-100 lbs to lose...

Natihilator · January 2012

...before you reach your healthy weight range, what should you be doing differently in your eating and exercise habits than say, someone who only has 50 or 25 lbs. to lose?

I've been reading a lot of different information which starts off with "you should always _____ unless you are obese and have a large amount of weight to lose" but the articles never explain what to do if you're the latter case. So what does this mean in terms of: should I eat back my exercise calories? Should I follow the minimum calorie restriction (1200 seems to be the magic number) until I lose 50 pounds?

I changed my eating habits and started exercising again over two weeks ago, and have lost 4lbs. While I am happy with this loss, I keep seeing people who are also very heavy losing a lot more at the start of their diet and exercise, usually due to water weight. So is the 4 pounds I lost just water weight? The more I read, the more confused I get

Lozze · January 2012

First off there's no 'magic number' for calorie goals. Would you mind saying what your stats are? (height, weight, age)

Natihilator · January 2012

By magic number, I meant widely used.

I'm female, and my stats are:

Height: 5'8"
Weight: 247 lbs.
Age: 25
and I have a large frame if that means anything

hannahdiaz2 · January 2012

You have very similar stats to me when I started. In a year I've lost 80 pounds. At first, there was no way in hell I was ready to give up food and exercise like crazy. All I did was make simple changes. I quit eating fast food and anything that could be easily considered junk food. Then I started going to the gym and doing very simple workouts like walking at a slight incline. That's all I did for the first month and I lost about 10 pounds. I wasn't even counting the calories.
Now I've come to the conclusion that your calorie intake largely depends on how intensely you exercise. I'm a workout fanatic now so I burn about 1000-1200 a day at the gym just on cardio. MFP says eat 1200. I eat about 1500. MY weight loss has been consistent. At your weight, I would suggest 1500 and then decrease to 1200 as you lose weight. It will make it easier for you to stick to the diet especially in the beginning when its super hard to diet because your body is adjusting. As for exercise, you should probably run it by your doctor and see what he or she thinks is currently safe for you to physically start with.
Hope that helps

Lozze · January 2012

Well your BMR (Base Metabolic Rate, which is how much you would burn if you were in bed all day) is 1931. I did it as if you were sedentary (based on this website) which states you should be eating 2317 to lose weight. You can eat in more of a deficit but 2317 will do the job, just a little bit slower.

For example based on using that I could eat up to 2274 calories a day. I eat 1600 and have been losing approx 1kg a week. (2.2lbs) It's 26kg in 27 weeks. I'm currently 244 pounds.

The 1200 is the bare minimum a female should be eating to function normally. Just because a lot of people use it, doesn't mean they should. From your diary you're on 1490 calories a day. But you're also exercising a lot and don't seem to be eating them back. You can try both ways, but don't drop under 1200 net calories a day. I would personally eat more, but that's because I like to eat and hate starving myself.

Natihilator · January 2012

You have very similar stats to me when I started. In a year I've lost 80 pounds. At first, there was no way in hell I was ready to give up food and exercise like crazy. All I did was make simple changes. I quit eating fast food and anything that could be easily considered junk food. Then I started going to the gym and doing very simple workouts like walking at a slight incline. That's all I did for the first month and I lost about 10 pounds. I wasn't even counting the calories.
Now I've come to the conclusion that your calorie intake largely depends on how intensely you exercise. I'm a workout fanatic now so I burn about 1000-1200 a day at the gym just on cardio. MFP says eat 1200. I eat about 1500. MY weight loss has been consistent. At your weight, I would suggest 1500 and then decrease to 1200 as you lose weight. It will make it easier for you to stick to the diet especially in the beginning when its super hard to diet because your body is adjusting. As for exercise, you should probably run it by your doctor and see what he or she thinks is currently safe for you to physically start with.
Hope that helps

That does help, thanks

I will definitely schedule an appointment with my doctor, haven't done that yet.

Natihilator · January 2012

Well your BMR (Base Metabolic Rate, which is how much you would burn if you were in bed all day) is 1931. I did it as if you were sedentary (based on this website) which states you should be eating 2317 to lose weight. You can eat in more of a deficit but 2317 will do the job, just a little bit slower.

For example based on using that I could eat up to 2274 calories a day. I eat 1600 and have been losing approx 1kg a week. (2.2lbs) It's 26kg in 27 weeks. I'm currently 244 pounds.

The 1200 is the bare minimum a female should be eating to function normally. Just because a lot of people use it, doesn't mean they should. From your diary you're on 1490 calories a day. But you're also exercising a lot and don't seem to be eating them back. You can try both ways, but don't drop under 1200 net calories a day. I would personally eat more, but that's because I like to eat and hate starving myself.

Thanks, I know that sticking to the bare minimum would be difficult and playing with fire a bit. It's just that you see so many other people adopting a habit, you start to question if that's the way to go as well.

As far as eating exercise calories back, I am just sticking to eating when I'm hungry. Since I've upped my protein and cut out refined carbs, I don't really get hungry or feel like I'm starving, but if I do, I eat. I've still managed to stay within my calorie goals without feeling deprived doing this.

Lozze · January 2012

Thanks, I know that sticking to the bare minimum would be difficult and playing with fire a bit. It's just that you see so many other people adopting a habit, you start to question if that's the way to go as well.

To quote my mother if everyone jumped off a bridge would you?

People do a lot of stupid **** in the name of health. Only worry about yourself. Like I said, I would make sure I'm netting 1200 but there's such a divide on this site about eating back exercise calories. Just be prepared to change if needed.

Natihilator · January 2012

Thanks, I know that sticking to the bare minimum would be difficult and playing with fire a bit. It's just that you see so many other people adopting a habit, you start to question if that's the way to go as well.

To quote my mother if everyone jumped off a bridge would you?

People do a lot of stupid **** in the name of health. Only worry about yourself. Like I said, I would make sure I'm netting 1200 but there's such a divide on this site about eating back exercise calories. Just be prepared to change if needed.

That's true. But I'm still wondering about what modification the articles are talking about that mention the whole "do this unless you are obese" I like to do my research and inquire before blindly following someone's advice, hence me posting this question

Lozze · January 2012

Do you want to link to some articles that mention this? It's hard to comment on what they're meaning unless we read them.

I've seen it said here for VLCD (very low calorie diets. 500 a day or less)

I also don't think 247 pounds is what they're refering to. When you see those statements it's usually to people 300+

Pandorian · January 2012

Being 300+ lbs and male, I tried doing the "bare minimum' of 1500, and everyone around me suffered for it, once I added back calories to a realistic level, currently 1900 before exercise, I'm much happier and so are those near. If it makes you miserable you won't likely want to stick with it. I knew it was for a specific amount of time to see what happened and it just didn't work for me, I have always eaten back at least some of my calories but 1500 net was never enough, for me.

Natihilator · January 2012

Do you want to link to some articles that mention this? It's hard to comment on what they're meaning unless we read them.

I've seen it said here for VLCD (very low calorie diets. 500 a day or less)

I also don't think 247 pounds is what they're refering to. When you see those statements it's usually to people 300+

"Many diets brag "fast results" and call for dramatic changes in what you eat, such as consuming only cabbage soup or grapefruit. Unless you are obese and going through a doctor-supervised very low-calorie diet program, you can develop serious nutritional deficiencies if you limit your calorie intake too much. Some health conditions linked to crash dieting are anemia, bone loss, low immunity, poor concentration, gum infections, infertility and decreased thyroid function, according to Health Services at Columbia University."

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/444651-the-dangers-of-a-diet/#ixzz1kdeAEqaZ

"Although we live in a society where everyone wants “instant gratification”, that is not the way to approach a diet. It is possible to lose too much weight too quickly, and, if you do, you can leave yourself vulnerable to a variety of health issues. Unless you are obese, you should only lose 1-2 pounds per week."

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:bzvUvwxiLzMJ:guide-healthtips.com/lose-weight-the-healthy-way-with-hypnosis/+"unless+you+are+obese"&cd=19&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca&client=firefox-a

"Under normal circumstances, bigger people tend to have a faster metabolism than people that are smaller. Unless you are obese, in which case your metabolism is much too slow for what your body needs, you can speed up the rate of your metabolism by simply getting bigger. But of course I don't mean getting too fat. Not at all."

http://www.article-voip.com/Article/The-Most-Important-Secrets-To-Boosting-Your-Metabolism/47069

I know that BMI classification ignores quite a few important details, but my weight puts me in the "Obese II" category. These statements don't specifically refer to 300+ lbs people which again, is why I'm asking.

Natihilator · January 2012

Being 300+ lbs and male, I tried doing the "bare minimum' of 1500, and everyone around me suffered for it, once I added back calories to a realistic level, currently 1900 before exercise, I'm much happier and so are those near. If it makes you miserable you won't likely want to stick with it. I knew it was for a specific amount of time to see what happened and it just didn't work for me, I have always eaten back at least some of my calories but 1500 net was never enough, for me.

Thanks, I guess trial and error is the best way to find out what works for you. I plan to calorie cycle and see how that affects my loss, and my hunger levels.

When you have 90-100 lbs to lose...

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