Not loosing very quick - how many cals?

I,m in exactly the same boat, hit 8 lbs off and seemed to have stopped.....I am really enjoying the excercise and am eating plenty...its so frustrating.

You are doing great as it is, but I agree that you need to drink a ton of water!! I'd also make sure to at least walk for 30-45 min every single day or at least 6 days a week to see more results quickly.

I used this site to calculate how many calories I need per day.

Www.cordianet.com/calculator.htm

I work out like 6 days a week and MFP started me at 1200 calories which was not nearly enough. I felt like I was eating nothing! Im up to eating between 1600-1800 calories. I have to say that eating more (healthy food that is) really helps with weightloss!

Six pounds is excellent. Keep it up and don't worry. It sometimes depends on how much you have to lose.

I will say I haven't done great with water. I think I've been getting maybe 3-4 glasses in daily. So that's an area that needs to improve.

Water consumption helps curb hunger pangs — that's it.

I realize that drinking lots of water is very popular here and I'm sure lots of folks enjoy it but I'd love to see any medical evidence that one needs to drink "water by formula" ounces to help lose weight (other than curbing appetite).

I rarely drink plain water because I get most of my water through food, iced tea, coffee, and soda. I do drink water to make up for water last when I run and I typically lose about 32 oz of water on a 6 mile run. For long runs (> 6), I generally carry water with me (in my profile pix, I'm running a half marathon wearing a hydration backpack)

You could argue that I could have lost weight faster by drinking more water and I'd agree with you because I have no way of disproving it. What I do know is that I rarely drink plain water and I lost 95 pounds in 7 months when I was dieting last year and I decided to lose weight in January of this year so I dropped 8 pounds in 4 weeks.

http://cbeinfo.net/Weight.htm

Insofar as losing at 1200 cals — why are you eating so much? 1200 calories can be an excellent way to lose weight but, if it's not working, why not try eating less?

I know it's frustrating, but 6 lbs in a month really is good. Some people do get that initial drop in the begining like what you're referring to, but everyones bodies work differently. Some people drop a lot of weight when they make drastic changes all of a sudden, but some people... their metabolism will kind of go into shock. I mean, not literally, but either way, both reactions are temporary. When I first started trying to lose weight, I changed my diet drastically, and started working out everyday (after never having been active my whole life), and those first two months, I think I lost a total of 3 lbs. Then all of a sudden, month 3 or 4, the weight just started dropping. Everyones bodies work differently. The fact that you're losing weight, it's probably not that you're doing anything wrong, it's all about patience now. Just keep at it, keep exercising, and keep eating well. The weight will come off! Also, just a tip, sometimes the reason we stop losing weight is actually because we're not eating enough. Try to stay within your calorie goal. It's probably better to go a dropppp over than it is to go under. Calories are the fuel the metabolism needs to function, so if you're not getting enough calories, your metabolism will slow down!

Insofar as losing at 1200 cals — why are you eating so much? 1200 calories can be an excellent way to lose weight but, if it's not working, why not try eating less?

Are you serious?

There's this great tool called MFP that will calculate exactly how many calories you need to eat for a gradual, sustainable weight loss without feeling deprived

You've told MFP your weight, height, activity level etc., go back and change your goal to lose 1lb a week - bet you get more than 1,200! Eat all of them and a good portion of your exercise calories (I eat all of mine, but a margin or error is good) in good, honest, real food and you'll lose weight like magic without being deprived and keep it off.

Exercise most days of the week, combining cardio and resistance training, and Bob's your uncle!

This is in reply to the person who said you should not eat below your BMR. While that may work well for you, this is concrete information available from any reputable website (I happened to use Mayo Clinic and WebMD for the details but I haven't found a site yet that says differently) and should be taken into consideration when determining how many calories you need to consume. Everyone is different and adjustments are often necessary, but this information applies to the VAST majority of us.

First of all, for those who don't already know, it stands for Basal Metabolic Rate. It is the number of calories required to run your body. Any weight loss will ONLY occur below your BMR. If you are eating above your BMR, you will not lose weight. Now, mind you, the BMR calculator is only a guess. If you have a slow metabolism, you do not use as many calories to function, so you will find your progress slower than average. If you have a fast metabolism, you will enjoy more progress. That much most people know.

Ok, so your BMR is the number of calories your body uses to function if you expend zero calories (lay on the sofa all day). To determine the number of calories you are actually using in a normal day (not laying on the sofa), you need to determine your activity level (sedentary, lightly active, very active, etc.) That shows how many MORE calories you need in a day to 1. run your body and 2. perform your daily functions. Once you know this, you can then SUBTRACT for your weight loss.

This information is from BOTH WebMD and the Mayo Clinic. It is the forumula used to show your daily caloric NEEDS based on your BMR and activity level.
If you are sedentary (little or no exercise): BMR x 1.2
If you are lightly active (easy exercise/sports 1-3 days/week): BMR x 1.375
If you are moderately active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week): BMR x 1.55
If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week): BMR x 1.725
If you are extremely active (very hard exercise/sports and physical job): BMR x 1.9

My BMR is 2000. My activity level is "lightly active" because I go to the gym 3x a week. So my daily caloric needs are about 2750 (2000 x 1.375). So, in order for me to achieve weight LOSS (using my fat as fuel instead of caloric INTAKE) I must reduce my caloric intake. I can't eat 2750 and lose weight.

Most of us use a calculator (like the on in MFP) to determine how much to knock off to lose 1 or 2 lbs a week. But its a fairly simple formula. It's takes a 3,500 calorie deficit to burn 1 lb of fat. So take your daily caloric needs (2,750 for me) and multiply that by 7 (19,250). That's your weekly caloric needs. Reduce that number by either 3,500 calories for 1 lb a week of weight loss, or 7,000 for 2 lbs a week of weight loss (12,250). Then divide that number by 7 to get the number of calories needed per day to lose weight at the rate you chose (1750).

So to recap, my BMR is 2000, but my target calories per day to lose weight is 1750.

Now, your BMR will be different, of course, because it is based on current weight and age, which is different for everyone. So you can either use the MFP calculator in the Settings tab to do the work for you, or you can go to one of several BMR calculators on the internet to get your actual BMR, then go from there.

I realize this may be confusing, but mostly I just wanted to put this out there because of the gal who said you should never eat less than your BMR. In reality, you should not be eating MORE than your BMR if you want to lose weight. Simply put, you want your body to go to your fat stores to fuel your body, so you must take in LESS calories than your body needs to function. That is the basic idea behind dieting. In fact, if you eat above you BMR, you MUST expend those extra calories or it will result in a weight GAIN.

Hope that wasn't too confusing. I'm new to MFP (doing it with a friend) and I haven't lost much yet, but this isn't my first trip on the dieting pony. Unfortunately knowing how it works doesn't help when I'm faced with a chocolate cupcake I wish you the best of luck Picabo!

This is in reply to the person who said you should not eat below your BMR. While that may work well for you, this is concrete information available from any reputable website (I happened to use Mayo Clinic and WebMD for the details but I haven't found a site yet that says differently) and should be taken into consideration when determining how many calories you need to consume. Everyone is different and adjustments are often necessary, but this information applies to the VAST majority of us.

First of all, for those who don't already know, it stands for Basal Metabolic Rate. It is the number of calories required to run your body. Any weight loss will ONLY occur below your BMR. If you are eating above your BMR, you will not lose weight. Now, mind you, the BMR calculator is only a guess. If you have a slow metabolism, you do not use as many calories to function, so you will find your progress slower than average. If you have a fast metabolism, you will enjoy more progress. That much most people know.

Ok, so your BMR is the number of calories your body uses to function if you expend zero calories (lay on the sofa all day). To determine the number of calories you are actually using in a normal day (not laying on the sofa), you need to determine your activity level (sedentary, lightly active, very active, etc.) That shows how many MORE calories you need in a day to 1. run your body and 2. perform your daily functions. Once you know this, you can then SUBTRACT for your weight loss.

This information is from BOTH WebMD and the Mayo Clinic. It is the forumula used to show your daily caloric NEEDS based on your BMR and activity level.
If you are sedentary (little or no exercise): BMR x 1.2
If you are lightly active (easy exercise/sports 1-3 days/week): BMR x 1.375
If you are moderately active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week): BMR x 1.55
If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week): BMR x 1.725
If you are extremely active (very hard exercise/sports and physical job): BMR x 1.9

My BMR is 2000. My activity level is "lightly active" because I go to the gym 3x a week. So my daily caloric needs are about 2750 (2000 x 1.375). So, in order for me to achieve weight LOSS (using my fat as fuel instead of caloric INTAKE) I must reduce my caloric intake. I can't eat 2750 and lose weight.

Most of us use a calculator (like the on in MFP) to determine how much to knock off to lose 1 or 2 lbs a week. But its a fairly simple formula. It's takes a 3,500 calorie deficit to burn 1 lb of fat. So take your daily caloric needs (2,750 for me) and multiply that by 7 (19,250). That's your weekly caloric needs. Reduce that number by either 3,500 calories for 1 lb a week of weight loss, or 7,000 for 2 lbs a week of weight loss (12,250). Then divide that number by 7 to get the number of calories needed per day to lose weight at the rate you chose (1750).

So to recap, my BMR is 2000, but my target calories per day to lose weight is 1750.

Now, your BMR will be different, of course, because it is based on current weight and age, which is different for everyone. So you can either use the MFP calculator in the Settings tab to do the work for you, or you can go to one of several BMR calculators on the internet to get your actual BMR, then go from there.

I realize this may be confusing, but mostly I just wanted to put this out there because of the gal who said you should never eat less than your BMR. In reality, you should not be eating MORE than your BMR if you want to lose weight. Simply put, you want your body to go to your fat stores to fuel your body, so you must take in LESS calories than your body needs to function. That is the basic idea behind dieting. In fact, if you eat above you BMR, you MUST expend those extra calories or it will result in a weight GAIN.

Hope that wasn't too confusing. I'm new to MFP (doing it with a friend) and I haven't lost much yet, but this isn't my first trip on the dieting pony. Unfortunately knowing how it works doesn't help when I'm faced with a chocolate cupcake I wish you the best of luck Picabo!

You have it partially right. There is BMR (which you described correctly) and then there is total daily energy expended (TDEE) which is actually the number of calories you burn throughout a normal course of the day. So my BMR is 2080. I have a sedentary job, so my TDEE multiplier is 1.2 based on Katch McArdle. I workout 6 days a week and burn 700 calories per session. So my TDEE is:

2080*1.2+700 = 3196


Now, there are several ways you can do a deficit. You can do the standard number based on the parameters below. Or you can do based on body fat percentage. So a person with 20% body fat, would use a 20% deficit, a person with 10% would take a 10% body fat... etc...

If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.


For me, I have 12% body fat so I use about a 10% deficit.

3196 * .9 = 2876


This means, that I would eat around 2876 calories to lose weight. I eat 3000 calories in a day. I am losing inches, body fat and weight while maintaining lean body mass (the controller for your metabolic rate) based on body fat readings (with body calipers). So this alone disproves your analysis/theory that you can't lose weight while eating above. Now if you said, you can't lose weight by eating above your TDEE, i would agree. Maybe you confused it, maybe you did. Either way.....


Also, lets look at this from a logical standpoint. You just stated BMR is "It is the number of calories required to run your body", then why would you eat below the calories for your body to function?


Also, below are some good links (even with some of the information you were referring to) that explains the difference between the two.

:drinker:


http://www.cordianet.com/calculator.htm

http://www.shapefit.com/basal-metabolic-rate.html