Eating 3400 calories???

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Fubar_Bill
Fubar_Bill Posts: 120 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I haven't done it.

I don't plan to do it.

But...

I am allowed 1400 calories a day due to my size.

Last week I burned over 2000 calories a day at the gym (close to 1000 before work and I would make up the difference after work).

I eat normally, but according to what I have read here I should be eating back the full 2000 calories.

Question: How can I do that in a healthy way?

I am here to lose weight. I am not satisfied with just losing 2lbs a week. At my size, I want to lose closer to 3 a week for the first 3 months and then 2 a week after that.

Is it really that crazy?

I am willing to work for it.

Help me out here, please.
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Replies

  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,239 Member
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    I haven't done it.

    I don't plan to do it.

    But...

    I am allowed 1400 calories a day due to my size.

    As a male you should not be eating less that 1500 calories a day excluding exercise. This is a flaw in MFP where it will put men down at calorie levels that only women should be at. 1500 is the generally accepted minimum for male from organizations like the World Health Organization. What is your activity level and weight loss goal per week set at?
    Last week I burned over 2000 calories a day at the gym (close to 1000 before work and I would make up the difference after work).

    I eat normally, but according to what I have read here I should be eating back the full 2000 calories.

    Question: How can I do that in a healthy way?

    Lean meat, almonds, avocado, and other calorie dense foods.
    I am here to lose weight. I am not satisfied with just losing 2lbs a week. At my size, I want to lose closer to 3 a week for the first 3 months and then 2 a week after that.

    Is it really that crazy?

    It is very understandable, but realize by going fast you will also lose A LOT of muscle mass with the fat. That will lead to difficulty maintaining your loss. Slow and steady is a much better way to go unless you have a major medical problem that requires the weight to come off quickly. A short time losing faster won't hurt, but it would be better, IMHO, for you to take is slow and train yourself to eat better.
    I am willing to work for it.

    Help me out here, please.
    [/quote]
  • jskaggs1971
    jskaggs1971 Posts: 371 Member
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    From what I'm told, people with a lot of weight to lose can tolerate larger calorie deficits and faster initial weight loss than people who have less to lose.

    Here's what worked (and still works) for me: I look at my calorie goals as a budget. If I'm hungry and have room in my "calorie budget", I eat. If I'm over budget, I don't eat. If I'm not hungry, I don't eat.

    Now that I'm less of me than I used to be and have a lower caloric budget, I find myself having to pay closer attention (or work harder) to avoid breaking the calorie budget.
  • maryjay51
    maryjay51 Posts: 742
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    i burn up a lot of calories at the gym too but i dont eat them back unless my body is saying it needs more of something. i try to stick to 1200-1400 calories a day. there are times im actually hungry which is usually when i really out did myself at the gym so i will have more of something in that case
  • UponThisRock
    UponThisRock Posts: 4,522 Member
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    What in God's name did you do at the gym to burn 2000 calories??
  • HMonsterX
    HMonsterX Posts: 3,000 Member
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    Remember also that the speed at which you lose will have a huge effect on how much loose skin you end up with. The slower, the better. Faster loss - more loose skin. Obviously there are more factors to it, but that is a major one.

    Imagine 1 years time from now. If it took you a year of low losses to get to your goal you'd look better than if you did it in 5 months losing lots each week.
  • tross0924
    tross0924 Posts: 909 Member
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    What in God's name did you do at the gym to burn 2000 calories??

    Seconded.
  • blue04711
    blue04711 Posts: 45 Member
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    From what I'm told, people with a lot of weight to lose can tolerate larger calorie deficits and faster initial weight loss than people who have less to lose.

    Here's what worked (and still works) for me: I look at my calorie goals as a budget. If I'm hungry and have room in my "calorie budget", I eat. If I'm over budget, I don't eat. If I'm not hungry, I don't eat.

    Now that I'm less of me than I used to be and have a lower caloric budget, I find myself having to pay closer attention (or work harder) to avoid breaking the calorie budget.

    This is a great analogy. I also operate in a similar fashion.
  • Sl1ghtly
    Sl1ghtly Posts: 855 Member
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    1. The elliptical is almost never correct when estimating calorie burns.
    2. MFP is almost never correct when estimating calorie burns.
  • Going4Lean
    Going4Lean Posts: 1,077 Member
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    bump
  • honeymonster
    honeymonster Posts: 3 Member
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    I eat normally, but according to what I have read here I should be eating back the full 2000 calories.

    Question: How can I do that in a healthy way?

    If you know how to eat 1400 calories in a healthy way then you know how to eat 3400 in a healthy way. Don't let the big numbers scare you. Just eat more of the same.

    The 2000 a day burn scares me a little tho. You really want to be sure thats accurate before eating that much!

    PS I kinda assumed when I was writting the above that when you say "normally" you mean healthy!:)
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
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    I too think the biggest question here is the 2000 calorie burn. That's a lot of calories and would take hours of hard work a day. Where are you getting that number from? You definitely want to make sure it's accurate before you start eating 3400 calories a day, or you're gonna end up with an unfortunate surprise.
  • lmarshel
    lmarshel Posts: 674 Member
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    I haven't done it.

    I don't plan to do it.

    But...

    I am allowed 1400 calories a day due to my size.

    I'm a 5'5" woman. I weigh about 155 pounds, and I regularly eat between 1700 and 2000 calories EVERY day. Why would you not plan to eat 1400 calories?

    I do agree with the posters who said your exercise calculations are probably off. Do NOT believe what those machines at the gym say you are burning. My elliptical machine at home tells me every day that I am burning 1100+ calories in a 40 minute session. hahahaha...if only!

    I only recently bought a heart rate monitor. I used the calculations on MFP for my exercise calories for months and months with success. They're probably close enough.

    Best of luck to you! :)
  • gregpack
    gregpack Posts: 426 Member
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    I think if you have that big of a caloric deficit and continue to work out that hard, you're probably gonna crash sooner or later.

    I can get too goal oriented also. I am paying the price for a plan that included rapid weight loss. Lose fast now and you will have to spend more time later rebuilding lost mass.

    A good compromise might be eating back half of your exercise calories.
  • Fubar_Bill
    Fubar_Bill Posts: 120 Member
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    What in God's name did you do at the gym to burn 2000 calories??

    In the morning I would push hard on the elliptical and burn around 900 calories in about an hour.

    After work I would put in another hour on the elliptical and depending on whether it was a really hard burn (my max on the elliptical was 1109 calories) or a slower day (another 900 calories), I would add a half hour inclined walk on the treadmill for another 250 calories or so.

    Note: When I list my calories for cardio I include my cooldown time calories. i.e. 60 minutes of elliptical is actually 65 minutes.

    Also: I am 220lbs. and used to be really fit (3 years ago), so I have the muscle under the fat to sustain the effort, but the extra weight means more calories burned.
  • kd_mazur
    kd_mazur Posts: 569 Member
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    Long story short I think you should listen to your body. If you are working out (and keeping in mind that the machines and MFP may be overstating the burned cals) and you are hungry eat...if you are not hungry don't eat. Your body will tell you when your working too hard for the calories you are taking in. The main thing to learn to recognize is the difference between the hungry signal and the bored signal :)
  • Phrak
    Phrak Posts: 353 Member
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    I suggest reading this article:

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html

    2hrs of cardio a day is extreme on a 1400cal diet for a 220lb man.
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
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    I suggest reading this article:

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html

    2hrs of cardio a day is extreme on a 1400cal diet for a 220lb man.

    ^ Is this the same Phrak on bb.com?
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    Eat foods high in calories, vegetables fats and/or protein. Nuts, nut butters, whole grains, beans, lean meats, and fish in addition to a variety of vegetables and fruit. Cook your food in healthy oils (evoo, canola, sunflower, peanut, etc.) to add calories and flavor.
  • Phrak
    Phrak Posts: 353 Member
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    I figured someone would catch that. Yes same person.
  • Fubar_Bill
    Fubar_Bill Posts: 120 Member
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    What in God's name did you do at the gym to burn 2000 calories??

    In the morning I would push hard on the elliptical and burn around 900 calories in about an hour.

    After work I would put in another hour on the elliptical and depending on whether it was a really hard burn (my max on the elliptical was 1109 calories) or a slower day (another 900 calories), I would add a half hour inclined walk on the treadmill for another 250 calories or so.

    Note: When I list my calories for cardio I include my cooldown time calories. i.e. 60 minutes of elliptical is actually 65 minutes.

    Also: I am 220lbs. and used to be really fit (3 years ago), so I have the muscle under the fat to sustain the effort, but the extra weight means more calories burned.

    What are you using to measure the burn? Machine, MFP or HRM? While 900 seems high to me-- I use a HRM and never approach that even when doing really intense cardio like Insanity, however, I weigh a lot less than you, so I am sure your burn is much higher than mine.

    I am using the machine to measure the burn, but I have to note that my heart rate typically rates at the very high end of cardio for the entire workout. I monitor my heart rate throughout the workout to make sure I don't have a heart attack and to pull it back down when it gets to high (by easing off and breathing deeply).

    I would have thought that with my big caloric deficit that I would be losing energy, but I have found that since I began my energy has increased and I have been able to do more and more without getting stiff.

    As my heart rate comes down I increase the resistance. I originally started at level 4 on the elliptical. In a month I have increased that to level 14.

    Now, I could not imagine a morning without my workout.

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