Another newbie
- Thread starter pro0digy
- Start date
Randall
New member
Check out fitday.com and get started there-- determine your BMR, caloric needs, track your food intake and keep yourself in a negative calorie balance (the more negative, the faster you lose, I keep mine at -1000 to -1500 cals per day, with exercise of 200-400 cals a day usually figured into that; working great so far, not going hungry, good weight loss so far, doing a Paleo diet -- paleodiet.com). For example, my BMR is about 2800, so if I exercise 200 cals today my calories expended is 3000; if I eat 1800 calories, then my calorie balance is a negative 1200, about a third a pound of fat loss by the numbers, though if my protein intake is high then I have a larger thermogenic factor going on so my fat loss will actually be higher than the strict numerical equation).
Last edited:
Korrie
Moderator
also, if you visit the "On topic" section of this forum, You'll find some REALLY GOOD stickies there!! They take some time to read, but they are full of good, healthy advice that will get you started on your journey, safely! No crash diet info there! Just good tips for a healthy lifestyle 
myfitnesstrain
New member
I really like the advice in Korrie's "rant". I think it was in the Newcomers section?
Anyway, I wish you the best in your journey. Congratulations on the 6 lbs you've lost so far!
I strongly believe that the hardest part of losing weight is consistency. It is so easy to tire of a fat-loss regimen and give up too soon. Just stick with your program until your ticker runs out of space. You can do it!
As for calorie counting, it's really the most effective way to go about it. It's important to eat the right number of calories to fuel your fat-burning machine (your metabolism) while still running a total caloric deficit. This can be tricky, but is necessary for avoiding plateaus.
The good news is that your body will tell you how many calories you're burning. Just measure yourself weekly to determine your body fat percentage. You can multiply your weight by your body fat percentage to determine your "fat mass," or the number of pounds of fat you have on your body. If you subtract your fat mass from your total weight, you'll find out your "lean body mass."
A pound of muscle contains about 600 calories, and a pound of fat contains about 3,500 calories. So, when you track the number of pounds of fat and/or muscle lost or gained each week, you'll know exactly what your deficit was.
If you also track your calorie intake, you can compare it to your fat lost and see how many calories you need to add or subtract from your diet next week.
I know it sounds very complicated, but it's actually just simple arithmetic. Most people would rather just use the "guess and check method." That is also valid, of course, but less scientific. It may take longer to figure out a good calorie goal that way.
Here's the guess and check method:
1. Count your calories for a week.
2. Measure at the end of the week to see how many pounds you lost.
3. If you lost 2 lbs, yay! Set a goal to eat the same daily calories next week for the same results. If you lost 1 lb, you can stick to the same calorie goal or drop it by 500/day if you want to lose 2 lbs. (500 for 7 days equals 1 lb- 3,500 calories.) If you don't lose weight, you can drop your calories next week by 500-1000 per day.
Of course, dropping calories by 1,000 per day is an awful lot unless you're currently binging big time. So, I'd recommend burning an extra 500 per day and cutting calories by 500 to add up to the 1,000 total.
Anyway, I wish you the best in your journey. Congratulations on the 6 lbs you've lost so far!
I strongly believe that the hardest part of losing weight is consistency. It is so easy to tire of a fat-loss regimen and give up too soon. Just stick with your program until your ticker runs out of space.
You can do it!As for calorie counting, it's really the most effective way to go about it. It's important to eat the right number of calories to fuel your fat-burning machine (your metabolism) while still running a total caloric deficit. This can be tricky, but is necessary for avoiding plateaus.
The good news is that your body will tell you how many calories you're burning. Just measure yourself weekly to determine your body fat percentage. You can multiply your weight by your body fat percentage to determine your "fat mass," or the number of pounds of fat you have on your body. If you subtract your fat mass from your total weight, you'll find out your "lean body mass."
A pound of muscle contains about 600 calories, and a pound of fat contains about 3,500 calories. So, when you track the number of pounds of fat and/or muscle lost or gained each week, you'll know exactly what your deficit was.
If you also track your calorie intake, you can compare it to your fat lost and see how many calories you need to add or subtract from your diet next week.
I know it sounds very complicated, but it's actually just simple arithmetic. Most people would rather just use the "guess and check method." That is also valid, of course, but less scientific. It may take longer to figure out a good calorie goal that way.
Here's the guess and check method:
1. Count your calories for a week.
2. Measure at the end of the week to see how many pounds you lost.
3. If you lost 2 lbs, yay! Set a goal to eat the same daily calories next week for the same results. If you lost 1 lb, you can stick to the same calorie goal or drop it by 500/day if you want to lose 2 lbs. (500 for 7 days equals 1 lb- 3,500 calories.) If you don't lose weight, you can drop your calories next week by 500-1000 per day.
Of course, dropping calories by 1,000 per day is an awful lot unless you're currently binging big time. So, I'd recommend burning an extra 500 per day and cutting calories by 500 to add up to the 1,000 total.
myfitnesstrain
New member
That's true, Pro0digy. There is nothing like weight loss to motivate someone for more weight loss. Keep up the good work!