Hello to all from the land of Oz

[robsanders]

Hello all,

Have been lurking through a few websites and found this to have a lot of activity which i hope i can draw on to help me work through all this.

I have always battled the extra weight since working in sedentary job lifestyles and was always one that would plan to do the right things (join a gym, ride/run every night) but never eventuated through laziness or tiredness. I am not totally sure how i should calculate what i should be taking in and have used numerous calculators with mixed results. I have taken a small step by reviewing my daily intake of calories and work towards a weight goal without having to go overboard. Since following this i have managed to drop 5 kg in 3 weeks but not 100% what i should be aiming for and how best to achieve this.

My original starting details were:

Age 42 yo
Height 182 cms
Start 133 kg
Current 128 kg
Goal 120 kg (by end of August)
110 kg (by end of November)
100 kg (by next birthday)

These goals may be unrealistic and this is where i am looking for some extra guidance on how best to work on them. For starters, can anyone point me in the right direction for a good calculator and what i should be looking for. I am currently using MFP and am working at a goal net calorie intake of 1760 (which seems very low) as i find myself a little wanting at times.

I also look forward to reading other great stories and working together to achieve all our goals.

All the best everyone.

Rob

 

[AthalaRanger]

Hello Rob, Welcome to the forums.

I don't necessarily believe on this, but most people do, so i suppose i should say it. General consensus seems to be that you should aim for 1-2 lbs/week or 1% of your weight. While i don't agree with this, i do believe that 8 Kg in a month is a bit too much.

I also noticed you wanted to be on 100 Kg on your next birthday, but you didn't mention when your birthday is.

The only way i know to determine how many calories you should be eating is using one's BMR (Basal Metabolic rate, calories you burn on a daily basis. (It doesn't take into consideration activity levels) You can use this tool; http://www.fitness.com/tools/bmr/. Keep in mind that it may overestimate how much calories you burn, with your current weight.

You can use this other tool too, this one is supposed to tell you how much to eat according to your goals. http://www.fitness.com/tools/calories_per_day/

I would suggest using the option "sedentary" on activity level since this tool won't, for example, let you choose 5 days of slight exercise or 3 days of moderate exercise. I suggest using a heart rate monitor to know how much calories you burned instead of relying on that tool.

I don't feel like what i wrote is too clear, so I'll use an example to illustrate.

(Keep in mind that 1 pound is 3500 calories and 1 kg is 7700) According to this tool, you would need to eat 2367 calories a day to lose 0.5 Kg a week(That's 550 calories below your maintenance level). Now, let's say you did some exercise and burned 300 calories. You can either stick with the 2367 calories and that should speed up your weight loss or you can add 300 calories to that and, in theory, you should still be able to lose 0.5 Kg a week.

Remember that these are estimates, also, try not to go too low on calories.

I hope i expressed myself clearly and it's not too confusing. Pardon me but english is my second language.

Regarding to food, you want to make sure you don't underestimate the calories you are eating. I highly suggest getting a food scale, since cups or scoops tend to be inaccurate.

May i ask, what types of food are you consuming and are you doing exercise, if so, what kinds of exercises are you doing?

I wanted to post a few more things but i think the post its too long already. I suggest looking on the stickies on this forum, some of them contain useful information.

Please remember that what i posted is as far as i know, i may be wrong too.

Good luck.

 

[robsanders]

Thank you so much for your response AthalaRanger and this is the reason why i chose this forum to keep me on track.

I did feel that a big weight loss was not going to be possible but i am also of the understanding that their is "one pony trick" to all this as well. I suppose what i am looking for are similar people in similar situations like myself and communicating with how they handle their journey to their own weight loss.

Even trying the calculator you mentioned it indicates that i need to maintain an approximate cpd of 1833 to lose up to 1kg per week. Considering i am trying to maintain 1760 i seem to be on the right track. What i do like about this number is that my birthday is in 30 weeks (7th March) so this can definitely be achievable.

The other thing that will help me will be to maintain a diary which is one thing that will motivate me. I currently use MyFitnessPal to log all meals but these are still rough weights and measures i use. I will give myself a little leeway to allow for any under estimates as i go along.

The other thing, which will be hard, will to only weigh myself once a week. From what i have read this can be quite a challenge but also mentally it should be better than overcoming any discrepancies along the way.

Again, thank you for the post and good luck with it all.

Rob

Hello Rob, Welcome to the forums.

I don't necessarily believe on this, but most people do, so i suppose i should say it. General consensus seems to be that you should aim for 1-2 lbs/week or 1% of your weight. While i don't agree with this, i do believe that 8 Kg in a month is a bit too much.

I also noticed you wanted to be on 100 Kg on your next birthday, but you didn't mention when your birthday is.

The only way i know to determine how many calories you should be eating is using one's BMR (Basal Metabolic rate, Calories you burn on a daily basis. It doesn't take into consideration activity levels) you can use this tool; http://www.fitness.com/tools/bmr/. Keep in mind that it may overestimate how much calories you burn, with your current weight.

You can use this other tool too, this one is supposed to tell you how much to eat according to your goals. http://www.fitness.com/tools/calories_per_day/

I would suggest using the option "sedentary" on activity level since this tool won't, for example, let you choose 5 days or slight exercise or 3 days of moderate exercise. I suggest using a heart rate monitor to know how much calories you burned instead of relying on that tool.

I don't feel like what i wrote is too clear, so I'll use an example to illustrate.

(Keep in mind that 1 pound is 3500 calories and 1 kg is 7700) According to this tool, you would need to eat 2367 calories a day to lose 0.5 Kg a week(That's 550 calories below your maintenance level). Now, let's say you did some exercise and burned 300 calories. You can either stick with the 2367 calories and that should speed up your weight loss or you can add 300 calories to that and, in theory, you should still be able to lose 0.5 Kg a week.

Remember that these are estimates, also, try not to go too low on calories.

I hope i expressed myself clearly and it's not too confusing. Pardon me but english is my second language.

Regarding to food, you want to make sure you don't underestimate the calories you are eating. I highly suggest getting a food scale, since cups or scoops tend to be inaccurate.

May i ask, what types of food are you consuming and are you doing exercise, if so, what kinds of exercises are you doing?

I wanted to post a few more things but i think the post its too long already. I suggest looking on the stickies on this forum, some of them contain useful information.

Please remember that what i posted is as far as i know, i may be wrong too.

Good luck.

 

[AthalaRanger]

I'll try to give a good reply in this little time i have since it's already 12 AM.

Your new goal is a much better one, and i think its perfectly possible.
If you do start a diary, I'm looking forward to it.

I would suggest also measuring yourself, since the weight may vary. (water fluctuation and also muscle gain)
I also want to empathize on two things, the first being, using a food scale, there was a sticky on this forum about it, but i lack the time to look for it.
Edit: Here it is: http://weight-loss.fitness.com/threads/16780-Easiest-Fat-Loss-Tip-Ever

The other thing is diet & exercise, i hate to repeat my question, but i believe it's important, so me and other members can guide you better.

May i ask, what types of food are you consuming and are you doing exercise, if so, what kinds of exercises are you doing?

If you do start a diary, i would suggest posting it there, since the newcomers section is often overlooked.

Good luck, keep motivated and take care.

 

[Omega]

Welcome to the forum.

On the subject of 1 to 2 pounds per week being a reasonable goal for weight loss - I would add that I feel that people should think of about 1% per week of fat loss... 1 to 2 pounds per week works just fine for the people weighing in the 100 to 200 pounds range - but bigger people can certainly lose more than this and it be healthy... Lots of magazine articles talk about 1 to 2 pounds because they seem to be written by people who have only ever had that kind of experience...

Everyone loses more in the first week - but that is not fat... Most of that is water and food weight. In the first week we tend to eat healthier than we had been - less processed food, less sodium (since it is everywhere in processed food and junk food) and probably drinking more water... Portion sizes may be smaller too... We have less food weight in our bodies due to smaller portion sizes, the water (and possibly more fibre since we are eating healthily) will be helping food pass through our body, and the reduced sodium together with water means that there will be less water retention...

It is like how you hear that people should drink 8 glasses of water a day - as if that suited everyone irrespective of size... It doesnt... People should drink about 1 ounce for every 2 pounds that you weigh...

Targets are great - but if you are feeling hungry when trying to live on 1760 calories at your weight I would be eating more healthy calories... Not tons more - but more so that you felt satisfied if you spent them on healthy food.. People set amazingly strict calorie targets for themselves all the time in the hope of losing weight for a special event... There is a danger of them setting too low a calorie target that they end up feeling is "too hard" causing them to abandon the whole diet and regain the lost weight...

People that diet at a very low calorie level can find that it impacts their metabolism so that they end up having to maintain their weight at a lower level of calories once they get to goal... It also means that if they revert to over-eating compared to their exercise level (because they abandon things because it was bad) they gain more than they would have...

It doesnt really matter if you are not the weight that you would like best at the end of August, November or March... What matters is that you adopt a new lifestyle which is sustainable over the long term which brings your weight down in a healthy way... You want to see your weight reducing by the end of August, November and March and you want to be looking and feeling better.

I am a big fan of setting weight milestones... Celebrate 120kg, 110kg and 100kg as and when they happen... Do not put yourself into the frame of mind where you would feel that you had failed if you hadnt achieved them by certain dates...

I would be setting yourself more milestones too - to celebrate - not based on weight at all...

Maybe log how many miles you run, walk or cycle in a week and compare each week with the last... Try to break your own record which you set on the previous week...

Maybe total up pounds lifted (weight * reps) in your exercise sessions and see how that changes with time...

There are people on this forum that speak highly of exercise programs like Insanity... You could try something like that...

I would also be celebrating changes in clothing size...

Taking measurements like Athala suggests is a very good idea too...

There are loads of ways that we can challenge ourselves to make changes happen without working it backwards from the weight you want to be by your birthday... It basically stops giving your birthday a fairly false sense of importance in the bigger picture...

I suggest that you read the following thread - it may help you settle in and make friends here
http://weight-loss.fitness.com/threads/57955-My-advice-to-newcomers

Good luck with your project.