Hi guys, just thought I'd stop in and introduce myself. I'm a 25 year old nursing student. I've decided to enlist in the Navy, as they have fantastic opportunities for nurses. However, I am 60 pounds over the weight requirement for my height. So, I need to lose it, and keep it off! I'm just signed up here to get advice on how to go about it!
Hi everyone - new member here
- Thread starter DaveInPA
- Start date
Hey Dave, welcome to the community. Where in PA are you? I'm in the Philly burbs between Philly and Reading.
I'd start by reading the sticky threads on this forum as they're an accumulation of all the foundational, solid advice that has been given on this forum over the years. You could start with the Words of Wisdom thread.
The others are well worth the read though, too.
Losing fat is really a product of expending more energy (calories) than you eat. If you're doing this, your body has no choice but to shed fat. So obviously calories are important.
For the exercising individual, maintenance, which is the point where calories in = calories out (so weight is maintained) tends to hover around 14-16 calories per pound of bodyweight. The more sedentary or fat you are, the more that simple formula tends to overestimate things.
For instance, for a very overfat, sedentary man, I might estimate the maintenance to be something like 12-14.
Once you pick a maintenance intake, you have a target to aim below. Eating below creates that energy deficit we spoke about above. A good ball park to start with is 10-12 calories per pound of bodyweight.
Make sense?
A reasonable expectation would be losing weight at a rate of 1% of total bodyweight per week. Some weeks might be higher and some weeks might be lower (or none at all), but the average should be around 1%.
Of course calories aren't the only factor you should be focusing on. The nutritional quality of the foods that comprise the calories you eat matter a lot too. Obviously 2000 calories of tootsie rolls and sugar cookies aren't going to net out to the same body composition as 2000 calories of chicken and broccoli.
Exercise is important too.
But these are all discussed in the stickies and to speak of them adequately would take too much right now.
If you have specific questions, feel free to let them fire.
I'd start by reading the sticky threads on this forum as they're an accumulation of all the foundational, solid advice that has been given on this forum over the years. You could start with the Words of Wisdom thread.
The others are well worth the read though, too.
Losing fat is really a product of expending more energy (calories) than you eat. If you're doing this, your body has no choice but to shed fat. So obviously calories are important.
For the exercising individual, maintenance, which is the point where calories in = calories out (so weight is maintained) tends to hover around 14-16 calories per pound of bodyweight. The more sedentary or fat you are, the more that simple formula tends to overestimate things.
For instance, for a very overfat, sedentary man, I might estimate the maintenance to be something like 12-14.
Once you pick a maintenance intake, you have a target to aim below. Eating below creates that energy deficit we spoke about above. A good ball park to start with is 10-12 calories per pound of bodyweight.
Make sense?
A reasonable expectation would be losing weight at a rate of 1% of total bodyweight per week. Some weeks might be higher and some weeks might be lower (or none at all), but the average should be around 1%.
Of course calories aren't the only factor you should be focusing on. The nutritional quality of the foods that comprise the calories you eat matter a lot too. Obviously 2000 calories of tootsie rolls and sugar cookies aren't going to net out to the same body composition as 2000 calories of chicken and broccoli.
Exercise is important too.
But these are all discussed in the stickies and to speak of them adequately would take too much right now.
If you have specific questions, feel free to let them fire.
Thanks for the input. I live outside of Reading, so we're neighbors!