Journey, Not A Destination
- Thread starter Steve
- Start date
I commented in the thread about the article and study. I have said before on here, that muscle does not do as much for one's metabolism as many make it seem.
Also, with my body system, I have to eat 4000 calories per day if I am going to gain any weight at all. That is just how my body works.
heidilw
New member
I thought I would browse your journal after seeing your posts in another topic. You look great! So you obviously know what you are talking about....
So here is my question...
I understand that you are saying it is important to not have a low calorie intake while trying to loose weight. It was estimated about 1900 cals a day for me, but I didnt understand if that was to maintain or to loose. What calorie level should one not go below while trying to loose fat? So confused. I have only been doing 1200 and alot of days I am actually below that.
So here is my question...
I understand that you are saying it is important to not have a low calorie intake while trying to loose weight. It was estimated about 1900 cals a day for me, but I didnt understand if that was to maintain or to loose. What calorie level should one not go below while trying to loose fat? So confused. I have only been doing 1200 and alot of days I am actually below that.
Thanks for the compliments!
15 calories per pound of body weight is the estimated maintenance intake. The idea is to cut calories off of maintenance by as little as necessary in order to trigger fat loss. Make sense?
Depending on starting point and goals, I would say a good deficit to start with is 10% through nutrition, with additional burn coming from exercise. If fat loss is not happening yet, and you are sure that your dietary adherence has been good, cut another 5-10%.
However, these are recommendations for the average person, not someone who has been chronically under-eating. If you have been under-eating for a long while, your maintenance is probably lower than 15 calories per lb. If fat loss is stalled, you may need to go through a "correction" period where caloric intake is bumped up. Depending on the person, weight gain can occur during this time. I have seen others maintain or lose too though. Is your weight loss stalled?
heidilw
New member
Thanks for the compliments!
Is your weight loss stalled?
I dont think that it is stalled. I weighed in this morning and I weighed 128#, making a total loss of this month 5 pounds. I weigh in once a week after I take a shower in the AM. I have been eating about 1200 cals a day since August. Before then, I would probably have eaten 3000 cals a day. My worry is my ability to maintain 1200 for the long haul, might not necessarily be possible. Should I bump it up to 1500s over the next few weeks. Since it is freezing out side, for the time being my work out plan is gonna be starting today, 60 minutes of Tea Bo 3 x week, and 30 minutes of pilates 3 x per week, alternating days. Tonight is Pilates night.
Your caloric intake is not too far off from where it should be. If you are not stalling in terms of weight loss, I would not guess it is critical for you to bump the calories up. However, any weight loss is going to lead to eventual stalls. It is inevitable. The larger the deficit, the quicker the stall in general. This said, I might not be a bad idea to slowly and systematically up your calories weekly or bi-weekly until you get up to around 1500. I like to use 5-10% increments when increasing.
Also, have you considered resistance training?
good morning, sunshine... have yourself a dandy day
be_gone_soon
New member
Good morning!!
So far it is off to a rocky start, but I have high hopes of it improving from here. Thanks, and I hope your day is great!
mmmhmmm- a likely excuse - what's her name? and is she pretty? bet she's not any nicer to you than we are
harumph - thrown over for work - a likely excuse...
we'll keep your seat warm for ya - come back when you can
harumph - thrown over for work - a likely excuse...
we'll keep your seat warm for ya - come back when you can
M2M
New member
mmmhmmm- a likely excuse - what's her name? and is she pretty? bet she's not any nicer to you than we are
She couldn't be!
Oh yes, no one's thread is safe from jacking around here - ESPECIALLY if they go MIA for any length of time!
we do a pretty good job of entertaining ourselves and maybe even talking about you while yoou're gone -thinking you won't actually read up in your thread
hope you dont mind helping me...
hey...i have a problem as i have seen your posts here and at the brother forum and seriously looking for some advice...
i used to be very active on this forum and yes, i also ate a 1200 calorie diet for over a year...it led to many plateaus but i did manage to go from 160-140 lbs. However, as much as i've read, i realize that this caloric intake is out of whack and i'm confused on what to do, how to fix it and still reach my goals..
I'm 5'5'' and recently (2 months ago roughly) upped my cals from 1300 to 1500 then eventually 1700 which is what was recommended to me to continue to lose (I would like to be 130 and muscular!). I stayed at 1500 for 6 weeks and then at 1700 at 6 weeks - nothing broke my weight loss plateau except just this past 2 weeks, my weight has gone UP. I understand a correction needs to take place if i screwed up my metabolism but now what?? I was looming b/w 140-145 and now I'm looming b/w 145-150. When will this stop and how do I know it is "right" to eat at 1700 as all the online calcs and people are telling me???
I'm thinking its time to change my routine again...I was thinking about staying at the 1700 cals eating range and add HIIT and focus primarily on weight training (prior to this i was weight training and doing more steady state / interval cardio for 45 min to 1.30 hrs - 5x a week). I OBVIOUSLY DONT WANT TO GAIN MORE....IS IT GOING TO STAY ON ME? HOW DO I GET RID OF THIS RECENT GAIN AND HOW DO I LOSE PROPERLY???? SAD AND FRUSTRATED....
thanks.
hey...i have a problem as i have seen your posts here and at the brother forum and seriously looking for some advice...
i used to be very active on this forum and yes, i also ate a 1200 calorie diet for over a year...it led to many plateaus but i did manage to go from 160-140 lbs. However, as much as i've read, i realize that this caloric intake is out of whack and i'm confused on what to do, how to fix it and still reach my goals..
I'm 5'5'' and recently (2 months ago roughly) upped my cals from 1300 to 1500 then eventually 1700 which is what was recommended to me to continue to lose (I would like to be 130 and muscular!). I stayed at 1500 for 6 weeks and then at 1700 at 6 weeks - nothing broke my weight loss plateau except just this past 2 weeks, my weight has gone UP. I understand a correction needs to take place if i screwed up my metabolism but now what?? I was looming b/w 140-145 and now I'm looming b/w 145-150.
When will this stop and how do I know it is "right" to eat at 1700 as all the online calcs and people are telling me??? I'm thinking its time to change my routine again...I was thinking about staying at the 1700 cals eating range and add HIIT and focus primarily on weight training (prior to this i was weight training and doing more steady state / interval cardio for 45 min to 1.30 hrs - 5x a week). I OBVIOUSLY DONT WANT TO GAIN MORE....IS IT GOING TO STAY ON ME? HOW DO I GET RID OF THIS RECENT GAIN AND HOW DO I LOSE PROPERLY???? SAD AND FRUSTRATED....
thanks.
niapage
New member
First, thanks so much for the kind words, I really appreciate them more than you know.
I wouldn't waste your time doing all those crunches each and every day, remember, you can't turn fat into muscle. You can't spot reduce. Losing the fat comes through being in a caloric deficit over time.
Regarding the lose skin, I would highly recommend privately messaging Leigh, I forget if that is her full username here, but hopefully you know who I am talking about. We just had some interesting conversations regarding this exact topic and she has some nice suggestions.
Thank you bunches sorry it took a while to get back! I am not sure who you are referring to but I will figure out whom. You know alot I see I have read
some of your tips with the squats and ect I try to do those scissors and where you
lie on your side and lift your leg up hold and down I am hoping these help
the thigh problems ,Lol geesh I have lot's of area's that need repair like you
said reducing calories will help in time but I am scared of a ton of excess
skin.My sis N law showed me what her tummy looks like after gastric she went from 255 to 140 in no time but she did go to the gym 4-5 days a week and still she has major excess skin.Thanks a bunch for your help and continue taking care of that "BOD"
Tammy
hey...i have a problem as i have seen your posts here and at the brother forum and seriously looking for some advice...
i used to be very active on this forum and yes, i also ate a 1200 calorie diet for over a year...it led to many plateaus but i did manage to go from 160-140 lbs. However, as much as i've read, i realize that this caloric intake is out of whack and i'm confused on what to do, how to fix it and still reach my goals..
I'm 5'5'' and recently (2 months ago roughly) upped my cals from 1300 to 1500 then eventually 1700 which is what was recommended to me to continue to lose (I would like to be 130 and muscular!). I stayed at 1500 for 6 weeks and then at 1700 at 6 weeks - nothing broke my weight loss plateau except just this past 2 weeks, my weight has gone UP. I understand a correction needs to take place if i screwed up my metabolism but now what?? I was looming b/w 140-145 and now I'm looming b/w 145-150.
I'm thinking its time to change my routine again...I was thinking about staying at the 1700 cals eating range and add HIIT and focus primarily on weight training (prior to this i was weight training and doing more steady state / interval cardio for 45 min to 1.30 hrs - 5x a week). I OBVIOUSLY DONT WANT TO GAIN MORE....IS IT GOING TO STAY ON ME? HOW DO I GET RID OF THIS RECENT GAIN AND HOW DO I LOSE PROPERLY???? SAD AND FRUSTRATED....
thanks.
First, you need to get control of your mind. You are killing yourself b/c the scale moves a few pounds in the wrong direction. But listen to what you are telling me. You realized that you were undereating and that is what led to your plateau. So you were wise, and upped your calories. When upping calories, even if you have everything laid out correctly, there is a chance of gaining weight. It is a necessary evil that is thankfully short-term, to correct a long-term problem. So stop sweating it.
It seems like you were hoping that the upping of calories would trigger more weight loss. It doesn't work like that the majority of the time. You are lucky if you maintain your weight while upping cals without the supervision of someone who actually knows what they are doing. And you barely gained anything, so you did a pretty darn good job IMO.
At your current weight, your supposed maintenance is 2200 calories roughly.
When I am correcting one's metabolism, I like to institute small, consistent incremental increases in caloric intake. I am talking about 5-10% increases in weekly or bi-weekly blocks depending on weight gains. When do you stop increasing. To truly correct your metabolism, I suggest sticking with the incremental increases until you reach your suggested maintenance intake. I then suggest staying there for a few weeks until you institute another caloric deficit.
My suggestion to you would be to work your way up to 2000 calories. Once there, maintain it for 2-3 weeks. After this, institute a deficit of roughly 15% taking you down to 1700 calories. Track your weight and measurements bi-weekly. If the measurements are not heading in the right direction, drop the caloric intake by another 5% off of maintenance.
Regarding your training, I highly recommend instituting some resistance training. As well, steady state low intensity cardio is not the solution to fat loss. Does it work, certainly. Is it optimal? Nope. I would def. institute some form of HIIT 2 per week. Depending on whether or not you are going to be resistance training at all, you could also add a couple of sessions of SS cardio.
Remember this, the closer you get to your setpoint weight, the harder it will become to lose weight. Losing weight in the beginning is simple. The last leg of the race is the toughest b/c your body will begin to work against your efforts.
I am not sure what resistance training is. I will google it and get back to you
Resistance training = lifting weights