Monday is going to suck...

[ashtonsdaddy]

I begin monday. 1200 calories. Tennis. I've weighed in at almost 300 in the past. I lost almost 100 lbs with the atkins diet, but it took me less than a year to gain half of it back. I've been sustaining my 250lbs with a 3000+ calorie diet for about 5 years.

Monday is going to suck...

 

[maleficent]

1200 calories is a really low number and doesnt sound like it's something that will be able to be stuck with long term - especially with you going into with thinking it will suck.

Think lifestyle change and reasonable amount of calories... something you can live with long term... the weight will come off -you don't have to punish yourself...

Read around the forums, especially the stickied threads, you'll get some good information.

And do start a diary -it's a great way to get support.


Monday will be a great day.. you're getting ont he road to where yuo want to be... how can that possibly suck?

 

[CrunkChipmunk]

Welcome to the forum bro.

1200 calories is low to start with and usually causes people who lose weight on a 1200 calorie diet to gain all their weight back once they reach goal or not even reach goal but quit midway through they feel so unhealthy and deprived.

1700 or 1800 calories combined with 30 minutes to an hour of exercise a day seems to be what the consensus is here on the forum for a healthy diet plan.

Also to keep things going for life you really have to make this a lifestyle change where you put foods that you like into your plan but just not as much of that food as you used to like to eat. Just enough to keep you from feeling deprived.

Count calories basically and eat what you want within your range and in that way you won't feel too deprived and quit and you can stick with your plan for life as once you get to goal you can have more calories ie more foods that you want as part of your maintenance at your goal weight.

 

[bikinibound]

I would up the calories even higher than 1700-1800 to start. I would say 2000. If you've been maintaining at 3000, you will lose weight with 2000--especially if you start exercising.

Crunk and Mal are right on about 1200 being too low. That would be too low for a 160lb woman, much less a 250lb man. Don't believe the 1200 cal bs you read about on other diet websites. Check out some of the sticky posts in the on topic, harsh truth, and exercise sections. You will find that to be immenselly helpful.

Attitude is everything in weight loss, and setting yourself up to win the battle is imperative. We are here if you need us. Set up that diary and start checking out other ones. The people here are awesome, and many of them have lost a lot of weight, so they know a little bit about weight loss.

Best Wishes! You CAN do it!

 

[ashtonsdaddy]

I'm really not that down about Monday. I've started diets before and I'm really pumped the first week. I'm even more pumped when I lose a pound or two. I'll stop drinking cokes...they are the devil. Since I'm used to the Atkins diet, I know how much better I'll feel not drinking the sugar. Cokes are most of the calories in my diet. But I have been known to put down a couple thousand calories at the local mexican food place. Portions are my problem. I may up it to 1800 calories after the first week. The idea of the 1200 calories is to get the 'solid' feeling out of my system.

I'll also be doing an hour or two of tennis each day. I live just across the street from the local high school tennis courts, and I've already been playing with my wife each day. My son, Ashton, just runs around like a crazy man while we play.

I will start a diet diary. I'll look into that while I'm at work tomorrow.

Thanks for the info everyone. I look forward to as much help as I can get.

 

[bikinibound]

I'm really not that down about Monday. I've started diets before and I'm really pumped the first week. I'm even more pumped when I lose a pound or two. I'll stop drinking cokes...they are the devil. Since I'm used to the Atkins diet, I know how much better I'll feel not drinking the sugar. Cokes are most of the calories in my diet. But I have been known to put down a couple thousand calories at the local mexican food place. Portions are my problem. I may up it to 1800 calories after the first week. The idea of the 1200 calories is to get the 'solid' feeling out of my system.

I'll also be doing an hour or two of tennis each day. I live just across the street from the local high school tennis courts, and I've already been playing with my wife each day. My son, Ashton, just runs around like a crazy man while we play.

I will start a diet diary. I'll look into that while I'm at work tomorrow.

Thanks for the info everyone. I look forward to as much help as I can get.

If you are playing an hour or two of tennis a day and plan to feel full on 1200 calories, good luck to you. Most peoeple who did that might do really well for a few days, maybe even a week or two. But then hunger will get the best of them (because their body would be begging for more food) and then they'll go and binge and feel guilty for blowing their diet, get depressed and repeat the cycle. That's why you've had 3 people tell you to eat more. But what do we know? Check out this thread, I think you'll find it interesting.
http://weight-loss.fitness.com/topic/9468-starvation-calories-adaptations.html

 

[ashtonsdaddy]

thanks for the great read, it was very informative. I certainly don't want to get my body into that situation.

I'll go ahead and up to maybe around 2000 calories and keep the exercise in. I've just always read that even tho my weight is high, that even 2000-2500 calories can maintain that. I want to see results. If I don't, I'll have problems staying on the diet.

In the past, doing the no carb diet, results have come very quick. Usually within about 3 days ill see weight loss. Like I said before, I lost almost 100 lbs. But theyre right when they say that it is a lifestyle change. Once you add sugar back, even just a little a day, it slowly begins to come back. Even if you're on a healthy diet of carbs. I really don't understand that.

What really got me off of the low carb diet was the salt intake. I began taste nothing but salt all day and my skin was dry...but more of that in my diary when i begin to write it.

Thank you so much bikinibound.

 

[MsGhettoBooty]

Jeez... that Bikinibound broad.... what a little Ms Know It All. HA! (I love you, Kimberly) Anways... good luck with the weight loss and welcome to the WLF. As you already know, there's tons of helpful advice here.

-Sheryl

 

[Steve]

Welcome to the forum....

You've been handed excellent advice so far. I hope you take it.

Re: Low carb

You lose weight quickly at first b/c of glycogen/water depletion.

After that, it's the same game as any other diet: Calories in vs. calories out.

My advice: Try to eat as much as you can while still losing weight consistently. Once that stops working, cut cals a bit or bump up exercise a bit.

Starting out at an extreme low gives you no room to manipulate things once a plateau hits.... which one will.

 

[ashtonsdaddy]

Welcome to the forum....

You've been handed excellent advice so far. I hope you take it.

Re: Low carb

You lose weight quickly at first b/c of glycogen/water depletion.

After that, it's the same game as any other diet: Calories in vs. calories out.

My advice: Try to eat as much as you can while still losing weight consistently. Once that stops working, cut cals a bit or bump up exercise a bit.

Starting out at an extreme low gives you no room to manipulate things once a plateau hits.... which one will.

By eating as much as I can and still lose weight, do you mean lower my food intake until i begin to lose and then stay there or add slowly till I stop?

 

[Steve]

By eating as much as I can and still lose weight, do you mean lower my food intake until i begin to lose and then stay there or add slowly till I stop?

Meh, you could look at is like that.

Assuming no 'metabolic disruption' has occurred from previous attempts at dieting, it's safe to assume that 12 calories per pound will be required for fat loss. Most often, people have to go lower than that.

The point is, leave that room to 'wiggle.'

By cutting your intake to some insanely low amount to start with you 1) erase any room for manipulation, 2) increase your chances for falling off the wagon, and 3) increase your chances of losing muscle.

Unless you are really fat, muscle loss is a very real potential.

 

[ashtonsdaddy]

Assuming no 'metabolic disruption' has occurred from previous attempts at dieting,

tell me more about this....

 

[Steve]

tell me more about this....

Our bodies are very adaptive, systemically. Short-change it in terms of energy and it is going to 'change' on various levels. The net effect is a metabolic downregulation.

There are tons of ways of going about determining your break-even caloric intake.

However, they are all generic estimates.

That said, they all, also, assume your metabolism is functioning normally. If you've been dieting for any appreciable length of time... chances are good that your metabolism is slower than what any of these calcs will predict.

And it's different for different people. Some of us have genetically superior metabolisms than others. Larger folk tend to have lesser or slower adaptive responses to dieting, since many of these responses are directly associated with current levels of 'fatness.'

It's a rather complicated subject actually, but the nut of it is.... dieting causes metabolic adaptation.

 

[ashtonsdaddy]

Larger folk

sigh...ok, thanks steve, i understand. I just came off of a low carb diet. I really had a hard time with it this time, but its been several weeks, so I bet im all set. Hopefully.

I appreciate the information. I think I'm going to like this place.

 

[Steve]

sigh...ok, thanks steve, i understand. I just came off of a low carb diet. I really had a hard time with it this time, but its been several weeks, so I bet im all set. Hopefully.

Low carb is certainly NOT for everyone. I hate low carb personally. I operate like shit when low-carbing. That said, for every person you can find who hates it, you'll find another who loves it.

If you've been eating 'regularly' for the past few weeks (meaning not dieting) you should be all set to go on a new plan of attack.

I appreciate the information. I think I'm going to like this place.

Very welcome and I hope!

 

[bikinibound]

thanks for the great read, it was very informative. I certainly don't want to get my body into that situation.

I'll go ahead and up to maybe around 2000 calories and keep the exercise in. I've just always read that even tho my weight is high, that even 2000-2500 calories can maintain that. I want to see results. If I don't, I'll have problems staying on the diet.

In the past, doing the no carb diet, results have come very quick. Usually within about 3 days ill see weight loss. Like I said before, I lost almost 100 lbs. But theyre right when they say that it is a lifestyle change. Once you add sugar back, even just a little a day, it slowly begins to come back. Even if you're on a healthy diet of carbs. I really don't understand that.

What really got me off of the low carb diet was the salt intake. I began taste nothing but salt all day and my skin was dry...but more of that in my diary when i begin to write it.

Thank you so much bikinibound.

You're welcome. I see so many people come on this forum saying they're going to go from eating 3000+ calories a day to 1200, and nothing you can say to them changes their mind (except maybe after they fall into one or more of the situations I previously described). Anyway, I'm glad you're smart enough not to be one of those people.

I would try 2000-2200 cals and see how you do on it. If you lose 2+lbs that week, I'd stick with it until the weight loss stops. then cut out 200cals a day and repeat. Your body will gradually adapt to each new calorie amount, so unless you increase your exercise, you'll probably have to do a re-feed where you gradually increase your calories to 2500 until you can maintain that level. Then go back to 2000cals and start over. That has always worked for me.