Hello all, I am new here to this forum and have a question concerning weight loss and caloric intake. I have a formula for how many calories I should be intaking to maintain my current body weight, and the count for the amount I need to maintain my target weight. The problem is, I want to lower my caloric intake enough to lose weight (along with weight training, and cardio) but I don't want to lower my intake so much that my metabolism slows down and I get no where.
A little history on me:
I was a former college football player, and former Army servicemember. I was in outstanding shape. I had an accident in the summer of 2001 that required a back surgery and a surgery on my leg. It took about 3 years to recoup from that, but during that time I became lethargic and stopped working out. Problem is that I kept eating like I was working out, and put on about 105 pounds. I was sitting at a healthy 205 pounds, and eventually ballooned up to 311 pounds. During the last 11 months I have managed to drop weight to 285, but it seems that my weight loss as stagnated and I am getting no where fast. I feel that my caloric intake has something to do with it, as I may have dropped down too many calories. I eat 4-5 times a day and intake about 2500 calories, and workout 5 days a week for about 1.5 hours at a time(combo of weight and cardio training). I had read that you shouldn't lower your intake to less than 10 time your body weight otherwise your metabolism may slow and you will actually start to store fat. So, by that count, and my current weight I should be intaking about 2800 a day, but at that much, I feel like it's too much.
Does anyone have any advice on the proper caloric intake to keep the metabolism peaked? My long term goal (within a year to 18 months) is to be back down to 205-210. Any advice would be much appreciated.
A little history on me:
I was a former college football player, and former Army servicemember. I was in outstanding shape. I had an accident in the summer of 2001 that required a back surgery and a surgery on my leg. It took about 3 years to recoup from that, but during that time I became lethargic and stopped working out. Problem is that I kept eating like I was working out, and put on about 105 pounds. I was sitting at a healthy 205 pounds, and eventually ballooned up to 311 pounds. During the last 11 months I have managed to drop weight to 285, but it seems that my weight loss as stagnated and I am getting no where fast. I feel that my caloric intake has something to do with it, as I may have dropped down too many calories. I eat 4-5 times a day and intake about 2500 calories, and workout 5 days a week for about 1.5 hours at a time(combo of weight and cardio training). I had read that you shouldn't lower your intake to less than 10 time your body weight otherwise your metabolism may slow and you will actually start to store fat. So, by that count, and my current weight I should be intaking about 2800 a day, but at that much, I feel like it's too much.
Does anyone have any advice on the proper caloric intake to keep the metabolism peaked? My long term goal (within a year to 18 months) is to be back down to 205-210. Any advice would be much appreciated.
I would do aerobics for 30 minutes 6 days a week to start. Also make sure your diet is very clean. I have had a few injuries and I can say you have started in the right direction. You don't get out of shape over night so don't expect to get in shape over night. It is awesome when you start seeing the fruits of your labor!