Really Confused! -Help!

T

Terry98

New member
Hey Everyone, I've been really confused about some things and would really really REALLY appreciate it if someone could answer my 2 questions.
Well I would like to lose 2 pounds each week, so I would have to create a calorie deficit of 1000.
I read that if you multiply your weight by 15, it gives you the number of calories it takes for your body to maintain your current weight.
So i calculated mine and got 2520. If i subtract 500 I get 2020, then I would burn off the remaining 500 calories. Ok so say I lose 2 pounds in one week, and the next week I multiply my new weight by 15 and reduce 500 calories and continue burning off the extra 500, would I lose another 2 pounds? I know after a while your body gets used to it, and you stop losing weight but I Calculated all the way till my goal weight and the number of calories were still above 1,200 so is it ok for me to use this formula? Can I multipy by weight by 15 and reduce my 500 each week?

Everyone says in order to lose fat you need to burn more calories than you consume,thats what kind of confuses me, so example If I reduced my calorie intake to 1,300 or 1,500 how many calories would I have to burn in order to lose 2 pounds? Would I have to burn 1,300 or 1,500 calories PLUS another 1000 calories everyday to lose 2 pounds in a week??
 
You burn calories constantly, both by normal living and by exercise. If the number you burn is more than what you consume, you'll lose weight. It doesn't matter significantly for weight loss purposes whether you lie flat on your back 24/7 and eat less, or whether you exercise 19 hours a day and eat more. (For general health, it does matter - and neither of those are good choices.)

IMHO, reducing your calories progressively as your weight drops is a less-healthy choice than either increasing exercise or accepting a slower loss. I've got a nice spreadsheet at work that predicts my loss (so I can tell whether I'm on track), and it does exactly what you propose - it figures how many calories I should need for maintenance at current weight, given no particular exercise, assumes a set level of caloric intake, and projects the following day's weight.

Also IMHO, a 1,000 calorie a day deficit is a huge deficit to maintain long-term. And 500 calories a day is a lot to exercise off, particularly if you're not used to working out.
 
So can I multipy my weight by 15 each week and then subrtract 500 from it, since the number of calories will be still greater than 1,200 even once I reach my goal weight??
 
Is it mathematically possible? Sure. Is it optimally healthy? IMHO not.

If I were you, I might also track calories for a week or so before you try to lose, to see what your true maintenance calories are. The online calculators give me about 11-12 calories a pound for maintenance before taking physical activity into account. If I were your weight (and 2 months or so ago, I was), using 15 calories a pound would have overestimated my maintenance calories by 500.
 
I had been working out very hard, but about 1 1/2 months ago I slowly stopped but I want to start again.
I don't want to slow my metabolism down, so I don't think I'll decrease my calorie intake so low. Should I just keep a fixed amount of calories? Example if I ate 1600 calories a day and burned 1000 would that result in a 2 pound weight loss?
But the thing is I really need to lose 2 pounds each week, I know I will have to work hard at it, but I know I can do it.
I also read that using the zig zagging method is benificial, the only thing I don't understand is how many calories a day I should have, to lose 2 pounds, using this method.
 
Unless ninja assassins are going to pop out of the scale and disembowel you if you don't hit your goals, you don't really *need* to lose 2 pounds a week. ;) Actuarily speaking, you've probably got a good 65 years of life yet, and an extra couple of weeks at this end isn't going to make any difference in the long run. Whereas preserving your lean muscle mass by losing slowly will make you look good skinny, as opposed to flabby skinny. :)

will calculate zigzags for you, if you want to give that a try. It'll also give you some caloric guidelines to aim for, based on your height, weight, and activity level.
 
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