Serious Question About Calories

H

Heading2Buffdom

New member
My estimated base caloric requirements are, say 2400.
My current caloric intake is 2000.
I have been eating, say 5000 a day for years and gaining.
When I reduce to 2000, do I get credit (weight loss) for the 3000 I am
not eating everyday that I was eating?

In other words, should I count on a pound coming off for every 3500 I reduce on?

As well, if so, when does that stop?

I am not trying to be rude, but I would appreciate if someone who knows the facts can answer these specific questions.
 
Hi there- perhaps you should ask your question in the "harsh truth" section, which is geared towards professionals. I would think that there you are more likely to gain the info you are looking for. :)
 
Heading2Buffdom said:
My estimated base caloric requirements are, say 2400.
My current caloric intake is 2000.
I have been eating, say 5000 a day for years and gaining.
When I reduce to 2000, do I get credit (weight loss) for the 3000 I am
not eating everyday that I was eating?

In other words, should I count on a pound coming off for every 3500 I reduce on?

As well, if so, when does that stop?

I am not trying to be rude, but I would appreciate if someone who knows the facts can answer these specific questions.
Click to expand...

I need a lot more info on you to give you a ballpark answer. How's your nutrition intake? Do you exercise? And if you do, what do you do? is your basic calorie requirement your BMR or BMR plus activity level?

with the info you have now, you won't get a "credit" for the 3000 cal you are now not eating. that extra 3000 was attributing to your weight gain because you ate above your maitenance. since there is 3500 cal per pound, something tells me putting on weight for you didn't take a very long time.

So, you are in an estimated 400 cal deficit a day times 7 days = 2800 cal deficit per week. Please remember these are estimates and can vary from person to person.

Want some advice? 5000 to 2000 calories is a big jump, maybe too big. make sure you aren't starving yourself. Exercise too.. this part is non-negotiable. most importantly, make sure most calories you eat come from some kind of nutrient packed source and not refined sugars.
 
Thanks,

If I exercise, I make that up by eating more. I want to keep my caloric net at 2000. I have found it to be an absolutely awesome experience eating 2000 calories a day. Now, I am eating good, nutritious servings and - yes - I am eating very nutritious foods.

Please remember my 5000 was not out of hunger. It was out of habit and emotional needs. I was exercising so much, that I kind of stayed the same and just fluctuated, caught myself, gained, lost, gained - almost all of it was based on ridiculous amounts of exercise.

I am figuring out that 2000 cals can be a pretty darn good life when you plan things out properly. It's awesome.

I will give you an example of today:

Fruit and Fibre Muffin 350
Fruit Medley Yogurt and fresh berries 180
Pita Bread 90
Rice and veggies 400
Fudge 40
Gum 25
Chicken breast 320
Rice and veggies 310

I am sitting at 1715, I am stuffed and I am going to have a nice snack tonite and still stay at 2000.

This freaking rocks!
 
Buff, Congrats on the improvement in your nutrition -- that's most of the battle right there.

Here's the formula I use to figure out the number of calories to consume in a day to lose fat without losing a whole lot of muscle:
RMR = Resting Metabolic Rate, daily
WEC = Weekly Exercise Calories

(RMR * 7) + WEC
---------------- x 80%
7

To get my RMR, I use the average from this site:
Bodybuilding.com Presents: RMR RESULTS.

Here's how the calculation works, using my numbers:
my RMR = 2,345 calories; RMR x 7 = 16,415 calories
my WEC = 5,000 calories

Daily maintenance calories = 21,415 / 7 = 3,059 calories per day
Calories needed for fat loss = 80% x 3,059 = 2,447 calories per day.

That's for a body fat percentage of around 26%. As I get closer to 20%, I'll probably use 85% of my maintenance level, and below 15%, I wouldn't go much less than 90% of my maintenance level.

Don't forget though, as you lose weight, your RMR will decrease, so you have to recalculate it every 10 pounds or so.

You can improve your nutrition even more by staying away from highly processed carbs. For example, instead of white rice, use brown rice; instead of white bread or even whole wheat bread, use whole grain bread.

Are you using a site like FitDay to calculate the calories? If not, I would suggest doing that as well. It's valuable not just for exact calories, but also for nutrient values. For example, a lot of prepared foods are just jam-packed with sodium -- you never realize it until you look at them in FitDay.

Great progress so far!
 
Thanks Tomo

I am using whole wheat Pita and brown rice.

Muffins are whole grain.

Chicken breast is skinless and salmon is skinless.


I never knew it before - 2000 calories is really workable.


I am looking at my Weekly expenditure as somewhere around 2500 or so.

When I was at my worst eating, I was doing around 1200 a day expended.

Heavy, heavy cardio work. And, it was all so I could fill my face.

How wact is that?
 
Heading2Buffdom said:
I am using whole wheat Pita and brown rice.

Muffins are whole grain.

Chicken breast is skinless and salmon is skinless.


I never knew it before - 2000 calories is really workable.


I am looking at my Weekly expenditure as somewhere around 2500 or so.

When I was at my worst eating, I was doing around 1200 a day expended.

Heavy, heavy cardio work. And, it was all so I could fill my face.

How wact is that?
Click to expand...

I understand totally. We all have gone through something like that -- that's why we're here, struggling to get it all off.

Are you doing some interval training and HIIT in your cardio? I've had great success with that, and it really breaks up the boredom of steady state cardio day after day.
 
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