No.
You're not going to be able to increase your metabolism significantly. That's not the way it works. And why are you worrying about this if you're losing weight?
Starvation, Calories, and Adaptations
- Thread starter Steve
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No.
You're not going to be able to increase your metabolism significantly. That's not the way it works. And why are you worrying about this if you're losing weight?
OneLifeToLive
New member
Well, I am not a teenager as you seem to have assumed. I am 32 years old and a mother of two children. I apologise for using English incorrectly. I come from a different country but I understand that should not be an excuse.
Thankyou for your time.
Thankyou for your time.
OneLifeToLive
New member
time and help.
Omega
Moderator
we all enjoy those
don112
0
Lol good one steve, and by the way, I apologize for asking questions in your personal journal, I found the area I need to be in, and this would be the one, I'll be checking in on your journal just to see how things are going, and maybe add my two cents in, but I wont be asking anymore stupid questions there.
LowFatMilk
New member
shawnnam
New member
Thank you for posting this, I have been at this for 3 weeks and I lost 8.8 pounds in 2 weeks (a lot of it water) but, I lost. And, I had looked up my BMR which was 1,580, I figured if I just ate 1,400 a day I wasn't at much of a deficit.... but, I didn't fator in that I am doing cardio 5-6 days a week, 65+ minutes each time at high intensity, with this added in I was seeing to maintain I could eat around 2,300 and to lose reasonably I should eat about 1,800-1,900 daily. I was shocked, and it made sense why my weight loss stopped... even after just 2 weeks. My body adapted to lower calories, and even if I ate up to "maintenance" of what I thought it was (1,600) I would see a small gain or the scale just really would not budge, my body had already adapted to the 1,200-1,400 calories I was eating daily. Now, I am raising, slowly, up to 1,700 daily. I know I will probably see gains for a few days, but in the long run it is worth it.
When I do hit a plateau in the future I think it will be a lot easier to "zig-zag" my calories daily, and switch up my workout routine to keep losing, because being physically active your body needs more energy and nutrients to keep itself going strong.
Thanks for this as I was just starting to wonder about this last night
When I do hit a plateau in the future I think it will be a lot easier to "zig-zag" my calories daily, and switch up my workout routine to keep losing, because being physically active your body needs more energy and nutrients to keep itself going strong.
Thanks for this as I was just starting to wonder about this last night
shawnnam
New member
You know spamming is against community guidelines, right?
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Hi Steve, thanks for all the information. It helped set a lot of myths straight for me regarding weight loss. But there is one thing I would like to ask. Your 10-20% calorie deficit, would it change for someone considered morbidly obese?
Take myself for example. I am a 32 year old male, 6 foot tall and weigh about 420 pounds. Long story short this weight was put on over the last seven years due to a lot of bad habits and poor decisions, including eating a lot of fast food, but last week I started the process of turning my life around.
I am still working on my workout routine but currently I am doing 35-45 minutes of cardio 5 to 6 times a week. I plan on adding weight lifting to that schedule perhaps in week 3 or 4. Right now I am more concerned with getting in the habit of going to the gym on a steady basis.
Based on the above information and the calculation you provided, my BMR seems to be between 4625 to 5212 depending on if my workouts are considered light or moderate. So with the 20% cut that is around 925 or 1040 calories to cut.
Currently, using FitDay and some measurement scales, it looks like I am consuming and average of 2000ish calories a day. That means I am cutting around 55-60%. I can see some adjustments I need to make to eating that can perhaps get me up to 2500 but as it is I rarely feel hungry during the day.
Am I sabotaging my potential weight loss with such a deficit?
Take myself for example. I am a 32 year old male, 6 foot tall and weigh about 420 pounds. Long story short this weight was put on over the last seven years due to a lot of bad habits and poor decisions, including eating a lot of fast food, but last week I started the process of turning my life around.
I am still working on my workout routine but currently I am doing 35-45 minutes of cardio 5 to 6 times a week. I plan on adding weight lifting to that schedule perhaps in week 3 or 4. Right now I am more concerned with getting in the habit of going to the gym on a steady basis.
Based on the above information and the calculation you provided, my BMR seems to be between 4625 to 5212 depending on if my workouts are considered light or moderate. So with the 20% cut that is around 925 or 1040 calories to cut.
Currently, using FitDay and some measurement scales, it looks like I am consuming and average of 2000ish calories a day. That means I am cutting around 55-60%. I can see some adjustments I need to make to eating that can perhaps get me up to 2500 but as it is I rarely feel hungry during the day.
Am I sabotaging my potential weight loss with such a deficit?
Hi Corey.
No, you're not.
The fact is an obese individual has a much larger capacity to handle steep calorie deficits than their leaner counterparts. This is due to a host of variables, including your body's hormonal regulatory system.
I don't know where I pulled 10-20% from. A lot of these stickies are actually posts that I made in passing that were pulled out of other threads and stuck by moderators (before I, myself, was a mod).
I'd say in very general terms I recommend a 30% deficit, assuming I was being forced to pick a number. But as noted, obese folks can handle much steeper deficits... something in the tune of 50% is doable if you ask me.
In fact, and this heavily depends on the person I'm working with, but there have been many times where I'd "jump start" a weight loss program for an obese client using a protein sparing modified fast (PSMF).
This diet set up is essentially one that removes everything from the diet except for the essentials responsible for maintaining health. In general terms, along with a few supplements, this diet includes nothing but high doses of protein, unlimited fibrous veggies (within reason), and essential fats.
It's not an easy diet, by any means. And it's not appropriate for everyone. But it takes fat off quickly and there's some research that supports the idea of jump starting a fat loss endeavor with something like this as it has been shown to be more successful for long term maintenance in obese subjects.
I will caution though that if you're going to cut calories substantially, it's makes it more important to ensure adequate amounts of essential nutrients. Nutrient requirements is dependent on size. The larger you are, the great the need of various aspects of nutrition. By cutting calories super low relatively speaking, you're limiting your ability to obtain said nutrition, if that makes some sense.
My very general advice would be to eat a balanced diet that's rooted in protein consumption. Focus on eating healthy fats and a wide array of vegetables and fruits.
You bring up an interesting thing, though. Something I see pop up time and time again. To maintain 400+ pounds, unless there was some sort of medical condition preventing normal metabolic function, it requires a lot of food. In the tune of 4500-5000+ calories per day even.
I frequently see folks who then attempt to lose weight and they cut their calories in half, like yourself. They then claim that they can't imagine eating more than say 2000 calories because they're not hungry.
Logic would ask, "Hell, if you were continually eating 5000 calories before dieting, why on earth would you have trouble eating more than 2000 now?"
I'm suspecting that it has something to do with calorie and nutrient density of the new way of eating compared to the old way. In other words, now that you're "dieting" you're consuming a different set of foods. This set of foods gives you less calories per volume, more nutrients per volume, and regulates hunger better on various feedback levels.
In contrast, your old way of eating most likely promoted hunger.
That's the only thing I can think of, which is all off topic of your initial question. I just find it interesting as I do see if frequently.
No, you're not.
The fact is an obese individual has a much larger capacity to handle steep calorie deficits than their leaner counterparts. This is due to a host of variables, including your body's hormonal regulatory system.
I don't know where I pulled 10-20% from. A lot of these stickies are actually posts that I made in passing that were pulled out of other threads and stuck by moderators (before I, myself, was a mod).
I'd say in very general terms I recommend a 30% deficit, assuming I was being forced to pick a number. But as noted, obese folks can handle much steeper deficits... something in the tune of 50% is doable if you ask me.
In fact, and this heavily depends on the person I'm working with, but there have been many times where I'd "jump start" a weight loss program for an obese client using a protein sparing modified fast (PSMF).
This diet set up is essentially one that removes everything from the diet except for the essentials responsible for maintaining health. In general terms, along with a few supplements, this diet includes nothing but high doses of protein, unlimited fibrous veggies (within reason), and essential fats.
It's not an easy diet, by any means. And it's not appropriate for everyone. But it takes fat off quickly and there's some research that supports the idea of jump starting a fat loss endeavor with something like this as it has been shown to be more successful for long term maintenance in obese subjects.
I will caution though that if you're going to cut calories substantially, it's makes it more important to ensure adequate amounts of essential nutrients. Nutrient requirements is dependent on size. The larger you are, the great the need of various aspects of nutrition. By cutting calories super low relatively speaking, you're limiting your ability to obtain said nutrition, if that makes some sense.
My very general advice would be to eat a balanced diet that's rooted in protein consumption. Focus on eating healthy fats and a wide array of vegetables and fruits.
You bring up an interesting thing, though. Something I see pop up time and time again. To maintain 400+ pounds, unless there was some sort of medical condition preventing normal metabolic function, it requires a lot of food. In the tune of 4500-5000+ calories per day even.
I frequently see folks who then attempt to lose weight and they cut their calories in half, like yourself. They then claim that they can't imagine eating more than say 2000 calories because they're not hungry.
Logic would ask, "Hell, if you were continually eating 5000 calories before dieting, why on earth would you have trouble eating more than 2000 now?"
I'm suspecting that it has something to do with calorie and nutrient density of the new way of eating compared to the old way. In other words, now that you're "dieting" you're consuming a different set of foods. This set of foods gives you less calories per volume, more nutrients per volume, and regulates hunger better on various feedback levels.
In contrast, your old way of eating most likely promoted hunger.
That's the only thing I can think of, which is all off topic of your initial question. I just find it interesting as I do see if frequently.
Hi Steve, thanks for the quick reply.
In regards to the PSMF, I have been doing some menu theorizing and came up with the below which gives me about 1200 - 1400 calories give or take based on portion size. This would also be supplemented by a multi-vitamin, omega 3 supplement and perhaps some glucosamine. "Choice" would alternate between tuna, salmon, cottage cheese and pork tenderloin.
8:00 AM Protein Shake & Egg Whites
10:30 AM Haddock fillet & almonds
1:00 PM Chicken Breast & Spinach & Carrots raw
3:30 PM Choice
6:00 PM Chicken Breast & Spinach & Carrots raw
9:00 PM Shake
11:30 PM Workout
1:00 AM Shake
On shakes Flax seed
Thoughts, comments, concerns?
In regards to the PSMF, I have been doing some menu theorizing and came up with the below which gives me about 1200 - 1400 calories give or take based on portion size. This would also be supplemented by a multi-vitamin, omega 3 supplement and perhaps some glucosamine. "Choice" would alternate between tuna, salmon, cottage cheese and pork tenderloin.
8:00 AM Protein Shake & Egg Whites
10:30 AM Haddock fillet & almonds
1:00 PM Chicken Breast & Spinach & Carrots raw
3:30 PM Choice
6:00 PM Chicken Breast & Spinach & Carrots raw
9:00 PM Shake
11:30 PM Workout
1:00 AM Shake
On shakes Flax seed
Thoughts, comments, concerns?
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Do you know how many grams of protein are in there?
I'd add more fibrous veggies. Lots more.
And a fish oil supplement.
Physiologically, given your weight, you should be fine for this for a while. Psychologically though... many folks who diet hard rebound harder, so that's something to pay attention to.
I'd add more fibrous veggies. Lots more.
And a fish oil supplement.
Physiologically, given your weight, you should be fine for this for a while. Psychologically though... many folks who diet hard rebound harder, so that's something to pay attention to.
Hi Steve, thanks for another quick reply. Your posts are greatly appreciated.
With the menu I posted above, assuming 3:30 meal is cottage cheese I am looking at:
1384 Calories
45g fat
59g carbs
180g protein
I have gone ahead and picked up a fish oil supplement and I plan on picking up some celery and sweet peppers from the grocery store tomorrow. I will be trying some others vegetables but I have to experiment with seeing which ones I like eating raw first.
As for the possibility of failing and rebounding hard, I consider it just one of the steps in learning about my own personal limits.
With the menu I posted above, assuming 3:30 meal is cottage cheese I am looking at:
1384 Calories
45g fat
59g carbs
180g protein
I have gone ahead and picked up a fish oil supplement and I plan on picking up some celery and sweet peppers from the grocery store tomorrow. I will be trying some others vegetables but I have to experiment with seeing which ones I like eating raw first.
As for the possibility of failing and rebounding hard, I consider it just one of the steps in learning about my own personal limits.
mariaswift
Banned
Gaining point is at least normal but want to say some hard work is good to chase.
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