Calorie intake for weight loss..

[lukyl]

When i try research how many calories i should be eating each day to lose weight, in accordance to my BMI and daily activity, i'm being told to eat ~2700-3000 calories to have a consistent 500 calorie deficit. But this just seems like so much to me.

When i first started 3 weeks ago, attempting to drop about 10kg, i was eating ~1300-1800 calories a day, and felt fine, and lost 2kg in 2 weeks, but then while researching on weight loss i kept reading the same thing about how eating too few calories as i apparently was, eventually will slow my metabolism down to a point where if i ever over indulge i can quickly gain back all my weight. This scared me, so i have now been attempting to eat the recommended calories. But this has meant im eating like 2 extra meals a day and i havn't lost any weight this week since i began doing this..

Do i just need to stick it out and weight for my metabolism to catch up, and when it does ill be back to losing some consistent weight?

Thanks.

[Deldavala]

Whats your height, weight, activity level?

[Balgazarr]

You should see a nutritionist to get the right intake for you. I was eating 5-6 meals a day a 450-500 calories each I went from 440 to 390 in 2 months time. I stopped eating that much because I didn't feel like I needed to and stopped losing weight.

[lukyl]

186cm
100.5kg
60-90min of high activity workout 5 days a week.

[Zhira]

Using myself as measurement. I'm 180cm and weighed 93kgs about 5 weeks ago. In order to loose around .5kgs per week I needed to keep my calorie intake to max. 1700/day.

With healthy meals (3 times a day) and afternoon and evening snacks (also healthy) I eat about 1200 - 1300 calories a day, and I'm not starving at all. In the last 5 weeks I've lost 7kgs.

Also, I do cardio 2 times per week (1 hour each).

Remember weightloss is 80% diet and 20% exercise. Some misunderstands that.

Z.

[Deldavala]

186cm
100.5kg
60-90min of high activity workout 5 days a week.

What kind of workout? Strenght training or cardio?

Anyways. Dont go below 2000kcal for an extended period of time(thats approx your BMR)
Maintenance is around 3000kcal. Depending on how fast you want to loose weight and if you are willing to loose muscle I would recommend eating somewhere between 2.100-2.600 kcal a day.

[Kuniku]

I started at about 110kg, 185cm, I hit the diet hard and myfitnesspal said to lose the maximum safe amount of weight per week I should have about 1800kCal a day (adding on more if it was a gym/training day) the weight came off very quick and soon plateaued at 95kg so changed the gym routine, and dropped more kCal to about 1500 a day. managed to get down to 92kg, but then hit August which was a very hard month to stay on top of what I was eating, as there was a lot of festivals, a volunteer week where I don't get to eat properly and lots of other summery stuff that stopped gym happening as well, so went back up to 95kg. Am easing myself back into the routine, to try and hit my target of 90kg by the end of October.

[durrtygoodz]

Remember weightloss is 80% diet and 20% exercise. Some misunderstands that.

Nope. It's 100% diet.

[Deldavala]

Nope. It's 100% diet.

Well depends what definition people use on weightloss. If you just want to weigh less then its 100% diet. If you want to be toned, ripped and so forth its also some workout required.

[Zhira]

Nope. It's 100% diet.

Let me rephrase then.

In order to maintain weight loss you need to exercise as well, unless you're 100% certain that you never slip..... and noone is.



/ Z.

[Deleted]

186cm
100.5kg
60-90min of high activity workout 5 days a week.

Your height and weight gives you estimated basal metabolic rate of 2600 which you can easily increase to 3000 with workout. Your ideal weight for your height is about 80kg that doesnt calculate your existing muscle mass so take that with a grain of salt.

Id reduce some of the workout you do and return eating 1800-2000 calories. Working out on weight loss is great but theres no reason to go excessive amounts of it.
You mentioned feeling fine eating 2000~ calories so go back to that and make sure your macros are right, dont over exercise yourself to the point of exhaustion, and give it time, the results will come.

Talking as someone who lost 35kg of weight in 7 months many years ago and hasnt gone above 10% bodyfat since while hitting the gym 4 times a week.

Just some misc information of macros

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/issa64.htm

Most online free calorie calculators quite frankly suck. This one is probably one of the most accurate.

http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

[Deleted]

Look up Ketogenic diets. You'll never look back.

[Spectral]

Nope. It's 100% diet.

That's why Michael Phelps is such a fat fuck from his 10,000 kcal/day diet, right?

[Gilian]

186cm
100.5kg
60-90min of high activity workout 5 days a week.

Yeah then 3k calories isn't very strange.

I think it is more important what you eat and how many carbs than how many calories. At least it worked out for me. I started eating less carbs and healthier (lots of vegetables and fruit, lean meat, water and brown rice/oatmeal for carbs) and have a "cheat day" in the weekends where I just eat whatever I like (and vacations, celebrations etc... I don't really care what I eat as long as I don't gain too much fat and feel like shit.).

I'm no expert though. I just do what feels right to me after gathering a lot of information (way too much information out there which makes people confused). I also don't take it too seriously, like counting exactly how many calories and carbs you eat in a day etc because that will only frustrate me.

- - - Updated - - -

Your height and weight gives you estimated basal metabolic rate of 2600 which you can easily increase to 3000 with workout. Your ideal weight for your height is about 80kg that doesnt calculate your existing muscle mass so take that with a grain of salt.

Id reduce some of the workout you do and return eating 1800-2000 calories. Working out on weight loss is great but theres no reason to go excessive amounts of it.
You mentioned feeling fine eating 2000~ calories so go back to that and make sure your macros are right, dont over exercise yourself to the point of exhaustion, and give it time, the results will come.

Talking as someone who lost 35kg of weight in 7 months many years ago and hasnt gone above 10% bodyfat since while hitting the gym 4 times a week.

Just some misc information of macros

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/issa64.htm

Most online free calorie calculators quite frankly suck. This one is probably one of the most accurate.

http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

Sounds good to me.

But if you want your performance to go up you need to eat enough (which means 2000 calories is kinda low I think) but that is not really your goal atm I guess.

[will32]

Well I been training for many many years started off helping the Wounded Warriors get back at it after injuries when I served in special forces. Then took it to a whole new level back in 2005. I started in 2000 when I was 18. Now I am skipping the part where format those numbers into lbs. Just some simple facts im about to stat. If you are trying to lose weight the most important thing is your diet. The first phase of losing weight is strictly getting rid of the bad foods such as sodas, sugars, and all of that good stuff. That alone usually cause people to start to lose and see a difference. Then you start to Plateau a little bit depending on weight. If you are a larger person just eating Right will continue to cause you to lose a lot of unhealthy weight. Whenever you start to slow down on your weight lost its time to adjust. On Average you should be losing 1 pound per week from dieting alone. That may not sounds like a lot but considering your not doing anything but eating right and losing weight that is great. The most effective way to increase your average rate of weight loss is by combining exercise and diet. Eating healthier includes cutting back on sugar, salt and saturated fat. Eat more vegetables, fruits, whole grain foods, low-fat dairy, seeds/nuts/legumes and lean protein sources. To lose 2 lb. per week, you must eliminate 1,000 calories a day. Aim for cutting about 750 calories per day from your diet and get the remaining 250 calories burned by exercising at a moderate pace for 30 to 60 minutes each day. With that being said increase your intensity on the cardio push yourself a little.

Doing to much Cardio? Well gotta be careful cardio does play a significant part in your weight lost, but you would can also have muscle lost in the process by not eating enough to maintain a healthy weight. See the (Bat Wings) on some people? you want to have a balance plan which includes stretching, dieting, eating, strength. This is how you get the best results. If you are one of those people who simple been working out for a long time and results are coming super slow and you want to see more all around check out Xtraining and HIIT. Careful with the Xtraining its good but also the leading exercises in the world that causes injury(FACT). Check out rhabdomyolysis. Keep a constant Journal of where you at. Try to change regiments at the 8 week mark. Some people even say 12weeks. See what works best for you. Then remember this losing weight is a lifestyle. Weight has a tendancy to come back even faster than before and a lot more of it. Stay focus read about the craft. See a consultant if you have a hard time understanding the information that you are reading. Do not give up.

[durrtygoodz]

That's why Michael Phelps is such a fat fuck from his 10,000 kcal/day diet, right?

It's all about calories in vs. calories out. Michael Phelps' diet has nothing to do with a weight loss plan. If you want to lose or gain weight, you can achieve whatever weight you want through food alone, and no exercise. Dunno why a professional swimmer was brought into this discussion.

[Tomana]

That's why Michael Phelps is such a fat fuck from his 10,000 kcal/day diet, right?

If you swim 10 miles every day like he did, then you kinda need those calories

[Maconi]

What's up with all these people saying exercise is worthless and diet alone can achieve your weight loss goals? Eating a healthy diet is important, and will aid you in your weight loss goals, but exercise is crucial. Even more so if you're not active (have a desk job, play games all day, etc.). Cardio is good for you all-around health wise (strengthening heart muscles and etc.) and if you don't get some strength training in and you lose a bunch of weight you're just going to be skinny-fat (lots of flab).

I think some of these "diet only" folk are only fooling themselves/living in a lazy fantasy world lol.

[Spectral]

It's all about calories in vs. calories out. Michael Phelps' diet has nothing to do with a weight loss plan. If you want to lose or gain weight, you can achieve whatever weight you want through food alone, and no exercise. Dunno why a professional swimmer was brought into this discussion.

The entire point is that weight loss being "100% diet" is brutally stupid. If you're burning a ton of calories, you'll be losing weight if you're not replenishing them. There is no percentage formula for "weight loss is X% exercise and X% diet". Any numbers inserted there are completely fictitious.

[Palmz]

I would calculate what you are eating currently in a weeks time to see roughly how many calories you are taking in. Subtract 200 or so calories and check back in a week on your weight, see how your body looks etc. If you aren't seeing any change try subtracting 100-200 more calories, wait a week or two again, rinse and repeat. Don't worry about all this BMI bullshit. Seeing how many calories you are taking in right now will provide you with a lot more information and going from there.