Weight-Loss Calorie help (please!)

Weight-Loss
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oscarftw

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Hey there,

Could someone please give me their thoughts on whether I am consuming enough calories? I am a male using the formula of 14 calories per lb of my weight to find maintenance, and then multiplying by 70% for my deficit. So for me it's 14 * 188 = 2632 * .7 = 1842 calories per day. I measure all of my food on a food scale and log my food at fitday.com, and I have been eating 1900 calories daily...

My activity level is basically sitting at the computer all day, so pretty sedentary. However, I exercise 7 days a week on my stationary bike for a full 40 minutes with my hr 130-135 (I am 20 btw). Now the bike says I burn 600 calories, but I don't really believe it. Even if I only burned say 300 calories on the bike, do you think I am consuming too little? If this is the case, would you suggest that I cut down my exercise to 5 days a week, or up my calories? Thank you for any response.
 
Using the calorie counter at
and using your age and weight, and assuming 5'10" height, moderately active, the calculator says you need 2895 calories to maintain current weight, or 2395 to lose weight. The 2395 calories would be a deficit of 500 calories a day, which should give you 1 pound of weight loss per week. Eating 1900 calories per day, you should be losing about 2 pounds per week. Is that what's happening?
 
Hello Harold,

My height is actually 6'1" if that makes a difference, sorry for not including that in the post. Would you consider me moderately active because of my 7 days a week cardio? Because besides that cardio daily, I am a blob at my computer.

Oddly enough, I haven't been losing 2lbs a week. Here is my last week's weigh in following the 1900 a day schedule (weighed when I first get up before eating)

Mon: 187.3
Tue: 187.2
W: 187.2
T: 188.6 (what's up with this?)
F: 187.8
S: 187.7
S: 187.7

This week has been pretty much the same, today's was 187.5. I imagined the 188.6 was a result of too much sodium, so I have been really cutting my sodium to 30-40% of my daily value. Thanks again for any response.
 
Here is how they define activity levels at that web site:
SEDENTARY: Mainly sitting throughout the day and no physical exercise.

LIGHTLY ACTIVE: Mainly sitting throughout the day and some but less than 1 hour of physical exercise a week, OR mainly standing throughout the day and no physical exercise.

MODERATELY ACTIVE: Mainly sitting throughout the day and 2-3 hours of physical exercise a week, OR physical job and no physical exercise.

So, I think you fit into moderately active, and being taller should increase your calorie requirement. Don't worry too much over a single day's weight. Your weight can vary from day to day due to water, how much food is in your digestive tract, etc. I would have thought you should notice some loss after a couple of weeks, though. One possibility is that you are underestimating your calorie intake. Most people do.
 
I just had another thought. If you have just recently increased your exercise, you could be building muscle while losing fat. In that case, maybe there is nothing wrong at all. Stay the course and the weight will start to come off.
 
You can't build muscle that fast.

What I suspect is that you're looking for results too fast. Your body may take some time to adapt to a reduced calorie diet. You also may be eating more sodium than you should.

People think that they cut calories and should start seeing results immediately but it just doesn't work that way.

Keep doing what you're doing for at least 3-4 weeks before you start changing things up again. Log your food and make sure you're getting a good balance of protein/fat/carbs ... and watch your sodium.
 
Harold14370 said:
You may be right about that. I don't know. But one thing I have noticed is that whenever I have hit a stall, it often happens when I have increased my level of exercise.
Click to expand...
The maximum rate of muscle gain for most men just starting out to exercise is about 2 lbs a month. That's based on workouts that are dedicated to muscle growth and a diet designed to encourage muscle growth.

If you're eating in a calorie deficit in order to lose weight, then you're not going to be able to gain muscle at the same time - unless you're very overweight and/or very out of shape to begin with. Even then, your muscle development likely won't be at the maximum.

Here's a good article to start with if you're wanting to research the issue:


More likely what's happening when you change or increase your exercise is that your muscles are holding on to fluid after strenuous exercise. It's very common and usually that fluid retention will balance out and you'll begin to lose again pretty soon after changing things up.
 
oscarftw said:
Hello Harold,

My height is actually 6'1" if that makes a difference, sorry for not including that in the post. Would you consider me moderately active because of my 7 days a week cardio? Because besides that cardio daily, I am a blob at my computer.

Oddly enough, I haven't been losing 2lbs a week. Here is my last week's weigh in following the 1900 a day schedule (weighed when I first get up before eating)

Mon: 187.3
Tue: 187.2
W: 187.2
T: 188.6 (what's up with this?)
F: 187.8
S: 187.7
S: 187.7

This week has been pretty much the same, today's was 187.5. I imagined the 188.6 was a result of too much sodium, so I have been really cutting my sodium to 30-40% of my daily value. Thanks again for any response.
Click to expand...

At 6'1", are you not around the "ideal" weight for that height? If I am not mistaken, it takes a bit longer to lose weight when you are near or at your ideal weight and body mass. Weighing in at 187 lbs at 6'1" really isn't that bad. I'm 6'1" and I am reaching for the weight you are right now.

Well, good luck to you.

johnnyo
 
weight wise if cardio is a new thing for you, your body will also be increasing its amount of blood which will also read as an increase in weight.
 
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