Weight-Loss Help? Calorie deficits?

[roxie030185]

Hi everyone, i am new to this site. I am 24, 148 pounds and 5ft 8inches. I have broad hips, narrow back and am generally unhappy about the way i look. I have tried almost everything except anything dangerous.



I sooooo want to get below 10stone. I just want to run some maths past you guys regarding calorie deficits etc etc.

I have worked out that to maintain my current weight at my current activty level i should be eating 2333 kcals a day. Thats to train 1hr30ish three times a week, pretty hard, and i have a reasonably active job, walking around only though. My exercise equates to 2500kcals burnt a week so 357 a day if you average it out.

Recently i realised that i was only eating about 1600 a day, and it was suggested that i am not eating enough to lose weight,(weirdest concept in the world for me to get my head around, as i used to eat a biscuit per day) so i am trying to coax my metabolism bk into existence.

Now i am eating 1750 a day roughly but minus my exercise (2500kcal burnt a week) averaged out per day(357 per day) thats 1398 roughly a day left, which is only 60% i guess of my maintenance level of 2333 a day.

Im confused if this is how you work out calorie deficit??? 2333 needed a day to keep me at my weight and with my activity level (job and exercise) but at present im only managing 1398 per day,after exercise/burnt calories removed,so thats 9786 a week.

So is this a calorie deficit of 6545 roughly?? (2333 x 7 to maintain = 16331 BUT kcal intake minus exercise/activity = 9786)



Help? i so hope the above is correct mathematically as ive done so much research.

 

[Joshua3]

Hello roxie030185

Hello roxie030185,

WOW! That's real nasa stuff.

And I can certainly relate... as I used to get all caught up in the numbers of calorie counting.

Bottom line: It never worked!

I was only left head spinningly confused.

Allow me to give you a simple concept that you can grasp, which will allow you to focus on what really matters.

==>It's not the # of calories you consume, It's the type.

In other words 1000 calories of the wrong food is not the same as 1000 calories of the right food, which is why "counting calories" is going to make your life misserable. (When I finally learned this, I started losing weight)

Here's something that I'm certain will work for you - I know it did for me and a lot of my friends.

1. Eat 5-6 small meals a day. (Whoever suggested that you were not eating enough to lose weight is A GENIUS.) Your body needs calories to burn calories and if it doesn't get them you will store fat.

2. Eat only untill satisfied (Not "Stuffed")

3. No starchy carbs (bread, pasta) in the P.M. hours ==>final two-three meals. You do need carbs, but they need to be consumed at the correct times.

If you can follow those three things over the next week it will really begin to help you get your weight under control.

best,

Jason

 

[roxie030185]

haha thanks jason - it is really screwing with my brain, but i am soooo desperate i was clinging on to the numbers/maths

 

[Steve]

Phew, you need to settle down. The stress you're causing by worrying about all these numbers and your weight is doing you much more harm than good, I assure you.

In the meantime though, here are my general thoughts on nutrition:

The way I look at nutrition is quite simple.

Set calories.
Set protein.
Set fat.
Insert fruits and veggies.
Fill rest of calorie allotment with carbs and more fats (this will vary from person to person).

While many folks seem to get extremely hung up on step one, I spend next to zero time on it. I don't see much a point unless you're very lean looking to get crazy lean (physique competitors and such).

For us normal folks, I simply use 14-16 cals per pound as maintenance. If someone is carrying a lot of fat or is extremely sedentary, I'll drop this down a bit to maybe something like 13-15 cals per pound.

The reason I don't spend much time pinpointing an exact number is simple: 1) It's impossible and 2) If what I estimate isn't working, the solution is simple - reduce carories slowly until it starts working.

Once cals are set, again I set protein. I typically shoot for 1-1.5 grams per pound of either lean body mass or goal body weight. Both will get you in the right ballpark. When dieting, protein intake should be closer to the upper range of this and when bulking, shooting towards the lower range is fine. But that's really splitting hairs. Shoot for this general range and things will be fine.

With fat, I'll generally set it at 25-30% of total calories for starters.

Then I'll throw a fruit and/or a veggie in every one of my meals per day.

So we're left with:

Calorie goal - (4 * grams of protien) - (9 * grams of fat) - (cals from fruits and veggies) = Leftover Calories.

With the leftovers, I'll typically fill it with carbs. If the leftovers are large, it might be a combo of carbs and fats. Proteins generally stay set in stone. Or if someone doesn't handle carbs well, I'll fill the leftover cals with more fats.

Nothing is set in stone... it's all about finding what works for you. But this is how I normally view nutrition.

 

[KaraCooks]

I use a very similar method to what Steve described above.

I use a figure of 15 cals per pound of body weight. My goal weight is 135, so my maintenance calories for that weight comes to 2025.

I figured if I eat at my maintenance calories for my goal, plus exercise, I'm going to lose weight. It's worked for me so far.

I also track my calories using Livestrong/Daily Plate and I aim for a macro split of 40/35/25, which works out to approximately 110g of protein per day. Usually I'm within 10% of that goal. On days that I lift weights, I follow up my workout with a protein powder drink, which always puts me over the top.

That's pretty much it. I don't track calories obsessively and I never bother to calculate how many calories I've burned via exercise. I figure I could drive myself crazy that way.

I just add up what I eat, try to keep it under 2000, and keep my workouts good and productive.