Weight-Loss How many Calories should I consume?

Weight-Loss
M

MaYHeM2008

New member
Hello,
I am a 28yrold Male, my height is 6'2", weight is now 100KG flat. My BMR according to most calculators is about 2440.

I am walking at about 4KPH for 3 Hrs every day (covering roughly 18KM's distance a day), which burns roughly 1500 Calories.

How many calories should I consume each day to maintain weight loss and not put my metabolism into "starvation mode" ???
 
Anything below -500 of your BMR is considered low enough to trigger starvation mode. So try to keep it above 1,940.

:)

Also, taking off 500 calories of your BMR burns 3,500 calories on a weekly basis, so you're looking at burning a pound of fat a week if you DID NOT exercise AT ALL, and just lay in bed. If you exercise as well, you'll lose more weight.
 
Matt said:
Anything below -500 of your BMR is considered low enough to trigger starvation mode. So try to keep it above 1,940.
Click to expand...



WOW. Thats insane, I have been eating only about 1000Cal a day and lost about 6-8KG in 6 weeks. So, eating 2000cal isnt going to slow my weight loss down?
 
From what I've read in the forums (and I know I wont be saying this perfectly) but when you cut your calories to that point you not only set your body up to go into starvation mode but also will end up stalling your weight loss out completely in the future. Your metabolism will adjust itself to what you are eating now and the exercise you are doing, and your weight loss will slow or stop all together.

I've been reading up on it because I started on my weight loss journey a few months ago and wanted to eat more healthy. I lost weight before by exercising 6 days a week burning 1000 calories each session. Well I figured I'd do twice as good this time if I changed my diet.(more fruits and veggies.. watching portions.. counting cals. Drinking lots of water, no soda etc.) I set myself at 1800 cals a day and was working out 6 days a week. My calories kept getting lower and lower as the weeks passed. I tracked them in a food diary. I got down to 1400-1500 a day and I was forcing myself to eat that because I wasn't really getting hungry anymore. After reading many many threads on here and reading through some diarys I am starting to see that I was starving myself even tho I wasn't hungry. 1500 cals a day - 1000 burned at the gym = 500 to live off of... not good.

Its not an easy thing to realize when you are trying to lose weight that you need to eat more lol. Its a hard thing to balance also. I am still trying to get myself back onto the right path. Listen to the people here, read stickys, ask for advice, and just keep going! We'll all get there:waving:
 
Eh, for the first few days you might gain a bit of weight, but in the long run you'll lose a lot more weight a lot faster if you eat the right amount of calories.

It's hard to wean of off a stable weight loss plan, but it's doing your body damage and it's crippling your success of weight loss in the long run.

Wise up and eat more, I went through the exact same thing you did (except I was eating 800 calories) and one day I just stopped losing weight. Up you calories.
 
OK :) We'll I'm 98.8 KG this morning, so I wont say my way isnt working *for now* but with the above advice in mind, I'll try and up the calories gradually over the next week to get to that 2000 in healthy food. Gosh its hard to get my head around eating mroe to lose weight hahahaha!

Damn You pizza and salt and vinegar chips for not being in my "healthy calories" category!
 
Have you tried the qwave system? It`s a very easy-to-use online application that allows you to calculate calories consumed, tracks your exercises, workouts, diet, and weight loss. You can also measure your physical workload, daily stress reaction and recovery etc. It`s kind of multifunctional gadget. You could read more on qwave.com
 
Ok, so if I up my calorie intake (still having issues getting my head around this!) then there is lots of talk about healthy foods, not "any" foods...
now I want to clarify some things here just to understand some questions I have on that...

So:

1. If I ate about 1000cal of healthy food during the day, whats wrong with me making up the other half of my required 2000cal daily intake with 1000cal with a bowl of pasta, or 1000cal of Pizza? Calories are Calories arnt they?

2. Why are the people on "The Biggest Looser" eating only 1000cal a day and doing 4-6hrs of extreme excersise daily? By what everyone is saying here, they should be eating much much much more? Why is this conflicting information, can somone please explain?
 
MaYHeM2008 said:
Ok, so if I up my calorie intake (still having issues getting my head around this!) then there is lots of talk about healthy foods, not "any" foods...
now I want to clarify some things here just to understand some questions I have on that...

So:

1. If I ate about 1000cal of healthy food during the day, whats wrong with me making up the other half of my required 2000cal daily intake with 1000cal with a bowl of pasta, or 1000cal of Pizza? Calories are Calories arnt they?

2. Why are the people on "The Biggest Looser" eating only 1000cal a day and doing 4-6hrs of extreme excersise daily? By what everyone is saying here, they should be eating much much much more? Why is this conflicting information, can somone please explain?
Click to expand...


Im interested in the response to this as well....
 
2. Why are the people on "The Biggest Looser" eating only 1000cal a day and doing 4-6hrs of extreme excersise daily? By what everyone is saying here, they should be eating much much much more? Why is this conflicting information, can somone please explain?
Click to expand...
And not many contestants manage to keep the weight off when they hit the real world.. Television isn't real... They are trying to get ratings.. 2-3lbs a week isn't ratings worthy..
 
maleficent said:
And not many contestants manage to keep the weight off when they hit the real world.. Television isn't real... They are trying to get ratings.. 2-3lbs a week isn't ratings worthy..
Click to expand...
Yeah but they aren't keeping the weight off because they go back to eating lke shit again once they go home. Not all of them have gained the weight back. I guess its all about your freewill. If you think that you could spend the rest of your life eating like that and working out like that. I personally couldn't do that but hey to each there own right.
 
So in other words all this about "you have to eat more than 1000 calories" and "starvation mode" is a load of crap?

The biggest loser people have all maintained weight loss consistantly enough throughout the show to prove that its a myth! Lets face it, if the best way to lose weight was to eat 2000 calories and excersise the 6 hours they do each day, then they would be eating the 2000 calories, not just 1000 like they are taught to do.

The real challenge is nothing to do with "starvation mode" as I see it for now (until I am corrected with good reason), it is breaking the habit of jumping back into junk food 24/7 once you've reached the goal weight.

Oh and I've lost another KG over the last 6 days too. 108 down to 99 now. Its been consistant over 7/8 weeks, which once again goes againt this starvation mode theory.
 
Last edited:
MaYHeM2008 said:
So in other words all this about "you have to eat more than 1000 calories" and "starvation mode" is a load of crap?

The biggest loser people have all maintained weight loss consistantly enough throughout the show to prove that its a myth! Lets face it, if the best way to lose weight was to eat 2000 calories and excersise the 6 hours they do each day, then they would be eating the 2000 calories, not just 1000 like they are taught to do.

The real challenge is nothing to do with "starvation mode" as I see it for now (until I am corrected with good reason), it is breaking the habit of jumping back into junk food 24/7 once you've reached the goal weight.

Oh and I've lost another KG over the last 6 days too. 108 down to 99 now. Its been consistant over 7/8 weeks, which once again goes againt this starvation mode theory.
Click to expand...

I don't know many people who could just spare 6 hours everyday to exercise unless they worked at a gym or had no job or something.

I don't know how off I am but isn't 108 kg = to 237 or so pounds? You keep losing large amounts of weight right now because you're still kind of beginning. The more you weigh, the more you lose at first. After a while you'll lose less. And then if you haven't been getting enough calories, you go into starvation mode..maybe hit a plateau, then re-read this thread and think "Damn."
 
MaYHeM2008 said:
So in other words all this about "you have to eat more than 1000 calories" and "starvation mode" is a load of crap?

The biggest loser people have all maintained weight loss consistantly enough throughout the show to prove that its a myth! Lets face it, if the best way to lose weight was to eat 2000 calories and excersise the 6 hours they do each day, then they would be eating the 2000 calories, not just 1000 like they are taught to do.

The real challenge is nothing to do with "starvation mode" as I see it for now (until I am corrected with good reason), it is breaking the habit of jumping back into junk food 24/7 once you've reached the goal weight.

Oh and I've lost another KG over the last 6 days too. 108 down to 99 now. Its been consistant over 7/8 weeks, which once again goes againt this starvation mode theory.
Click to expand...

There is probably a nutritionist who checks off on everything that happens in that program, and I bet you those people have to sign a waiver stating they won't sue if their bodies get messed up. But in any case I really think it's common knowledge to not believe everything you see on TV. I'd encourage you to go talk to a nutritionist as well, because the starvation mode thing is not a 'theory,' but at the end of the day every body functions differently so a doctor can help you find out what works best for yours.
 
Last edited:
MaYHeM2008 said:
The real challenge is nothing to do with "starvation mode" as I see it for now (until I am corrected with good reason), it is breaking the habit of jumping back into junk food 24/7 once you've reached the goal weight.
Click to expand...

Starvation diets are not long term results.

Let me first give you my experience. I am 20 years old 6'4" about 2 years ago I started at 265 pounds. I did a less then 1500 calorie diet coupled with intense workout 6-7 days a week at the gym. It was a mixture of workouts but all were burning 800+ calories every time I went to the gym. It took me 4 weeks to lose 35 pounds. I was so satisfied that I let myself eat a little more to sustain my weight instead of lose massive weight. Going from 1500 calories to 1800-2000 calories a day made me gain 5 pounds in a week. I had no idea why! It was so discouraging that I cut the calories, didnt lose any weight, eventually gave up. About 6 months later at 245 pounds I decided I'm gonna lose the weight this time! Well guess what, rinse and repeat. I still couldnt figure out the whole in my story. And now that I am on round 3 of trying to lose weight I decided to figure out why I have failed in the past. The reason starvation does not work long run is because when you starve your body's metabolism slows down. Mind you, if you are eating nest to nothing a day then you will probably lose massive weight but it is temporary. When your body goes into starvation mode and your metabolism slows down your body starts hanging on to every calorie it possibly can. You may not see this as an issue if you are burning lots of calories a day BUT here is the issue with that, A) you can only starve yourself so long before your body cant take it anymore and B) any calories that you eat above the 1000 you are forcing yourself to live on will be stored instantly(this is the what I found out through research). Your body will begin to prepare for your next starvation because it doesn't want to die, obviously. The fact of the matter is slow metabolism+starvation calories is unhealthy, unproductive, and not long term.

My suggestion to you and I say this as somebody attempting this as well, is focus on increasing your metabolism. What I am currently trying out is creating no more then an 800-1000 calorie deficit per day which puts me at about 2000 calories for the day. Do some serious research and you'll find all the answers you are looking for. Sorry for my lack of links.
 
Cheers for the follow up on this one everyone who's posted :)

I am down to 95KG flat now, 5KG to go, plataued out about two weeks ago, but kicked back into it this week, where I am fluctuating between 94/96KG (normal daily water/food weights) - with my first thing in the morning and just before bed weight being +/- 300grams of 95KG.


I've updated the ticker thing below accordingly. In regards to the slowing metabolism, I'm one of those people... you can tell me till the cows come home, I have to see it for myself ;)

If I rocket back up once I reach 90, then I'll definately come on here and conceed :)

Edit: This has been done in roughly 4 months.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top