Really In Need Of Some Advice...

B

Bmorgan2010

New member
Hey guys, I'm a 24 year old male and I've been cutting back on calories for the past 2 weeks or so, and have been doing pretty vigorous cardio 4-5 times a week.

Using MyFitnessPal, my daily calorie goal is set at 1,500. Because I've worked to refine my diet and make sure I'm eating foods that are both low-cal and nutritious, the past few days I've clocked in eating roughly 1,000-1,200 calories; after exercise on top of that, the app tells me I have 700-900 calories left when the day is over.

I don't feel drained at all.. An average day looks something like this:


Breakfast: 274 cal (1/2 cup rolled oats, w/ chopped banana, chopped walnuts, & a teaspoon of cinnamon, + a green tea)

Lunch: 360 cal (whole wheat sandwich, w/ spinach, turkey, & a homemade herb spread, + a peach, + dried edamame)

Dinner: 192 cal (Large salad w/ spinach, romaine, tomato, cucumbers, & a plain yogurt/dijon dressing)

Snacks throughout: 210 cal (Apple, roasted broad beans)


Sorry for the long-winded post. Just looking to know whether I'm on the right track or whether I need to make adjustments. I want to lose weight but I also want to do it the right way and not hurt myself.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Ben
 
dangerously low on calories, but good luck.
 
Lean On Me said:
The rule of thumb is to eat at your BMR and no lower. If you are short and your current weight is 150 pounds and your ideal weight is 120 then 1500 is not unsafe. If you are 300 lbs 1500 calories is dangerously low. At 300 pounds you need to start at 3000 calories per day.
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My BMR would be something around 2000-2200, as I'm a 24 year old male who is 190lbs and 5'-11".
I'm not sure how I'm supposed to lose weight if I'm eating my BMR as you mentioned above... Eating your BMR is to maintain weight; I'm trying to LOSE weight.
 
Bmorgan2010,
My experience has been: yes, you can and most probably will lose weight when eating less (less calories) and exercising, however when it's all over we tend to gain the weight back and then some. I would say you are on the right track to lose weight in a somewhat healthy way however, I think there is a better way. That is, changing the way you eat as a permanent life style. You can still eat all the good food you like (and more of it), just in a different way. If you would like more info and if it is OK with the forum I will post you more info. Hopefully others on the forum will benefit also!
 
Kevin Sallee said:
Bmorgan2010,
My experience has been: yes, you can and most probably will lose weight when eating less (less calories) and exercising, however when it's all over we tend to gain the weight back and then some. I would say you are on the right track to lose weight in a somewhat healthy way however, I think there is a better way. That is, changing the way you eat as a permanent life style. You can still eat all the good food you like (and more of it), just in a different way. If you would like more info and if it is OK with the forum I will post you more info. Hopefully others on the forum will benefit also!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input, Kevin. Sure, I would love some more information. The plan is to maintain a healthy diet past the weight loss I'm looking to achieve.
 
The idea of eating close to your BMR is to create a diet that you can sustain for life. Eating low calories just to lose weight doesn't make sense because it's not sustainable. If you eat at close to your BMR AND exercise, which is what you should be doing, you will start to lose weight. As you lose weight, you lower your calories to keep pace.
 
allcdnboy said:
The idea of eating close to your BMR is to create a diet that you can sustain for life. Eating low calories just to lose weight doesn't make sense because it's not sustainable. If you eat at close to your BMR AND exercise, which is what you should be doing, you will start to lose weight. As you lose weight, you lower your calories to keep pace.
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Thanks, I understand. I'm currently exercising pretty heavily while cutting calories. After weight loss, if I were to raise my calorie intake from 1,500 daily to 2,000 daily and keep the exercise rigorous, would you imagine I would be able to avoid putting the weight back on?
 
unless there is an underlying medical condition (hypoactive thyroid, for example), 2000 calories would still be below the maintenance level
 
If you are doing an rigorous exercise plan, you might gain a bit of weight adding the extra calories, but it won't be fat. If you exercising regularly and add in extra calories, your body might make better use of those calories and build muscle. That's why the scale does a shit job of actually helping people "lose weight" because body image is wayyyy more important. If you truly want to measure results, you should be taking body measurements instead and only take the scale information with a grain of salt. Taking pictures of your body and comparing those results is also good, but most people prefer a more analytical approach
 
allcdnboy said:
If you are doing an rigorous exercise plan, you might gain a bit of weight adding the extra calories, but it won't be fat. If you exercising regularly and add in extra calories, your body might make better use of those calories and build muscle. That's why the scale does a shit job of actually helping people "lose weight" because body image is wayyyy more important. If you truly want to measure results, you should be taking body measurements instead and only take the scale information with a grain of salt. Taking pictures of your body and comparing those results is also good, but most people prefer a more analytical approach
Click to expand...

That makes sense, thanks for your help!
 
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