Reassuring my current plan

[Nx40k]

Hey everybody,

At the beginning of February, (3 months ago) I weighed 245 lbs, and now I'm 203.5 lbs about three months later.

I've been steadily losing weight, and I've never felt better. At first, I was stupid and ate mostly veggies with little protein, that lasted about a week and then I said, "What am I doing?!?". Since then, I've been eating enough to fill me but sometimes I feel that it might not be enough. I don't feel hungry, ever. I never sit there and listen to my stomach growl, I always feed myself when I get hungry.

I eat a lot of spinach salads, which consist of a big plate of hearty spinach leaves with stems attached, and maybe 3-4 table spoons of dressing, some crutons, and usually I'll chop up a boiled egg into the salad or eat boneless/skinless chicken with it.

I also eat small 100-150 cal cans of flavored tuna, which is good protein too because I do lift weights every couple days or so. I don't do intense weight training, but every couple days I'll do 3 sets of 10 reps on the benchpress over like 8 hours, and 3 sets of 10 curls, and 3 sets of 20 dumb bell lifts. Nothing major, but just some training because I've heard that the best way to lose weight is to combine cardio vascular activity and moderate to high weight training. Anyway, with the tuna I'll have veggies, crackers, pickles etc, and that's another meal.

For supper, I'll have sometimes a fillet of fish which is also like 100 calories, and maybe half a cup of rice which isn't much either...

According to the weight-to-calorie-intake I should be eating 2000 calories worth of food, roughly.

I find myself being full off 600-800, and I run for an hour a day which burns 500-600 calories..

Is this dangerous? I've never EVER starved myself. When I say I had a bowl of spinach with some egg and salad toppings and then a can of tuna with some crackers and assorted veggies they ask, "why are you starving yourself?". I've never felt hungry though... that's how I got fat in the first place.. eating when I was NOT hungry.

Anyway, I eat, but I don't over eat and i definitely DO NOT eat 2000 calories.. Before I lost this weight.. I was eating probably 3000-5000 calories on some days... it was REDICULOUS. I've seen improvements in my health, in my weight (MASSIVE improvements, I went from an XL to a medium size t-shirt), I am SO much more confidant and my self-esteem is at an all time high, etc. I feel that eating 2000 calories is just insane now that I've been eating healthy and working out every day.

Why do I feel this way? I haven't 'plateau'd' or had any bad side effects from this lifestyle change and exercise schedule, so should I be worried?

I tend to over-do things sometimes, and I admit sometimes I do 2 hours of cardio a day (one hour in the morning and one before bed, but this is VERY rare, like once every two weeks, I usually get one hour a day in regularly) but only because it makes me feel so ALIVE! It's like a drug. I've never done drugs or been addicted to anything so.. I figure it's not a bad thing.. right?

Can I get some reassurance that I'm doing this the right way? Obviously I am, or I wouldn't have lost over 40 pounds and gained this muscle I've never had.

If I start eating more healthy food and such will I continue to lose weight? The problem is, healthy food is very low in calories, and I can only eat so much before I get bloated.

Maybe I'm wrong, I don't know. That's why I came here.

 

[MattV1984]

These kinds of topics are really hard and the BEST advice can only come from a registered dietician/ nutritionist, which I am not, but I will offer what advice I can based off personal experience and schooling in Exercise and Sport Science.

If you are working out as much as you say and eating so few calories you are playing a VERY dangerous game with your body that will catch up to you. You may have been able to sustain this practice over time as your body has fed on itself for the necessary calories but you may/will reach a point where your body starts feeding off muscle tissue rather than just fat because there will be nothing else to get energy from. Something to keep in mind is Resting Metabolic Rate which simply put is the amount of calories your body burns throughout the day for normal bodily functions including rest and recovery, not even taking into account calories burned from physical activity. Your height/ sex are not listed so just for example a 25yr 5’ 9” male will have a resting metabolic rate of roughly 1889 calories. That means the body is burning that many calories throughout the day without taking into account physical activity. If you are only taking in 600-800 AND exercising so frequently you are putting yourself in danger because your body WILL eventually turn on other tissues such as muscle tissue for energy.

The most common recommendation for weight loss is to use a caloric intake requirement calculator that will show you how many calories you need to eat to maintain your weight. You then subtract 500 from that per day and that is your caloric intake goal for healthy weight loss. Some people will go with a higher deficit and be fine but not everyone is different and most certainly do not go for the deficit you may have. Generally speaking the lowest caloric intake for a male should be 1200 calories a day if I am not mistaken and even that is dangerous, ESPECIALLY if the individual is highly physically active!

What you should do at this point is use a few online calorie calculators to get an idea of what you should be taking in (subtract 500-1000 calories from your weight maintenance calorie requirements). Then you should start a food log, you can find a free one online from fitday, this will allow you to more accurately track your caloric intake; some people think they are taking in a lot fewer calories than they really are because they don’t take into account drinks, condiments, etc.

A few other things to consider:
- Everyone is different in their nutritional needs and how their body reacts to exercise

- If the body does not get enough calories to sustain its metabolic rate it will turn to bodily tissues which include muscle tissue, not just fat. Insufficient nutrient intake can also lead to organ failure, bone density loss leading to easy fractures and breaks, immune system failure leading to various diseases, and many other complications.

- Some people think they are gaining muscle when really it is simply becoming more visible as the adipose tissue (fat) decreases. In fact many people experience muscle LOSS during weight loss because they are not getting enough protein and other nutrients. Remember protein is vital to tissue building and repair, more specifically amino acids from protein. If you are not getting enough amino acids from dietary protein the body will take it from bodily muscle tissue for tissue repair causing tissue building to suffer.

- If you are having trouble meeting your caloric requirements because you are full turn to more nutrient (protein, carbohydrate, fat) dense foods. Low calorie and low fat can sometimes become too much of a focus. Protein is needed for tissue building and repair, carbohydrates are needed for energy and cognitive functioning, and not only are some fats (polyunsaturated and monounsaturated) good for you in moderation, they are necessary for the body to properly function. You should be wary of excess caloric intake, but at the same time you should not be afraid to eat. Your body needs calories and at the end of the day weight loss is determined by caloric intake through dietary means versus caloric expenditure through exercise and resting metabolic rate. Create a HEALTHY deficit in this equation and you will continue to lose weight in a safe manner.