Weight-Loss So confused....can someone help?

[blubill]

I'm in a weight loss contest at work. The winner takes all and that would be $1,050. So needless to say I'm in it to win it. I started the competition at 6'1" 289 pounds and immediately quit drinking pop (was drinking 5-8 a day), started eating healthy (it was terrible before), and started going to the gym.

During the first week I lost 14 pounds through all of the above changes. I know that is too much which is part of the reason I'm here.

It's now late in the second week and I have gained 3 pounds back. I'm still eating the same foods and exercising twice a day. According to the gym machines I'm burning around 1100 calories a day. A little hard work isn't going to keep me from my goals. So I'm not totally worried about the weight I gained back because I lost so much in the first week. Plus I feel like it's probably muscle gain.

The real concern is what I'm eating. I don't think I'm eating near enough and want to know for sure. According to my calculations I am taking in around 900-1000 calories a day. I've heard I'm supposed to be eating like 2000 calories a day for the workout plan I'm doing (45 minutes on the elliptical in the morning, 45 minutes on the elliptical at night and 45 minutes of biking at night).

What do you guys think?

 

[Omega]

My opinion FWIW:

A lot of the weight that you lost in the first week was water weight. That is what happens at the start of a diet.

I think that you need to look at exactly what food it is that you are eating. OK you have counted the calories - but have you given any consideration to whether it is for instance high sodium which causes water retention. If there are more than 2300 mg sodium then you may have gained water weight.

It may surprise you to think that you can go high sodium without adding salt to your cooking or plate - but it is in fact very easy. I was surprised when I went high sodium on Saturday. Investigation led me to realise that there had been over 1000mg sodium in the 2 cups of plain boiled celeriac that I eaten. It had been enough to send me over 2300mg.

I'm guessing that you are male (although I do know ladies your height). Ladies retain water at certain times of the month.

My suggestion is that you should analyse your food and hone it... Check that you are hitting targets for things like protein, fibre, calcium etc. Your body might run ok with excessive exercise for the odd week or two - but I really am not sure that you can keep it up if you do not ensure that you are getting nutritional rocket fuel. I doubt that you can give your body enough goodness with just 1000 calories.