Weight-Loss Would like some advice on calorie intake

[Chicago Guy]

Hello,

I need some advice on the amount of calories I should consume every day. I calculated my BMR on a couple of sites and came up with 2616 calories or so. You can see the rest of my stats in my signature. My daily lifestyle is a very inactive one and all I do is work. I work 9-9.5 hours a day four days of the week, and 12-13 hours the other three days, which mostly involves standing for prolonged hours chewing gum with minimal activity or movement.

However, I will be working out at least an hour a day from now on, which should burn roughly 500 calories a day based on a calculator I found online.

My question is this, what is the lowest amount of calories I can take in that will be considered safe for my body? The reason I ask is not because I am trying to lose weight too quickly, but because I have virtually no apetite for the first 6 or so hours after I wake up. My main problem is grossly overeating right before going to sleep, which I am planning to eliminate, so it will be hard consuming alot of calories during the day especially since I have even less of an apetite during the day if I did not eat the previous night. Thank you for your time.

 

[maleficent]

If you expect to take the weight off and keep if off for the rest of your life, you need to change your habits... ya know that tried and true lifestyle change... you do not want to drop your calories too low as that's not realistic for the rest of your life and you want some "play" with your calories to keep you satisfied.

When you cut back on calories -it's also very helpful to know what you were eating before you decided to make the change... that will give you a good idea of where you really can cut back.

It's not when you eat your calories -but the amount that you eat that contribute to weight loss or gain... so if you're overeating at night, ask yourself why...

From my non-expert view, I wouldn't drop your calories much below 2500 for the day and just do a really good job of weighing and measuring what you are eating and keeping track... (a lot of people run into the problem of eyeballing measurements and being far off of what tehy think they are eating..

Get a decent digital kitchen scale and an account at

 

[Chicago Guy]

What you say definately makes sense to me. I understand that changing habits is an important part of getting healthy but to do a complete overhaul is going to be a little hard for me especially since I recently quit smoking. I am trying to tackle my problems one by one and try to gradually change my lifestyle over a short period of time.

I understand that right now, my biggest problem is that I eat way too much right before I sleep. I can easily rake up 1500 calories and even more. Heck, once I had two cups of noodles, two hamburgers, and a 12 oz. coke 15 minutes before sleeping, only to wake up with a nasty heart burn. Usually, I'll eat some form of a 700 calories sub or sandwich, a large fries, and a large pepsi a little while before sleeping. So the problem for me is huge food cravings at night which cause me to over eat.

For the rest of the day, the amount of food I eat is very small, I never have breakfast, and usually don't eat for the first 5-6 hours of my day. However, whatever food I do eat is usually a very high calorie food like a chocolate bar, cake or whatever.

The way I see it, the portions of food is really not a problem for me most of the day as I am satisfied with small portions of food no problem. It's the kind of food I eat that is the problem for me and as long as I choose healthier, low fat foods, I wouldn't suffer too much. I will try to completely stop eating when I go to sleep, and have a nice 500> breakfast instead.

2500 calories sounds a bit too high for me, especially when going for low calorie foods.. that sounds like it would amount to alot of food, no? . If my BMR is 2616 and I only work off 500 calories a day? That would amount to less than one pound loss a week am I correct? I was hoping to lose at least 2-3 pounds a week. Please advice further on this matter. Thank you

 

[maleficent]

Why go for "low calorie" food - eat real food... ya know the stuff you'll be eating for the rest of your life.

Your BMR is basically your calories should you never get out of bed...

It's also not an exact science - you do have to make some adjustments based on the condition your metabolism currently is in..

 

[Chicago Guy]

As far as my metabolism goes, I am sure it is very slow. I go for prolonged periods of time barely eating and don't really lose weight. But then again I never used to work out at all and am very inactive.

Normal food for me would be cheeseburgers and pizza. Everything else is low calorie food for me so excuse the terminology

 

[BigFatLoser]

Don't Skip Breakfast to Lose Fat

For the rest of the day, the amount of food I eat is very small, I never have breakfast, and usually don't eat for the first 5-6 hours of my day. However, whatever food I do eat is usually a very high calorie food like a chocolate bar, cake or whatever.

CG, Not having breakfast is a big mistake. You're sabotaging your metabolism by skipping breakfast and not eating for the first 6 hours. Studies have been done that show a definite correlation between obesity and skipping breakfast.

Also, skip the refined sugar like what you eat in the chocolate bar cake or whatever. The cake is also full of refined, white flour, which your body treats like sugar. Changing from those kinds of snacks to some nuts and a low sugar, protein fortified, whole grain cereal bar would really help you drop that body fat, and faster than you would think.

Hope this helps,

BFL

 

[Steve]

CG, Not having breakfast is a big mistake. You're sabotaging your metabolism by skipping breakfast and not eating for the first 6 hours. Studies have been done that show a definite correlation between obesity and skipping breakfast.

I'd be interested in seeing the research you have supporting the claim that not having breakfast sabotages your metabolism, if you don't mind.

I've got a few papers on the particular subject... but I'm curious to see where you're pulling your information from.

Thanks.

 

[paydirt]

I would think that if you are splurging late at night it might help for you to regulate your blood sugar and insulin levels throughout the day. 300 calorie "meals" throughout the day wouldn't hurt...

 

[BigFatLoser]

I'd be interested in seeing the research you have supporting the claim that not having breakfast sabotages your metabolism, if you don't mind.

I've got a few papers on the particular subject... but I'm curious to see where you're pulling your information from.

Thanks.

Steve,
I've read it more than a few places, some possibly of dubious qualifications (magazines and the like), but here's a quote from a study on diet induced thermogenesis performed at the Department of Human Biology, Maastricht University in The Netherlands -
"Resting metabolic rate did not return to basal metabolic rate before lunch at 4 h after breakfast"

From this, it would seem that if you were to skip breakfast, your metabolism would stay closer to the basal rate, instead of rising as it was shown to do in the study. Here is a link to a chart showing the effects of diet induced thermogenesis. Note how the metabolism shows a dramatic increase immediately post meal.



I hope this is of some help,
BFL

 

[Steve]

I'm a firm believer in eating breakfast. I think skipping it is foolish considering the overnight fast.

However, I don't really see it as a metabolic enhancer. It's the same argument of 3 vs. 6 meals. Sure, you get more frequent metabolic responses from more frequent feedings. However, you get a larger metabolic response from less frequent meals. And at the end of the day, the net result is no different.

TEF for a fixed number of calories is the same.

Splitting hairs, I'm well aware. I've seen that study before, thanks though for taking the time. I was simply curious as to what you were citing, is all.

Take care.