Weight Loss

Yes, the average amount a women should eat is at least 1200.  We all agree on this. But... what CC does not calculate is this:

I will use myself as an example. I'm 5'5 134lbs and 22 years old.  I have my activity set on sedentary as I sit in an office all day and classes (1700 cals/day) and add any additional excercise (going to the gym etc..) on top of that.

Now at 1700 cal/day CC says I could safely eat 1200 cal/day and lose 1/lb pere week.  WRONG.  Eating 1200 still puts my body in starvation mode!

Why?

My BMR is 1440.  this is the number that my body would burn if i slept for 24hrs straight.  It is the min # i need to eat to maintain my normal bodily functions (ex: breathing)  If I eat lower than this my body will go into starvation mode and store everthing I eat to have a 200 cal reserve for each day I only ate 1200 cal.

What this means as far as losing 1 lb per week:

1440+500 = 1950 burned to lose 1/lb per week

If I don't work out one day and still want my 500 deficit...too bad I cannot get it.  The highest deficit for that day will be 260.  Never eat below your bmr! and bmr is not 1200 for everyone that is an AVERAGE

I followed CC's advice in sept 06 to eat 1200 a day and safely lose.  What bull! I started at 129lbs and in 4 months had gained 15lbs. I was excercising and eathing healthy, just not enough. Once I figured out what was going wrong I bumped up my cals.  In another 3months I was back down to 134 by eating more!  I wasn't able to work out during this period either because I was too busy.  That's 10lbs in 3 months by eating more and not working out!!!!

Also while i'm posting I have something to add about low fat/carb diets.  Yes they work for the most part. But the biggest mistake that people make is think that if they eat no fat their body won't gain any fat. Wrong! You could eat no sugar or fat at all (hypothetically) but if you at 1500 cal and only burned 1400, 100 cal of those no fat no sugar foods would be turned into FAT by your body.  anything extra your body gets that is not burned off is turned into fat, regardless if it was a non fat food to begin with.

This also explains body starvation mode.  If you are eating low fat/carb but eating below your bmr you will gain fat.  Your body knows it needs to start reserving energy to maintain your bodily functions, so it turns whatever you feed it to fat because it is scared it would get feed again (and then what will it use to give you the energy to breathe?)  once you start eating at your bmr or higher again, you will initially gain a few lbs because your metab. is still slow, but once your body realizes it is getting food it will start let go of its reserves and you will start being able to lose as your metab. speeds back up.

This is also why it is important to eat breakfast! Even though you have only slept for about 8hrs this is enough time for you body to slowly start storing rather than burning.  If you eat as soon as you get up, your body knows it has energy till your next meal and won't hold onto your dinner from the night before.

Now people, STOP WITH THIS 1200 crap! calculate your BMR!

How do you calculate your BMR? THis might be why I've been stalled for a while, and it sounds like you know a fair amount about this, so maybe you can help....

I am currently 235 {the scale said something different this moring, but I REFUSE to beleive I gained 4 lbs since tuesday} 5'4", 33 years old, I spend 8a-4:30p m-f at a desk and am not terribly active {just "normal" household activities} so I set the allotment calculator for sedentary. It told me that I should have 1302 calories/day to reach my goal weight of 180 lbs by mid-August. It also told me that on an "average" day {again, activity level set to sedentart} I burn 2200 calories.

Lately I have been averaging between 15XX - 17XX calories per day....am I doing it wrong?

equation:

655+ (4.35*weight in lbs)+(4.7 * height in inches)-(4.7*Age)

For you: 655 +(4.35*235)+(4.7*64) -(4.7*33) = 1826

This means for your body to function (breathe, digest etc..) You need at min 1826. Now as you lose weight this number will go down so you need to keep recalculating. Google has a calories per day calculater that calculates this and so does bizcalc.com

Multiply this number x 1.2 (sedentary factor) to get what you burn by going to work house chores etc. = 2192 calories is how much you burn on a normal day. So if you eat 1826 per day you will automatically have a deficit of 366 cal/day. If you want 1lb per week you need to increase your activity in order to get the 500 cal deficit, you would need to burn 2326. Now if you are eating the 1826 but have a deficit of more than 800, you need to bump up the eating 100-200 calories, and maintain a 500-700 deficit.

You just need to eat a little more. 200-300 cal under your BMR does not seem like that much but over time your body is going to store so each day you hit under your bmr mark it has a few extra cal to use to keep you alive. Think about it, you need 1826 to keep your body going if you only eat 1300 you can't keep your metabolism healthy let alone have enough energy to even be sedentary! Now you may not be able to reach your goal as fast but at least it will be permanent once you get there.  CC has you at a 900 cal deficit which is generally not recommended unless you have a substantial amount of weight to lose.  I would say for you that a 800 deficit is the max you should go.

Remember to recalculate your BMR every now and then to get your new guideline. For example when you reach your goal of 180 (and you will!) your BMR would go down to 1584. At 225lb your BMR would be 1779. So just check it every now and them.

It may seem like you are eating a lot but trust me it's the right thing to do.  I'm still having trouble eating the amount I need for my BMR and I still feel like a stuffed pig with that amount, but your body will get used to it and then you go down slowly from there.

Let me know if you have any more questions!

YOU ARE SO RIGHT!!!! I started out at 238 lbs....IM 5'9. Not knowing anything about weightloss I just cut back to 1500 calories a day and exercised 30-60 minutes a day.I was eating like 3500 a day! I lost 38lbs, but hit a wall. I thought it was a plateau. I tried lowering calories even more...to like 1200-1400 a day. MInd you I am 5'9 and moderately active. I made things worse with out even knowing what the hell I was doing to my body. After 6 months of gaining weight everytime I would splurge a little I consulted a nutritionist. I had gained 10 lbs for no reason other than my metabolism had slowed WAY down so when I would splurge it was stored as fat. Anyway the nutritionist put me at maintenance for a month. I GAINED 10 more freakin lbs!!! I wanted to cry. Jan 1st was my first day back at this thing. I am now eating 1800-2000 with a cheat day every so often. I keep telling myself that this will work, it has too. I was just so used to the idea that you had to eat less to lose weight. I will be adding more exercise before I lower my calories like that again.

People are so mis-informed, starvation mode is REAL.

Thanks so much for posting this - I learned after a few months of this that I needed to stay above about 1400 for my own body, but your explanation, especially with the equation (which I knew, but I had never focused on the BMR part of it) is wonderful. With so many new people on this site - it's amazing how many people will be eating too little.

I'm so glad you explained this.  I didn't know how to calculate my BMR and was getting really confused by this site (I'm new).  When I initially put all my information in it set me up at 1750 calories a day burning 1900 w/a goal date of Sep 08, which I thought was reasonable since I'm 5.9" and would like to lose 20-30 lbs the 'right' way.  BUT...When I go into the tools area (under 'Calorie Target') it tells me 1200 calories a day with a goal date of July 08 (letting it assign the date).  !!!???  Even if I change the date to Sep 08 it only ups the calories to 1389 a day.  That's amost a difference of 361 calories from the initial evaluation, which is significant.  I think this tool is what is confusing so many people on CC and reinforcing incorrect information about calorie intake.  Clearly something is off on that Calorie Target tool.

By the method you list above my BMR is 1931, so I need quite a few more calories than I've been allowing myself.  The one day I splurged this week I didn't even hit 1931!  No wonder I've felt sort of 'off'.

Thanks!

Original Post by lizshuler:

equation:

655+ (4.35*weight in lbs)+(4.7 * height in inches)-(4.7*Age)


Multiply this number x 1.2 (sedentary factor) to get what you burn by going to work house chores etc. = 2192 calories is how much you burn on a normal day. So if you eat 1826 per day you will automatically have a deficit of 366 cal/day. If you want 1lb per week you need to increase your activity in order to get the 500 cal deficit, you would need to burn 2326. Now if you are eating the 1826 but have a deficit of more than 800, you need to bump up the eating 100-200 calories, and maintain a 500-700 deficit.

 

Just rechecked something - this is the equation for women.
For the men out there, the equation is:
BMR = 66 + (6.3 x Body Weight in lbs) + (12.9 x Height in inches) - (6.8 x age)

Makes sense. I always wondered where the numbe 1200 came from as a "fixed" number!

How do you do that 1.2 is the sedentary factor, and what would be the factor for the other lifestyles?

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!

I was really starting to get down on myself - and feeling sluggish and grumpy and miserable a lot of the time...most likely because I'm not eating enough!

My fiance is going to kick me because we were talking this morning, and he basically said the same thing - that I am eating well, I just need to eat a little more {and I will add - exercise more often!}

I'll be sure to re-apply that equation as I move toward my goal :)

Original Post by lizshuler:

Now people, STOP WITH THIS 1200 crap! calculate your BMR!

I agree. 1200 is an minimum but it may not be your minimum!

This is a major pet peeve on the site--joining, and not bothering to use the tools that will guide you along the way. Then write a bunch of posts that could be answered if you would just use the site tools.

 

Ok I think I got this??? My BMR would be 1325 I am 5'3 24 and want to be at 112 pounds I am at 116ish right now. So is 1325 what I burn a day? The total cals I should eat? I am kinda confused about that part. I jump on my mini trampoline for 20 mins a day and that is supposed to burn about 80 cals. Where does that factor in? How much am I suppose to eat to lose 1 pound a week effectively? Sorry lots of questions, please help!

Thanks,AMy

Yes, the equation I posted is the equation for women! Here is a website with the calculator since the equation can be tedious: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

Once you get the BMR mulitply it by the appropriate activity factor (I normaly do sedentary and then add my workouts on top of that)

ActivityActivity Multiplier
Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
Mod. active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
Extr. active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.)


http://www.shapefit.com/basal-metabolic-rate. html is a great website that explains BMR in great detail.

www.freedieting.com gives you this number as well, so you really don't have to do the math.  loosingthepounds did this as well.  She ate her BMR calories and left it at that though.

I have to ask though, because I do the same thing, follow my BMR #, mine is 1664, your saying if I exercise say 300 cals burned I should eat 1964.  Is this realistic?  I usually just stick to my BMR # and by the end of the day i'm at 1300 which seems ok.  I never trusted the adding calories back thing. Even in Weight Watchers, they do it to, you add points for activity.

 

Great post. And I agree...many of the questions asked on the boards can be easily answered. I eat around 1800 a day (I just started this diet) but I am rather tall (6-0) and my BMR is 1703 which is pretty close to the 1800. I DO NOT want my body to go into starvation mode. I still exercise a lot and I'm running a half marathon in April. BUT, I am trying to lose some weight at the same time. I'm just surprised how high it is, I guess. But I do thank you for the note (sometimes I wonder where the sanity and common sense is on this site) and I guess it can't hurt to try upping my cals a bit.

 

Thanks! 

amyjo174:

http://nutrition.bizcalcs.com/Calculator.asp? Calc=Daily-Metabolism

1325 is what you burn by just being alive (this will go down a little as you lose weight) this number does not include any activity whatsoever.  If you sit in an office most of the day and do not workout you would be sedentary which has an activity factor of 1.2.  1325 x 1.2 = 1590. This means just doing your normal daily routine without any moderate excersise you burn 1590.  You say you burn 80 on the tramp so i would add that to your 1590 to get 1670.  You could eat 1670 cal a day and not gain weight. To lose weight you can either decrease your cal but no less than 1325 or you can up your excercise.  Best thing to do would be a little of both.  If you eat 1325 and burn 1670 you have a deficit of 345 cal per day.  That's .7lbs per week.  If you want to lose 1lb per week you need a 500 cal deficit (1lb = 3500cal/7 days = 500/day) to fit this 500 in you must increase your excercise because you cannot lower your calories below 1325...so you must burn 1825 to get the 500 deficit.  I would recommend eating about 1400 per day and then burning 1900 (to make ensure you don't drop below your BMR by accident)  So all in all if you eat 1400 you need to burn in addition to the tramp another 230 cal a day.  Hope that made sense, let me know if you have more questions.

the website i gave you has the BMR calc. as well a the activity levels, so you can just plug in your activity and see what you burn.  Just remeber as long as you never go below your BMR and burn more than you eat, you will lose weight.

jjlewis305.  If your BMR is 1664, do not eat below that. you will sabatoge your diet if you do. 1300 cals is way to low for you to eat if your BMR is that high.  1664 is what your body needs to help you breathe, make your heart beat, create blood cells etc.. if you eat below this number your body will panic and hold onto everything you eat so that each day you are below the 1664 it has reserves keep your alive.  Remember this is what you would burn if you slept 24 hr/day.  You would burn more than this by just sitting on the couch all day.   If you want to have a 300 cal deficit add 300 to 1664 and that is what you need to burn. If you want to lose 1lb/week --> 1664+500 = 2164. 

If you want to maintain your weight you eat what you burn. So in your example if you burn 300 cal + 1664 (BMR) you would eat 1964. 

to lose weight if you burn 300 + 1664= 1964 and you only eat 1664 you have a deficit of 300.  You are not adding the cals back which is where I think you are confused.  Just forget that notion.  Plain and simple: if you want to lose weight eat your BMR and no lower and burn more than you eat.  If you want to eat more than your BMR that is perfectly fine just make sure you burn more than you eat!

wait, re: jjlewis

BMR is 1664, so that's the minimum. But to figure out what to eat, we do:
Sedentary = BMR(1664) * 1.2 = 1996 + exercise(300) = 2296 - deficit(500) = 1796

That's going to be your 500 deficit, still above your BRM.

amethystgirl, thanks for laying that out. I can't believe I have to eat SO many calories! Yikes!  No wonder I was gaining weight before, eating so little.

sorry, I have no idea how I'm repeating my posts!