Unhealthy notions

[Strick09]

Ive been here for about three weeks and I have noticed a lot of unheathy trends here, correct me if im wrong, but I dont feel its super healthy to cut caloric intake to 1500 calories for men that are 6'0 (most of the time most men should not go below 1800 calorie diet) and people go strictly off of weight. The best way to measure where you at is body fat percentages or measurements. Yes I know I use weight some what (for setting goals and what not) but im a lot more concerned with my measurments! expecially since I go to the gym and get my swole on :-p , but on a serious note I could not see myself ever eating only 1500 calories and even then on top of that going to the gym too. I only want to lose a max of 2 pounds a week as that is whats safe and I know i will be able to keep off. Does anyone see this on the site too?? I mean personally I would never tell anyone to restrict themselvs to 1500 or less calories. Please lead me if i am incorrect hope to hear some good responses!!!

[rpmcduff]

I think your individual Calorie Deficit is the most important number and not just the amount of calories you are eating. I am personally eating between 1300 and 1400 calories daily but my activity level is low so my Calorie Deficit is about 800 calories (since my BMR is about 2263). I would have never believed when I started my weight loss journey that I could be satisfied with 1300 calories daily. If I were going to the gym regularly like you then I could (and would) eat more calories and maintain the same deficit.

Most people can handle a Calorie Deficit of 750-800 calories daily. Many can maintain a 1000 calorie deficit without throwing their bodies into starvation mode and stalling their weight loss efforts. But the amount of calories eaten can vary widely due to Sex, Age, Weight and activty levels.

Somewhere in the old posts a female member (who is short, like 4'-11"?) was chastised because she was eating less than 1000 calories daily. Some members quoted their doctors who had thrown out the 'women should never eat less than 1000 calories a day' and were quite hurtful in their remarks. The fact was this ladies calorie deficit was only about 500 per day due to her age, height and activity level. So her calorie deficit was quite healthy.

I agree with you that the scale is not always the best indication of success. Body fat percentage and body measurements can show progress when the scale doesn't change. I also agree that a sustained weight loss of greater than 2 pound per week is unhealthy with the caveat that those who are 100+ pounds over weight can lose much more than 2 pounds/week safely in the early stages of their diets. As they lose their rate of loss should slow to 1-2 pounds weekly.

[FutureizNow]

Very well said Ron.

The only thing I can add is that a larger daily defiicit can be tolerated better by people with larger fat % to lose. As you get leaner a large deficit is more likely to eat into your lean body mass.

I'm also most comfortable in the 700-800 deficit range. It's slow going but not very draining either I can't speak to the "keeping it off" issue - I am over shooting my desired weight by a few pounds expecting to put some back on after reverting to more-or-less normal patterns (without daily tracking).