rpmcduff

How many calories you consume is only part of the equation when it comes to weight loss. Base Metabolic Rate (BMR), Exercise/Activity and the Calories Eaten are all used to determine your Caloric deficit or surplus. The equation is:
BMR + Exercise/Activity - Calories Eaten = Caloric deficit.

Since 1 pound of body weight equates to apprx. 3500 calories then if you maintain a 500 calorie deficit daily you would lose about 1 pound per week. (500calories X 7days = 3500)

On the surface it would appear that the greater the deficit the greater the weight loss. However the body has a built in preservation mode that actually reduces BMR once it feels it is being starved (this is referred to as starvation mode). Your optimal calorie deficit may take some experimentation to find. Michael (mecompco) and Cassie are a great example of the individual differences. Michael can eat 1000 calories a day and lose weight but Cassie (who is much smaller) needs to eat 1300 to avoid going into starvation mode.

Use the Fitday tools to find your BMR then try to acheive a deficit to match your goals. If your deficit is high and you aren't seeing results in two weeks adjust.

cjohnson728

Hi there! I'm glad to hear that logging your food was so helpful. It really is an eye-opener, isn't it?!

My thoughts on your questions: generally, doctors say that a 1-2 pound loss per week is the safest and most likely to last. However, if you are just starting, or if your weight is pretty significant to begin with, your weekly losses will naturally be bigger.

About the calories, everyone is different. Some say that under 1200 or so, your body starts to slow down the metabolism to conserve, making it harder to lose. Others say that is not true. There are people on this site who are examples of both, so it is not an absolute. If it works for you, do it, as long as your nutrition is okay.

I will say, though, that the fewer calories you take in, the harder it may be to sustain. You want to look at this as a lifestyle change, not a diet to go on and off, and whatever you change to should be something you can keep up forever.

And a big thumbs up on the protein and fiber!!!!!!!!

mecompco

Suzay, you first need to figure out your basal metabolism. This is how many calories you body burns daily just to survive, given your height, current weight, age and "lifestyle".

Once you have this number, and it is an estimate, you can then decide how many calories per day you can eat to meet your weekly weight loss goal. Any exercise, in addition to your basal metabolism number will either increase the amount of weight you lose or allow you to eat more.

This is called the "Calorie Deficit". Since we know it takes about 3500 calories to burn one pound of fat one can easily estimate the amount of weight one will lose in a given time period.

Example (me):

Basal metabolism w/1 mile walk per day: 3,100 calorie burn
Amount I eat per day: 1,500
Average daily calorie deficit: 1,600

Now to figure estimated weekly weight loss:
Weekly calorie burn: 3,100 x 7 = 21,700
Weekly calorie intake: 1,500 x 7 = 10,500
Weekly calorie deficit: 1,600 x 7 = 11,200
Calculated weekly weight loss: 11,200 / 3,500 = 3.2 pounds

Now, if you overestimate your burn, and/or underestimate your intake, your calculations won't be accurate and could result in no loss, or even a gain.

Do you weigh/measure your portions? From your list, I estimate that is more than 1200 calories. Also, there seems to be some processed items there, as well as simple carbs. You might consider trying to get some more protein in there, as well as fresh fruits and veggies and reducing the white bread and pasta.

What you ideally want to do is find a calorie level at which you can stay comfortable and that provides you with enough of a calorie deficit to lose weight.

If you have questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Regards,
Michael

PS My daughter is your height and is 17. She, too, struggles with weight issues--it is a challenge but I know you can meet your goal if you put your mind to it!

PPS Other than by physically removing body parts (liposuction), it is biologically impossible to lose weight if you take in more calories than you burn--sorry.

SailorDoom

Maybe you're forgetting the number of calories you're burning though daily activity. FitDay has a tool to calculate this. This is calculated by taking your resting metabolic rate (RMR), which describes how many calories your body needs for basic function (think: sitting on the couch doing nothing but breathing, pumping blood, etc.) and using a "lifestyle" multiplier (the more active you are at school, work, chores or whatever, the higher it will be) to get a base amount of calories you need to do daily activities without exercise. For me (5'3", 135 lbs, 27yo female with an active job) it’s about 1800 calories. So I need 1800 calories to go about my life as usual -- your workout generally should not be figured into this equation, and is more "icing on the cake".

To lose weight you would need to create a calorie deficit. Here’s how:

Using my own example, let’s say I ate 1600 calories on a given day through a calorie-restricted diet and worked out hard enough to burn 300 calories. I'd take that base number of 1800 (based on caloric need for bodily function and active lifestyle) and subtract the 500 calories of deficit that I created with my diet and exercise efforts. My total net calories for the day would then be 1300 (which is 1800-500). Doing this for about a week should create a one pound weight loss (because you need create a 3500 calorie deficit to lose one pound). In theory. It’s different for everyone and the 3500 calories is really just a guideline. My example is also pretty simplified.

Also, be aware that FitDay's estimates for calories needed tend to be a little high. I'd recommend cross-checking it with a few different sites to get a more accurate estimate. Also, remember this is really all a big experiment with yourself -- if what you're doing isn't working, change up your routine! Give your body time to see if your strategy is actually having an effect. If not, tighten up your diet, hit the gym harder, and/or be honest with yourself about your goals and expectations. Be ready and willing to tweak things – the take home point is that while FitDay seems numbers-oriented and scientific, its just an educated estimate of what you can expect. No computer program can compete with personal dedication, honesty, and a willingness to adapt!

You mentioned that your goal is to lose body fat since you're already at a healthy weight. This can be tricky. Losing body fat is not the same as losing body weight. There's a saying that washboard abs are made in the kitchen, and that's where I'd start. I'd recommend taking a really close look at your diet. Make sure you're eating healthy, whole foods (the less processed, the better). The list you mentioned in your post seems pretty highly processed to me. Learning to like certain foods and how to cook them might be worth the rockin' body awaiting you.

Also, I would hit the weights a lot harder. Weightlifting burns way more body fat than most traditional steady state cardio. Focus on “big” movements like squats, lunges, push-ups (which you’ve got under control), and pulls, all of which use multiple muscle groups. This is discussed in many other posts here on FitDay. You can compliment your strength routine with short sessions of high intensity cardio (HIIT) to get the most bang for your buck. You may also need to increase the number of calories you're eating, helping you get a great workout through increased energy and really stoking the fire that is (or will be) your metabolism.

Keep tweaking your routine and you can do it!


EDIT: Sorry for the repeated info -- Michael got to the reply while I was typing that wall 'o' text. Good info in his post!!

RunbikeSki

Hi Jen,

The 502 calories you have calculated is the number of calories you would be allowed to eat in 1 day, if you wanted 3 pounds in a week. Not much is it???

The 1500 calorie number is the number of excess calories you need to burn every day, not consume.

For most women 1 to 2 pounds lost is about all your body can accomplish in a week. For one thing, 500 calories is really not enough food to keep you functioning without going into serious mental, emotional, and physical slump. Secondly, most bodies will go into a metabolic protective mode where the body just won't release the energy reserves in fat because the body is trying to protect you from starvation. (Thousands of years of adaptation has taught our bodies all sorts of survival techniques, and this is one of them).

So, you might want to run the calculations again for 1 or 2 pounds. A 500 calorie deficit (1 pound per week) would put your daily consumption at 1500 calories, which if you are just starting out will be challenging enough.

1000 calories a day will give you an approximately 2 lbs/week loss. But as you will surely see from reading the posts, 1000 calories requires very careful planning. A couple of crackers, or handful of nuts can put you way over.

Sorry to be the barer of bad news, but losing weight is not for sissies! It takes dedication and patience. But it is totally do-able, as you will surely see by the posts from all these folks who have succeeded.

Post back if you have other questions. There is tons of experience and knowledge here.

shaun823

Hi there! I don't think there really is a magic number. It's best to just listen to your body...when you begin to feel your energy levels drop, you'll know your caloric intake is too low. And when trying to lose weight, the last thing you want to happen is for your metabolism to slow down and eating too few calories will do just that.

I'm no professional but I wouldn't recommend going below 1200, maybe 1000 calories at most. That's pretty low as it is and you don't wanna cause any harm to yourself. Ultimately though, it depends on how you feel. If you can eat 1000 calories a day and still function through work and working out just fine, then you're good. Just break up your meals throughout the day to keep the metabolism going.

BTW... Based on your stats, you seem to be doing just fine at 1200 calories. Be patient and keep up the good work.

Shaun

mecompco

I'll have to agree--there is no magic number and everybody responds differently. Personally, in the past I've dropped weight like crazy on 0 calories (for 30 days) and at 1,000 cals (for nine months) and now since last May at 1500 calories.

Fully admitting that I'm no expert, I think the whole "starvation mode" thing is, at best, misunderstood. I don't deny that the body may, at a certain level, burn fat more slowly. But, as long as you take in less calories than you expend, you WILL lose weight. The body is not a perpetual motion machine. You either live off the food you eat or what's stored (or some of both).

So, I say experiment. You may find it easier to stick to more that the absolute survival calories, thus weight loss will over time improve. Some have found that they actually lose faster with more calories (up to a point, of course). It's really up to you.

Regards,
Michael

wildbeanerz

I totally agree with Michael. I am 139lbs over the healthy weight for my height. That allows me to burn more calories doing the same activities as someone closer to their goal weight would. So yeah twice in the last month I lost over 6 lbs in a week but the other two weeks (TOTM ) I only lost about 2 lbs. It all evens out and as long as it is loss...I will take it!

Everyone loses at a different rate and your body knows what is best for you. Just keep up the hard work because it is obviously paying off for you since you have lost 20 lbs so far. And they say (I have no true experience) that slow weight loss is healthier and easier to maintain in the long run anyway.

So what I do is try to stick to 1500-1600 calories daily. Go for 30-45 min walks that equal about 1-1/2 miles on my lunch break and 3-4 times a week work out on our home gym while the other 2-3 times a week I do some leg strengthening and increased balance and flexibility exercises that I found in a magazine. Some day I may buy some DVDs to work out with but for now this is working for me. I have also stopped eating most bread, no more sodas (even diet) ... (well sometimes one glass of diet with dinner), and eat salad every weekday for lunch with no meats on it unless it is tuna.

Good luck! It isn't an easy road but it is a rewarding one!!

loseitalllaura

I lost 4 pounds this week (first week) but I have pretty much been killing myself. I've been charting everything (and I mean EVERYthing) I eat and trying to keep my calories around 1200. I've been doing cardio...either elliptical or recumbent bike every single day hard for at least 30 minutes. I'm drenched with sweat by the time I'm done. Oh, and lots of water!

mecompco

That sounds good to me--give it a week or two and see how it goes. I bet the added protein will help but don't give up if it takes a couple of weeks to see results.

I have to keep reminding myself that this is not a race and that I spent many years putting the weight on so it's not going to go away over night.

Regards,
Michael