Diet, Exercise & Calorie Help Please

[smeakim]

Hey All.... I wanted to make sure I am thinking about this correctly. Based on what I have read to maintain a weight of about 175 I need to eat about 2200 calories a day. So If I weight more than 175 and did not exercise and ate 2200 calories I would lose weight slowly because I am eating less calories than it takes to maintain my current weight which is more than 175. So now lets say I add in exercising at the gym burning about 500 calories for a workout session. Now if I eat 2200 calories and then exercise enough to burn another 500 that means my net calories for the day is about 1700. This is less than my goal of 175 at 2200. So, if eat 2500 calories and take off the calories burned at the gym I net out at 2000 calories still less than the 2200 calories needed to get to 175. It will be slower because i am upping my calories but still losing weight at a slow reasonable rate. Does this sound right????? All help is appreciated.

[VTGreg]

That sounds about right. However, the 2200 calories per day to maintain a weight of 175 makes a bunch of assumptions. Just make sure that you fit into the profile of those assumptions.

A way to get a number that is closer to your actual daily calories burned is:

66 + (6.23 X weight in pounds) + (12.7 X height in inches) - (6.8 X age)

Then mulitiply this value by one of the following factors based on your activity factor:

Sedentary (no exercise) 1.2
Light Activity (exercising 1 to 3 days per week) 1.3 to 1.4
Moderate Activity (3 to 5 days per week) 1.5
Very Active (6 to 7 days per week) 1.6 to 1.7

You could use the 1.2 factor and then remove any calories from exercising to get pretty close. You have to burn an extra 3500 calories to lose 1 pound.

[smeakim]

66 + (6.23 X 175 in pounds) + (12.7 X 69) - (6.8 X 31) * 1.3 = 2663 calories each day to stay at 175. So if I go to the gym 3-5days a week which I do and eat 2500 calories then I net out at 2000 which is close to the same as eating 2500 and bruing off 500netting out at 2000 which is probably closer to weighing 155. I think this all works out then. Yes????

[Cubsfan]

What are you trying to do? Lose weight, or get more fit at your current weight? Just curious. If you're trying to lose weight, counting calories may not be fun. I tried that in the past, and, frankly, failed miserably every time.

[zippyjuan]

The most important thing is your activity level. If you merely reduce calories, your body will gradually adapt to the lower consumption by slowing your metabolism- making it easier to regain and retain fat if you resume your intake without changing your exercising. Consuming the same while increasing your output will result in lower body fat.

Counting calories is difficult and time and effort consuming. Just eat less junk and exercise more. Aerobic exercise helps burn calories and weight training increases muscle mass which also increases calories burned.

[ramazank2]

VT Greg where did you get that formula?

[smeakim]

I used to weigh 230. Down to 195-200 now and trying to get to 175 as a goal. I don't mind tracking the calories as I use a site called fitday which pretty much does it for me. I am trying to figure out what I need to eat to ensure I am not eating too few calories while also making sure it happens at a reasonable rate. I don't want to starve myself and then pig out so trying to find that right balance.

[VTGreg]

VT Greg where did you get that formula?

That formula is from the most recent issue of Bicycling magazine.

[molecularfire]

Wow, that's a lot of math. The problem with equations is that there are way too many variables such as: variations in metabolic rate between people, individual variations in metabolic rate based on weight, muscle mass, etc... As you lose more weight, your body works harder to maintain the energy sources. I have found for myself that anything that I can't maintain is pointless even if it does work temporarily. The best thing for me is to try to eat healthy (as a general rule, we know when we're eating healthy and when we're not), watch portion size, and to work out regularly. Find a lifestyle that you can live with that's healthy and stick with it and the weight will lose itself.

[Jeffbx]

:stupid:

Short term changes to reach a goal will almost never work. If you reach your goal, are you going to continue counting the calories? Because if you stop at that point you're at risk to go right back to where you were.

I always say make gradual, permanent changes. Increase your activity level, but slowly over a long period & make it a part of your lifestyle. Change your eating habits, but only small bits at a time. Make obvious easy changes - stop eating french fries or doughnuts, for example.

About 10 years ago I had little to no activity & I never watched what I ate, but I never really gained any weight (good metabolism, I guess). But once I hit 30, I started noticing all of the clothes in my closet were shrinking for some reason. :shrug:

So, I started running. The first time I went I couldn't even make it once around the block in my neighborood, which is about 1k. 6 years later, I ran my first marathon. I still work out 3-4x time a week, and my usual routine is a 5-6 mile run plus 275 push ups. It took me YEARS to get to this point, but I do it regularly & now it's just part of my life.

So I say forget about calories, work on gradual changes, and focus on increasing activity while decreasing the worst foods. I still eat whatever I want whenever I want, but everything in moderation.

[cheapie]

i think fitday's base metabolism calculation is pretty high. i use it as well but don't really trust the caloric calculations. i use it to track my workouts.

i've lost about 20 pounds over the last 14 months or so. mostly through eating in moderation and working out 4-5 times every week.

[smeakim]

yeah I just use it to track calories and workouts. Most of my stuff I put in manually so I know the calories are right. I base my calroies bruned on a polar heart rate monitor (F10) model. Yeah trying to eat right but the weekends always kill me. I have lost about 30 pounds over the last six months or so.

[zippyjuan]

That is great. Sustainable weight loss is usually put at about two pounds a month. A person loses the most at the beginning and less later on as the body adjusts to the workouts and diet.