calories

so, I'm trying to lose a bunch of weight. I weigh in every Monday morning. My calorie intake is as follows Sunday-Friday:

1. Coffee with real 1/2 & 1/2, 300 calories +/-
2. Dinner bag of pre mixed salad, 10oz grilled chicken, Italian dressing, (real, not lite or fat free) 300 calories
3. Popcorn, salted, big bowl (3/4 cup in-popped) 300 calories

Saturday,
1. Coffee w/cream 300 calories
2. 4 beers 400 calories,
3. Grill a small (10ozish) steak, salmon or chicken breast, grilled vegetables, thinking, 800 calories

I'm not exercising yet, trying to get my back under control (excuses)

No sugar, sweets, etc

carbs, in the popcorn (good carbs???) some in the lite beer and cream.

I'm losing 1-2 lbs a week, shouldn't it be more?

kicker: I'm 66 and been on EVERY funky diet ever available, even had gastric sleeve surgery. Nutritional Psychologist diagnosed me as a Chronic Binge Eater (CBE)

Cut out the beer and enjoy some straight whisky. Less calories and better buzz.

I noticed my biggest loses when I cut out the alcohol and only ate clean foods. Meaning I only ate veggies, fruits and meat. No sausage, sandwich meat, salad dressing, cheese or anything else that isn't completely natural and non-processed. You do that with moderate exercise and you will see the weight fall off. It took about 6 weeks for me to lose 20 pounds so that is around 3-4 lbs a week. In 6 weeks at the rate you are going, it will be noticeable in due time. Just keeping working hard at it and someone will notice and mention it to you and then it will really be on. Good luck and don't stop, it's right around the corner.

I downloaded an app and monitor my food through it. Keeps me accountable. I binge eat too but as long as you enter your info it makes me think about it a lot more. Also, any exercise can be entered to increase your calorie intake. I am 47 and have lost anywhere from 2-5 a week since the end of January.

Agreed, I eat less during the week so I can enjoy my beer on the weekend. Not the healthiest but it seems to work.

3500 calories saved is one pound of loss. Just cutting out the half and half would be 3 extra pounds a month. One pound of fat is quite a bit. It just takes time.

1-2 pounds a week is plenty, Buzz.

You have a lot of "empty" calories that are not helping excite your metabolism. You can replace those with "good" caloric fuel. This will actually increase your calories per day but burn more by making choices that stoke the furnace and speed your metabolic rate.

1-2 pounds per week is positive if it is coming from the proper areas/sources. When a person loses weight it comes form 3 areas: 1. Fluid; 2. Muscle tissue; 3. Fat tissue. Minimizing the fluid and muscle tissue loss is key. Throw your scale in the nearest dumpster and let your clothes be the tell tale sign. That scale is nothing more than negative reinforcement.

1-2lbs a week is a healthy weight loss. However, your calories are too low to be sustainable. Plugin to myfitnesspal if you're using that app or this website and you'll see the calorie goal you should aim for. https://www.iifym.com/iifym-calculator/

For pure weight loss, you don't need to exercise. You should lift some weights. You'll feel much better. I agree with H2O about quality food and you should quit looking at the scale more than once every couple weeks at most.

10 oz of chicken is about 500 calories so I think your calculations are a little bit off. But your diet seems decent, although I would consider eating 3-4 smaller meals throughout the day rather than a big dinner. At night most of your calories will go to storage rather than being burned as your activity level is lower. Try not to eat anything after 6:00 PM and consider intermittent fasting 1-2 days per week. The weight will fall off.

If you can walk a couple miles per day or do something to increase your caloric burn you will greatly increase your weight loss as well. Also, even some sort of weight training will increase it even more as your body continues to burn calories even after your work out.

I don't know how much you weigh, but unless you are already pretty skinny or have a lot of muscle you should be able to lose more than 1-2 lbs per week.

I use the my fitness pal app. Cutting calories works every time it is tried for my weight loss and gain. I had 5 years of my intake on a spreadsheet and had it down to a science how much I would gain or lose per week.

What's the update Buzz?

I’m using my Fitness Pal as well. It’s helped me drop 28 pounds since January. My problem is that I do not like vegetables, so that takes away a lot of clean, low calorie and filling foods off the table for me.

You guys have helped inspire me to start again. I started this Monday. I'm currently sitting at 243 and want to be at 215. Good luck and I will see you at the finish line.

Guys and gurus

I started my weight loss February 5th @ 311lbs. last Friday I was 288.
today, I was 288, NO LOSS

I had an epidural corticoid steroid injection in my back yesterday to fight this spinal stenosis. Wonder if this may have bloated me up or the Ringers drip they had in me during the 10 minute process.

So, am I over reaction, calories are still 1000- 1200 daily.

No exercise cuz of my back, till Doc says its ok.

Unfortunately, maybe, the last thing I eat about 7:30 is a bowl of popcorn w/ a little popcorn salt, popped in 2 tablespoons of veg oil. Do you think this "carb" is killin me? Its about 200 calories.

You have lost 23 lbs which is about 7.4% of your total body weight. I'd say that is an excellent start. Stay committed and don't quit.

You're fine, stalls happen. Your body likes the reserves and will occasionally buck you on losing too much too fast. If you haven't lost any more again next Friday, evaluate and see if you need to switch something up.

One way I've fixed stalls in the past is have a cheat meal (a meal, not an entire day). Go enjoy some chips and salsa with your dinner. I'm not sure if this actually works, but to me it tells your body 'ok, we're not dying, I can let go of fat again'

No beer or whiskey just clear vodka.....neat

You're doing great! Ad no that carb is not killing you. Your body has a set point. That point in which it 'knows' what weight it needs to be functioning optimally. Plateau is natural; 1#/week is your body telling you "Great Work - we are close." You may not be "close" yet but your body will ebb and flow based on stress etc. Spinal stenosis is a stressor. This is not rocket science but it IS physiological science. Keep on keepin' on.

Update, still hanging in , so far lost 32lbs. I'll weigh tomorrow, hopefully a couple more off.

So far the epidural injection is a miracle. Everything still hurts like normal but the injection killed the nerve pain which was killin me. I hope it lasts a LONG time!!!

I'm lucky, where I live we have an indoor pool, so Doc has me walking in the water, I also bought some "fitness" fins and a boogie board so I can do flutter kick laps. All this is supposed to be great building core muscles around my back.

I have my yearly physical next week, hopefully everything will look good.

I appreciate the support here guys.

This is inspiring to read about. Keep on keeping on and do like the clock does. Keep moving.

I do the calorie counting diet too. I try to stay at 1200 a day (but I have a cheat day of about 1700 calories 1 day a week) and exercise 3-5 days a week, usually walk 3-4 miles at a pretty fast clip (15mph) or ride a recumbent bike about 12 miles. Wanted to lose 35 lbs and have lost 25 so far. I will say this, the last 10 lbs is the toughest to lose.

I us My Fitness Pal and Map My Walk apps.

Good job, keep it up...and I will too.

This is great sir. One question: You mentioned 'usually walk 3-4 miles at a pretty fast clip (15mph)'. The average person walks 3.8 - 4.2 mph and world class sprinters have hit 18-20 mph. 15 mph on the recumbent is possible to sustain but I was curious about what you consider a "fast clip"?

Great job Stompy, I can only walk a half mile, maybe a mile. walking my dog, lets get this thing done, we will look great this dove season !!!

Your calories are too low

I'm glad someone else said it. I don't think anyone should ever eat under 1700 unless your prepping for a body building contest.

Yah this dude gonna tank his metabolism. If he is still eating this way he probably feels like total crap.

I'm sorry, when I said I walked a pretty fast clip I posted 15mph, what I meant was I walk a 15 minute mile, not 15mph.

1200-1400 calories a day for me works great and I feel great. Tried to do this on 1600 a day and it's wasn't working. I'm usually 1200-1300 a day but I'll cheat one day a week and have more. Been doing it for a couple of months now and I feel better than I have in years.

Each person is different though, I'm sure 1200 would be too low for some folks.

Buzz, I'm glad your documenting your journey. The wife and I are doing the HCG diet that goes 500 calories per day for about 4 weeks. It is a "no carb" diet.

I had to do something because my Type 2 diabetes was taking a bad turn. Keep us posted.

Not true, or not for everyone. Five years ago I did a 750-900 VLCD for 3-4 months. Get past the first week or so and your body starts getting its energy from it's fat vs intake. After the first week I remember feeling like I was 18 again. I went from 245-250 to 163.....

I can drop 7 lbs a week when I limit my calories to 1500/day. Did it for 4 months a few years back and I felt like I was in college again. Everyone is different

Not going to argue your point but it goes deeper than simply "cutting calories" and Koenig is correct in that the drastic shift in caloric intake will have negative impacts on metabolism. This can happen even while showing weight loss on the scale it does not show the internal effects of what it does to organs and other 'healthy' tissues.
The "body" which is general but includes all organs which need proper fueling and hydration to function properly get fuel from nutrition. When not present in proper forms or timing of nutrients it finds the next most efficient sources. Form most this is muscle...hence the rapid weight loss that you see on the scale. Fat is not as efficient a fuel and the body burns it last. I could go on and bore you more but this is basic physiology and science. There are some metabolic calculations you can perform that will give you a good estimate as to your specific daily needs. These can be adjusted based on activity level etc.

Agree with H20. You can't outsmart your body with weight loss. Slow and steady wins the race. That's part of why so many people lose 15-30lbs on Atkins, Weight Watchers, etc then get stuck and eventually give up when the numbers halt.

Disagree again, to a point. Your body does NOT burn muscle before fat. Glycogen is the preferred stored fuel for energy, this is stored in fatty tissues. Once a person depletes fat stores then it will begin to burn lean body mass for its fuel.
To get to that "to a point" now. If a person is doing nothing but an extremely low calorie diet then yes, they will lose muscle mass, just the same as someone would who is not doing anything to maintain it.
When I lost weight from running I was the exact opposite as you described. I went from a size 38 pants to a size 30. After less than a year of running my quads and calves could no longer fit in those pants, all on a low calorie diet.

And again respectfully disagree, but a diet is basically just that, cutting calories. It is simple math, calories in vs calories out. I assure you that someone who eats 6000 calories a day eating fast food is doing more harm on their organs than a person who is eating a healthy 900 calories.....

And if you are serious about a lifestyle change the scale is the worst tool for this.

Here's something that hasn't been mentioned I don't think either.

With that low of calories you're losing weight as your body is in starvation mode, and you don't want to lose weight like that. Our bodies are incredible machines, very very efficient, and they will adapt.

So if you ever decide you want to go back to eating 2500 plus calories a day, unless your the exception and not the rule, you're going to pack on the weight. Why? You've been in starvation mode, now you're not eating that much. Your body will grab absolutely everything it can that's extra and store as fat. It's your bodies way of coping for survival so it doesn't starve again.

Hopefully that makes sense. You're doing a good job, so keep it up, but weight loss is a marathon, not a sprint.

A tablespoon of half & half is only 20 calories. Either you're drinking A LOT of coffee or its basically white because of all of the cream in it. It would be easy to cut some of that out and save on the caloric intake.

I have been on a 1200 calorie diet for 4 months. With no negatives what so ever. I really figure i would feel starved to death but that hasnt been the case at all. I have made smarter choices what i put in my body, with that being said i think everyone has a mental threshold on what they think we need to able to live off of. Had 3 back operations in the past and having to deal with chronic pain it has limited my exercise ability. Bought a mountain bike and that was a major plus for my weight lose and stamina for my work ability. Im 48 years old and feel 30 again. My heaviest was 282, started my serious diet at 264 as of this morning i hit the scales at 232. I weigh every morning to start my day, keeps me focused on what im doing. Trying to hit that 199 mark and I WILL GET THERE.

I am counting calories for the first time in my life.

I use an app called 'Lose it!' I use it to find out what the calories are in what I am eating, especially when I am eating out. The app also tells me that I should be at 1992 calories to burn 1.5 pounds a week. It adds calories that I can consume when I put in my exercise.

I started at 214 a month ago and I am at 205. I also did a week vacation and I generally put on 5 pounds and I held my weight.

I did not realize the calories that I was consuming when I ate out. I plug in what I want to eat and the restaurant name and most of the time a calorie count is there.

I will add that I am sad to find out how many calories are in IPAs. I love having a couple (ok, more) every once in a while. I cannot do it while I am trying to lose weight. I should be able to when I go into a maintenance mode.

My metabolism was killed about 45 years ago when I began my addiction to bad foods.

I'm down 37 lbs, losing about 2lbs a week. This is going to be a journey not a sprint and hopefully a life style change.

I am "cheating" a bit with some empty calories re; Halo Top "ice cream" not the REAL thing but a close second. Beer twice a week.


Last night I grilled a slab of Beef back ribs, SO good but SO bad, I ate 3.

Only BAD thing is my back injection is wearing off after 2.5 months, starting to hurt again. I'll try and stretch it out till hunting season then get another. I don't want surgery!!!

You guys have a great Memorial Day, God bless the Vets, current military and of course the ones who gave everything for us.

Nothin wrong with some ribs!

I'm down to 201.5, about 11 more to go to my goal weight. I have changed my eating habits over the past 5 months and plan on sticking to these new habits. Feeling great.

Very nice. It will be freeing to step off the scale and just live healthier. Go by how you look in the mirror not what the number by your feet says.

How many calories in .25 lb of brisket?

There's websites everywhere that give you a general idea. You'll just have to Google it.

The scale said I am fat so I looked up at the mirror and it agreed.

So you just basically agreed with everything he said, Lol.

1700 calories is probably about right for the OP, maybe even too high. He needs to be in a 500-1000 calorie deficit per day to lose 1-2 lbs per week. At 288 pounds the last thing he should be worried about is muscle mass, he will lose very little muscle mass while dieting.

Not sure who you are referring. If it was my post my responses in red text were to a specific set of comments and questions and not the OP.

Buzz you need to get your metabolism up....

Yep, I'm stuck at 269, down 42lbs. I've been enjoying weekends and everyday at the pool, too much beer on the weekends while chasing the gals around the pool.

I walk half a mile every morning but its not enough exercise, need more

What you are consuming is 85% of it.

I just want to say WAY TO GO on loosing 42lbs. If you've hit a wall you may need to
start something different but this is already an achievement.

Think this through, you've lost 42 lbs, don't you think that you might not be burning as many calories? The next step is to, either increase duration or add weight with a weight vest, to get the calorie burn back up. You don't get optimum calorie burn walking until you hit 40 minutes. You should also aim for hitting a brisk pace which is a 20 minute mile.

Buzz this is my favorite thread right now. You need to post more often. We're going to have to meet when goals are hit, I've got further to go than you do but I'm working hard to catch you. Excellibus has been a big help via pms. Keep it up. I'm down about 30lbs. When I started walking several months ago it was hard to go a mile and it gave me blisters, This week I was able to do 15 minute miles on 3 different mornings. I'm feeling better.

Again, keep it up.

Lean protein in a holiday week is only way to go.

down 46lbs. Summer has messed me up a bit as I have been hanging at the pool ALLOT, chasing the ladies. This has brought on excessive Coors Light Drinking and too much partying. Also , if I get in late, instead of my salad, I'll order a small Pizza


SO, I'm trying to Detox (slow down ) drinking, a bit.

QUESTION !!!

After my eye exam, my oil ducts (lower eye lids produce oil to keep eyes properly "lubed") anyway my Doc said I needed a Omega 3 supplement, eating salmon/sardines wouldn't be enough, so he suggested a supplement.

Anybody take these? Internet mostly had advertisements, so anyone here swear by one brand?

I'm a big fan of jym supplement science.
Dr Jim stoppani.