I am just interested in some feedback...ive lost 110 pounds altho only the last few months i have been counting calories...i have lost 27 pounds since january 1...anyway initially i was eating 1800 calories per day but i was zigzagging my calories and i was losing altho my losses had dropped off to about a pound per week. (Ultimately i would like to aim for 2 pounds per week). I am still 265 pounds...i decided to redo my calories as i had lost a significant amount...various calculators (like fitday, livestrong etc) told me my calories should be around 2100 calories...i picked up Michelle Bridges book (aussie biggest loser trainer) and her calculation told me 1450 calories, and i guess i trusted her answer a bit more. As 2100 does seem too high. Anyway after a few weeks away from the gym due to moving house i went back to the gym....with zigzagging my calories at 1450 i was losing...then thursday nite i went back to the gym and burnt 971 calories and then yesterday was my lowest day which was 1200 calories...over nite i have gained over a pound. Now i realise a lot will say dont weigh yourself daily but i have done this the 3.5 years i have lost weight and pretty much understand my body so its not a issue...but my question is for my weight (265 pounds) burning on average 450 calories per day and being 5"9 is 1450 too low? It all gets so confusin with so many calculators and ways to work it out with such a variance on the calories...anyway sorry for the ramble but i really would be interested in your feedback


kazz =]

Wow, great job so far! I have found the online calculators to be about double what i need to actually lose a decent amount of weight on a regular basis. Some of them are rediculously high. I would trust the 1400, that sounds about right but even that can change depending on exercise. The best way is to track your food, track your exercise and find the sweet spot that works best for you. For me that is 1500 cals with an hour in the gym five days a week, i will lose 2-3 pounds a week.
Trial and error unfortunately.

I think 1450 might be a *tad* low. I ate around 1700 until I got to about 210 and now I keep it under 1500 (zig zagging). I've found I totally stall if I go below 1400. Also, your muscles are probably retaining water from the good workout so you didn't gain a lb, it's just water and it'll drop off .

It's such a guessing game... there's no way to know what will work for your body without experimenting with the numbers a little. Everyone's metabolism works differently.

Good luck!

My Registered Dietitian told me that at 315 pounds and low/moderate physical activity I needed to eat 2200-2600 a day. I've been doing this and losing pretty consistently. The idea is, where can you go if a low range, healthy day is 1200 and you still have much weight to lose? You can't cut out too much MORE or exercise 4 or more hours a day!

I know I had to experiment quite a bit to find out what was right for me. I have found that I lose best at a 1500-1600 calorie average over the week. If I eat less or more than that, my weight loss slows down or stalls. I started at 227 and am now at 207. I am still new to figuring out my body, because I have only been successfully losing for 7 weeks now. If 1800 was not working for you, I would slowly change it, maybe try 1650 for a week and see how that works.

You will get a different answer from everybodyy. It is true it takes a lot of trial and error. I would suggest 1500-1600 a day. Try it for week or so and see what happens. Congratulations on the great job so far !

personally, I think the only thing wrong is expecting to see a loss on the scale every day. Weight loss just doesn't work like that, at least not over the long run. All kinds of things can cause fluctuations, even several pounds for some people. Esp. after a hard workout when you haven't been going to the gym lately, it's VERY common to see some water retention weight as your body readjusts.

I am a recent convert to daily weigh ins and I have found it very helpful and informative but I've also had to learn to live with the fact (and it is a fact for most people) that the scale does go both up and down. I try to look at the big picture to see the trends and even though I track daily, I compare week over week to see the real picture, and this is showing a loss. Since you've been weighing daily for a long time, I would have to imagine that you've seen this all in action and even if you were disappointed not seeing a loss after a low cal day combined with an intense workout, just hang in there. If you've already lost 110 lbs (wow- congrats!) you KNOW that it will show up on the scale even if not the same day.

I would try to go higher than 1450 if you're still losing. There's plenty of time to lower it in the future if necessary.

Congratulations on all your hard work and success; you're are doing so well!

Thanks everyone...your opinions pretty much confirmed what I was thinking and thats to put it up a lil bit...so i will do 1600 with zig zagging for the next 7 days and see how that goes - thanks again

We're all so different, but yes I think at your weight and activity level 1450 is way too low and in the long run you'll burn out at the low of a level and if you truely do need to lower calories later where are you going to go? 1200" Possible - yes, but sustainable - maybe, enjoyable - doubtful. For reference and this is only just for reference, because again we're all so different, but I'm also zig zagging and my daily average is 1600-1700 and I'm losing 1.5 lbs per week. I started at that level around 180lbs I think. Before that I was at 1300-1400 and 1400-1500 and barely losing anything. So just tweak it until your comfortable.