Alright here is the deal. First and foremost I am new here. I think that I will really enjoy the support of all of you successful ladies. Now onto my quandary.

My OB/GYN, God bless him, is helping me with my weight loss. He has me coming in every two weeks to weigh in and show him my food journal. I love the accountability factor, and so far the program is GREAT. Here is what i am having a hard time understanding.
He has a BMR formula which is
6.68 X body wt (lbs) + 496 if you are 18-30
and 30-60 3.95 x body wt (lbs) + 829.
From there you have to multiply the calculation by a number ranging from 1.2 to 2.3 (depending on your activity level).

For me the calculation was (288*6.68)+496=2419.84*1.2 (I am a couch potato) which equals 2903.808.

Confusing huh?

Anyhow according to his program this is the number that you body needs to consume to maintain your current body weight.

His instructions are simple, subtract 400 calories a day from this calculation and every 8 days you will have a deficit of 3200kcal which he says = 2.2 pounds.

And no more than 30% of your calories can be from fat. Other than that no restrictions. Pretty simple and straight forward.

Like I said I am having great success, a 12 pound loss in a months time, but the calculations don't make sense. Can anyone explain it to me? I asked him and I didn't get it. I have always been under the assumption that in order to one pound you needed to reduce calories enough to equal 3500 calories, that one pound is 3500 calories.

Congratulations on your weight loss! Your 12 pound loss in a months time is great!
And don't get discouraged if it slows down, loss is usually faster at the beginning.

You can go to http://www.freedieting.com/tools/cal...alculator.htm# and see how close it is to what he gave you.

There is alot of good information on this site, you may even find an explaination of the formula he used.

Sorry, I can't explain about his calculations.

of the difference is what your body burns. Even sitting on the couch, your body is burning calories. With your digestion, heart beating, your lungs moving etc. So reducing calories is great, then your body is doing the rest.

As your weight goes down you should adjust your calculation, You should ask your Dr. at how many pounds, to reduce your calorie's.

Slow and steady is the best way for your body to lose weight and you are doing a GREAT JOB!!

Hope that answered some of the question....

A 3200 calorie deficit would yield one pound weight loss, not 2.2 lbs.

These calculation tools aren't incredibly accurate, but they're as good a place to start as any. Just adjust your calories as necessary, based not on the math formula, but by your own experience. Your body may be not burn calories at the rate the formula would predict, so you try it, and tweak as needed.

Good luck.

Thank you all for your replies. I am looking forward to sharing my continued success with everyone!

12 pounds lost in a month! That is FANTASTIC! Particularly since you didn't go on some wicked deprivation plan where you only eat a grapefruit and a hard boiled egg per day!

Really GREAT JOB!

Thank you!

1 pound =3500 calories. I would suggest 1900 calories a day diet (1000 less from BMR) to yield 2 lb lost a week. 1000 *7 days =7000 calories (2 lb worth). That would be a healthy start. Then after a couple weeks at 1900 you could lower your calories by 100 every few weeks to see what works best for you.

No offense meremere, but if she's losing 12 lbs a month then I would suggest sticking with that!! OP, you're doing great! His calculations seem a little wonky, but just focus on eating at the calorie level you have been because it seems to be working really nicely, then lower your calories if you see your weight starting to plateau.

Congrats on your loss! Personally I wouldn't care about the math formula if its working so well.

I do know everyone needs different amounts of calories. I'm losing steadily eating 2000 or less calories per day while other girls here eat only 1200. I like that his formula at least adjusts for changes.

Good luck and welcome!

Thank you! I can't wait to see 250s on the scale, presently I am steadily seeing 260s in the AM. I go for my next weigh in next friday.....here's hoping. I really need to get into some exercise, so I can kick it up a notch.