Hi there, I just wanted to say Hola, ello ello, heya and all that stuff. I have recently started on a weight loss regimen and have decided I would join a forum or two for support and information. I posted this in the main forum a couple days ago and thought I would post it in here as well since I am doing a counting calorie approach.
A little about me, I am in my early 30's and have never been what you could call Frail or small always been one of if not the biggest fellas in the room, but never cared or let weight get in my way, and then it happened. I got a back injury and blew up like a balloon and now I have had enough. I am 6'4'' tall and my best guess says I am over 500 lbs and the idea of getting a surgery scares me so I have decided to try out a low calorie diet along with moderate exercise and see where it takes me. I have a lovely wife and 2 kids, and just started a blog to sort of record my progress etc, and thats me in a nutshell.
Hey Botzz! Good for you for giving a food program a try!
Visited your blog... Wow, your calories levels seem really low to me for someone your size... When I entered your height, weight, and gender into my FitDay, it said that you would burn more than 1800 cals a day if you were sedentary... and probably around 2,000 total. And, that's if you're as old as I am, and you are really much younger! That means you probably burn even more calories just sitting around and breathing.
This is just a suggestion--you might actually lose weight faster and feel better while doing it if you don't go below 1500 cals a day. I'm not a dietitian or nutritionist--I'm just going on the basis of what FitDay says. I'd say try 1500-1800 and see how that goes for awhile.
Just wanted to say a big welcome and to let you know that I checked out your blog. I have to agree 1200 calories is very, very, very low for a man of your height and weight. I am a woman that is 5'1" and weight 196 and my calorie cout is closer to 1300 at a sedetary life style. A thought for you to think about and perhaps research. If you eat to little calories your body will go into starvation mode and hang on to every calorie you eat and your weight loss will stop. You really should check into your BMR and go from there. My guess is that you should be eating closer to 2000 calories a day, that is without checking out your stats or not knowing your activity level for a day.
Hope to see you post often.
Thanks for the responses guys! and thanks for checkin out the blog, the more I read the more I am thinking that the caloric intake I have set for myself may be on the low side, I just feel like if I can do 1300 why not? (I know the answer is that too little is not good but I still ask, I guess its a mind set I need to change) I did 1500 yesterday (sat) and doing 1500 today and I may up the weekday intake to 1400, I am still new to this whole calorie counting thing and I thank everyone for the advice/recommendations I DO listen and evaluate every response I receive, I am finding that being able to post and blog is helping me keep on my toes, I also have Excel spreadsheets and scales for food etc, I am making this a hobby and so far that approach seems to be helping, I am only 6 days in but so far all is going good. again thanks for the responses, its always good to know someone is actually reading these
The reason that you don't want to start out doing 1200-1500 calories a day, is because:
#1: You're a man. Your calorie needs are naturally higher than for a woman. You are eating currently at what would be a calorie level for a moderately overweight woman. You need to eat for what your body needs, not for a woman who might only be 40-50 pounds overweight.
#2: Your current weight. The more you weigh, the more calories your body uses doing everyday things. The more weight that you lose, the less calories your body uses in regular activity. For instance, If a 200 pound man, and a 400 pound man both walk a mile, it takes a lot more effort for the much larger man to do so-because he is carrying around with him so much resistance. As he loses weight, that mile becomes easier and easier, and his body does not have to work as hard...and he uses less calories.
When you start out very large, your body can lose weight on a higher calorie level. As you get smaller, it will slowly start to need less.
What you want to do, is to start out at a higher calorie level. This is because, after you lose 40 pounds, 50 pounds, or soemwhere down the road-your weight loss will slow down. At this point, you will need to adjust your calorie intake a bit lower...and your activity a bit higher-to get things going again.
If you start off eating too little now, then your body gets used to that calorie intake. When your weight loss slows down later on, you don't have any room to drop your calories, making it harder for you to continue losing later.
Also, 1200 calories a day is considered a low calorie level for WOMEN. 1500 calories is usually considered a low level for MEN. These levels are usually what is being used my people who are either not very overweight, or by people who are pretty close to their goal weights.
Please read the FAQ section, with more detail on finding the calorie level that is right for you, and how to adjust it along the way to suit your needs.
Remember this is a life style change and not simply a diet. You should be making food and exercise choices that you can commit to for a lifetime.
S'whut I was gonna say....1200 might feel ok for a little while...but it's really not enuf for a man long term. Slow and steady does win the race here- lots of people have dropped a lot of pounds quickly. But not so many have managed to keep them off. Check out the maintainers forum - there are quite a few successes in there.
Calorie counting has been a lifesaver for me - literally. Of course the whole thing to all of this calorie counting is STICKING to it. So yeah, listen to the fine ladies above and UP those calories. Make it something DOABLE and sustainable - longterm. Something you can STICK with, for the long haul. We don't want you starving or feeling deprived or lethargic or any of that icky stuff. We want you to feel GOOD about your lifestyle change.
Good luck to you. And check back often, we want to know how you're doing.
I don't think you even need to be as low as 1500 cals. You have a lot of weight to lose and you want to find a range of calories that you'll be able to stick with over the long haul. I'd suggest 1800 to start with, at a minimum. You should lose rapidly at that level and it's plenty of calories to keep you feeling unhungry. You should be able to maintain your current weight on around 3900 calories a day. Dropping even to 2000 would probably see you losing 4lb a week. 4lb a week is lots and enough. If you lower your calories much more than that you're going to be needlessly hungry and far less inclined to stick with your plan over the months and years. And besides, your body can only shed fat so quickly, so there really isn't much benefit to eating 1200 or 1500 rather than 1800-2000 even while there are plenty of drawbacks to eating so few calories.
FWIW, I'm female, 5'9 early 30s and I was able to lose from 155 to my current weight on 1800 calories a day. Every body is different, but a man who weights 3 times what I weighed should definitely be able to lose consistently on the same number of calories.
Welcome, I know you can pull it off! And keep this in mind Botzz I average more than 2200 calories per day and I'm losing so the post about you're calorie level being too low is something to seriously consider. Anyway make sure you stick around and post often.
Welcome, I know you can pull it off! And keep this in mind Botzz I average more than 2200 calories per day and I'm losing so the post about you're calorie level being too low is something to seriously consider. Anyway make sure you stick around and post often.
I upped my weekday calories to 1500 and I think weekends I will shoot for 1600 , for the first week I did 1300 (for the most part) and over the weekend I did 1480 Saturday (shooting for 1500) and 1580 on Sunday. I have been getting lots of feedback from a few sources and I do see that I have to up the Cals a bit, I think for now, being at the start I will work up to what I need to eat, I will do a week @1500 now and see how that goes and adjust from there, I am starting in on the 2nd week today and I know I have mucho to learn still. I thank you all for the kind words of encouragement and as far as sticking around goes, I am not going anywhere until I lose what I gotta lose, and even then I will be here for support, giving and receiving, god willing I make it lol
New Calorie counter joining up!
Good for you for giving a food program a try! 
That means you probably burn even more calories just sitting around and breathing.
