[DrNugu]

Hi everyone. First post here.

I'm a middle aged guy. 5'8 210lbs. medium build stocky and fairly muscular but have let myself go since I got married.

I'm a teacher and kind of sedentary except for regular hiking and circuit training 4-5 times a week.

I haven't had much success losing the weight I put on...I think because I tend to yo-yo, going from low calorie (~1700cal) for a few days, to overeating one or two days.

Now I'm trying to get scientific. I found this great and precise energy calculator here:

health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-advanced

However, after I enter my info. it says that I burn about 3,500 cal on an exercise day. I'm trying to lose 2lb or 1 kg / week so I'm trying to cut my calories by -1000/day. Therefore, I calculated I should eat 2,500 cal/day on exercise days and about 2,000 on no exercise days.

This seems like a lot and I worry I won't lose weight. What do you think?

I really want to go steady and not hungry because I do have a tendency to binge if I deny myself for too long.

BTW - The energy calculator at caloriecount is really low and suggests I eat about 1800 cal on exercise days and 1500 on no exercise days.

Thanks for the help.

[Pinkhorseofcourse]

I am not a dietitian, and I am a woman, (I know caloric intake and such is way different for men)... but if I were you, I would try the 2,500 cal/day on exercise days and about 2,000 on no exercise days and see how you feel. You may find it isn't that much of a stretch. IF you are still hungry, or feel like you may go on a binge, bump your caloric intake up a bit. I think the suggested intake of 1800/1500 might be a bit strict.. but you could also TRY it also.. and see how you feel. You didn't say how much you want to lose total.

As for being afraid you won't lose weight... let me tell you.. I am doing Medifast and my caloric intake is 800-1000 a day now. And I am losing.. FAST. Down 14 lbs in less than 3 weeks.. granted, I have a lot to lose and it doesn't sound like you do.

You could also try reducing your carbs. But whatever you do.. DO it and you have to be consistent!! This is a great website.. with lots of helpful people.. and knowledgeable.. (more so than I)! Good luck!!!

[Katydid77]

Just a word of warning. Be careful with taking the higher numbers that these sites tend to put out, not because you can't lose weight on them, but because they leave no wiggle room for accidentally under counting your calories.

If you are going to do 2500 calories per day, then you will need to weigh everything! Think about it, even with eating healthy, every thing is not 'perfect'. The apple you are eating may have more sugar in it than the generic 'apple' on a calorie counting website.

Any sandwich made in a restaurant is almost always going to have more calories than stated on nutritional guidelines, because they are made by humans and not machines. They aren't being made in a lab.

Someone that thinks they are consuming 2500 cals a day, can easily be consuming 3000 or more. And since that's kind of a high number (diet-wise) the figure can be more like 3200ish.

I would suggest shooting for 1800, and realize that when doing that, you are probably hitting about 2000.