Weight loss question for health people

[Silent Dob]

I'm kind of new to this weight loss thing and anyway, I was trying to figure out what my daily caloric intake should be. My gym offered me a test for $100 that explains but I figured it'd be easier just to ask here since we seem to have experts on a wide number of topics.

So... can anyone give me any advice?

[MNJetter]

Record the calories you eat in a normal week. Then, decide how much weight you want to lose a week. One pound per week = -500cal/day

Note: I've never actually used this. I'm not organized enough to try and lose weight with a specific caloric intake goal.

Personally, the thing that worked best for me was not changing the number of calories I ate, or the volume of food I ate, but the types of food I permit myself to eat in unlimited amounts (namely, fresh raw fruits and vegetables, interspersed with strictly limited amounts of other things) AND (can't stress that "and" enough) exercising at least 4 days a week. There were other parts to that diet, but those were the main ones.

[Fermented Yeast Paste]

Try this:

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/harris-benedict-equation/

[MNJetter]

Yeah, that equation says I need like 2400 calories a day. If I ate that many, I'd be gaining a couple pounds a week.

[Fermented Yeast Paste]

If I want to maintain my current weight with little exercise the equation says I need to consume about 2180 calories a day, which seems about right. What information are you putting in and which calculation are you doing?

[OliveButtercup]

I'll type it all out for you tomorrow, don't pay 100$ lol

[japanat]

OP, how much do you weigh, how tall are you, what's your age, are you M/F? Also, do you know your resting heart rate or general fitness level?

Tell us those and we can give you a variety of ball park figures for your BMR and for about how many kcal you'd consume doing a variety of exercises.

Example:
A 6'0", 200-lb, 45-yr-old man has an average BMR of 1928 kcal

A 5'4", 130-lb, 22-yr-old lady has an average BMR of 1422 kcal

There's also a great site to figure exercise consumption. Example, the same 2 people roller-blading would consume 572 kcal and 371 kcal, respectively, in a 30-min workout, but 762 and 495 kcal, respectively, when running 6-min miles for 30 min.

[MNJetter]

Though I doubt that a 6' 200lb 45yo man would be able to keep up that pace for a half hour unless he's 200lb because he's in really really good shape (with the accompanying muscle bulk), in which case his actual BMR would be far above 1928kcal.

[japanat]

Actually, a 30 min 5-mi, while a pretty good pace, isn't that out of reach for a 40-yr-old (but wa-a-a-ay out of reach for me right now...).

Those calorie expenditures are averages for people of such a mass, and don't address those with very low or very high muscle mass.

[SlickWilly440]

If you want to loss weight why not try the Japanese Banana Diet?

[vasca]

I'll never understand calorie counting. I just eat whatever I like, don't eat until I feel stuffed, I eat enough food to feel satisfied, eat in small meals and eat fruit instead of fattening cookies and chips for snacks. God I love tangerines, it's so nice that they are so insanely cheap and sold everywhere. I usually eat pancakes more than once a week and yet I still get people calling me anorexic all of the time. ¬¬

Better to eat 5 small meals than to eat one insanely big chunk of food. Best that the heaviest bulk of the 5 meals is eaten around 3 pm so that you still burn the calories during the day instead of eating the super meal before bed.

Don't drink low fat milk because it's bull and that stuff tastes nasty. Just avoid the sugar infested fruit yoghurt. Buy the ordinary flavorless yoghurt and put in fruit yourself. Avoid sodas like the plague, you'd be amazed to now how much sugar is in a can of coke and it has no nutritious value in it.

If possible either avoid ketchup and canned tomato paste because of the insane amount of salt it has or make it yourself if you have the time. Bags of frozen veggies are a good option and they are relatively cheap if you can't always get fresh fruits & veggies.

Cut down on the red meats, only eat them once a week, eat more white meats (or just avoid meat if you're a vegetarian, you'll just need to eat protein rich alternatives like tofu and beans a lot). Try to eat commercial hot dogs rarely because of all of the heavy chain sugars they have. Chorizo sausage is delicious, but it's heavily fattening and insanely salty.

Just don't eat french fries, period. If at a restaurant, ask the waiter if they have something less hiderously fattening as a side dish like rice or corn on the cob or something.

One very important thing, go to bed early and sleep at a regular schedule. Your body will produce less insulin and you'll feel less hungry during the day and so you'll have less temptations.

I hate fad diets that are poorly balanced. You both get sick of eating a leaf of lettuce and boiled water soup for two weeks and suffer from malnutrition. Once you get rid of the diet you gain even more weight because your body stores as much fat as possible as a defense mechanism. They just don't work.

For snacks, I love dried fruit. God do I love prunes, tastiest stuff evar to munch on after fresh tangerines. Very healthy option indeed.

It just makes more sense to follow these seemingly easy and reasonable dietary changes than to get on a calorie counting diet where you're more busy counting something and then don't eat the right foods. I eat chocolate and pancakes and occasional sodas, but I don't chug on that kind of food until I barf and don't like fried food that much. Another thing is to serve enough food to make you feel like you ate but not feel stuffed. Also, don't reduce the caloric intake insanely fast because your body will react badly by storing more fat, start reducing the intake over a few days, let the stomach get smaller over the next few weeks. Eat more soups and eat them slowly. You'll get filled up faster because of the liquid content and discover you might have overserved too much of the main dish.

Hamburgers aren't as satanic as you think, they have a bit of everything: bread, veggies, tomatoes and meat. Don't abuse them and avoid eating the really huge burgers, but you can eat them. Eat dishes that combine different food groups together.

Also, don't abuse bread too much. Make your meals more balanced. Also, good for you by going to the gym!! Aerobic exercise is far better than weight lifting to lose weight, so always warm up on the treadmill or on the stationary bikes or doing some swimming laps (swimming makes you burn calories without hurting your knees which is good when you have some extra pounds that are hurting them) for about 30 minutes before lifting weights. You'll also avoid muscle injuries this way. I'd know because I've been going to the gym for almost 10 years and never got injuries (and I was at my best of times lifting quite a lot. My record on the leg press was over 300 pounds and I barely weigh a third of that. Probably can't do it anymore because I haven't been going as much, but the last time I did it I made it to about 150 pounds).

Good luck and work hard, going to the gym is awesome. ;)

[MNJetter]

I agree with pretty much all of vasca's nutritional tips. Can't say much about the gym thing, since I've never had the opportunity to try joining one. I also want to add that a great way to get rid of sugar cravings (in addition to dried fruit) is unsweetened frozen fruit. In my case, I am seriously addicted to ice cream, and have found that anything sweet and frozen, even if it's fructose and not processed sugar, will at least hold the cravings at bay.

[japanat]

Yeah, and throw a couple Tbsp of that fruit in a blender with 1/2 or 1 c. plain yogurt, add a scoop of vanilla protein powder, and you've got a less than 150 kcal sweet snack with a fair amount of protein.