Weight Loss...

dannymccann

I need to clarify I'm thinking through this 'scientific' stuff correctly, because I don't want to do harm...

My profile: Male / 6ft / 23y / 94kg or 207lbs
Exercise profile - minimum 2 miles walking a day, minimum 5 miles cycling a day, soon to include jogging and at weekends a minimum of 10 miles cycling
Calories - I am using LiveStrong MyPlate with my digital kitchen scales to track food, referring to packet figures as much as possible on food

I have calculated my BMR using the Harris-Benedict formula to be 2122 cals a day - this is to survive in sleep
I have chosen an activity level of Lightly Active, meaning my Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) is 2918cals. Therefore, if I consume this many calories my weight should stay at 94kg? If I consume less, I should lose weight?

Well, MyPlate is very good for stats and it gives you a net calorie daily figure (consumed-burned in exercise). Through a combination of drastically reducing portion sizes and substituting more vegetables for less meat, over the last 7 days, my net calories total roughly 8000. Subtracting 7 days worth of TDEE (7*2918 = 20426) leaves me with a calorie deficit for a week of -12426.

Based on 1lb of body fat containing 3500 calories, am I correct to calculate this week I should lose roughly 3lb of body fat, but due to my increased exercise this will translate to about 1lb of weight?

And my original question is...I don't feel particularly different, I've been doing this for 2 weeks now so it should have affected me by now if it was going to? Is my calorie deficit dangerously low???

Hope this makes sense, I've used a lot of information from http://www.shapefit.com/basal-metabolic-rate.html as it's very well explained and laid out, in fact I've created a spreadsheet from it which work everything out you could possibly want to know :j

murphydog999

You have given a lot of information but you haven't said what you are aiming to achieve? Presumably it is to loose weight, but are you also aiming to get fit and build muscle?

It is very difficult to work out calorie expenditure from a website, it doesn't take into account how quick or slow you are cycling or walking, or whether it is uphill, or if you are loaded, i.e. carrying extra weight. (I walk quickly naturally, and have found out with clients that this is more like a route march rather than what they would class as 'a walk' for them, so one persons 2 mile walk is completely different to another's.) The only way to do this properly is with the aid of a personal trainer/nutritional advisor.

On my calculations (on paper) you are about 11kgs over what is considered normal weight, (however you may have a muscular physique and this would alter things) I have calculated your BMR at 2111, and with moderate leisure activity - and light work activity - at your current weight, this equates to 3166 cals daily for weight maintenance, (light activity leisure would mean 2954 cals daily). A 25% reduction on these values and you would loose weight................however............

The other problem with advising blind is, although a calorie reduction would, theoretically, help you loose weight, it depends what the calories are made up from, the balance of your food, and when, and how often, you are eating - so it's not quite that simple.

Are we to assume that your cycling/walking is to/from work? You need to inject some resistance exercise and upper body exercise into your routine, something like circuit training/body weight/weights exercises would be ideal. (If you are upping your training, you do need protein, but again, unless you have some kind of dietary analysis compared with your daily routine, it is impossible to advise on this.)

It sounds like you are serious about this, so I would consider consulting one of the professions I have mentioned, it would be money well spent as your achievements should be quicker and more sustainable, and even if you only had a few sessions it would get you on the right track to further understand the facts you have learnt already.

No two people are alike, and what works for you, in nutrition & lifestyle & fitness, will not work for someone else; so (without sounding patronising) good for you for being scientific and trying to work it out properly, you just need to take it a step further.

Hope that helps.

dannymccann

Hi Murphy

You pose some good points, however your main one about including a professional is simply not going to happen as my budget does not allow for this. Also, I understand the cons of the online method, however the MyPlate (based on my body figures with 2lb weight loss a week) gives me a calorie goal of 1900 which at light activity would mean a 1000 deficit on calories a day to get 7000 (3500lb / 1lb fat) and it makes sense. It also proportions the calorie burnt based on your size and weight, which is good. Also, its a hell of a lot better than I was before, I used to do no exercise apart from walking the dog for 20 minutes in the morning, and my portions were double what they are now. I have cut out a lot of sugary sweets (not cold turkey but proper portions of them, say a handful a day instead of a bag a day [the 400g 3 for £2 bags]) and my portions are halved, I also ate no fruit and I have started eating fruit now as well.

A typical meal is Stir Fry Chicken, between 2 of us, made up of:
1 chicken breast (butcher not supermarket)
150g cooked white rice (soon to be mixture of white and brown)
A salad (bell) pepper
50g mangetout
50g sugarsnap peas
40g chopped green beans
A carrot
2 mushrooms
2 eggs (egg fried rice)
Garlic
Sometimes peas and sweetcorn if I remember to get them out the freezer!
Bit of 1cal spray / olive oil / soy sauce for cooking

Everything we eat is homemade and has roughly 1 part meat to 3 part veg and 1 part carbs (pasta, rice or potato), so I believe it is a healthy balanced meal.

As to my aims, agree I forgot this bit! Well I'm happy enough with my weight, I'm more interested in losing body fat % and losing the belly bit, maybe a bit off the double chin :rotfl: I am not a naturally strong or athletic individual, I used to work at Tesco on the fruit and veg aisle chucking about 20-25kg trays of veg, but have worked in an office for the last year and a half so would say my weight lifting capabilities were minimal (say 15-20kg spread over both arms to not be straining) as I am certainly not used to it anymore, I know when I was at uni over 3 years ago in the gym I would benchpress roughly 30-35kg including the 20kg bar, which isnt anything to shout about but I wouldnt consider that even possible right now, but again building muscle isnt my primary goal, this is to lose body fat and improve fitness (cardio), any development of upper body muscle is a bonus as a side effect of my increased exercise.

murphydog999

Unfortunately the figures don't add up Danny. Your BMR gives you 75% of your daily needs, on top of this you need to add calories burnt from exercise, and calories burnt from thermogenesis - which is normal body function, to give you your total calorie requirement. What this site is doing is blindly advising you to ditch 1000 calories to take you UNDER your BMR. This is not healthy.

Once you start doing this your body will start to stress, the additional exercise will only make things worse, and you will keep the fat not loose it. There is a fine line with cutting calories and increasing exercise, and my calculations are more sensible and sustainable. On 3166 cals cutting my advised 25% = -790. 3166 -790 = 2375 cals which is 264 cals ABOVE your BMR. This is where you should be, and even then it is finely balanced.

I hear what you are saying about the site calculating weight and age, but it's the same as calorie monitors on exercise machines, they are a guide only and don't calculate actual exertion (METS).

Your chicken meal is healthy, but make sure that chicken breast is - in cooked weight - approx 225 grams. If you are sharing this with your partner she should have slightly less than you say, 100/125g. White rice has a very high GI indicator, Wild brown or Basmati are slightly better choices, as are fine noodles or beansprouts.

My suggestion about circuits/weights was to get you into total body approach to exercise, rather than to build muscle; your body will need upper body and core work to balance your main activities (walking and cycling won't develop your upper body) - they are still cardio workouts.

Again, hope that helps.

This is professional advice, based on science, education, experience, and results, but it is still my opinion, however considered, and you are welcome to discard it.

dannymccann

I see what you are saying, and agree with your point on body stressing on little food, however in reality my body does not appear to be suffering, or at least it isnt showing it? I have lost roughly 4lbs in the fortnight I have been doing it and feel less tired and more energetic all the time...

However, I will start upping my calories in line with the exercise I am doing as I agree with you that it cant be positive...although I am struggling to find foods with calories in that dont also have fats or sugars, or extra protein my body cant use? If I eat any more veg or salad during the day I might turn green and if I eat extra meat I've then got all the nutrients from that not really doing anything apart from sitting inside me?

Any suggestions...

murphydog999

If you have changed your diet that much it will have a positive effect already, hence your increased energy levels. I made a point in my previous post that my way is SUSTAINABLE, if you continue at your current level after an initial weight loss (water or fat, or both) you would probably plateau and find it increasingly hard to shift anything.

Make sure you think of your dietary intake as healthy eating, rather than being on 'a diet', not only is it a frame of mind that will stop you craving, it is SUSTAINABLE weight management. Once you have been on this healthy eating regime a few weeks, you need to start having 'cheat days.' Have a day off from any exercise, load up with extra calories & give yourself a treat or two. Next day, have a really good workout - you will really feel the benefit. Do this every couple of weeks.

Also, don't think of all fat as bad fat, you need around 25% of your intake to come from it - without the body will stop functioning correctly. A absolute maximum of 10% of calories should come from saturated fats, but poly and mono-unsaturated fats are good for you. This is where nuts get a bad press as they tend to get lumped in as having 'fat.' Most of it is good fat, and natural, un-roasted, unsalted, peanuts, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts have loads of vitamins and fibre and a handful should be included in your daily diet. The exceptions are pecans, brazils and macadamias as they have a little bit more saturated fat to have on a regular basis. These will also up your calories.

As for the protein, you should be having it in every meal to, amongst other things, keep you sustained. As I said, without doing a complete dietary analysis, I can't comment on whether what I suggested was 'extra' or not, but the weights I quoted are portion sizes. Believe me the body will use it, it won't just sit inside you!

Getting a bit carried away with the advice there, but again, hope it helps.

dannymccann

It definitely does help, thanks very much for the advice. I intend on having cheat days and am taking a break from exercise today, mainly because not being used to biking so much it is taking its toll on my legs and lower back anyway, so its worth resting up not to do any long term damage. I'm pleased with my progress so far though, Ive gone from an Avg Speed over the same course, similar conditions of 7mph to 10.5mph in 2 weeks, so my fitness is obviously improving dramatically, which I am really pleased with.

murphydog999

Do try and alter your exercise routine on a regular basis, 1, to stop you getting bored and 2, to give your body a change. 4 days on 1 day off is a good plan, and have hard, moderate and easier days. If there is anywhere along your route that you can stop and do some press-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups that would be good, 3 circuits of however many reps you can do, then back on the bike.

Give it a month, then rather than bore everyone on MSE, if you want to, PM me with how you are getting on.

Eric_Pisch

unfortunately the cals in cals out formula has been blown out of the water several times in studies, the body is not a machine like a car and the 140 odd hormones that influence weight loss do all sorts of things to put a spanner in the works when it comes to this, almost nobody's weight loss in the history of dieting ever balances. One thing that is for certain is that you have to eat to loose weight, eating too little will cause the body to go into starvation mode, which is a bloody pita for weight loss i can tell you, a bloody constant battle for me to get the balance right

you must be a pretty lean guy as my target weight at the same height as you is 230lbs.

the best way for a guy, especially a testosterone loaded young male (hate you for this..) to loose weight is to hit the weights. Lifting heavy increases your MBR for upto 48 hours whilst the body repairs itself (can be 30-50% more) and the increase in lean muscle mass will also give you a higher BMR, try to focus on compound exercises as they give the most gains for the least work.

you certainly want to eat tonnes of protein since its an appetite suppressant, helps resist muscle loss from being in cal deficit and will promote fast muscle repair from training

try to switch to slow release low GI carbs as well, since its insulin that primarily responsible for fat storage oh and dont avoid fat as its essential for cells and it has been proven not to cause CVD or CHD

Eric_Pisch

murphydog999 wrote: »

A absolute maximum of 10% of calories should come from saturated fats,

some very good adive from yourself, apart from the above which unfortunately has been shown not to be the case, the only fats to be avoided are modified transfats

meta-analysis of prospective epidemiologic studies (347,747 subjects) showed that there is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of CHD or CVD.

http://www.ajcn.org/content/early/2010/01/13/ajcn.2009.27725.abstract

dannymccann

Thanks for the extra input Eric - I wouldn't say I am lean though?! My measurements are

Arm 12.25 inches
Chest 36.50 inches
Waist 41.00 inches
Thigh 23.75 inches

It's only really the waist/belly I want to lose anything from, if anything the other bits could do with being bigger :rotfl:

The missus is finding my weights in the loft on Friday and I am going to start mixing in some anaerobic with aerobic exercise as well, I will look into these 'compound' exercises