My name is Dale, I am 24 years old and is classed as obese. I weigh 18st 3lb and is 5ft 10in tall. I have started today to start losing the weight with a goal of 2 stone. I am first day of the NHS 12 week plan and is feeling ready to go.
My questions is my calorie intake is saying I should have 2500 calories a day. I want to drop this to 1500 a day and of course 30-1hour excersice. Is it safe to just cut 1000 calories of your intake this what I want as I want to get straight into the struggle and get it all out the way.
Kind Regards
Dale
Written by
DaleCooley
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Hi - did you do the BMI calculator thats on this page somewhere? That gives you a calories range to eat - just go for the bottom end of that range. check back regularly as you lose weight, as your calorie range will reduce too. You need to be careful not to eat too few calories or your body will go into starvation mode and you will stop losing weight. You need to eat about 500 cals a day LESS than you need in order to lose weight.
There's a chap on this forum called MrNiceGuy who has posted some really good good 'technical' descriptions of how to work out more exact calories requirements if thats what you want.
I would say this is not a good idea. I checked your stats on the NHS BMI tool.. I assume you have done this? I can give you the link for it if you need it.
It is very important that you have the right amount of calories to support your body and as the lowest calorific intake recommended for you is 2436, this is what you should stick to. You WILL lose weight on this amount of calories. It is very counter productive to eat too few calories. Your body will go into emergency 'famine' mode and will actually start to hold onto fat in your body!
Unfortunately weight loss is a marathon, not a sprint, but with a sensible approach I promise you will see results and be healthy and well.
I would agree absolutely with the last two replies and also put in my two pence worth, which is to say, this has to be sustainable. If you cut calories so you are hungry all the time, you will probably end up bingeing and the. Wishing you hadn't. It sets you up for failure. My favourite piece of advice is to set yourself SMART targets. Specific, measurable, achieveable, realistic and time-measured. So for example, getting back on track after Christmas for me will be to lose 1-2lb in the next seven days. That for me ticks all those smart boxes. And remember, slow and steady wins the race. Good luck.
Thanks for the reply guys. I will not do 1500 a day as the bmi calculator says to do 2000 plus. I am going to go for around 2000 calories a day. As I am just cutting 200 from the recommended allowance.
You'll need to eat that number of calories - as your increased weight means that you'll burn more calories just moving around and doing day to day activities.
As your weight comes off, your calories will decrease - as you'll be burning less (carrying less weight).
There is nothing to be gained by trying to make things happen faster by reducing the amount you eat - you'll just quickly get resentful and want to give up.
Look at this as an education - you're going to re-educate yourself about what sort of things to eat, quantities to eat, etc. Education is something you can never overdose on! The longer it takes you to get to your goal weight, the more ingrained your new lifestyle becomes to the point where it will be normal behaviour rather than you having to make a huge effort.
Please don't think that weight loss is easy - it takes a lot of hard work and effort, but the rewards are worth it, especially for someone like yourself who is young and still has their whole life ahead of them! You'll be reducing the risks of developing weight relating illnesses such as heart problems, stroke, asthma, diabetes, etc, etc.
What's more, you'll start to feel immediately better in yourself as you change your eating habits - for example, sleeping better, feeling more energetic.
Welcome aboard, and good luck! Do post again on the boards if you need support, encouragement or information.
Hiya Dale and welcome. I agree with all the replies here, don't cut too much, too soon. I am female, 6'1 and was quite a bit heavier than you when I started over a year ago (am having some hiccups at the mo but that's not relevant to what I want to reassure you with). I have mobility issues so I stuck to just above the lower end of the recommended calorie amount (per the NHS BMI calculator, link here, sorry if it's already been posted, I forget things as fast as I've read them so I ramble my replies very quickly! nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/Healthyw.... If you are quite active, you might need to go mid range or top end of the range given for you, you may have to see how it goes week by week and adjust accordingly. Just bear in mind that the calculator already takes into account your lifestyle by the questions it asks you. I watched a programme ages back where the men burned more calories than their wives because, the doctor involved told them, I know it's unfair but you are a foot shorter than your husband, and a bigger body burns more calories, even at rest. The way I look at it is, at least we taller people are lucky enough that we can ease into calorie control more gently than someone who is, say, a whole foot shorter than us. I had put off trying to lose weight as I'd got it into my head that I would have to eat 1400 calories a day and would be starving, didn't have the willpower, etc, etc. When I found out I could start out eating just over 2000 and still lose weight on it, even without being able to exercise, it really helped me feel, "Hey, I think I can do this!".
Speaking as I was doing things before my recent dietary hiccups: What I've done is made a document in my computer. I've typed the weight ranges and calories I am allowed for that weight range, going down by about a stone each time. As I always choose the lowest recommended calories (I discovered as I went along that if I ate, for example, 100 calories over the lower end of the range, I would stay still or possibly even gain a pound). So I know that as I lose weight, I need to check back with my document to make sure I don't need to lower my calorie intake again as I'm losing weight. You need to do yours specifically for your height, weight, gender, lifestyle etc, but this is an example of what I have done and saved so I don't have to keep going back to the BMI calculator every 5 minutes:
13 STONE 7 = 1600 - 2000
14 STONE 7 = 1639 - 2107
15 STONE 7 = 1690 - 2173
16 STONE 7 = 1741 - 2238
17 STONE 7 = 1792 - 2304
18 STONE 7 = 1843 - 2369
I found this REALLY encouraging to look at. Even when I (hopefully!) reach 13 stone 7, I should still be able to eat at least 1600 calories a day. In fact, thinking about it, it is likely to be slightly more than 1600 if I am wanting to simply maintain at 13,7 rather than lose any additional weight. I hope I make sense, I do tend to ramble on a bit!
So anyway, I guess I'm saying don't feel daunted, you have a distinct advantage that you won't have to go too low in calories. Everyone is right, it is best to do it slowly and eat within your range so that you don't go into starvation mode. Good luck, I'm sure you can do this!
I'm gonna set my daily intake to 2000 see how that gose for over the week.
Thanks guys
Hi DaleCooley just another thing. You may want to check out the welcome newbies thread in the pinned posts section as there is lots of useful info in there too if you're just starting out.
I would recommend you stick to the advice you've been given Dale, maybe go a little under your daily intake, but 100 calories under will not be sustainable and your body will rebel. This can often mean you end up heavier than your were to start with! As the weight drops off, your suggested daily calorie intake will lower too. Best of luck with it and well done on taking the first step!
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