Cutting calories: how much is too much?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All of this "your body thinks it's starving and you won't lose weight if you cut calories too much" is BS. How do you think people who get gastric bypass lose so much weight? It's simple math. The less you take in, the more you're going to lose. Yes, your metabolism will slow slightly. But it certainly won't slow to a rate where you suddenly start holding on to every calorie you eat. If that were the case, gastric bypass wouldn't work.

Cut as many calories as you can while you're dieting, but also make sure you're taking a multivitamin, drinking enough water, getting enough calcium (try dannon lite and fit, very low in cals) taking a potassium supplement (talk to your Dr or a nutritionist about this) and eating enough protein.

Well---gastric bypass is in the 'severely obese range'...that is quite different. Those ppl were prob taking in 3000-8000+ calories a day. They would not have to cut it below 1200 to lose weight because they are exerting a lot more calories to keep their weight at 300lbs.

Cutting calories way too much sets up a pattern of yo-yo dieting that is not healthy and almost always has the dieter gaining more than they weighed prior to the diet. Also- you will lose important muscle mass if you go to low.

It really should be a lifestyle change----slow and steady weight loss. Exercise and eating healthy. Only water and skim milk and waaaaay more vegetables and fruit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of this "your body thinks it's starving and you won't lose weight if you cut calories too much" is BS. How do you think people who get gastric bypass lose so much weight? It's simple math. The less you take in, the more you're going to lose. Yes, your metabolism will slow slightly. But it certainly won't slow to a rate where you suddenly start holding on to every calorie you eat. If that were the case, gastric bypass wouldn't work.

Cut as many calories as you can while you're dieting, but also make sure you're taking a multivitamin, drinking enough water, getting enough calcium (try dannon lite and fit, very low in cals) taking a potassium supplement (talk to your Dr or a nutritionist about this) and eating enough protein.

Well---gastric bypass is in the 'severely obese range'...that is quite different. Those ppl were prob taking in 3000-8000+ calories a day. They would not have to cut it below 1200 to lose weight because they are exerting a lot more calories to keep their weight at 300lbs.

Cutting calories way too much sets up a pattern of yo-yo dieting that is not healthy and almost always has the dieter gaining more than they weighed prior to the diet. Also- you will lose important muscle mass if you go to low.

It really should be a lifestyle change----slow and steady weight loss. Exercise and eating healthy. Only water and skim milk and waaaaay more vegetables and fruit.

I am the OP. I have already established a pretty good lifestyle change over the past couple of years, and lost the first 50 lbs the slow and steady way. I just haven't been cutting back enough calories to lose recently. I'm only planning to do the more drastic calorie cut for 2-4 weeks. I'm probably getting about 1,200 calories a day during the week, and I indulge a little more on the weekends. It's helping to get me back on track, and in another week or two I"ll probably up it to the 1,500-1,700 calorie range. It's not like I'm some skinny minny trying to lose 10 or 15 lbs - I weigh 200 lbs and need to lose a good 50+.

I appreciate all the advice, truly. I do want to do this the healthy way.

[Anonymous]

My RMR is 1600, and I exercise for about 300 calories most days. I try to stick to about 1350 calories a day to lose one pound a week (need to lose 12 pounds to get to a healthy BMI).

[Anonymous]

Just don't make the mistake of thinking you're "burning" calories through exercise and then using that as an excuse to eat more. It just doesn't work that way. Keep up your exercise routine and cut back some. With 50+ lbs to lose you can cut back on calories quite a bit as long as what you're taking in is healthy food - protein, fiber, etc. Figure out what kind of eater you are. For example, I love 2nds. Doesn't matter whether I'm full or not, I have always had to have more. So, seconds for me means I take more salad or more vegetables. I don't limit that at all. I eat enormous salads with very little dressing (1 tsp of olive oil and lots of vinegar or lemon juice or oo, mustard and vinegar for a thicker dressing). Fortunately for me, I like those foods. If I didn't, I'd probably try and fill up with water before I ate. You're doing a great job!

[Anonymous]

One thing that worked for me was to alternate every second day - 1700 calorie day and a 1400 calorie day.... this way I was not always hungry and I was able to stick with an on average pretty low amount of calories for how much exercise I was getting..... and the last stubborn pounds came off and stayed off.

[Anonymous]

First of all, great job OP losing that first 50--sincere congratulations. And for being fit and running!

I lost a total of 90 lbs over 4 years and went through a plateau point for almost a year and a half. I played around with calories but never drastically reduced because I had made that mistake my previous attempts at "dieting". If you look at the studies of people who lose large amounts of weight and keep it off long-term, as it sounds like you know, these are the folks who do it in a slow and steady way.

Cutting back too much is damaging to the body (you break down heart muscle, etc.--but from a weight loss perspective you also do damage to your metabolism). I would start by tracking what you eat right now--do a food journal for 2 weeks. There are phone apps and various websites where you can do this for free. I use fitday.com and like it. Then shave off 100 calories for a few weeks and see what happens.

Another option (and this is what eventually got me to my goal) was I followed Weight Watchers. It's just one easy way to eat reasonably and learn portion size.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of this "your body thinks it's starving and you won't lose weight if you cut calories too much" is BS. How do you think people who get gastric bypass lose so much weight? It's simple math. The less you take in, the more you're going to lose. Yes, your metabolism will slow slightly. But it certainly won't slow to a rate where you suddenly start holding on to every calorie you eat. If that were the case, gastric bypass wouldn't work.

Cut as many calories as you can while you're dieting, but also make sure you're taking a multivitamin, drinking enough water, getting enough calcium (try dannon lite and fit, very low in cals) taking a potassium supplement (talk to your Dr or a nutritionist about this) and eating enough protein.

Well---gastric bypass is in the 'severely obese range'...that is quite different. Those ppl were prob taking in 3000-8000+ calories a day. They would not have to cut it below 1200 to lose weight because they are exerting a lot more calories to keep their weight at 300lbs.

Cutting calories way too much sets up a pattern of yo-yo dieting that is not healthy and almost always has the dieter gaining more than they weighed prior to the diet. Also- you will lose important muscle mass if you go to low.

It really should be a lifestyle change----slow and steady weight loss. Exercise and eating healthy. Only water and skim milk and waaaaay more vegetables and fruit.

I am the OP. I have already established a pretty good lifestyle change over the past couple of years, and lost the first 50 lbs the slow and steady way. I just haven't been cutting back enough calories to lose recently. I'm only planning to do the more drastic calorie cut for 2-4 weeks. I'm probably getting about 1,200 calories a day during the week, and I indulge a little more on the weekends. It's helping to get me back on track, and in another week or two I"ll probably up it to the 1,500-1,700 calorie range. It's not like I'm some skinny minny trying to lose 10 or 15 lbs - I weigh 200 lbs and need to lose a good 50+.

I appreciate all the advice, truly. I do want to do this the healthy way.

Great job! I t sounds like you are going about it the right way. Congrats on the hard wokr!