First time caller - newbie question about DB Forum Topic

Sep 21, 2009 8:39am leonjacobs 11 posts	Hi there burners, I’ve just signed up today. Great site. I’m a little confused about the calorie thing and have read a number of conflicting viewpoints on the internet. I started a lifestyle change in the beginning of August. Through just watching what I eat, cutting out all alcohol and exercising daily, I’ve already lost 14kg. I’ve tracked my weight on a spreadsheet and have just the big Plateau. I now seem to be dropping about 2kg per week again. I realise this might be too fast. My BMR is 2500 and today, which is a very typical day in my new regime, I’ve taken in 1300 odd calories. Plus I swam 1.5km which is 750 odd calories burnt. The nutrition thing says I should be taking in 3300 calories? How can that be? That seems like a lot! I realise not eating enough calories can cause your body to hit starvation mode, but I’m feeling very comfortable with what I eat. And enjoying the exercise. Any advice?

Sep 21, 2009 11:07am davidolson22 131 posts	How long have you been on your plateau? You’ve only been dieting for abotu a month and have lost 14 kilos. It doesn’t seem like your plateau could ahve lasteed more than a few days or a week at most. I’d just keep doing what you are doing for now and see how it goes in another week.

Sep 21, 2009 12:21pm Lyrica 50 posts	The definition of a plateau is 4-6 weeks with no loss of weight or inches. I don’t think you have truly hit a plateau. :)

Sep 21, 2009 12:27pm dianebl 904 posts	@leonjacobs, The desirable goal for weight loss is 0.5 – 1.0 kg a week. You are doing twice that, which means you are losing weight too fast. You are NOT doing yourself any favours. For one thing, when you are in such a large calorie deficit, your body eats just as much of it’s muscle as fat. Secondly, your body doesn’t have the energy it needs to maintain things like your immune system. Also, your metabolism will slow in an effort to burn less calories.If you do this long enough, it may take a VERY long time for it to return to normal, if it ever does. Not exactly the results you are looking for. Your BMR is how many calories you need to take in if you lay in bed all day, not moving. You need more calories just to function normally and more if you workout. Even if you were completely sedentary (desk job, no excercise) you would need 3000 calories just to break even in a day. That means no weight loss, no weight gain. So, do you work out? If so, how much? Once you know how many calories you need in a day JUST TO BREAK EVEN, you can figure out how many calories you need in a day to lose weight. Creating a 500 calorie deficit per day will let you lose about 0.5 kg per week.

Sep 21, 2009 6:43pm leonjacobs 11 posts	Thanks for all the replies. To be clear. I was experiencing a slowdown only for a week or so where basically the weightloss flatlined. Now it has started again. @diane – I realise the rate feels too high. I am just not sure how to up my calorie intake. I’m feeling very comfortable with the amount I’m eating. I don’t feel hungry and I eat a variety of highly nutritious foods. Mostly fish, greens, vegetables, fruits, nuts and beans. Drinking plenty of water and herbal tea. In terms of exercise I’m swimming everyday for at least 40 minutes to an hour. I try and do a gym session about 2-3 a weeks (on those days I don’t swim) where I do 20 minutes of running, and then weight training. I guess what I am trying to figure out is whether the goal intake on DB is for sustaining weight or for losing weight. Thanks for the replies.

Sep 21, 2009 8:00pm dianebl 904 posts	@leonjacobs, if you told DB that your goal weight was less than your current weight, then the calorie range they gave you was for weight loss. You can always redo it by going to “Nutrition → Update Goals”. One thing about this calculator is that the numbers can be a bit high for most people. I’m not talking tons, but a couple hundred calories. One way to compensate it to underestimate your activity level a bit. If you continue to lose weight to fast, up it. As for calorie intake, most people would be VERY hungery at 1300 calories and your level of activity. So, are you sure that’s what you are actually eating? Most people underestimate, often by quite a lot. They eyeball things like butter and salad dressing, which are very calorie dense. They “round up” things like spoonfuls of peanut butter. Or they measure everything by volume instead of weight , and can be off without even realizing it. Witeowl posted a video a while ago that showed someone carefully measuring spoonfuls of peanut butter and cups of oatmeal, and then weighing what they had measured earlier. It turns out they had more of both than they thought, and the difference in calories was very significant. If you don’t have one, invest in a digital kitchen scale. They arren’t expensive, and are invaluable if you are trying to lose weight.

Sep 21, 2009 8:47pm davidolson22 131 posts	Just wanted to second the digital kitchen scale. I use mine all the time. If I make a PB&J sandwich, I want to make sure I don’t accidentally add 3 servings of peanut butter instead of 1 (thereby using 400 more calories than I want to).

Sep 21, 2009 8:56pm TheAng 773 posts ...	I third the scale idea – who has a link to the video that shows the differences between weighing and measuring? I think it was on youtube but I’m not sure… if I find it, I’ll post it.

Sep 21, 2009 9:09pm Lyrica 50 posts	It’s by Leigh Peele author of “Fat Loss Troubleshoot”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY&feat…

Sep 21, 2009 10:18pm TheAng 773 posts ...	Sweet – yes Lyrica – that’s the video I was thinking of. Thanks for posting it!