About 5-6 weeks ago my wife and I decided to change our lifestyle and get in shape, etc....
Anyway I was 230 pounds, 5'11". She was 5'8" and about 196 pounds. We looked at all the calorie suggestions and they seemed really high. We were (actually still are) both pretty weak from our lack of exercise and desk jobs. We are in our mid 30s.
We decided on 1850 calories a day for myself and 1450 calories a day for her. If we followed the various calculators, I would be eating about 2700 and she would be eating about 2300. We aren't hungry on the diets we're on and it seems like plenty of food. I couldn't imagine being able to lose weight with much more calories. So here is the question, since a lot of our mass is fat and not lean body mass, does it make sense to go with the lower calories. I can understand eating that much if I was 230 pounds and 10-15% bf but since I am not trying to maintain that amount of lean body mass, it would seem to me that I obviously should not be eating the same amount as someone of the same weight and a lower body fat. Why do none of these calculators take bf% as part of the equation?
My other question is about Leptin and refeeds. I read that Leptin levels will be higher with higher body fat. Is it necessary to do refeeds to continue to lose weight even if you have a high body fat or will the high body fat compensate for that and keep Leptin levels high? I ask because in the first 4 weeks I have went down from 230 to 217 but the last 2 weeks have seemed to plateau... but also remember this is the first time that I have ever worked out too. I'm not sure but I think that my body fat has been dropping even the last 2 weeks. As a newbie, it is pretty easy to put on muscle so I am thinking that the weight staying the same was a combination of losing fat and gaining muscle. I know my cloths fit different than they did 2 weeks ago.
In 6 weeks, I have lost 13 pounds and my wife has lost 6 pounds. I'm not sure but it seems like weight loss has slowed down a lot for me and my wife's weight loss has slowed or stopped too.
So I am wondering is this stop in weight loss because we aren't eating enough calories, we need a refeed or is it fairly normal as fat people start putting on a little muscle for the first time in their lives. Do we start to consume more calories or just wait it out a few more weeks, continue our diet and just see what happens?
Anyway I was 230 pounds, 5'11". She was 5'8" and about 196 pounds. We looked at all the calorie suggestions and they seemed really high. We were (actually still are) both pretty weak from our lack of exercise and desk jobs. We are in our mid 30s.
We decided on 1850 calories a day for myself and 1450 calories a day for her. If we followed the various calculators, I would be eating about 2700 and she would be eating about 2300. We aren't hungry on the diets we're on and it seems like plenty of food. I couldn't imagine being able to lose weight with much more calories. So here is the question, since a lot of our mass is fat and not lean body mass, does it make sense to go with the lower calories. I can understand eating that much if I was 230 pounds and 10-15% bf but since I am not trying to maintain that amount of lean body mass, it would seem to me that I obviously should not be eating the same amount as someone of the same weight and a lower body fat. Why do none of these calculators take bf% as part of the equation?
My other question is about Leptin and refeeds. I read that Leptin levels will be higher with higher body fat. Is it necessary to do refeeds to continue to lose weight even if you have a high body fat or will the high body fat compensate for that and keep Leptin levels high? I ask because in the first 4 weeks I have went down from 230 to 217 but the last 2 weeks have seemed to plateau... but also remember this is the first time that I have ever worked out too. I'm not sure but I think that my body fat has been dropping even the last 2 weeks. As a newbie, it is pretty easy to put on muscle so I am thinking that the weight staying the same was a combination of losing fat and gaining muscle. I know my cloths fit different than they did 2 weeks ago.
In 6 weeks, I have lost 13 pounds and my wife has lost 6 pounds. I'm not sure but it seems like weight loss has slowed down a lot for me and my wife's weight loss has slowed or stopped too.
So I am wondering is this stop in weight loss because we aren't eating enough calories, we need a refeed or is it fairly normal as fat people start putting on a little muscle for the first time in their lives. Do we start to consume more calories or just wait it out a few more weeks, continue our diet and just see what happens?
but eating low calories might be counter productive
(sodas, candy, ziltch)
(just kidding)
