If you are losing, how many calories do you eat?

[cheekychaplin]

Just curious as I know the range is huge.

Oh and I do eat ‘treats’ but I used to binge eat so I have tried to avoid triggers like biscuits.

I go for things like chocolate Alpro soya pots, an ice lolly, low cal G&T, jelly beans

I need to start this. Im 5'6" and almost 12 stone. I really want to get to 10 stone for august. How do I work this out? I will do the odd session on my cross trainer maybe 3x a week and walk 10,000-12.000 steps. Really want to succeed at this but feel so despondent

@carrottopper with your height and build, your BMR is 1600 calories. If you ate this and stayed in bed all day you'd maintain your weight.

I'd not take exercise calories into account, as people have a habit of overestimating how much they burn.

So I'd eat slightly less than 1600 calories, maybe start with 1500 and see how you feel about your hunger levels and if the speed of weight loss is good for you.

My advice is don't go in too hard as you may well end up falling off the wagon and throw it all in.

Eat what you want, but in moderation, weigh foods to get an idea of accurate calories in the food. If it fits into your calorie budget, then great. Obviously, eat plenty of protein and fruit and veg, but don't let yourself feel deprived.

It took a long time to gain the weight, so it's going to take some time to lose it.

God this is depressing. I've tried 1200kcal for 5-6 weeks; lost 2kg the first 2 weeks (in total) and then absolutely nothing. Underactive thyroid and very overweight. Less than 1200kcal I feel faint and get headaches. I need to lose weight desperately but I'm at a loss.

I lose very slowly on 1200. I'm old and sedentary and tbh I'm probably just maintaining really now (not overweight but at the top end of healthy BMI). Yes it's depressing but preferable to the alternative.

@ISeeTheLight have you discussed things with your gp?

I don’t seem to lose unless I eat less than 1200 and leave bread out of my diet. Finding it hard to find the motivation despite really wanting to be a stone lighter!

1200 a day and losing about 1kg a week. I walk 10-15,000 steps a day and try to do a quick work out 4-5 days a week. My tdee is 1188 🤨 so I have to be super strict

I should add I’m very over weight at 75kgs and 158cm. Also breastfeeding

I lost 2lbs last week eating an average of 1355 calories a day. I went from 60.8kg to 59.8kgs which at 155cm (5'1) now puts me at a healthy weight (just) instead of overweight.

During the holidays I didn't track at all, drank a lot and ate a lot but in 6 weeks I put on a bit over a pound.

I do exercise a lot though, I'm on my feet at work and I do body pump at least once a week, aim for twice or standard cardio and I lift weights 3 times a week too.

I have lost 2kg in 3 weeks on 1200kcal. I am trying to go from 62kg to 53kg. According to my fitbit my daily maintainence calories vary quite a bit from just 1400 a day to 2100 depending on how sedentary I am. I try to eat in an 8 hour window most days and have cut out ultra processed food.

I’m having between 500 to 800 calories a day less than this and not losing weight.

I'm doing restricted window eating, stopping at 5/6 and not eating again until 6/7. I'm also cutting sugar almost out (reduced by 90% easily) and increasing protein and vegetables. No calorie counting and I am losing.

Coupling this with kettlebells 3 times a week for 20 minutes with a rest day between, and a strong bedtime and wake up schedule (9/10 to 5/6)

Sleep is absolutely key in this.

I am post-menopausal, so need to eat less in the first place.

I set my target right down at 1200 a day when I need to shed what has crept on (I had covid last year, and really wasn't up to much exercise for a surprisingly long time, and the creeping started then, and then got consolidated by Christmas!)

I set it that low because
a) I know I don't weigh/measure everything, and so what I log is almost certainly an underestimate. Aiming low means that even if I'm out, the real total is still likely to be something I'll still lose on
b) I like to see fast results at the start, and I'll later start to increase to find a kind of happy medium
c) after the first few days, I find my appetite adjusts, so desire to eat piles of crap diminishes sharply
d) I lost a lot of weight about 7 years ago like this, and have (until recently) kept it off. I'm pretty confident it's working, and that I'll get to target again and stay there

That's just what suits me - I know it won't suit everyone

Top tip

• no booze in the early stages - empty calories and increases urge to nibble
• later, alcohol only when it's using my "exercise" calories (ditto sweeties and crisps)

1600 a day. Losing about 1kg a week but I'll have a break soon and go onto maintenance calories to get my metabolism up, then back onto 1600 a day agai.