Am I doing enough?

[Tat2MePink]

Hello,

I just bought my FitBit HR last week and so far, I've been doing good at keeping track of everything. However, I don't feel like i'm doing enough exercise. My calorie intake vs output has been under goal since Sunday with around 1900 calories in. Am I eating too much even though it says i'm under goal for the calorie output? I have about 100 pounds to lose and I want to lose it quickly, but I also want it to stay off. I don't feel like I'm eating too little because i'm full, but based on what FitBit says, i'm under goal. I've been burning about 2500-3000 calories a day. Any suggestions for me? 

Thank you!

[JohnRi]

Hi Tat,

8 months ago I was 281 lbs.  98 lbs from the top of the healthy range...  Today I'm 36 lbs from my goal.

As my doctor said, it took you months and years to gain the weight, it's going to take you months and years to lose it.  Losing it slow is also good for loose skin.  If you loose it too rapidly, you skin will never shrink on it's own, and either you end up with a ton of loose skin, or you will have to have it removed. 

I've been losing 1 to 3 lbs a week since October.  And I'm going to have some loose skin issues.  Not too bad, and I'll proably avoid surgury. 

I only metioned it because you seem to want to lose the weight quickly.  There is not quick weight loss.  It's going to take at least a year, if not longer to lose 100 lbs safely.

Diet is 80% of your weight loss.  But more importantly, there are no diets.  If you want to keep the weight off, you must change your diet permantly. I personally run a diet aroudnt 18 to 22% protein, 25-30% fat, and 45-55% carbs.  I get around 90 minutes of exercise a day, usually walking or cycling. 

Back when I was 281, I burned 3500 calories a day.  Today I can usually barely burn 2800 calories.  And it's getting harder and harder to lose weight.

I ran a 1200-1500 calorie deficit for the first several months.  But as I lost weight my deficit decreased.

Generally 1000 calorie defict is for those that want to lose 40 or more.  You can go higher when you have a lot to lose.  But remember lose it too quick, you skin doesn't shrink.  So I'd keep it around 1200 or so.

At less than 40, a 750 calorie deficit.  At 20 from goal, 500 deficit.  And at 10 from goal, 250 deficit.

The real reason to decrease your deficit is the closer you are to goal, the higher your deficit, the more you body burns muscle instead of fat.  So drop your deficit as you get closer to goal.

I started out walking every other day.  Then I switched to daily walks 4-6 miles 90-120 minutes a day.  Then I swapped out every other day for cylcing.  Where I ride 15-20 miles 90-120 minutes.

With the help of my nutruionist, I slowly changed my diet to improve it.  I've cut back on portions, and I eat a lot of vegetables.

At the start it's easy to burn calories.  But then it will slow down...

As you start your diet changes, remember these are permantant changes.  As you cut your deficit, you'll have to adjust your intake.  Make sure you eat at least 1200-1300 calories a day.  If you can do that and make your goal, then you will have to exercise to earn you dinner.

Go luck and stay active.

[Dominique]

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@Tat2MePink wrote:

I have about 100 pounds to lose and I want to lose it quickly, but I also want it to stay off.

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Not sure how quick is "quickly", but as @JohnRi, it’s going to take some time. Plus, losing it quickly and having it stay off are usually contradictory goals. Studies made on former participants in the "Biggest loser" contest prove it. Slow and steady wins the race.

As to whether or not you’re doing "enough" exercise: difficult to say, as the step count in your profile is not visible to all. The absolute amount of exercise you’re doing doesn’t matter that much (from the weight loss point of view): it’s the deficit that matters. You must be doing enough exercise in relation to what you eat so as to create a sustainable deficit. And your level of exercise must also be sustainable, because this is going to be a long-distance race, not a short sprint. You don’t want to burn out or injure yourself.

[Flatermuis]

in short, yes. 

the longer version: most likely

The biggest mistakes people make is wanting to loose a lot of weight quickly. Weight Products use it to sell and it's just a shortcut to get people to feel good after they burn their water and see fast results. While it is possible, healthwise, the wasteproduct that are accumulating are the real danger of losing weight very fast. 

Loosing weight and staying that way is mostly about your eating habit. Experiment with eating habits and pick one that works for you and stick with it. If you burn about 2500-3000, 1800-1900 intake should be enough.

Just because you get a calorie difference, doesn't mean the body will burn fat. It will use whatever is availible, so that includes muscle. Also the human body needs certain vitamins and minerals to actually burn fat and loose weight. It's a big complex machine. So when you say you have an intake of 1800-1900, it must be containg most of the minerals and vitamins the body needs to function probably. You don't need to fulfill the daily intake every day, just look at a week period and see if there are some low and try to incorprate those a bit more.

Also try to measure things like fat percentage and waist size. Weight is just a little part of the story. Sometimes your weight won't change over a couple of days, but your body is converting the fat and your fat percentage is dropping. The next days you weight will drop. 

just as a comparison. I was burning 4500 cal a day and eating 1800 and was losing about four pounds a week. Burning fat is a slow process.

[Tat2MePink]

Well I have lost 5 pounds in two weeks. Which to me, is a healthy range. So
I must be doing it right for my body. Lol