weight loss non building related

[tgzerozone]

Hi all,

I was doing a bit of research on behalf of someone else and was wondering what your takes were on someone overweight trying to get down to their goal weight. If you go for a balanced diet to loose weight, I take it down to this:

1. 5 meals a day totaling 1200 Cals

2. Percentage carbs? 65 %?

3. Percentage Protein? 20 %

4. Percentage Fat? 15 %

Edit: Also, this person is on their feet alot and hardly has time for anything more than lunch. What would be a good replacement as a snack (looking obviously at at least 5 meals) in between meals that can be taken on the go. Granola bars, muesli bars etc. I know lots of these are tainted with sugar which one would not want, what would be a good choice though if you cannot sit down and have a meal/snack.

[two_phat]

There is no way 1200 cals is enough. Whoever this is will burnout in under a week.

Macro's aren't what I'd suggest either, crank up the protein and reduce the carbs.

It may be difficult for your 'friend' to find suitable meals, but if they can eat a muesli bar then I'm sure they could eat something prepared the night before out of a plastic container.

[tgzerozone]

Yup, points taken.

"friend" is not me, hehe. I'm bulking.... up to 70 kg from 55 kg a year ago. So I'm nailing the food. Quotes noted.

It's just that the more and more research I do the more I see that the most suggested by all the companies i.e. Jenny Craig etc is 1200 calories for a safe weight loss regiment, no less.

[FellowshipOfTheRon]

1200 kcals wow so low! male or female? how much does this guy weigh? i was shocked when my 70kg cousin entered his info on myfitnesspal & told it he wanted to lose weight then told him he should eat max 1200kcals per day :shock:

just go right back to the basics, find his/her maintenance cals & have them either operate at that or slightly below whilst keeping up the weight lifting/cardio sessions.

as for the macros, i think for that case in particular the ratios are whey off! 20% p for that example is just 60g protein per day. i'm no expert in weight loss but wouldn't it be better to have a decent amount of cals comin in from protein sources - to help maintain muscle mass?

[teamfatboy]

1200 cals would (barring this person being tiny) be a recipe for disaster... it wouldn't be sustainable, wouldn't lead to good eating habits and could prompt rebound dieting.

Many of these supposed recommendations take no account of the many variables which can affect calorie needs.

Instead,( and this is just my 2c worth) like FOTR says, go back to basics:

a. get some basic information (age, gender, height, weight, activity levels);

b. apply this calculator to work out their maintenance calorie needs;

c. deduct 500 calories (500 calories per day deficiency equals 3500 cals/week equals the amount of energy required to "burn" 500g of bodyfat, which coincidentally is the recommended rate of weight loss for sustained success - and also coincidentally will likely be closer to the diet they'll want to keep to once at their goal weight.

Then develop a straight diet, which might well be 60% carbs/ 30% protein/ 10% good fats - not too dissimilar to your own proposals, but just a little less carbs.

Then, get them to stick to it for a month, measure and re-evaluate.

[tgzerozone]

Thanks for all the advice.

Details are:

33 year old female

1.66 meters tall

Weight 81kg

[teamfatboy]

ran the numbers:

Basal Metabolic rate 1578 cals

Assuming she's moderately active - lots of standing, walking, but not actually working out intensely enough to raise the heart rate significantly - I would then multiply that by 1.55, giving daily calorie needs of approx 2400.

Deduct 500 cals/day and her daily calorie needs should be around 1900.

Sure, that seems like 50% more, but (again, purely my 2c worth):

a. it's less likely to seem like a horrible "diet" because it's not a small amount of food; and

b. in the long run, it's far more likely to get results.

So, have a look at what a 5-6 meals/day diet around those earlier macros might look like.

To help her with snacking consider:

a. raw almonds - small handful

b. cans of light tuna with flavour

c. celery sticks - with peanut butter on...

Oh, and drink heaps of water!

[tgzerozone]

Sweet, thanks guys!

[bang_bang]

Tfb to the rescue as usual lolz. Another thing to consider, it doesn't matter if she eats 3 meals or 10. Total cals is what matters. I personally find it much easier to stick to a diet when I have 3 decent meals a day so I feel full rather than constantly being unsatisfied and hungry which usually leads to overeating

[tgzerozone]

On that note. which is then right, the concept of at least having 5 meals a day to keep metabolism up or as you say, can you knock it on 3 meals per day.?

[Phedder]

On that note. which is then right, the concept of at least having 5 meals a day to keep metabolism up or as you say, can you knock it on 3 meals per day.?

Can do 1 if you want.

Have a read of this, might help clarify a lot of things for you.

[tgzerozone]

Good stuff. I'll have a read when I have a few minutes.

I just thought, after doing some research, that your body goes into fat storing mode if you do not get regular meals (Every 3 hours or so) into your system.

[bang_bang]

.

[tgzerozone]

lol, nope, didn't spot those. hehe.

[jackalan996]

Weight can be loss by doing regular following steps:-

exercise have a many numbers less benefits.

it minimize the cholesterol.

it reduce the body weight.

make a shape very nice and smart.

it maintain the body blood pressure.

it increase the body metabolism.

[Pseudonym]

TFB's advice is great (as usual). The only thing I'd add is the Harris-Benedict formula he's using sometimes seems to over-estimate the calories needed. That's not to say it's wrong, but just be aware that if your friend isn't making progress after a couple of weeks, you may need to scale it down by about 200cals until she does. But start out with the prescribed numbers though. :nod:

[vracula]

On that note. which is then right, the concept of at least having 5 meals a day to keep metabolism up or as you say, can you knock it on 3 meals per day.?

That is total horse shit.Lean gains ftw!

[muscle99]

In regards to the calorie limit of 1200.

Whether or not this will work will depend on a few things, for the majority of people this is a recipe for disaster. I really really don't encourage someone to do a drastic calorie reduction as a first time effort to get ripped. I like the extreme method as gets the job done faster & is character building.

1. The individual, really needs a strong mind & must have something driving them.

2. Plan of attack. Your diet & exercise program MUST be planned & written down on paper.

3. Re feed days are a must, depending on your calorie reduction, every 4-5 days eat your maintenance level or slightly above/below, make this a training day & include at least 1 huge meal and food you love & the mostly calories from complex carbs. This will replenish energy stores & make you strong for the next 3 or 4 days. The day after a 'carb up' I find the muscles are full & the body looks leaner than ever.

This is my method but defiantly ain't for everyone.

[tgzerozone]

Sounds good indeed. I like the eating maintenance when you have training days, makes sense.