What sort of weightloss should I expect

Steve.N

Guys,
I need some advice from you fitness gurus!

I'm a 42yr old male and weighed 13stone 11pounds which just gradually came on me over a 10yr period due to lack of serious consistent exercise and a diet of mostly convenient foods.
My wife and I started the Jillian Michaels 90 body revolution program 5wks ago - what a revelation this has been. We're 5wks in, feel much much fitter than we have in years and I have trimmed 4inches off my waist and 5 off of my chest and now weigh 12stone 7pounds.

The new food regime is all freshly made using low fat and healthy products and we're absolutely loving it. The program recommends taking in 1200 calories a day (which I monitor with 'my fitness pal') and work out to the videos 6days a week for 30mins each day. This new food regime is really re-training us to maintain this into the future!

My question is - what sort of consistent weight loss should I see?
I dropped 6pounds in the 1st week, then hoped to loose around 2pounds each week after that.
This was the case for week 2 & 3, but last week I'd only lost 1pound and this week I've lost nothing.
I'm sticking to the eating/ exercise plan religiously and monitor every morsel, I haven't strayed at all since the plan started.

What is going on that my weight loss is slowing down??
Any advice is welcomed.

Thanks
Steve.

mdwexford

1200 calories sounds very low for a man.

xgtdec

Decent solid progress fat loss is about 1 lb a week...roughly, some weeks 1.5...some weeks none but if you average out at 1 lb a week then happy days, myself as an example ive lost 0.7lbs a week since January when you average it out...im over the moon with that!! Dont rush it..be patient..and it'll happen!!

Challo

I'm no expert but thanks to those on this site, I've finally realized that there is no point in starving oneself. The consistent advice tends to be that you still have to eat enough to lose weight: 1200 cals is very very low for man. I'd say if you upped to 1800/2000, you'd actually lose more weight. Up the calories by eating good food obviously, not junk. I'm not familiar with that programme but sounds likes for the last few weeks, you've been eating less than half of your daily recommended allowance!

Steve.N

Challo wrote: »

I'm no expert but thanks to those on this site, I've finally realized that there is no point in starving oneself. The consistent advice tends to be that you still have to eat enough to lose weight: 1200 cals is very very low for man. I'd say if you upped to 1800/2000, you'd actually lose more weight. Up the calories by eating good food obviously, not junk. I'm not familiar with that programme but sounds likes for the last few weeks, you've been eating less than half of your daily recommended allowance!

Thanks Challo, but I must say that I haven't eaten this well for years!
I stick to 250calories for breakfast, 400 for lunch, 400 for dinner & 150 for a snack.
Today for example:
Breakfast - 40g of porridge with 100ml of milk with my cuppa (212calories)
Lunch - 150ml of my homemade vegetable soup and a small garden salad with 70g of turkey (402calories)
Dinner - Red Thai curry noodles with stir-fry veg (388 calories)
Snack - Smoothie (135 calories)

What sort of calorie intake should I be taking to maintain sustained weight loss?

Stench Blossoms

To maintain, body weight in lbs x 14.

I think you are eating way too little. I eat more than you and I'm a 5'1 female.

Challo

Steve, there is some really good advice in the stickies in this forum. Yes, the basic rule for weight loss is consume less calories than you burn but as per lots of advice, you can't starve yourself. I think Gem gives a really good outline in one of her posts in the stickies about how to calculate what you should be eating.

Really, you are eating too little food and your body is probably clinging onto any calories it can now. As poster above, you should be eating around 2500 calories for maintaining your weight, so really around 2000 minimum to lose weight but enough to keep you body/brain ticking over.

Well done on the progress so far by the way.

Steve.N

To loose 1-2lbs a week, what calorie intake should I be looking at?
I've got a online calculator that says to do this I should be in-taking around 1650 calories a day - does that sound about right??

Steve.N

Challo wrote: »

Steve, there is some really good advice in the stickies in this forum. Yes, the basic rule for weight loss is consume less calories than you burn but as per lots of advice, you can't starve yourself. I think Gem gives a really good outline in one of her posts in the stickies about how to calculate what you should be eating.

Really, you are eating too little food and your body is probably clinging onto any calories it can now. As poster above, you should be eating around 2500 calories for maintaining your weight, so really around 2000 minimum to lose weight but enough to keep you body/brain ticking over.

Well done on the progress so far by the way.

Sorry, I never saw your post above :-)

doctorwhogirl

Echoing everyone else. Eat more.

At that calorie intake eventually your fitness, energy and healthy will suffer and when the weight loss is over your maintenance will be almost impossible.

If you're concerned about regaining any weight lost up the cals slowly.

Make sure you up them with good stuff- extra protein and healthy fats!

Steve.N

doctorwhogirl wrote: »

Echoing everyone else. Eat more.

At that calorie intake eventually your fitness, energy and healthy will suffer and when the weight loss is over your maintenance will be almost impossible.

If you're concerned about regaining any weight lost up the cals slowly.

Make sure you up them with good stuff- extra protein and healthy fats!

Thanks for that doctorwhogirl!
What should I up my daily calorie level to?

doctorwhogirl

Stench Blossoms wrote: »

To maintain, body weight in lbs x 14.

I think you are eating way too little. I eat more than you and I'm a 5'1 female.

This I reckon! See what number it comes out at.

I was eating low enough, but upped slowly and didn't gain anything through upping. I lost in fact. Small amounts (hadn't a huge amount left to lose) but still losses.

They always say small losses are better in the long run even though it may feel like you want to just sprint to the finish.

I've lost a hape of weight (technical term) :P
And the biggest thing I've learned is that it's not a matter of losing the weight, it's changing your lifestyle and the weight follows. Losing weight is hard, keeping it off is harder. So you have to start something you know you can basically commit to for the long haul!

Steve.N

doctorwhogirl wrote: »

This I reckon! See what number it comes out at.

I was eating low enough, but upped slowly and didn't gain anything through upping. I lost in fact. Small amounts (hadn't a huge amount left to lose) but still losses.

They always say small losses are better in the long run even though it may feel like you want to just sprint to the finish.

I've lost a hape of weight (technical term) :P
And the biggest thing I've learned is that it's not a matter of losing the weight, it's changing your lifestyle and the weight follows. Losing weight is hard, keeping it off is harder. So you have to start something you know you can basically commit to for the long haul!

This 5wks has been a revelation in showing us how healthier eating makes such a difference to our physical condition and energy levels.
We never had that bad a diet but we opted for convenience foods most evenings and I like my bread. I kayaked & played squash at least once a week and am a pretty active guy, but I just thought that my body make-up was the type just to be a chunky monkey.
We're amazed that opting for healthy, fresh made food makes such a difference to weight loss and better body shape. We now also prepare our food for work so we have all the correct amounts and types of food.

My wives best friend is a fitness instructor and always gave me a hard time as I found it hard to eat enough food each day - After keeping a detailed diary for months I would only average 1500 calories per day!
I'm loving this present 1200 calorie diet but now realise that this is too low.
Can I use any energy bars/ drinks to supplement my diet?
It may sound strange but I'd struggle to eat more food!


Many thanks guys for the replies!!

gollywog

Steve.N wrote: »

This 5wks has been a revelation in showing us how healthier eating makes such a difference to our physical condition and energy levels.
We never had that bad a diet but we opted for convenience foods most evenings and I like my bread. I kayaked & played squash at least once a week and am a pretty active guy, but I just thought that my body make-up was the type just to be a chunky monkey.
We're amazed that opting for healthy, fresh made food makes such a difference to weight loss and better body shape. We now also prepare our food for work so we have all the correct amounts and types of food.

My wives best friend is a fitness instructor and always gave me a hard time as I found it hard to eat enough food each day - After keeping a detailed diary for months I would only average 1500 calories per day!
I'm loving this present 1200 calorie diet but now realise that this is too low.
Can I use any energy bars/ drinks to supplement my diet?
It may sound strange but I'd struggle to eat more food!


Many thanks guys for the replies!!

I also struggle to eat enough, any tips for easy to get down, high nutrition foods?

huskerdu

Steve.N wrote: »

This 5wks has been a revelation in showing us how healthier eating makes such a difference to our physical condition and energy levels.
We never had that bad a diet but we opted for convenience foods most evenings and I like my bread. I kayaked & played squash at least once a week and am a pretty active guy, but I just thought that my body make-up was the type just to be a chunky monkey.
We're amazed that opting for healthy, fresh made food makes such a difference to weight loss and better body shape. We now also prepare our food for work so we have all the correct amounts and types of food.

My wives best friend is a fitness instructor and always gave me a hard time as I found it hard to eat enough food each day - After keeping a detailed diary for months I would only average 1500 calories per day!
I'm loving this present 1200 calorie diet but now realise that this is too low.
Can I use any energy bars/ drinks to supplement my diet?
It may sound strange but I'd struggle to eat more food!


Many thanks guys for the replies!!

You are enjoying eating healthy foods, this is the single most important issue for you now and in the future. However, this should be a lifelong habit, not a diet.

My advice is to stop "monitoring every morsel you eat" and worrying about exact calorie intake. Weight loss always fluctuates week by week and you can get too obsessed with it. You cant keep this up for ever and you might fall off the wagon and put the weight back on again quickly.

Continue to eat healthily. Throw away the apps and the counter.
Learn to eat as much as you need, and stop just before you are full.

When you are in the habit of eating healthily al the time without thinking about it and if you are not losing weight, reduce the amount you eat slightly, so you lose weight in a sustainable way and you will keep it off.

BTW, Energy bars are expensive and if you read the list of ingredients , are frequently not too healthy.

homemadecider

Try adding extra fats to your diet to increase you calorie intake.

Add olive oil to your salads.

Have cheese or nuts as a snack.

Cook fish in butter.

Ditch the low-fat products for full-fat ones. (The low-fat ones are full of sugar and are really bad for you).

Steve.N

huskerdu wrote: »

You are enjoying eating healthy foods, this is the single most important issue for you now and in the future. However, this should be a lifelong habit, not a diet.

My advice is to stop "monitoring every morsel you eat" and worrying about exact calorie intake. Weight loss always fluctuates week by week and you can get too obsessed with it. You cant keep this up for ever and you might fall off the wagon and put the weight back on again quickly.

Continue to eat healthily. Throw away the apps and the counter.
Learn to eat as much as you need, and stop just before you are full.

When you are in the habit of eating healthily al the time without thinking about it and if you are not losing weight, reduce the amount you eat slightly, so you lose weight in a sustainable way and you will keep it off.

BTW, Energy bars are expensive and if you read the list of ingredients , are frequently not too healthy.

Thanks for the advice.
I think this 12wk plan definitely gives you the basis for eating healthy in the future. We're only counting each morsel so we can get used to what size portions are correct & healthy, once it becomes a habit you're correct that you'll just instinctively know how much to eat.
Our complete diet has moved away from any and every processed type of food with any artificial colouring/flavouring - we're using only low cholesterol fats, with low sodium and steered away from sugars.
We're treating this new regime as a lifestyle change and not a diet.

After reading these posts I upped my intake today by 200 calories. I went into Holland and Barratt and got a few high protein bars to sample them (with low fats/ sugars) but they are expensive.
Could I use any of the drinks to bring my calorie intake up slightly?
As I said, I have a real problem with just eating more - so could I supplement my present diet with anything?

PS, Weigh day today - another 2pounds off, but more importantly 2" off my waist, 1.5" off my thighs since last week. I'm happy this is nice steady progress!! Over the 5wks I've lost 1stone 3pounds.


Thanks
Steve.