Quercus' questions/log

[Quercus]

I'm 37 years old, 5'10" tall and 219 pounds, down from 251 in January. Weight has come off primarily do to caloric restriction. I try to eat several times a day, but without too many calories in one sitting.

I've added in treadmill workouts. Based on recent reading, I'm going to be switching from the 75-85% HR longer duration steady state workouts to HIIT.

My goal is weight loss and improved physical conditioning. I'm shooting for something in the neighborhood of 160.

I've read through the forum and through a number of various sites on the web. I want to use a combination of caloric intake management + HIIT training to reach that goal in the most efficient manner possible.

The two questions I have are:

1) What *should* my daily caloric intake be? Currently, I'm eating 1500-2000/day. 1500 leaves me feeling hungry at certain points of the day. At 2000, I'm rarely hungry for long. But, prior to starting exercise, weight loss at 2000 calories a day had slowed tremendously (1lb/week or so).

2) How many days should I be hitting the treadmill?

[qdmcg]

First, congrats on the progress. I hope people around you are noticing it.

1 lb a week really isn't that slow, you have to get that out of your head. Yes, people can definitely lose a lot more in a week but its not necessarily better or safer.

As far as calculating calories, there are tons of methods to approximate them. Unfortunately, they are all estimations. I personally like the articles at bodybuilding.com which include caloric calculators (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/topicoftheweek116.htm).

2) As often as you want\your body is capable of. I would certainly reccomend against going 7/7 days a week because you will want time to recuperate, but 3-5 (even 6 at times) is fine. Obviously more running = more calories burned = more weight loss.

Also, consider doing some weightlifting. The benefits of weightlifting to help lose body fat are significant.

[Rootabager]

Healthy is supposed to be 2 pounds a week.

[qdmcg]

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Healthy is supposed to be 2 pounds a week.

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The maximum amount of weight loss generally advocated per week is 2 pounds(unless you have a lot to lose in which case you can lose more). Healthy can also be 1 lb\week.

The more weight you lose per week the more muscle you will be losing along with the body fat. People generally prefer to lose bodyfat and maintain the muscle that they have, so in many instances, 1 lb\week could even be preferable (though it is certainly possible to lose 2lb\week and maintain the majority of your LBM).

[SmileyEH]

I think what you should be most concerned about re; weight loss is a lifestyle you think is most likely for you to maintain. Sure if you are eating 1500 calories a day the pounds will come off faster-if you feel fine doing this and are sure you can manage it for another 6months-year then go for it. But if you are tired, hungry all the time, uncomfortable then don't. Shoot for something more reasonable. It's much better to take 2 years to get to your proper weight and to maintain it for the rest of your life, than to bounce up and down over yearlong periods as you diet-->give up-->get disgusted and start over.

[Quercus]

[ QUOTE ]

Sure if you are eating 1500 calories a day the pounds will come off faster-if you feel fine doing this and are sure you can manage it for another 6months-year then go for it. But if you are tired, hungry all the time, uncomfortable then don't. Shoot for something more reasonable.


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On 1500 calories, there are periods of the day when I'm hungry. At 2000, less so.

According to the Mayo Clinic calorie calculator , I need 2100 calories to maintain my current weight if I engage in no physical activity.

At 160 pounds, I would need 2050 to maintain. (The closeness of the two seems counterintuitive to me.)

Other calculators tell me that I need 3373 calories per day to maintain 219 and will need 2465 at 160. Quite a difference.

Other calculators give me different results between the two of them, though generally closer to 3000 than to 2000 at my current weight.

I'm going to guess that 30 minutes of HIIT will burn 250 calories, 5 days a week, or about an average of 180 calories per day on a 7 day week.

So, I need somewhere between 2280 and 3550 calories per day to maintain my current weight. If its at the low end, I think a 500 calorie per day deficit is about the best I can hope for. If towards the higher, then I could run a 1000 calorie a day deficit and be eating more than I'm eating now.

Hence, my confusion.

[Quercus]

5/3

Calories: ~1800
Workout: 5 warmup, 20 treadmill HIIT, 5 cooldown - ~400 calories

I started doing 1:1 sprint/cooldown on HIIT, but about halfway through, noticed my heartrate kicking up to 199 (which is the max my monitor will show). Even in my early 20s, when I was lean and buff, I've never seen it over 190.

Physically, I could have continued the 1:1 pace, I decided that it would be better if my heart didn't explode, so I switched down to 1:2. That kept my heartrate between 180-190 for the sprints.

Today, legs feel heavy - but not sore.

[Quercus]

5/4 - 5/6

I've had recurring back lower back issues for the last year. Part of the reason I decided to lose weight was to reduce the strain on my back and hopefully get rid of them. On Friday, apparently the mere act of bending over pulled something and I had trouble standing up straight for the rest of the day.

Its not so much pain as a lot of stiffness and trouble standing up straight - especially after sitting. I decided to hit the treadmill for a light workout today anyway.

After about 10 minutes, the back loosened up and I was able to have a fairly normal interval workout.

Calories were about 2200 on Friday/Saturday and about 1800 on Sunday.

I weighed in yesterday morning and was down to 217.

[Quercus]

5/7-5/12

Business took the wife and I to Miami for the first half of the week. I probably walked 4-5 miles each day, but ate and drank well a couple of the evenings. Average calories probably 2500-2800 per day.

Taught my treadmill a HIIT program this evening. Nearly got sick about 3/4 of the way through. I think that means the intensity is about right.

Calories since coming home have been in the 2000-2200 per day range.

Weighed in at 215 today. 36 down, 50-60 more to go.

7 more pounds and my BMI will put me in the "overweight" category, rather than the "obese" category.

Went to the dentist's office on Thursday to get a tooth looked at. They measured my blood pressure at 140/82. That's quite a bit lower than the 160/110 they measured in January before I started.

[maniacut]

Nice progress man