The average American woman weighs 160lbs (159) and is 5'4.
She needs a balanced diet of 2,000 (1,965) calories to maintain her weight.
Now, cutting those calories in half would leave us with 1,000 calories to play with. This is plenty.
Mathematically, a woman of these stats would lose at LEAST half a pound a day. 3.5lbs in a week.
Having a poor diet.
I would label myself as someone who has a poor diet. I don't have balanced meals. Most meals I make are quick, lazy and microwavable. It is very important to eat a multitude of things. The food listed in previous blogs was last summer, not now. Now that you have these 1,000 calories to go with, make up some meals of your own. But make sure they are balanced and also make sure they are things you will MOST LIKELY COOK!
I discourage trying too new and different things unless you can actually do it for an extended period of time and you can a$$ord it.
No more cutting out bread and dairy, or eating only protein. Calculate things you already eat on a daily, and make your limits. You'll be more likely to stick to it if there are really no changes to what you're used to.
3.5lbs a week means nearly 15lbs a month- ONLY by means of dieting. Add exercise to the mix and you're set! There's no way any of you couldn't lose.
Whether or not you think this is too quickly or too slowly is up to you. If you want to lose a lb a week go ahead. My main issue with that is, when I don't see fast enough results, I just tend to lose interest and stop what I'm doing.
And think to yourself: How long have you been overweight? A lb a week would mean 52lbs a year. 52lbs would get many of us out of the "overweight" category- but we are still overweight? WHY?
Please remember, this time last year I JUST stepped out the "OBESE" category with a BMI of 30.1
No more baby steps- do something NOW.
Man, I'd love to lose that fast. I just can't bring myself to eat that little just yet. One day at a time...
ReplyDeleteI find 1000 calories a day plenty but it did take a little bit of time to get used to. Now I can't believe how many calories I used to eat in just one sitting....food is packed with energy so we don't really need a lot.
ReplyDeleteAwesome blog... keep it up!
ReplyDeleteGreat post love. Made so much sence. and 15 pounds a month! I could use that. haha.
ReplyDeleteYeah, but only eating 1,000 calories will mess up your metabolism.... right? I thought you supposed to have at least 1,200 calorie for someone who isn't active? That is what i hear anyway will you explain this to me? haha
ReplyDeleteHey Tears *waves. Um...the math is a little off. If a woman needs 2000 calories per day to maintain her weight, that's 14,000 calories per week. (Simple math, just multiply 2000 calories by 7 days a week.) So if she reduces calories to 1000 calories per day that is only 7000 calories per week. 14,000-7,000 is a caloric deficit of 7,000 calories. A pound is roughly 3,500 calories. 7,000 calories (the caloric deficit created) divided by the number of calories in a pound (3,500 calories) means that she would lose at a maximum of 2 lbs per week. (Assuming that despite your reduced caloric intake that your body continues to burn 2,000 calories per day.; which isn't exactly true as your metabolism slows to match consumption.) The implications are the same (as far as the math goes, for pounds lost per day).
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong...I think calorie cutting is definitely the way to got...but even in a perfect weightloss metabolism world, the math is more than a bit off.
Di's math doesn't make sense...because that means that if someone was on an 800 calories a day diet and 800 x 7 would be 5600, divided by 3600 is 1.6....I don't think a person eating less calories than 1000 would lose less weight.
ReplyDeleteJust try it and see.
ReplyDeleteWorks for me... I'm not here to promote what everyone else says but just to state what works for me. Maybe not everyone.
Anonymous, Di's math makes sense and your's dosen't. If woman burns 2000 calories a day and only consumes 800 (the example you've given) then that would be a 1200 calorie deficit. 1200 x 7 (days in a week) would be a deficit of 8400 calories or 2.4 lbs loss a week. Which would be more lost than in the 2 lbs lost in Di's example since in your example the person ate 200 calories less per day.
ReplyDeleteI know its a bit late but I agree with your blog. In fact I lost a little bit over 50 pounds by doing something very much like this. However my calories are a bit higher. My doctor told me that anything under 1200 was not good for my health.
ReplyDeleteNot passing any judgement at all. You look great. Congratulations on your progress girl. Keep it coming!
hi, I stumbled across your blog and i followed this technique. I have lost 11lbs in 3 weeks and i follow a 900 calorie diet. Thanks for showing me the way. I hope to continue this until I reach my goal.
ReplyDeleteBtw, you are very inspiring and I like the no-bullshit attitude of ur post.