How many calories to lose weight?

[Deleted member 197450]

Can you drink as much water and tea as you like still? Thanks.

 

[12th Monkey]

There are no calories in water, and I suspect almost none in tea. Exercise is far better in fighting the calorie war!

 

[Deleted member 197450]

There are no calories in water, and I suspect almost none in tea. Exercise is far better in fighting the calorie war!

Exercise it is then - cheers mate.

 

[bigboss]

80% is diet and 20% exercise. It's a simple calculation. If you burn more calories than you eat, you will lose weight.

Try this: eat only breakfast, lunch and dinner with no snacks in between. Focus on more protein to keep you feeling full. Stop eating when you feel full. And walk 10000 steps a day. Sustain this for 3 months and keep checking your weight.

Water certainly helps significantly. Aim towards 2-3 litres of fluids (majority water) a day.

 

[doifeellucky]

80% is diet and 20% exercise. It's a simple calculation. If you burn more calories than you eat, you will lose weight.

Try this: eat only breakfast, lunch and dinner with no snacks in between. Focus on more protein to keep you feeling full. Stop eating when you feel full. And walk 10000 steps a day. Sustain this for 3 months and keep checking your weight.

Water certainly helps significantly. Aim towards 2-3 litres of fluids (majority water) a day.

Completely agree. I lost 3 1/2 stones 8 or so years ago and counting calories, just for a few weeks, was a far bigger factor, despite regularly walking 15-20 miles per week.

Do both if you can but my biggest recommendation is reducing portion size, particularly for things like chips, crisps, chocolate, cheese. I cut nothing out but really raised my awareness of how bad the bad stuff is. For example a large tray of oven chips or a big pizza could be your entire daily allowance.

For me personally I did the exercise to allow me to continue to have a few treats every now and then, but eating better and less will be easier in the long run. A five minute junk food splurge could take many hours of exercise to offset.

 

[Tinman1952]

80% is diet and 20% exercise. It's a simple calculation. If you burn more calories than you eat, you will lose weight

Absolutely right...but don't reduce calories too much or your body goes into 'starvation mode'. A calorie deficit of 500 calories per day (so for an average male that is eating 1800 to 2000 calories) will add up to 3,500 calories per week...which is a pound of fat...permanently.
Also exercise moderately to burn fat and keep your heart rate below the 'aerobic' zone. So brisk walking is better than running!

 

[bigboss]

Absolutely right...but don't reduce calories too much or your body goes into 'starvation mode'. A calorie deficit of 500 calories per day (so for an average male that is eating 1800 to 2000 calories) will add up to 3,500 calories per week...which is a pound of fat...permanently.
Also exercise moderately to burn fat and keep your heart rate below the 'aerobic' zone. So brisk walking is better than running!

Absolutely. That's why apps like MyFitnessPal are very useful to count calories. You put in a realistic target of weight loss and they will calculate your calorie deficit you need to maintain to achieve it.

Also, most important is to have a very specific set target as to why you want to lose weight and what realistic targets are, in terms of how much you want to lose in how much time. Without this, you're less likely to be successful.

 

[doifeellucky]

Absolutely. That's why apps like MyFitnessPal are very useful to count calories. You put in a realistic target of weight loss and they will calculate your calorie deficit you need to maintain to achieve it.

Also, most important is to have a very specific set target as to why you want to lose weight and what realistic targets are, in terms of how much you want to lose in how much time. Without this, you're less likely to be successful.

I use(d) MyFitnessPal and would recommend it. Just scan the barcode on the packaging and then put the weight in. I’d recommend a set of digital scales that weigh to the nearest gram otherwise you’ll underestimate what you actually eat. You need to do everything if you can, like butter (weigh the bread before and after to calculate), how much milk in coffee etc, so you get a feel for how it all adds up during the day. This takes a bit of time to start with but I’d recommend sticking with it for a few weeks till you figure out where all the bad calories come from. Generally the recommendation is to try to lose one pound a week, 1.5 as a maximum, otherwise the starvation issue mentioned above may be a factor.

I’ll be doing this myself as the usual Christmas excess took its toll, but frustratingly can’t exercise much as I picked up Covid over Christmas and am isolating till the weekend.

Good luck to all the dieter’s out there.

Also be safe. I mask up all the time and my guess is I got it at the busy motorway services on Christmas Eve. Call of nature unfortunately.

 

[12th Monkey]

80% is diet and 20% exercise. It's a simple calculation. If you burn more calories than you eat, you will lose weight.

I'm not sure that the percentages are that easy to define, but I do agree - I count calories every day - aim for under 2,000 kcal net of exercise on average through a week as I am still wanting to lose a little more weight. I suppose what I meant is that if you are already trying to eat well (which I assume Gel is, if he's asking about calorific content of drinks) that exercise makes a big difference, and has many positives in terms of physical and mental health that dieting alone does not give.

 

[Deleted member 197450]

Thanks for the advice guys! I think with me I always look for short term gains instead of the bigger picture which is there are no quick fixes. I will try the protein and walking thing and eat 3 meals a day. Cheers!

 

[12th Monkey]

If you haven't already, download a walking app like MapMyWalk or similar. I've been using that one for six or seven years now - helps keep you focussed.

 

[Gray]

Loads of programmes on the subject on TV and radio this time every year gel.
Radio 4 'Inside Health' tonight 9pm will cover some of it.
Two programmes in a row in Channel 5 tomorrow night from 7-9pm might be worth a look: 'How to give up sugar (and lose weight)' followed by 'You are what you eat'.
(Though there's no better advice than that given on this thread).

 

[doifeellucky]

If you haven't already, download a walking app like MapMyWalk or similar. I've been using that one for six or seven years now - helps keep you focussed.

This type of app is well worth it as it will give feedback on how far and fast you’re walking as well as the number of steps. Step and distance tracking is far more accurate compared to the phones inbuilt health app measurements. My understanding is it’s better to do a shorter brisk walk than a longer slower walk, but I like to go out for longer walks, gives me a good reason not to be looking at cr@p on my phone.

 

[bigboss]

My understanding is it’s better to do a shorter brisk walk than a longer slower walk, but I like to go out for longer walks, gives me a good reason not to be looking at cr@p on my phone.

You can always have periods of brisk walking within a longer walk.

 

[Loverobot]

My strong advice is work out what you burn, deduct between 15%- 10% and aim for that figure - as mentioned above it matters because otherwise you will over time slow your metabolism
If you exercise you burn more therefore you need more
Its true that lower effort exercise burns fat (walking eg) but other types of brisk exercise also have their place as they promote a higher metabolic rate after exercise - an 'afterburn effect' if you will
Good examples of what does this are HIIT training and weight training
The reality is it is a long and slow process if its going to be a permanent process. There is no magic bullet but eating healthy, drinking lots of water and exercising preferably in varied ways all will together make a significant change
Weight per se doesnt matter - bodyfat % does
It really helps to have a decent pair of bodyfat scales and to concentrate on reducing the fat% - be wary however of the actual number as they are notoriously inaccurate. The number doesnt really matter - its the downward trend thats important
HTH

 

[12th Monkey]

My understanding is it’s better to do a shorter brisk walk than a longer slower walk, but I like to go out for longer walks

Our dog is too old to do anything other than very brief walks, and these are slow, so we usually leave her at home with our daughter when we're out. It was interesting (and not in a good way) that even though we racked up a few miles with the dog on our summer holiday, my weight crept up a bit despite trying to stick loosely to the rules I set for day to day life. It seems that slow walking does me markedly less good that brisk, sustained walking. I'm therefore wary of the 10,000 steps idea, as the difference between a step and a stride in metabolic terms seems quite significant. Feeling that you are having to work at it matters!

 

[Loverobot]

Our dog is too old to do anything other than very brief walks, and these are slow, so we usually leave her at home with our daughter when we're out. It was interesting (and not in a good way) that even though we racked up a few miles with the dog on our summer holiday, my weight crept up a bit despite trying to stick loosely to the rules I set for day to day life. It seems that slow walking does me markedly less good that brisk, sustained walking. I'm therefore wary of the 10,000 steps idea, as the difference between a step and a stride in metabolic terms seems quite significant. Feeling that you are having to work at it matters!

It definitely would tbh
Brisk exercise burns more calories even if the % burned has a lower proportion of fat - the mistake people make is they read (correctly) that low intensity exercise burns more fat - which it does - but as a proportion.
I think you can really boil it down to simply consuming slightly less than you burn and over time you will lose fat. Its just key not to go wild and overdo the calorie deficit
Unfortunately it does mean either lots of trial and error or calorie counting (in and out) to be 100% of getting it right

 

[Friesiansam]

Both myself and my wife are overweight. She is a retired chef and spent many years catering in a small hospital and, whilst there trained as a dietician and nutritionist.

Over the last couple of years she had been slowly reducing our portion sizes, whilst also ensuring our diet is healthy, lower fat, high fibre and less meat. Over this time we have got used to the smaller meals, are steadily losing weight and are used to smaller portions such that we just don’t want to eat too much, it’s very uncomfortable to do so.

My clothes are getting looser!

 

[12th Monkey]

My clothes are getting looser!

That's the best way of keeping track. If you exercise, you increase muscle mass. There was a point where whatever I seemed to do I couldn't shift any more weight* - it was only when going to a wedding that I put on my suit and needed to take my belt in.

*This was too late for my scales, which felt my wrath - not their fault that I have a foul temper with inanimate objects (though almost none with people)!

 

[doifeellucky]

You can always have periods of brisk walking within a longer walk.

I average 4mph, useful to know as I can basically walk a mile in 15 mins, but am 6’ 4” with long legs with a long stride. Very few people pass me, only those with a much faster cadence, which I sometimes feel I should do for 15-20 minutes or so. I typically do 8 or 12 miles based on route.

As someone else mentioned I’d recommend body mass scales, though mine sometimes give varied results from one day to the next, but as an average they work well.

 

[12th Monkey]

4mph is very fast for walking any distance.

 

[Deleted member 197450]

I havent put on any weight in 8 years now! Just 7 stone in 2 years going from an eating disorder to eating normal and taking 2 antidepressants and 8 different antipsychotics. Makes me wonder how much I would weigh without the need for medication. Mind you at my last health check the doctor said my weight was fine and understandable so that’s good. Lowered my cholesterol now taking statins and blood pressure has lowered. Diabetes risk is low and cardiovascular risk Is 2.3 per cent (I Think).

 

[plastic penguin]

Keeping your weight is more about attitude & self-education.

Mrs. P has always struggled to keep her weight at a consistent level. She's tried every diet going, from Weight Watchers to the Atkins diet. The latter drove her gaga, lack of carbs are no good for the metabolism.

The only thing that works is smaller portions. For instance, when I cook chips or roasties I will give her half the amount. If I have 8 roasties she'll only get 4. It's about training your brain to except smaller amounts. If you get peckish between meals, she will now have a glass of water or weak squash.

Years ago, when I started this method, she lost over a stone in 3 months. And she is a wheelchair user so she can't exercise like the able bodied

 

[Deleted member 197450]

Keeping your weight is more about attitude & self-education.

Mrs. P has always struggled to keep her weight at a consistent level. She's tried every diet going, from Weight Watchers to the Atkins diet. The latter drove her gaga, lack of carbs are no good for the metabolism.

The only thing that works is smaller portions. For instance, when I cook chips or roasties I will give her half the amount. If I have 8 roasties she'll only get 4. It's about training your brain to except smaller amounts. If you get peckish between meals, she will now have a glass of water or weak squash.

Years ago, when I started this method, she lost over a stone in 3 months. And she is a wheelchair user so she can't exercise like the able bodied

Thanks PP, very useful.

 

[12th Monkey]

Years ago, when I started this method, she lost over a stone in 3 months. And she is a wheelchair user so she can't exercise like the able bodied

That really does narrow the options, doesn't it?