Topic: Weight Loss for my wedding.

[David "Stubb" Oswald]

So I am putting this on here so I have people to keep some pressure on me. I am 6'1" and bounce between 200-205 lbs. I am hoping to get down to 185 lbs by July of 2013 (the current date for my wedding). Currently I drink way to much beer and eat to much when drinking and that is my biggest source of calories. I try to weight lift three days a week and swim twice a week. But I usually only get to the gym 3-4 days a week. I am going to try and cut my drinking way down (six pack or a bottle of wine a week), and drastically cut back calories (maybe 1500 a day). Along with getting to the gym 5 days a week and going on at least 3 5k runs each week. When July hits, I will post my starting weight and do this every month until my wedding. I hope having some online accountability helps.

[Belgarath]

Use this to track what you eat each day, I've found it to be an IMMENSE help:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com

[WC]

Plenty of time. You really don't need to restrict your cals that severely. Just slightly. Eat slightly less move somewhat more. Cutting drink all together would get you the results you want in a fraction of the time, but I'm a teetotaler and I'm prone to say things like that (looks around at the people I grew up with who are now overweight due to the booze calories piling up over the years).

livestrong has a good web service for tracking progress, letting you set variables and time frames with your goals, calories, and a ton of other stuff. And it's free.

[Karyn]

congrats, yo.

I use the Lose It! app to track calories.

[David "Stubb" Oswald]

The reason for the severe calorie restriction is so I can figure out how much I shoul eat. I figure I will keep building the calories us up every few weeks until I start to plateau. This is purely for scientific purposes. I also want to build some discipline with my eating.

[Tatyana]

The reason for the severe calorie restriction is so I can figure out how much I shoul eat. I figure I will keep building the calories us up every few weeks until I start to plateau. This is purely for scientific purposes. I also want to build some discipline with my eating.

You don't need to do that, there are enough physiologist and scientists who have already worked this out.

1500 kcals is probably below your basal metabolic rate, I will post more later.

[Tatyana]

1500 kcals for a man your size is a semi-starvation diet, and there are physiological and psychological consequences to semi-starvation diets.

The only people who can withstand (physiologically at least), severe cuts in the caloric intake are those who have a significant amount of body fat, i.e. the obese and morbidly obese, not someone with 25-50 lbs to lose, which is you.

Here is how you calculate the calories you need each day the TDEE (total daily energy expenditure)
http://www.iifym.com/tdee-calculator

Figure out what you need and then take 20% off that, and start there, not at some random number you picked because of

If you want the science behind it, then check out exercise physiology textbooks by Katch and McArdle.

You can experiment with your calories, however, at least go with what we know already, not making random shit up.

[Plastique]

You're doing it backwards. Cut calories a little bit at a time and monitor the scale once a week. Make subsequent (small) changes to your caloric intake based on what your weight is doing. If fat loss stalls at some point on 1500 calories, you've got nowhere to go.

Slashing energy intake that much might actually work for your purposes, but it will be very uncomfortable (from an energy and hunger perspective), and I'd almost guarantee that you'll blimp right back up (often fatter than you previously were after a very restrictive diet) very soon after the big day. I guess it's a matter of priorities.

[Johnny Slick]

Yeah, if nothing else, cutting way back on calories is going to make you feel like crap and make it much, much more likely for you to fall off the wagon, so to speak. And even if you can win the willpower battle for the next year, can you

15 pounds to lose is a little more than a pound a month. You can *easily* take that off in a year without resorting to semi-starvation diets (and as a guy who is 6'2" and 225 right now and who has done the 1500 cal thing for a week or two at a time just because that's what he budgeted things for, it's *not* fun). If you're maintaining your current weight with your current workout regimen, in fact, you could probably get there just by being more active. Take up basketball or walk a few miles every day or... wait, you live in Pullman, right? You could slop some hogs or something.

[lonely moa]

there is always this:

http://www.meltingmama.net/wls/2012/04/nasogastric-tube-feeding-crash-diet-for-brides-and-more-get-one-o-o.html

[Plastique]

Jesus Christ. What the fuck is the point of the tube? What a bizarre gimmick.

Sure, for ten days why not get rid of the terrible hardship of having to eat your food. Sign me up!

[WC]

Unless you're on an amphetamine, you're not gonna be able to do a starvation diet. And if you're on amphetamines, you've got bigger fish to fry.

Eat pan fried fish. George Foreman makes a mean grill, whoever the hell he is.

[lonely moa]

Jesus Christ. What the fuck is the point of the tube? What a bizarre gimmick.

Sure, for ten days why not get rid of the terrible hardship of having to eat your food. Sign me up!

If a man in a white coat tells you this is a good thing, you should believe it, shouldn't you?

[Karyn]

Jesus Christ. What the fuck is the point of the tube? What a bizarre gimmick.

Sure, for ten days why not get rid of the terrible hardship of having to eat your food. Sign me up!

If a man in a white coat tells you this is a good thing, you should believe it, shouldn't you?

How long are the arms on this white coat, and how many buckles does it have?

[Guillermo]

David, you seem to be in a good shape regardless. Just make sure you rent the tux at the weight you want. You don't want to loose more weight after you have selected your size.

Tatyana, I love that webpage. and I am also amused that sex is considered a moderate activity. I'm going to have to tell that to my wife.