I dont get how the calories work?!

Hi Nate,

The math can be confusing, so let me walk you through it.

I put all of your information into a calorie calculator and discovered the following:

-At your weight, height and age, your body currently needs 2733 Calories per day just to maintain your current weight (no exercise).
-Since 1 pound = 3,500 calories, if you want to lose 65 pounds, you need to burn 227,500 calories. I know that sounds huge, but wait, it get's better!
-If you want to burn that by August, that's 6 months, or 24 weeks, which = 2.7 pounds per week, a reasonable goal.
-2.7 pounds per week is 9,479 calories you need to lose per week.
-You are currently at 19,131 calories a week ( 2,733 calories a day x 7)
-Therefore, 19,131 (your current calories per week) minus 9,479 (calories you want to lose) = 9652

9,652 is the total number of calories you can have per week. Divided by 7 days in a week = 1,379.

That means you can eat 1,379 per day to achieve your weight goal in 6 months-- without exercise!

However, eating so few calories a day is hard, especially as a larger male who needs more calories just to keep going. It's said that 1,200 to 1,300 calories is a day is really bare minimum daily calories for females on a weight loss program; I think it would be risky for you, a taller, larger male, to go lower than 1,400 a day-- and that's pushing it. If you eat too few calories, your body will enter a starvation mode and fight the weight loss you're trying to achieve.

Since you're enthusiastic about exercising, I suggest you try to eat about 1,600 calories a day and burn 300, which = the 1,300 calorie a day goal you're looking for, or eat more and burn more.

Burning 300 calories is fairly easy. Spending 30 minutes on the treadmill will probably do it!

Here's the calorie calculator for daily caloric needs based on height, age, weight, sex and activity level:
http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie…

Here's a calculator that will tell you how many calories you'll burn with different exercises, based on time spent and your weight: http://www.prohealth.com/weightloss/tool…

This type of math is how I've lost 10 pounds in just over a month. You can do it!!

I dont know how you got the 1000-1200 #, but it seems too low.

At 275, it's much easier to burn cals because you'r heavier, and on the treadmill you'r bod has to move more weight than a person 175 lbs. Moving more weight, means you'r burning more cals.

You could prob burn 700 cals in about an hr on the mill. At your weight, you might wana consider an eliptical so there's no impact from you weight on your leg joints.

Check w/ a doc to make sure it's ok for you to do the routine you have planned. You def should do that. Ask doc to give u referrals w/ nutritionist and personal trainer to set up your program scientifically. 1000-1200 cals/day in diet doesnt sound right. Neither does strenuous cardio/aerobics @ your weight w/o doc's ok, especially if it's sudden, and not gradually worked up to.

As for the cals, say your were eating 6000 cals /day that kept you @ 275 lbs.

Then you cut down to 5000 /day. That will make you lose some fat, but maybe muscle, too w/o weight bearing exercise. 4000 more so, etc. Plus, you'l also lose cals via exercise. But dont go too low on cals eaten.

And it's fat you want to think of losing, not "weight" which can be fluids, bone and muscle; none of which you want to lose.

Plan you program to lose mostly fat. You'l lose some fluid regardless, but you'l replace it w/ a healthy diet.

If there's any pain, refrain, use your brain.

http://www.presidentschallenge.org/chall… Scientifically sound fitness programs

http://www.fitness.gov/

http://health.nih.gov/ National Institue of Health’s health info page according to body system/location, & population groups: teens, women, seniors, etc.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/fitness…

http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/ Linus Pauling Institute

http://www.fda.gov/Food/LabelingNutritio…

http://www.latimes.com/health/