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What worked for me: 1) Look up a TDEE calculator online. The number it spit out for me (1900 to 2100 calories per day) was very accurate. This is the amount of

by vinyl7 4y ago

What worked for me: 1) Look up a TDEE calculator online. The number it spit out for me (1900 to 2100 calories per day) was very accurate. This is the amount of calories burned per day just being alive. (This can be tested by tracking calories and see if you gain, lose or maintain weight depending on how close to that number you eat) 2) Subtract 500 calories from that number and eat that many calories per day. So in my case, I ate ~1500 calories a day. 3) Weightloss I lost about 60lbs in the course of a couple of months

anonuser123456 4y ago
I would add weight training and increased protein consumption to retain muscle during CR.
- veidr 4y ago
  Yeah I would like to get this into the common understanding also. During the pandemic I developed high blood pressure for the first time, and I had also put on some weight. So as part of addressing the blood pressure, I decided to drop the extra weight. But I just did it without much thought — basically, I just ate more salads and veggies, and less of everything else. Along with running 30-60 minutes almost every day. I lost the weight, of course! But I also lost strength. My kids felt heavier. The difference was pretty clear. I hired a trainer and she said what you said: add weight training and more protein. You must get enough protein, and you must do at least some resistance training (e.g. lifting weights) or you will lose a substantial amount of muscle mass along with the fat when you lose weight. She was right, I regained my strength by enforcing (roughly) 2g protein per kg of body weight in my diet, and lifting weights for 30-60 minutes 3 days a week. I also googled it with duckduckgo.com after she told me those things, of course, and I found that yeah pretty much everybody who is into fitness/nutrition already knows that.
  - anonuser123456 4y ago
    The protein source also matters. BCAAs are important, and plant based sources are less bioavailable. That is, something like broccoli might have 4g protein/100g serving but only 50% is bioavailable.
SL61 4y ago
I've found it to be important to optimize your diet for satiation, too. If you eat a lot of junk food, it's going to be a struggle to keep to 1500 calories. A good meal for weight loss, in my experience, is a modest portion of a lean protein (e.g. fish or chicken), a large vegetable portion, and a small amount of carbs (maybe toast or a roll). A lot of my meals are based on that formula and it keeps me full until the next meal for maybe half the calories of a burger and fries. My plan was to lose weight without thinking about it too much - just adjusting my habits instead of counting calories every day; weighing in occasionally and tweaking my routine based on results. It's been successful so far.
- euroderf 4y ago
  > My plan was to lose weight without thinking about it too much - just adjusting my habits instead of counting calories every day; weighing in occasionally and tweaking my routine based on results. This sounds like the key to sustainability. Sort of like all those "productivity apps" - if there's too much fiddling around, it gets boring/oppressive pretty quickly.
- PartiallyTyped 4y ago
  I found that substituting carbs for fats helps satiation, but it seems that that is not the full story. I experimented with food consumption rate, and the slower I eat the easier it is to feel satiated provided a balanced meal. Furthermore, i found that meals consisting of different foods at smaller portions and not “a single dish” improve satiation as well.

by vinyl7 4y ago

anonuser123456 4y ago

I would add weight training and increased protein consumption to retain muscle during CR.

veidr 4y ago
Yeah I would like to get this into the common understanding also. During the pandemic I developed high blood pressure for the first time, and I had also put on some weight. So as part of addressing the blood pressure, I decided to drop the extra weight. But I just did it without much thought — basically, I just ate more salads and veggies, and less of everything else. Along with running 30-60 minutes almost every day. I lost the weight, of course! But I also lost strength. My kids felt heavier. The difference was pretty clear. I hired a trainer and she said what you said: add weight training and more protein. You must get enough protein, and you must do at least some resistance training (e.g. lifting weights) or you will lose a substantial amount of muscle mass along with the fat when you lose weight. She was right, I regained my strength by enforcing (roughly) 2g protein per kg of body weight in my diet, and lifting weights for 30-60 minutes 3 days a week. I also googled it with duckduckgo.com after she told me those things, of course, and I found that yeah pretty much everybody who is into fitness/nutrition already knows that.
- anonuser123456 4y ago
  The protein source also matters. BCAAs are important, and plant based sources are less bioavailable. That is, something like broccoli might have 4g protein/100g serving but only 50% is bioavailable.

SL61 4y ago

I've found it to be important to optimize your diet for satiation, too. If you eat a lot of junk food, it's going to be a struggle to keep to 1500 calories. A good meal for weight loss, in my experience, is a modest portion of a lean protein (e.g. fish or chicken), a large vegetable portion, and a small amount of carbs (maybe toast or a roll). A lot of my meals are based on that formula and it keeps me full until the next meal for maybe half the calories of a burger and fries. My plan was to lose weight without thinking about it too much - just adjusting my habits instead of counting calories every day; weighing in occasionally and tweaking my routine based on results. It's been successful so far.

euroderf 4y ago
> My plan was to lose weight without thinking about it too much - just adjusting my habits instead of counting calories every day; weighing in occasionally and tweaking my routine based on results. This sounds like the key to sustainability. Sort of like all those "productivity apps" - if there's too much fiddling around, it gets boring/oppressive pretty quickly.
PartiallyTyped 4y ago
I found that substituting carbs for fats helps satiation, but it seems that that is not the full story. I experimented with food consumption rate, and the slower I eat the easier it is to feel satiated provided a balanced meal. Furthermore, i found that meals consisting of different foods at smaller portions and not “a single dish” improve satiation as well.