[ampere]

Originally Posted by rajushank84

I hope this helps.

Congrats. Thats a great achievement. The only point to add is that at some point in time, weight loss (and fat loss) will plateau out. And its where you need to hold on to the current lifestyle to maintain the same. I think that is where the bigger challenge is.

The other point is with reference to gym (in your case weights). My only negative on that is: it needs to be done right. Else it can lead to injuries. A trainer will always be helpful. Instead if one can manage with a brisk walk to keep up the metabolism, that would be good. Making this point more in conjunction with the fact that as one ages, the ability to gym (intense exercises) would slowly come down. Hence an easier approach which still keeps up the metabolism should help. And of course no deviation from the diet plans. Thats the primary ticket to weight (and fat) control. A yearly medical master check-up above 30 also is a good thing.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by rajushank84

Thanks, but I disagree. It depends who is that "professional" and what they are telling you.

Originally Posted by SSD2122

You can agree to disagree. The professional here is a certified nutritionist / dietician who are qualified for this job.

Relax guys... in the area of weight loss or fitness, there are no absolutes. It is quite possible for two different things to be right, based on whom it worked for.

Human bodies react quite differently based on their body type and genetics and what not. Even though I have 30+ years of workout experience, I am always afraid to make absolute statements because I know it could be wrong for somebody else. I can only really talk about how something worked for me. It may or may not work for others. It is not uncommon for somebody to say I am wrong when something has worked for me all along. Do I take his word or go by my experience? This can be quite frustrating for professional trainers/nutritionists too, as they can see clearly that different things work for different people. That is why they personalize the programs to suit the need of individual clients. Therefore, it is advisable to stick to a professional who has made difference for you. But avoid evangelizing the same advice to others as the only truth, it may not be.

If you ask your doctor if having somebody stand on your stomach is good for you, the answer will be not just no, but that it is downright dangerous. If you ask a martial arts expert, he might say forget person, you can drive a car on the stomach. I am not making a hypothetical statement. Some doctors have refused to stand on my stomach saying it is dangerous, and I did train under a Karate Sensei who had cars drive over his stomach. How did you think I got the idea?

Disclaimer: Having people stand on your stomach or having cars drive over your stomach is not known to reduce belly fat. It also requires decent amount of fitness and strong stomach muscles. So don't try it without the right background.

[rajushank84]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Relax guys... in the area of weight loss or fitness, there are no absolutes. It is quite possible for two different things to be right, based on whom it worked for.

+1, totally agree with that! That's why I only stated that I disagree. My statements are nothing more than personal opinion and observation/experience. I could very well be wrong. I am by no means an expert on this.

On the topic of trainers - I would advise a word of caution: there are trainers and then there are trainers. I had a trainer advise me that my form of doing squats is completely wrong. I was doing it with feet at shoulder length, turned out at around a 30 to 45 degree angle, and I would squat all the way down before I came back up.

Now this trainer advised me to do the opposite of that: He asked me to keep feet parallel, close to each other. Next he asked me to not to squat all the way down, only to squat halfway down (like a sitting-on-a chair-and-getting-back-up movement). After cross-checking with various experts and online videos about proper squat form, I ran from this trainer. Literally everything this guy was telling me is the opposite of good form.

Now I am not saying all trainers and nutritionists don't know what they are talking about - but my word of advise is: be careful. A guy's reputation or the degrees he rattles off are not necessarily indicative of his knowledge. Weight loss (I prefer to call it fat loss, actually) is a very wide subject and sometimes, we are our best trainers and know the limits of how far we can push ourselves physically and emotionally. I certainly don't agree that you need these guys.

Also, this is another good place to see some more success stories: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en...uccess-stories

[ampere]

Originally Posted by rajushank84

On the topic of trainers - I would advise a word of caution: there are trainers and then there are trainers.

+1

All I am trying to bring about is when one is resorting to serious gym, doing it correct is very important. Else it can lead to some thing completely opposite. Hence my point of leaning to something which is easier to practice.

[rki2007]

Originally Posted by rajushank84

Your tdee seems to be very high. Do you mind sharing the numbers you put into iifym calculator? Unless you are extremely heavy that tdee is wrong. I am fat, and my tdee is 2000.

Do not listen to any advice that says do exercises to target belly fat. There is no exercise that targets fat loss in one area of the body. It doesn't work that way. The body will lose fat all over, belly will usually be last to go.

This is how I calculated my TDEE. My weight is 116 kgs (256 pounds) and the TDEE factor for moderately active person is 13 . So the TDEE is 256*13=3328 Cal. Below is the link which helped me in arriving at this figure.

http://healthyeater.com/how-to-calculate-your-macros

Other websites also give more or less the same amount of calories.

[rajushank84]

Originally Posted by rki2007

This is how I calculated my TDEE. My weight is 116 kgs (256 pounds) and the TDEE factor for moderately active person is 13 . So the TDEE is 256*13=3328 Cal. Below is the link which helped me in arriving at this figure.

http://healthyeater.com/how-to-calculate-your-macros

Other websites also give more or less the same amount of calories.

Use the IIFYM calculator.

http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/

For example, TDEE is 1752 with these numbers (just an example): Male, age 30, height 5'7", weight 256lb, body fat 45%. That's almost half of the TDEE you got from the other website. Even reducing bodyfat to 30 (which would mean you have to be very muscular to have 180lb of lean mass!) the TDEE hovers around the 2100 mark.

I am finding 3328 difficult to believe. If you miscalculate your TDEE (and thereby daily calorie goal), you may go way off and get on a calorie excess instead of deficit. I suggest use the IIFYM calculator and nothing else. Not even the myfitnesspal suggested goals.

Oh and don't factor in exercise when calculating TDEE. Select the "Lean mass formula" and "No exercise" option.

[Piyadassi]

Originally Posted by Samurai

You are supposed to do it alternate days. Once a week won't help.

I understand. Unfortunately, 5 days a week I am committed to weight training.

[rki2007]

Originally Posted by rajushank84

Use the IIFYM calculator.

http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/

For example, TDEE is 1752 with these numbers (just an example): Male, age 30, height 5'7", weight 256lb, body fat 45%. That's almost half of the TDEE you got from the other website. Even reducing bodyfat to 30 (which would mean you have to be very muscular to have 180lb of lean mass!) the TDEE hovers around the 2100 mark.

I am finding 3328 difficult to believe. If you miscalculate your TDEE (and thereby daily calorie goal), you may go way off and get on a calorie excess instead of deficit. I suggest use the IIFYM calculator and nothing else. Not even the myfitnesspal suggested goals.

Oh and don't factor in exercise when calculating TDEE. Select the "Lean mass formula" and "No exercise" option.

Thanks for the information. Without factoring the exercise and other parameters remaining the same, my TDEE is 2404 Cal. I am planning for a daily calorie intake within 1500 and further cardio activities like jogging/walking and cycling amounting to 2 hours everyday through which I can expend close to 1500 calories. The net effect is that I am spending everything that I am earning everyday. So I will end up losing 2400-1500 =900 everyday.

Does this sound good?

[SchumiFan]

Can someone let me know as to how is the amount of calories we consume is calculated? Unlike western countries, our foods don't really come with a calorie count I believe.

Also on foods that do come with that number, I find the calorie count on soft drinks/refreshments very high. In USA it used to be in hundreds for most drinks. Here almost all are mentioned in Kcal.

Going by that factor, I have to consume very less or no food to reduce weight by calorie deficit method.

Is my assumption right or am I getting wrong somewhere?

Thank you!

[srishiva]

Originally Posted by SchumiFan

Can someone let me know as to how is the amount of calories we consume is calculated? Unlike western countries, our foods don't really come with a calorie count I believe.

Also on foods that do come with that number, I find the calorie count on soft drinks/refreshments very high. In USA it used to be in hundreds for most drinks. Here almost all are mentioned in Kcal.

Going by that factor, I have to consume very less or no food to reduce weight by calorie deficit method.

Is my assumption right or am I getting wrong somewhere?

Thank you!

KCals are what should be used with food. But 100 calories are 100 Kcals. No need to worry about that. When you burn 100 Colaries, it means you burn 100 KCals also

[rajushank84]

Originally Posted by rki2007

Thanks for the information. Without factoring the exercise and other parameters remaining the same, my TDEE is 2404 Cal. I am planning for a daily calorie intake within 1500 and further cardio activities like jogging/walking and cycling amounting to 2 hours everyday through which I can expend close to 1500 calories. The net effect is that I am spending everything that I am earning everyday. So I will end up losing 2400-1500 =900 everyday.

Does this sound good?

Overall yes but 2400 still sounds very high. Mind sharing all of the info you input into IIFYM calculator? (PM me or post). What is the body fat % you are posting and how did you measure it?

Originally Posted by SchumiFan

Can someone let me know as to how is the amount of calories we consume is calculated? Unlike western countries, our foods don't really come with a calorie count I believe.

Also on foods that do come with that number, I find the calorie count on soft drinks/refreshments very high. In USA it used to be in hundreds for most drinks. Here almost all are mentioned in Kcal.

Going by that factor, I have to consume very less or no food to reduce weight by calorie deficit method.

Is my assumption right or am I getting wrong somewhere?

Thank you!

Myfitnesspal! It has a nice database with most Indian foods. I agree, the calorie count for Indian foods are not as accurate as many packaged/western foods but overall seems to be correct.

Yes I agree, sodas like Pepsi / Coke have many "empty" calories with no nutrition!

Kcal is the same as Calories (with a capital C). We just refer to it as "calories" for convenience.

Here's a random sample (today - a bad day carbs-wise) from my myfitnesspal diary.

[alpha1]

Originally Posted by SchumiFan

Can someone let me know as to how is the amount of calories we consume is calculated? Unlike western countries, our foods don't really come with a calorie count I believe.

Also on foods that do come with that number, I find the calorie count on soft drinks/refreshments very high. In USA it used to be in hundreds for most drinks. Here almost all are mentioned in Kcal.

Thank you!

The Indians use correct label unit that is - kilo calories.
And most packaged food is required by law to state its calorific value as well as nutrient distribution (as well as ingredients).

In Americas, it was decided to not put the 'kilo' prefix so that they do not get confused.

So in food "science" and nutrionist parlance, kilo calories and calories are the same.

In correct technical terms:
1. A normal person usually required about 2000-2500 kcal to live and do his daily work
2. 1 gram of protein = 4 kcal approx
3. 1 gram of carb = 4 kcal approx
4. 1 gram of fat = 9 kcal approx

The USofA will put the same data this way:
1. A normal person usually required about 2000-2500 Calories to live and do his daily work
2. 1 gram of protein = 4 Cal approx
3. 1 gram of carb = 4 Cal approx
4. 1 gram of fat = 9 Cal approx


Since we are at technicalities:
1 calorie = energy required to raise temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 deg C (for all practical purpose)
Therefore 1 kilo cal = energy required to raise temp of 1 kg of water by 1 deg C (for all practical purpose)

[SchumiFan]

Originally Posted by alpha1

Since we are at technicalities:
1 calorie = energy required to raise temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 deg C (for all practical purpose)
Therefore 1 kilo cal = energy required to raise temp of 1 kg of water by 1 deg C (for all practical purpose)

Originally Posted by srishiva

KCals are what should be used with food. But 100 calories are 100 Kcals. No need to worry about that. When you burn 100 Colaries, it means you burn 100 KCals also

Originally Posted by rajushank84

Myfitnesspal! It has a nice database with most Indian foods.
Kcal is the same as Calories (with a capital C). We just refer to it as "calories" for convenience.

Here's a random sample (today - a bad day carbs-wise) from my myfitnesspal diary.

Thank you srishiva, rajushank84, alpha1. Relieved Will start using MyfitnessPal app soon.

Guess I was one of the idiots who got confused

[adimicra]

^^

rajushank84, congrats on your weight loss. great job!

I will make 2 comments -
1> 16 kilos in 4 months is pretty fast.. 2 kilos a month is a better/safer option
2> You talked a lot about tracking all details etc .. - think about the long term sustainability.

To me, weight loss is a change is lifestyle.
You need to become more active (some cardio), cut out some of the excess junk.
Focus on the process and not the goal.
You will reach your goal and become healthy.
Keep it simple!

[noopster]

Originally Posted by alpha1

In Americas, since most people are idiots and idiots can always sue, it was decided to not put the 'kilo' prefix so that they do not get confused.

The idiots in the USofA will put the same data this way:
1. A normal person usually required about 2000-2500 Calories to live and do his daily work
2. 1 gram of protein = 4 Cal approx
3. 1 gram of carb = 4 Cal approx
4. 1 gram of fat = 9 Cal approx

I don't see any internet source attributing this confusion to the stupidity of Americans . As a chemical engineering student I was told that from a practical standpoint it would be too bulky to measure everything in calories (e.g. "Please maintain a diet of 2 million calories daily") which is why measuring in kcal (2000) makes a lot of sense. Some wise guy decided to drop the k! In simple terms, a dietary calorie is actually a kilocalorie (1000 calories) and calorie being the former SI unit for heat (replaced later by Joules).