Calorie goals

I'm sure this has been discussed before, but I'm wondering how most of you calculate your calorie goals.  Is the 600-800 range that I hear so much net of your exercise or without?  With exercise, I'm struggling to get that many calories in.  Any help is much appreciated!

The 600-800 calorie goal is not net of exercise.  It's total calorie intake, at least for me.  When you net out your exercise, you end up with a deficit (like our national budget...lol), hence the rapid weight loss.  This is how I have operated for the last year and it has worked for me...Good question, keep 'em coming...

Deb

I have been eating around 800 calories and burning about 400 and day with exercise.
So that means I am really only eating about 400 calories a day which doesn't sound like enough. I am losing well though..
I am worried about losing lean muscle tissue with that low of intake.
Any Vets help with that answer????
Julie

My doctor was super clear on this point, the calories you eat are what counts.  Do not subtract exercise, that is just bonus and will make you lose weight even faster.  The only time I have seen my doctor tell someone to increase their calories, is when that person doesn't just exercise an hour or so a day, but exercises many hours a day, in other words, they are a true athlete.  Then there is a whole lot of information about what calories to increase and by how much and how to think about them.  It becomes a whole different ballgame.  But unless you are heavily exercising three or more hours every day, this would not apply.

Sometimes I think Doctors and NUTS concentrate too much on rate of loss and not quality of loss.  I don't think it is rational to every be in a calorie deficit for the day.  Also I think they have tailored their recommendations to women for so long they haven't adapted to men's needs.  

So, if you only walk (nothing wrong with that at all) then it is probably not realistic to worry about calorie deficit at the traditional 600-800 cals/day.  If you do an hour of work that is reasonably high intensity, then it is possible that someone would be in deficit.  Even after losing over 70 lbs, my normal calorie burn for an hour on the bike is 1250 at about 80% max HR.  I normally do 1+15 to 1+30 3 times a week even if I have to do that indoors.  

I realize that there is a need to move out of WL to maintenance as soon as possible but there has to be some common sense in that goal.  Even at 800 cals a day and eating about 1/2 of my exercise calories I lost a pound a day for 2 months.  Folks with less muscle mass may not be able to use the 800 calorie figure but if the find their non-exercise metabolic rate at, say, 600 calories causes a significant weight loss then adding 1/2 their exercise calories should still net a more significant weight loss rate.  

One thing to keep in mind is that estimates of calories burned during exercise tend to be high.  The exercise physiologist associated with my program says that they are generally 2x actual if you hook someone up for actual metabolic testing.  

At 44, and only 5'3" tall, my  RMR is/was (hasn't been tested in 3 months) about 1800 cal/day plus I work in a large manufacturing facility where I do a good bit of walking, I run, and I do strength training with a trainer 2x daily.  I lost  very consistently up until I got to a normal BMI at which point the brakes went on.  I have been in my first 'stall' since about mid December.

The last 10lbs of fat (and it's there, trust me) are putting up a fight.  I've been away from home, away from the scale due to a death in the family since last week.  I've been eating more calories -- up to 1200 per day -- and carbs -- up to 60 or so a day, but I've been able to run several miles every day. We'll see what the scale looks like when I get back home, lol.  My clothes feel a bit looser, though.

Thanks for your comments.  I'm burning about 250 calories/day and I didn't want to put my body in "starvation" mode if there is such a thing.  I'm typically netting about 300 calories a day and have lost a little more than 20 lbs in the five weeks since my surgery.  I realize that I am being impatient, but I was hoping that I would be a little futher along.  Thanks again!

I'm with ATHUDDRIVER on this one (though not when you're only 5 weeks out. Goodness, you're lucky if you can get your 600 in at your stage. Do what you can, get some exercise as you can to keep your muscle mass up, and DON'T struggle to get more calories in! Worry about getting enough protein in.) Once your sleeve swelling has gone down and your capacity is more normal though, I don't think it makes sense to be trying to get through your day on net 500 or fewer (or negative!!) calories. Now, maybe if you start with such a high BMI that you're going to need more than 12-18 months to get to goal, it may be important to maximize the speed of your loss. But for many of us, it's completely unnecessary, and I seriously doubt it's healthy, or advisable.
I've seen someone post that he adds half what he burns in exercise to his calorie "bank" for the day - seems like a sensible way to ensure you're not overcompensating with too many extra calories.