Hello everyone
I am new to these forums and for the past week have been trying do something about my weight. I have been cutting back on my food intake and walking an hour a day just to see the effect it would have. Over the week I've been researching a lot and came across one particular site that caught my eye.

I am an 18 year old male who is 5'11'' and I weigh 300lb. The site that caught my interest was the following. - How Many Calories Per Day do You Need? Caloric Needs Calculator for weight loss
After entering my gender, age, height, weight and activity level (light activity) I was told that I needed 4726 calories a day to maintain my current weight! This number was a huge shock to me. I can not believe I've been consuming that much per day for the past 6 months because I have not gained or lost any weight over the past 6 months.

After adding up what I've been eating the past week on my diet, I am consuming around 1200-1500 calories per day. Consisting of an apple or two and two or three cans of vegetable beef soup which contains about 400 calories per can including the ones from the fat, carbs, etc etc and it also contains a good amount of protein. For the first 2 days I could feel it. I constantly felt hungry and wanted to eat but I ignored the feeling and only let myself eat at set times. By the 6th day it wasn't as bad anymore. I didn't feel hungry all the time and didn't feel like eating just out of boredom like I used to. I also have been taking a multivitamin every morning. Now after subtracting the amount of calories I've been eating per day from the amount I need to maintain my current weight, that's a 3500-3200 calories deficit per day! I've heard many times that losing a pound per day is not healthy and should only happen in a hospital type situation.

Here is the point of my post. Am I going to regret doing this in the long run? Am I somehow hurting myself by only consuming 1500 a day? Besides from maybe feeling exhausted every now and then, will this have any other effect on my body medical wise?

Yes, I have heard that losing weight this fast isn't good because you will most likely gain it back by going back to your old habits. However I do not plan on doing that. If I can get down to a healthier number I plan on sticking to a decent exercise schedule to keep the weight down. Any help on my question would be greatly appreciated.

Hi! Welcome.....

My husband and I started losing weight together 2 months ago. We are doing the Dr. Phil Weight Loss Solution. The first 2 weeks you are on 1100 calories/day and now are up to 1200/days, with him having an extra serving of carbs as instructed. So far he has lost 21.5lbs and I have lost 23lbs.

I know I have heard the old adage that losing to much weight to quickly is harmful to you body. I certainly don't agree with that anymore! I am a FIRM believer in Dr. Phil's method and the 2 top losers on his challenge the first year they had it lost 115lbs an 125lbs respectively in 8 months!(wouldn't that be GREAT ). And with the Biggest Loser....they're losing you to 20lbs(I think someone lost more one week). Both instances the people are CLOSELY monitored by healthcare professionals and have gotten commended for the weight loss.

I firmly believe you will be fine If you are unsure.....some weight loss programs have you start on 2000 calories and lower that as your weight goes down. You could start there if that would make you feel better.

Being hungry is something I LOATHE, and I know that with our plan...keeping our 3 meals and 2 snacks well spaced..NEITHER of us are ever hungry! It's WONDERFUL!

You're doing great! you have come to a wonderful place for support!

Hang in there! You CAN get through this!!!!

Your reply was very inspiring MomtoMandK. I do have one more question however which has been bugging me for quite a while. Have long after burning calories, does it take for that weight to come off? For example if someone went and ran a marathon burning 4000 calories, how long before that scale would show them as weighing one less pound? I ask because when I weigh in next week I'm not sure if I should do it right after my daily hour exercise or wait a while for it to take affect on me then weigh in.

henry - I would really suggest asking a doctor what would be best for your situation. Like momtomandk said - in many of the situations on television, the people are very closely monitored... it would be better to simply ask your doctor up front what would be best than trying to fix something later.

oh! and about the scales... I try to weigh in the same time each week, in the morning... that way I get a consistent picture of my weight... we can fluxuate so much depending on how much food we have eaten, how much water etc. that having a consistent factor like time helps a lot!

Hi, and welcome! I think that if you lose the weight quickly, and are prepared for a potentially slower metabolic rate, you can cope pretty well with it. Disaster strikes when people go off the diet they lost all the weight with, and the fat just piles back on in no time at all.

Interestingly that calculator told me I need 4165 calories to maintain my weight. That seems pretty high!