Need a little help

Im going to try and keep this short and sweet.  LOL Yeah right.  Im trying to help hubby figure out how many calories he should eat so that he can lose weight.  In almost 7 weeks he has only managed to lose like 4. 6 pounds and he is getting discouraged.  Personally, I think the problem is that with the job he had for 5 years up until January, he ended up putting himself in starvation mode.  He didn't eat enough to cover the calories he burned and often only had one meal a day.  

Here are the facts about him.

He is 36 6 foot even weighs 310.4 lbs has a large bone structure.  Probably an extra large the weight watchers scale can't read his bone density at all.   His currrent job is building the interior of small private airplanes.  He builds the bathrooms and bulk heads mainly.   His BMR is 2662.   According to this website if he is seditary the way he claims he is (note since he sits on his butt and plays computer games at home he thinks hes seditary) He should be eatting 2450 calories but that is below his  BMR.   If I set it to The highest level of activity it says he should eat  3850 calories.  

What makes this hard to figure out is that according to this website if you go with the referbishing cabinets option then the 12 hours a day he works he is burning over 7000 calories just at work. But, if you go with the Capentry option such as building fences which I think is closer to what he does, he would be burning over 10,000 calories for 12 hours of work.  That doesn't  include the 3 times a week walks with me or his weekend martial arts class.   Your not suppose to eat less than 500 to 1000 calories below your burn meter but that would put him eating 6000 to 9000 calories a day.  

This all blows my mind completely.   Thats like 4 to 6  times the caloires I consume depending on how many calories you think he burns a day.   I can't even begin to figure out how to feed him that much and it all be healthy.   Should he really be eating that much?  How much above his BMR should he be eatting.  Im so confused right now I can't see straight. 

It is entirely possible that he is in a sort of conservation mode (not a fan of "starvation mode"), and still very possible that he could put on a few pounds before he loses any more and he revs up his metabolism.

Generally speaking, you are safe to lose 1% of your body weight per week -- which in his case would be about 3.1lb per week -- so with heavier people you can safely increase the deficit past the 500-1000 calorie point (note:  this is for people with BMIs in the 37+ range).

You will have to experiment on him, but I suggest you start with the "very active" option and don't do sedentary with activities added -- they are very subjective as to intensity levels and calorie burns.  Try to feed him about 3800-4000 calories per day for the next month -- if he is losing weight at this amount -- leave it there until he goes 2 weeks without a loss.  After two weeks with no loss, drop the cals by 200. 

Try to feed him calorie dense foods -- multi/whole grains, nuts (cashews and apples are a great snack and can be quite calorific), lean proteins.  You may want to throw in protein shakes/smoothies.  He probably needs a fair amount of protein since he is that active, so you may wish to skew the "diet" more towards at 25-35-40 (fats/protein/carbs) balance.

I would not recommend that he go below 3000 calories any time soon -- probably not until he hits about 250lb

Thanks Coach K Ill tell him.  :)

Just another quick add in Maybe take him to the dr/nutritionist So they can be the ones to help him figure it out....Some times it's easier for someone to hear it from a nutritionist then a spouse......Good luck

When I started this calorie count thing back in late april I was 255lbs, I was normally (before dieting) prob eating 2100-2400 calories  day at a desk job...not alot of moving around. Im not sure if your husband has a similar job situation but if he was starving himself at work he doesnt need to over indulge in regular calorie counting for his weight, its gonna make his stomach stretch and make it harder for him to lose weight. I comfortably eat now 1100-1400 calories a day, and I eat alot of food...its all about what you eat though. I do alot of veggies (steamed and raw) edimame is great for snacking b/c its a finger food and high in protein, fish is a great meat high in protein extreemly lean in fat,  cottage cheese is better for you than yogurt...absolutely positively no food with high fructose corn syrup...tell him to look for it on the back of lables and if it is in there...put it back...its helped me lose alot of fat. and water....water is a big big deal...tell him to drink 3 liters a day, at minimum.

I have always been a bigger girl but I gained about 50lbs in 7 months while on birth control...horror story right? I was young dumb and stupid and thought it would be a great idea to listen to one of those radio commercials that "pay you to take medications" so when I was 21 i offered myself as a "lab rat" to a medication testing company called warner chilcott. I started taking a non FDA approved birth control and  gained a ton of weight...i noticed it but didnt pay it any mind...the only thing that worried me was that I was ALWAYS hungry. It didnt matter how much I ate, I was always starving, after about 7 months I gave them the finger and went to a nutritionalist...I found out that I had a lipid metabolism, and everything I ate was storing in my body...that mess ruined my body. I went from a size 36 waist to a 48.

Alas the good news, I started calorie counting on April 27th. I posted photos the day I started, and just recently updated them with a new one as of July 11th of my before/after. Its so stressful, ive only lost about 13 lbs but I can tell a huge difference just in the way that people look at me, it makes me happy to feel like im getting back to the old me.

One thing that has given me great success is climbing stairs...im not sure if youve tried it but its a HELL of a workout...and when I mean hell...seriously...hell...makes u want to pass out. recommend this to your husband, he doesnt have to be as extreeme as I am about it, but its gonna help him lose weight at a much faster rate... I work on the 16th floor of a skyscraper and on my lunch break I go from ground to 16th floor up and down 4x and by the time I'm done I look like I jumpped in a pool. I lost 4 lbs the first week I did it and I only did it 4 times that week...another thing is force water into your system, try to drink 3 liters a day. Your gonna feel like a walking fish tank but it pushes all the toxins and elaborated fat cells out of your body, it really helps. I wish you alot of luck...

Try it out, its great for building muscle and losing fat.

Take care

Melissa

Original Post by ladykelien:

Im going to try and keep this short and sweet. LOL Yeah right. Im trying to help hubby figure out how many calories he should eat so that he can lose weight. In almost 7 weeks he has only managed to lose like 4. 6 pounds and he is getting discouraged. Personally, I think the problem is that with the job he had for 5 years up until January, he ended up putting himself in starvation mode. He didn't eat enough to cover the calories he burned and often only had one meal a day.

Here are the facts about him.

He is 36 6 foot even weighs 310.4 lbs has a large bone structure. Probably an extra large the weight watchers scale can't read his bone density at all. His currrent job is building the interior of small private airplanes. He builds the bathrooms and bulk heads mainly. His BMR is 2662. According to this website if he is seditary the way he claims he is (note since he sits on his butt and plays computer games at home he thinks hes seditary) He should be eatting 2450 calories but that is below his BMR. If I set it to The highest level of activity it says he should eat 3850 calories.

What makes this hard to figure out is that according to this website if you go with the referbishing cabinets option then the 12 hours a day he works he is burning over 7000 calories just at work. But, if you go with the Capentry option such as building fences which I think is closer to what he does, he would be burning over 10,000 calories for 12 hours of work. That doesn't include the 3 times a week walks with me or his weekend martial arts class. Your not suppose to eat less than 500 to 1000 calories below your burn meter but that would put him eating 6000 to 9000 calories a day.

This all blows my mind completely. Thats like 4 to 6 times the caloires I consume depending on how many calories you think he burns a day. I can't even begin to figure out how to feed him that much and it all be healthy. Should he really be eating that much? How much above his BMR should he be eatting. Im so confused right now I can't see straight.

oh yeah, and tell him to watch his sodium in food, i try to stay away w/ anything w/ more than 120-175mg of sodium per serving, it dehydrates your body and makes u store water and carbs... I made the mistake in eating ramen noodles while calorie counting and gained 3.7lbs over night from sodium...those damn things have 1300mg of sodium...it took me 2 days and 6 liters of water to get back to normal.

true story. coach your husband.

 mkuroda Heart Disease runs in his family so sodium has been a no no in this house for a long time.  Besides my father suffered with  high blood pressure my whole life so I grew up without salt as a flavoring.  We tend to try and avoid it.   If I do use salt, I use sea salt.  Its a bit healthier for you. 

As to stairs, yes I have tried them.  We went to highschool at a three story school without an elevator.  We spent our teenage years running up and down stairs.   When I moved there I was 30 lbs over weight.  Without changing my diet, I lost that 30 lbs in three months just by walking back and forth between all 6 buildings and up and down those stairs. 

But, his job is nothing like a desk job.  Not even close.  He burns probably 5 times more calories a day than  you do and up until he went to work for Custom Aircraft Cabinets was eating one meal a day most days.  We weren't making enough money for him to be able to afford lunch so unless there were leftovers from the night before, he didn't get lunch and I don't get up at 4 am for anyone.  He pretty much ate all of his calories after 7 pm.  

He isn't a typical fat man.  He can leg press over 800 lbs can dead lift nearly 300, can use me as the bar bell to bench press.  What he can't seem to do is burn the fat around his wasit.  Not even taking 2 martial arts classes 4 days a week to go along with his extreamly difficult work enviorment. 

May I suggest changing his exercise routine every 3 months... muscle memory is for real.  Try other machines,  or leg exercises that he's never ever done before.  This will wake up his largest muscles that have been asleep for a while thereby giving him a metabolic boost.

Good luck.