weight loss in sedentary people

M

Mark Thomson

New Member
Hello, I'm putting together a diet for my wife . She is 120kg and around 45% fat. She is totally sedentary due to past injuries which have added to her problem. How do I calculate starting calories and macronutrients? Iwould like to get her down to aweight where she can start doing some walking,etc.
Thanking you
Mark :)
 
Perhaps ~1000 kcal below maintainance, with perhaps Saturday off for phycological reasons?
Also, emphazise on filling foods: fruit, veggies, eggs, meat, fish, high-fiber stuff
 
Here is a question I always wondered about.

When you are talking maintenance calories relative to bodyweight, is that lean body mass or total body weight?
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Mark Thomson @ Feb. 26 2004,12:47)]Hello, I'm putting together a diet for my wife . She is 120kg and around 45% fat. She is totally sedentary due to past injuries which have added to her problem. How do I calculate starting calories and macronutrients? Iwould like to get her down to aweight where she can start doing some walking,etc.
Thanking you
Mark :)
Click to expand...

Using "optional formula 2" her maintenance calories would be at

2592 kcal

I don't know if I would do a 1000 calorie deficit. If you do to much you can kick your body into a starvation mode... I'd say do a 500 calorie deficit below maintenance and remember to recalculate when weight loss slows. Don't drop the calories over night either, but step it down in increments. DrPhil was good to suggest those foods... Actually, do a search for "negative calorie food list" and she can use those when she doesn't feel like counting... Also don't forget the mental aspect to this - does she ***really*** want to do this?
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Mark Thomson @ Feb. 26 2004,12:47)]Hello, I'm putting together a diet for my wife . She is 120kg and around 45% fat. She is totally sedentary due to past injuries which have added to her problem. How do I calculate starting calories and macronutrients? Iwould like to get her down to aweight where she can start doing some walking,etc.
Thanking you
Mark :)
Click to expand...
Hey Mark I hope the weight loss goes well for your wife. I'll let others comment on diet details. But I commend you for helping her, I think it is a great privilege and happiness to help a family member lose weight.

I hope all is successful.


JWJ
 
i think your starting point should be to look at her current diet.
What is wrong with her current diet?
does she have meals meals at particular or sporadic times?
Are those meals full of high calorie foods that could be replaced with lower calorie foods? or does she just eat a lot of 'reasonable' food types?

My advise would be to start out slowly. Make simple changes to the diet...ie suggest low fat alternatives, or suggest that she eat consistently at consistent times of the day instead of binge eating, or get her to reduce her food portions a little.

These kinds of changes can result in weightloss without the sudden emotional/physical shock of 'dieting'. Of course the weight loss part will only come about through a reduction in calories, but the 'bodybuilding' approch might not be well suited to your wife.

I think making subtle changes to her diet will get her to the point where she can start to introduce gentle excersise. You can then of course re-think the dieting strategy at that time.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (rgallucci @ Feb. 26 2004,12:30)]Here is a question I always wondered about.
When you are talking maintenance calories relative to bodyweight, is that lean body mass or total body weight?
Click to expand...
That would be lean mass. Fat takes very very few calories to maintain relative to muscle tissue.
 
Excellent advice stevie. I have a friend who has an obese mother. She regularly loves to indulge in Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Upon further inspection, a single pint (serviing in this case) was +/- 2000 calories! That's well below what should even be consumed in a single day...
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Calkid @ Feb. 28 2004,1:10)]That would be lean mass. Fat takes very very few calories to maintain relative to muscle tissue.
Click to expand...
While this is fine for a lean person, somebody with a high pecentage of BF needs the energy calculated off total bodyweight. BMR (and to some extents TEE) correlates as good with total bodyweight as it does with LBM.
Fat is relatively metabolically active, and muscle doesnt really require as many calories as one would expect to maintain it at rest. Now during actitvity, muscle energy use increases, but it will increase more if it has to cart around 30lb of extra fat as well :)

If we get two people, one 120kg with 60kg lean mass, and the other 70kg with 60kg lean mass, do they need the same calories...
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Aaron_F @ Mar. 03 2004,7:29)]
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Calkid @ Feb. 28 2004,1:10)]That would be lean mass. Fat takes very very few calories to maintain relative to muscle tissue.
Click to expand...
While this is fine for a lean person, somebody with a high pecentage of BF needs the energy calculated off total bodyweight. BMR (and to some extents TEE) correlates as good with total bodyweight as it does with LBM.
Fat is relatively metabolically active, and muscle doesnt really require as many calories as one would expect to maintain it at rest. Now during actitvity, muscle energy use increases, but it will increase more if it has to cart around 30lb of extra fat as well :)
If we get two people, one 120kg with 60kg lean mass, and the other 70kg with 60kg lean mass, do they need the same calories...
Click to expand...
The latest work puts a pound of muscle mass at 6 calories a day. A pound of fat mass is about 2-3 calories a day to maintain. Not a huge difference in the grand scheme.
 
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