[trevorishere]

Went from 230 to ~155 without exercise by calorie restriction alone (600-1200cal/day). It IS possible, though likely unhealthy to accomplish without exercise (I never, ask they say, consulted a doctor prior to the self-imposed restriction).

Exercise was uncomfortable until I had lost weight, now I can do 15+ mile hikes with a 60l backpack.

I don't want to discourage anyone from doing exercise at any time in their goal for weight loss, but it is possible to lose weight by calorie restriction alone.

[mikevm]

> Exercise was uncomfortable until I had lost weight, now I can do 15+ mile hikes with a 60l backpack.

A simple walk on an incline (5km/hr @ 5% incline) can help you burn 400+kcals/hour. You can probably eat at 1500 kcals and start your day with a walk like that on the treadmill while watching some TV show :).

> .. but it is possible to lose weight by calorie restriction alone.

Indeed it is! :)

If you're obese or severely overweight, it's best to just do a PSMF to lose weight as quickly as possible. Btw, at 230lbs you can easily do strength training which will help you with body recomp (stimulating muscle growth while burning fat).

A good rule of thumb for a PSMF is 9.7x[protein intake]. For example: given 1.6g/kg*104kg = 166g of protein per day we get: 166g * 9.7 kcal/g = 1610 kcal. So your daily calories are at 1610 kcal max, and you need to eat at least 166g of protein (the rest of the calories can be filled with carbs/fat). I suggest min 50g of fat per day for men.

[friedman23]

Walking is the most under rated weight loss activity. People don't understand how many calories walking on an incline on a treadmill will shred if you are obese. When I was 220 pounds, walking at 10% incline at 2.6mph was 770 calories an hour. It is actually hard to eat at a calorie surplus when you are burning that many calories a day.

If you want to lose weight you need to do one of the following

Be hungry, Be in pain from exercise (running), or sacrifice all your free time to low intensity exercise

I chose option 3 along with weight lifting and I don't regret it.

Walking also has this really cool effect of not increasing ghrelin unlike high intensity cardio

[bena]

PSMF - Protein-Sparing Modified Fasting

[gitfan86]

Where did you get the information that it is unhealthy for a 230 pound person to eat 1200 calories a day?

I understand that sodium,potasium,etc.. are necessary, I'm just asking about why you think that the calories are a problem when 230 pounds?