Almost fainted from dieting

**Oonjuk** · Posted On: 10/20/2011 12:53pm

I am 5'7'', 200lb, and 21 male. I started cutting on food 3 days ago with calorie deficit around 1000-1500 cal and had 3 meals a day. I was eating little bit of brown rice and cabbage soup for breakfast and if I was ordering a hamburger, I had one cheeseburger. I continued my daily 3-4 hour exercise routine (1 hr cardio and 2-3 hr martial arts) with this new dieting plan. I had harder time keeping up with my Judo and my usual conditioning routines for first two days, but I was feeling pretty alright. However, I almost fainted during an Aikido class on the third day of dieting (which isn't even too demanding physically).

People think I am around 170-180 lb until they see my hulk legs where I carry around that extra 20-30 lb hidden from people's view. I started dieting because I actually wanted to be around 180 lb bit quicker, so that I can play more appropriate weight class for me in Judo and BJJ. (I was losing weight but around -1lb/month)

Do you guys have any better suggestion for a dieting plan that will make me cut weight in better pace (around -5lb/month), but won't make me faint?

**gregaquaman** · Posted On: 10/20/2011 1:11pm

I pretty much survive on brown rice, tuna, fruit. That sort of thing. Dont order hamburgers. eat simple healthy food.

Eat more protein.

**ChenPengFi** · Posted On: 10/20/2011 1:27pm

Educate yourself, this is a nice start:
http://www.healthline.com/hlbook/adv...orts-nutrition

That's the whole book, there are meal plans in there towards the end.

**Hiro Protagonist** · Posted On: 10/20/2011 2:39pm

What my trainer used to tell me, always:

You want too much too soon.

Make babysteps, and stay consistent.

You want to change your life, not just the next few weeks.
Your life is LONG, though. So, make a LONG-term plan.

Also, check this:

http://www.menshealth.com/weight-los...ht-6-meals-day

This proved pretty good for me.

ALSO, because this has the nice side effect that you change your meals more often - thus eat more healthy food, have more healthy food at home, etc.

**mrh80** · Posted On: 10/20/2011 3:20pm

Eat your fruit and veggies (moms always right). Generally try to eat as natural as possible, avoiding processed foods particularly sugar.

**CNagy** · Posted On: 10/20/2011 3:38pm

5 lbs a month is not difficult, or it shouldn't be at 5'7" and 200lbs. Honestly, if you are going to count calories specifically, you need to establish some sort of baseline and go from there. Eat normally for a week (the way you used to eat that maintained your weight with all your exercise) and count those calories. Then chop off 600-650 calories from that per day and, everything else remaining equal, you should hit your desired weight loss of 5 lbs per month.

A calorie deficit of 1000-1500 a day is a far cry from an approach meant to drop 5 lbs per month. No plan aimed at that sort of slow and steady loss should leave you almost fainting.

**Oonjuk** · Posted On: 10/20/2011 9:15pm

@ChengPengFi: Thanks for the great book. Reading it along with the Judo textbook I got from Korea.
@Hiro: Yeah, I learned the hard way...
@CNagy: Three days ago, I was in the "lose-weight-fast-as-I-can" mentality. After the incident in the Aikido class, I set more realistic goal for myself. Now I am thinking of -20 lb/4 months plan.

Thanks for the suggestions and resources guys!

**Eddie Hardon** · Posted On: 10/21/2011 1:19pm

I'm 5ft 7ins and 180lbs or so - but I'm much older than you. That apart, the rule of thumb is to lose about 1lb a week hence CNagy point above is fine.

Cutting back significantly on your meals is said to provoke a 'starvation' response in the body.

By all means, cut out the junk food and booze/Colas. Fruit and veg is good, fish, rice etc.

Consider increasing your Cardio. For example, use your lunchtime and go running. Don't go bonkers, just a regular 30mins and, say, 3 miles. This will provide for good basic Conditioning and Wind.

You're still young so your body will adjust.

Consider going to a Dietician. Not a Nutritionist - only the Dietician holds a recognised Qualification. Consider a Sports Science Coach or someone suitably qualified or your Doc.

Me? No. I'm just some geezer on the internet. Good luck.

**Gypsy Jazz** · Posted On: 10/22/2011 1:21am

Read this http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat...-fat-loss.html

The absolute simplest method I've heard for setting a caloric deficit is to eat maintenance level calories for the weight you want to be. It won't be the fastest, but you'll never have to switch off of a diet.

Lyle McDonald, who wrote that article linked above likes to use 10 – 12 x bodyweight in lbs for deficit numbers. Alternatively you can give try a BMR calculator and the Harris-Benedict equation.

Rough estimates say that 1lb is 3500 calories, so even at a deficit of 500 calories per day, that's still 1lb per week, which you can surely manage.

The idea of a "starvation response" has be debunked fairly thoroughly in all research on the effects of fasting. Combining severe deficit with lots of exercise on the other hand is bad news bears because it can provoke a stress response. If you want to do exercise, heavy weight training will spare muscle loss, and light cardio (walking, light cycling, etc) can be your extra caloric burn without the risk of fainting.

I know that was a bunch of sporadic thoughts, but that's how my mind is working right now.

**Hiro Protagonist** · Posted On: 10/22/2011 11:21am

What do you guys think of the six-meal-a-day approach?

Especially for guys who really want to lose some serious weight,
that one seems appropriate, also because it keeps your blood sugar relatively stable.