Obese and going primal page

[heatherok]

I am obese, tall, and muscular (5'10, 300 pounds), and today is my first day of primal eating.

For the past few months, I have worn a device that measures my calorie output. Without getting any deliberate exercise, I burn 4000 calories a day. While I want to lose weight, I don't think it is safe to lose more than 3 pounds a week. Therefore, I need about 2500 calories a day.

My question is this - is 2500 calories a day on primal even possible? And how many carbs should I be shooting for each day. (Yes, I know Mark suggests under 100 for weight loss, but I am 300 pounds, not 120.)

[iniQuity]

Welcome, go see this thread for ideas on how to eat over 2000 cals a day, delicious warning: lots of chicken wings. (check the last pages not the beginning) http://www.marksdailyapple.com/forum...Quest-For-Fire

Carbs, highly debated topic, I will say this: the bigger you are, the more you stand to benefit from lowering carbs.

I don’t count anything, but I eat a sweet potato about once or twice a week (not on purpose, just tends to work out that way) BUT I’m literally half your size and I also like to workout beyond what we typically “prescribe” around here.

If you’re not going to be too physically active, beyond just moving your body around (which I know is a bigger challenge than I can imagine) you don’t need as many carbs to fuel your activity.

Oh also, your new favorite food should be ground beef and all the wonderful recipes you can make with it, here’s a starter one: minced bacon and ground beef with some spices. Shit now I’m hungry.

[Hedonist]

Welcome. Good luck on primal.

There are foods that are fine for primal IF you need the carbs/calories - non-wheat bread, yams and potatoes, white rice, bananas. Other forum members can give you more precise info.

[federkeil]

I am obese, tall, and muscular (5'10, 300 pounds), and today is my first day of primal eating.

For the past few months, I have worn a device that measures my calorie output. Without getting any deliberate exercise, I burn 4000 calories a day. While I want to lose weight, I don't think it is safe to lose more than 3 pounds a week. Therefore, I need about 2500 calories a day.

My question is this - is 2500 calories a day on primal even possible? And how many carbs should I be shooting for each day. (Yes, I know Mark suggests under 100 for weight loss, but I am 300 pounds, not 120.)

aim for under a hundred carbs a day. I'm 6'7", was 305lbs, I went to under 50 carbs for a month and dropped 30lbs.

Just because you're 300lbs doesn't mean carbs don't/won't have the same effect on you as someone who's 120lbs, that's not how it works.

I don't see why you need to keep calories up. You just need to eat enough protein to maintain lean mass, other than that....

[primalrob]

It can be pretty easy to hit 2500 on the primal diet, and staying pretty low carb. there are 9 calories in every gram of fat, so it's possible to hit 2500 in only two meals...even if they are very low carb. you just might want to spend some time focusing on fats and proteins rather than vegetables if you want that many calories, as veggies can fill you up (but you can cook them in loads of fat).

i wouldn't spend too much time worrying about calories though. just keep eating and obeying your hunger. true, you can lose weight too fast, but your body has an ideal physique that it will be working toward, and storing and burning whatever it needs to in order to reach it. focus on eating the right foods, then you can get into the right amount of food.


@iniquity...now i'm hungry too

[iniQuity]

@iniquity...now i'm hungry too

I'm more disappointed than hungry now that I know I won't be eating ground beef and bacon

[Rivvin]

Heatherok,

When I first started to lose weight I was at exactly 300lbs and I am 5'9. I kept my calories at 2500 while I lost weight because I also started crossfit and wanted to make sure I wasn't starving myself. If you eat skin-on chicken thighs, good cuts of marbled beef, plenty of coconut milk and coconut oil, and some nuts once in awhile you'll hit 2500 calories faster than you think.

I kept my carbs between 50 - 70 when I was dropping because I didn't want to be in ketosis while I was doing crossfit and as a 300lb fatty doing box jumps I needed them. You don't have to stay under 100 carbs for fat loss, you could even hit 120 and still lose fat, but it is not going to help you. If you plan on exercising and do not want to be in ketosis, aim for 50 - 70.

After about 5 months of this I didn't track my calories anymore and I hardly ever track them now. You will naturally over time learn what to eat without having to put any thought into it.

For reference: Over the course of 2 years I've dropped from 300lbs to 150lbs and then put on 17 pounds of muscle to be at 167lbs now. I did this through being paleo/primal for the majority of the process. We are similar heights so our builds were probably somewhat similar. I don't know your age or your exercise regimen, but hopefully something from this helps you.

Also, you will accelerate fat loss and benefit yourself greatly by lifting weights throughout this process. Don't weight yourself a lot because you'll be putting muscle on and scales don't mean shit.

Good luck!

[Melantha]

If you're worried that you're losing too fast, track your calories to make sure you're getting enough. And, yes, 100 g carbs/day is pretty much regardless of weight. The most important thing is that you're getting enough protein that you don't waste muscle and then that you're getting plenty of fat. I find that eating lots of fat makes my joints less creaky (I say that it cushions my joints, but I can't vouch for the accuracy of that), which I imagine is a lot more important if you're heavy for your height.

But at first you might want to try just eating primal and not counting calories. It's pretty hard to get more than 100g carbs in a day if you're not eating starchy veggies, grains, sugar, or lots of fruit.

[Dr. Bork Bork]

I've found that I only get close to 100 carbs if I'm having primal/paleo-fied treats (usually baked goods that are high in natural sugars). Follow the law, and you'll be golden.