Dietary question.

[Kframe]

Hey guys. Well, I have signed up at the gym, and I have some diet questions.

Firstly, regarding protein. I apparently have a bunch of chicken thighs, on the bone with skin. Like 10lbs of it. LOL. So the package says its 250 calories per 4oz serving. So the question is, do I weigh them on my scale, with the bone in, or cut the bone out? As the bone adds like 2-3 oz to thigh. I just need to figure out how many of these things I can have, as I have a huge supply of them. Wife said they were on sale lol..

Secondly, were should I start at for a caloric count for the day? Should I start at 2000 and work up or down? I am a big guy, and the calculators don't make sense.. Saying nonsense like I should eat 2700 to loose weight.. That seems to high.

Thanks for any help on this guys. As soon as I run out of the thighs I will start getting skinless boneless breasts, as they are much leaner.

 

[j123]

Hey guys. Well, I have signed up at the gym, and I have some diet questions.

Firstly, regarding protein. I apparently have a bunch of chicken thighs, on the bone with skin. Like 10lbs of it. LOL. So the package says its 250 calories per 4oz serving. So the question is, do I weigh them on my scale, with the bone in, or cut the bone out? As the bone adds like 2-3 oz to thigh. I just need to figure out how many of these things I can have, as I have a huge supply of them. Wife said they were on sale lol..

Not too sure about the chicken thighs, I'm going to go on a limb and say thats without the bone. I eat boneless chicken breasts pretty routinely and its around 200 cal per 5oz. Thighs have a bit more fat in them, so its going to be higher in calories, so 250 seems about right.

Secondly, were should I start at for a caloric count for the day? Should I start at 2000 and work up or down? I am a big guy, and the calculators don't make sense.. Saying nonsense like I should eat 2700 to loose weight.. That seems to high.

Depends on how big you are, and your activity level (job, exercise, sedentary lifestyle, etc)

2000 is pretty low, I say the average guy has a maintenance of 2700-2800. Try not to do this too fast, take your time with the diet (look it at as a marathon, not a sprint). Start with the 2700, and re-assess in a week, if you don't lose anything, that's your maintenance. At that point drop your daily calories it to 2200 (500 cal deficit, to lose 1lb/week).

2700 isn't actually unbelievable, esp. if you're a big dude. I'm not large by any means, but am pretty active and I intake 2600 on a cut, while maintaining at 3100.

 

[Kframe]

Thank you jt23. I am a very large guy, 370 sadly. I gained all the weight I lost back when I injured my knee.. To bad, that is the past, and I am going to nail this thing like a cheap hooker.

I need to ditch the damn thighs as they are so difficult to measure effectively as part of my intake. I guess I should just cut the bone out of each one.

I did a few calculators last night, from different places, and one spit out 2400 and one spit out 2600. So maybe I should start at 2600 and work down from there. How long should I give it at 2600 before I adjust it?

 

[j123]

Thank you jt23. I am a very large guy, 370 sadly. I gained all the weight I lost back when I injured my knee.. To bad, that is the past, and I am going to nail this thing like a cheap hooker.

I need to ditch the damn thighs as they are so difficult to measure effectively as part of my intake. I guess I should just cut the bone out of each one.

I did a few calculators last night, from different places, and one spit out 2400 and one spit out 2600. So maybe I should start at 2600 and work down from there. How long should I give it at 2600 before I adjust it?

Give it a week, same time and day. Most folks usually weigh themselves after waking up and using the bathroom (before breakfast). So, for example: You decide to start the diet this Sat. You weigh yourself at 8-9am after going to the bathroom. 1 week later, weigh in at roughly the same time and work from there.

Do your best to measure the servings properly, weather it be weight (food scale) or measuring cups. Try to keep the unknown variables to a minimum, you don't want to be making measurements like 1 handful, or 2 thumb, etc. weight is going to be the most accurate way in my opinion.

Also since you're pretty heavy, even if you end up eating 3000 calories, just by starting to have a stable diet plan with exercise, you'll probably lose alot due of water weight as well. I wouldn't be surprised if you lost between 4-8lbs the first time you try it.

 

[Kframe]

I just got a new food scale, so I will be using that for meat. For veggies, I will go by measuring cups. I will be getting some skinless/boneless breasts this weekend as well.

Now you mentioned 3000 calories. if I start at 2600, what would the catalyst be to move up towards 3000? I assume that if I am loosing more then 2lbs a week to move up?

 

[j123]

I just got a new food scale, so I will be using that for meat. For veggies, I will go by measuring cups. I will be getting some skinless/boneless breasts this weekend as well.

Now you mentioned 3000 calories. if I start at 2600, what would the catalyst be to move up towards 3000? I assume that if I am loosing more then 2lbs a week to move up?

Yes.

Now, if you end up losing more than usual 3-4+lbs, its going to be from water weight. It will actually take a bit of time to re-asses. If that happens, I would bump to 2800-3000 until the weight loss starts to slow down to a regular rate (0 - 2lbs), at that point you'll have a more clear idea what your maintenance and deficit calories are. You didn't get to 370lb overnight, and cutting it down to a natural/regular weight won't happen overnight either. So, basically, you're used to eating alot, the last thing you want is to shock your system by cutting things off cold turkey.

 

[Kframe]

Thanks for your help bro. I appreciate it. AS soon as I get this and my work outs up and running, I will get a log going.


It seams like such a long way away.. I wonder what being skinny feels like.

 

[ironwolf]

Cut the bone out.

 

[Kframe]

Ironwolf, Thanks. I should have thought, but I didn't know. I tried to google it, but it didn't come up with anything specific about weighing with the bone or not.