Diet Questions

Hi all,

I am following an exchange diet based on theories similar to the ones found at http://www.exrx.net/.

My current plan is:

Breakfast
4 Bread
1 Fruit
1 Meat
1 Milk/Dairy

Lunch
4 Bread
1 Fruit
2 Vegetable
2 Meat
1/2 Milk Dairy

Dinner
4 Bread
2 Fruit
2 Vegetable
3 Meat
1/2 Milk Dairy

This all equals to about 2400 calories per day. I get plenty to eat (I actually split the total amount of food into 5 smaller meals or 3 meals with snacks) and it seems to be working. I am 6'1", 270lbs and would like to slowly work my way to about 230lbs. Oddly enough I am not really obese and at 230 I am quite trim.


Now the Questions:

-Is this "balanced"? I dont really know a great deal about diet.
-According to the calculators I have found I need about 3050 calories to maintain my current weight. Is 2400 calories a day enough of a reduction that I can loose weight at a healthy rate?
-At what point will I need to reduce calories again?

Thanks and feel free to suggest anything useful.



[This message has been edited by Wanshu (edited 08-11-2004).]

Reduce the bread. 2 per meal max. I'd eliminate the bread at night. You may be able to go down as low as 2000 cals a day. Drink plenty of water. Go by what your body is telling you. If you feel weak increase your intake

Well, in my answers (based on my opinion) are:

1) Yes, this diet is very balanced and sounds excellent but I agree with Canuck that you probably have too much bread there. Make sure your bread is wholemeal too.

2) Yes, I believe the 2400 calories is enough. A good rule of thumb that a sustainable calorie reduction is 500 calories less than daily calorie requirement. If you reduce food too much you may start loosing muscle which will slow down your metabolism and also your body might switch to "starvation mode", slowing your metabolism down extremely. This is classical yo-yo diet style. If you want to loose weight at a faster rate then do more exercise.

3) You shouldn't have any need to further lower you calorie intake.