site tells me to eat almost 3k cals a day,,,but I eat half that and still dont loose

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Replies

  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    cvcman wrote: »
    male 5'8" maybe 5'7" tall weight about 140

    Wow. You weigh less than me and the site tells you to eat 3k calories? This is awesome!
  • newdaydawning79
    newdaydawning79 Posts: 1,503 Member
    cvcman wrote: »
    male 5'8" maybe 5'7" tall weight about 140

    Then your TDEE is approximately 2747. So yes, if it said you should eat 3K it was wrong.

    Now my question is why are you trying to lose more and how much more? Because you're at the middle of a 5'7" man with a small frame and at the very bottom of a 5'8" man with a small frame.
  • cvcman
    cvcman Posts: 438 Member
    if I take 1 tablespoon of DRY oatmeal...add a little water...put it in the microwave how is that any more cals then if I just ate the 1 tablespoon of dry oatmeal ??? Water has zero cals
  • newdaydawning79
    newdaydawning79 Posts: 1,503 Member
    cvcman wrote: »
    I spray the salmon with zero cal Pam...the corn has VERY lite butter as I dont really like butter...its a medium size ear...the cheese IS low moisture park skim and its a dusting...wouldnt even fill a 1/2 teaspoon...and again....the oatmeal I eat IS 1 tablespoon measured !

    1/2 a teaspoon isn't even worth putting on anything. You wouldn't even be able to taste it.
  • spatty_harris
    spatty_harris Posts: 17 Member
    Your sodium is pretty high, so you might be retaining water. Aside from that, your protein is LOW. Maybe try getting more calories form protein and less from carbs, especially if you are working out as hard as you say you are.
  • MsHarryWinston
    MsHarryWinston Posts: 1,027 Member
    edited October 2014
    cvcman wrote: »
    frob...EXPLAIN the VAST difference in 1 tablespoon of oatmeal and adding NO calorie water to that same 1 tablespoon...how does the water only make a VAST diff ???

    Because water expands the oatmeal.
    There are more calories in one tablespoon of DRY oatmeal than there is in 1 tablespoon of cooked oatmeal. Because 1 tablespoon dry expands to about 3 tablespoons cooked.

    Make sense? You weren't understanding the question they were asking about if you measure wet vs dry.

  • FIT_Goat
    FIT_Goat Posts: 4,224 Member
    edited October 2014
    cvcman wrote: »
    frob...EXPLAIN the VAST difference in 1 tablespoon of oatmeal and adding NO calorie water to that same 1 tablespoon...how does the water only make a VAST diff ???

    One tablespoon of dry uncooked oatmeal is about 14g of oatmeal. When you add water, you end up with about 7 tablespoons of finished product. That's 60 calories for a dry TBS... spread over almost 7 TBS of cooked oatmeal (about 9 calories each).

    To end up with a TBS of cooked oatmeal, you'd have to cook less than half a teaspoon (2.1g) of dry oatmeal with water. That would give you one cooked TBS of 9 calories.

    The difference is the volume the same amount of calories takes up. Oatmeal, in case you didn't notice, expands when cooked. The same amount of calories takes up a lot more space. You're logging the cooked version, with the dry volume. You're massively under-estimating your calories. And that's just one food.

    Your problem is bad logging. You need to log correctly before you claim you eat eating at a deficit and it's not working.
  • cvcman
    cvcman Posts: 438 Member
    I dont eat 2 tblspoons...I eat 1...today I had 2 because my wfe mixed another 1 in my bean burger...I hope we realize that adding 5 or 10 cals here and there is NOT going to make up the 1000 or more the site says im under everyday
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    cvcman wrote: »
    if I take 1 tablespoon of DRY oatmeal...add a little water...put it in the microwave how is that any more cals then if I just ate the 1 tablespoon of dry oatmeal ??? Water has zero cals

    40 grams dry oatmeal is 150 calories
    6 grams (which is what my 1 tbsp scoop measured dry) would be around 23 calories dry
    Now your 1 tbsp could weigh slightly more or less than mine. So I would say the range for 1tbsp is 20-25 calories.

    So even if you make 6 grams with water, your still consuming 20-25 calories. If you make 2 tbsp of dry oatmeal, then it's more like 40-50 calories.
  • cvcman
    cvcman Posts: 438 Member
    im not trying to loose more BUT the way I workout and eat it would seem I would loose more
  • cvcman
    cvcman Posts: 438 Member
    Newday....doesnt matter,,,thats what I put on it...
  • newdaydawning79
    newdaydawning79 Posts: 1,503 Member
    I'm going to say get a food scale and measure every morsel. And if your logging turns out to be accurate, you need to see a doctor just to make sure there's not some kind of issue. Good luck!
  • newdaydawning79
    newdaydawning79 Posts: 1,503 Member
    cvcman wrote: »
    Newday....doesnt matter,,,thats what I put on it...

    but why waste the money on cheese to begin with? it's pointless. :smile:
  • cvcman
    cvcman Posts: 438 Member
    frob...one tablespoon of dry is NOT 14g's it's 6 I just measured it
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    Your gadgets may be over estimating your burns? Have you updated your weight on those tools since you maybe weighed more?
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    cvcman wrote: »
    I dont eat 2 tblspoons...I eat 1...today I had 2 because my wfe mixed another 1 in my bean burger...I hope we realize that adding 5 or 10 cals here and there is NOT going to make up the 1000 or more the site says im under everyday

    The entry you are using is for cooked oatmeal that fits on a tablespoon. You are measuring it dry, not cooked. According to the USDA there is 120 calories in an ounce of dry oatmeal, so there is 60 calories in your one tablespoon, not 9. If you are choosing entries in the database that are incorrect, and are using cups and spoons instead of weighing on a scale, the combination of the two could be hiding hundreds of calories a day.
  • cvcman
    cvcman Posts: 438 Member
    Also 1 tablespoon dry does NOT = 7 tablespoons wet.....not even close
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    cvcman wrote: »
    I dont eat 2 tblspoons...I eat 1...today I had 2 because my wfe mixed another 1 in my bean burger...I hope we realize that adding 5 or 10 cals here and there is NOT going to make up the 1000 or more the site says im under everyday

    The problem isn't just with 1 inaccurate food, it's with multiple. If you're not weighing your food with a food scale, you are probably eating more than you think. Even that shaving of cheese, that ear of corn with lite butter... everything. Because you're using guesses, measuring cups, etc.... which are not accurate by any means.

    Start by logging accurately... because barring any medical issues, this is where your problem lies.

  • FIT_Goat
    FIT_Goat Posts: 4,224 Member
    edited October 2014
    cvcman wrote: »
    I dont eat 2 tblspoons...I eat 1...today I had 2 because my wfe mixed another 1 in my bean burger...I hope we realize that adding 5 or 10 cals here and there is NOT going to make up the 1000 or more the site says im under everyday

    If you're off by an order of magnitude with one food, there's very likely systematic issues with how you log. And, regardless of how the oatmeal entered your mouth, 2 TBS (before cooking) of plain oatmeal is 120 calories, not 18. So many other entries in your log have obscenely low serving sizes and values. Less than 3g of cheese on a salad? Really?

    You're eating way more than you are logging. Coupled with very little weight available to lose, and over-valuing the amount of energy out, of course you're not wasting away.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    cvcman wrote: »
    I dont eat 2 tblspoons...I eat 1...today I had 2 because my wfe mixed another 1 in my bean burger...I hope we realize that adding 5 or 10 cals here and there is NOT going to make up the 1000 or more the site says im under everyday

    You're consuming one tablespoon of dry oatmeal, but it becomes much more when it's cooked due to absorption of water. Same as with pasta and rice.

    As everyone's saying, if you're absolutely 100% accurate with your logging (i.e. weighing every bit of food you make), then you should be losing.
  • cvcman
    cvcman Posts: 438 Member
    tell ya what...take 1 tbl spoon dry...add a small amt of water..put in microwave for 1 minute...tell me what you get..I do this EVERYDAY .....your weights and numbers are WAY off
  • MsHarryWinston
    MsHarryWinston Posts: 1,027 Member
    Also like someone else posted, you aren't logging accurately, even based on the oatmeal information alone. And yes your posts are coming off a bit confrontational, maybe it's all the emphasis caps.

    double check your stats to make sure that everything is accurate,age, height etc. sometimes people make silly mistakes.
    If that's correct, get a food scale. Weigh all your dry foods and log them in grams.
    Do NOT log your activity. Or if you do manually change calories burned to "1". This is because you've already accounted for it in your activity level.
    Eat more protein. Eat. More. Protein.
    Try eating at 1800 calories (properly logged) for 2 weeks.

    Do these things. ALL of these things, for 2-3 weeks and track any changes.
  • cvcman
    cvcman Posts: 438 Member
    I have a digital food scale and I use it...thx
  • FIT_Goat
    FIT_Goat Posts: 4,224 Member
    cvcman wrote: »
    tell ya what...take 1 tbl spoon dry...add a small amt of water..put in microwave for 1 minute...tell me what you get..I do this EVERYDAY .....your weights and numbers are WAY off

    What you get is systematic error in your logging. :p
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    cvcman wrote: »
    I have a digital food scale and I use it...thx

    Then reflect that with your logging, because right now, it doesn't reflect that. You're using cup measurements in your logging, not weight measurements.... which again... means your logging is inaccurate.
  • cvcman
    cvcman Posts: 438 Member
    frob....where are you getting these numbers ?????????????? 2 tablespoons dry is 12 grams...no where near 120 cals.....its like 45 at the most
  • cvcman
    cvcman Posts: 438 Member
    frob...nothing you have posted is correct....your cals are WAY off...
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    To the OP, I think you need to relax a bit. People are asking you questions as they are because it is important to know as much info as possible to be as helpful as possible.

    These are two websites I like for estimating calorie needs, you can either estimate with exercise in which case you'd not log and eat back exercise, or you can log your pre-exercise needs and then log any activity you do and eat back calories.
    health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-advancedhttp://
    exrx.net/Calculators/CalRequire.html

    Subtract 20% if you have a fair bit to lose, but at your weight you probably don't need to lose weight. I'd assume you are after a body composition change, in which case a very small deficit will be better, something like 10-15% less than your estimated maintenance needs. Keep protein levels up (0.8g/total lbs can be a good start, I do 1g/lean body mass myself or a bit more) and weight train a few times a week, avoid over-training, and you may need to lessen how much hard cardio you do if msucle is a main priority for you.

    As for the oats... I guess people are just wondering if you are measuring the 2tbsp dry, or if you are measuring that you have 2tbsp once cooked. Or, if you are measuring dry (which makes more sense for such a small amount), that you are using the dry nutritional info. Water will not change the calories. That being said, one serving of oatmeal for me is listed as 30g or 1/3 cup, 110 cals. Not sure how many tbsp that equals, but basically this means that you could be calculating your calories wrong.

    Since you have some items at such low amounts, you might want to buy a food scale that weighs both dry and liquid items, in grams and oz. So when you make your breakfast oats, you can scoop out 2tbsp into a bowl and log the weight of the oats, see how that aligns to your current logging. Same for cheese, or any calorie dense item. e.g. the nuts you ate today, they may have been way heavier than is indicated by the nutrition info and nuts are very calorie dense. Or if you underestimate your oil.

    you're also not consistent every day, which makes it harder for you to know if the amount you are eating is actualy working. Once a week going over/under by quite a bit, that's okay. It happens. But being so variable every day doesn't help.
  • cvcman
    cvcman Posts: 438 Member
    msharry...I changed my goals to "sed" which by no means am I...it still says im under...even adding and extra 200 calories if I had any errors....
  • Frankiigii
    Frankiigii Posts: 62 Member
    At a sedentary setting I'm supposed to eat 1624 calories a day to lose weight. On 1200 I wasn't losing anything. For the last 11 days I've been trying to get as close to my recommended calories as possible, track my macros and stick to a 16:8 intermittent fasting plan. I've lost 8 pounds! Don't be scared of calories! My suggestion is to meet your calorie goal and check out a video by BioLayne on Youtube called Metabolic Damage.