This is why people gain weight, and why losing it is so hard.

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Replies

  • SusanMFindlay
    SusanMFindlay Posts: 1,804 Member
    edited September 2016
    seska422 wrote: »
    jdb3388 wrote: »
    I'm 5'5'', my goal weight is 150 (which BMI tells me is at the very peak of Normal, just 1 lb away from overweight) and I work a job were I can't get up and walk around often. Comes out to 1899. Even if I take a walk/jog/run in the morning or evenings I'd really only pick up 200-300 calories.

    Uh. As a 5'5 female, 150 is right around the top of the BMI for me.

    BMI ignores gender. That's the main problem with it, IMO.

    Well, the main problem with it is that it compares a 2-dimensional property (height squared) with a 3-dimensional property (weight goes up as we get bigger in any direction) and tries to pretend that they should increase in direct proportion. Making it broken for the very tall and very short. Plus there's the "muscle and fat count the same" problem. The gender thing is a subset of that (since women, by necessity, have extra fat in places like their chests).
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    edited September 2016
    jdb3388 wrote: »
    SLLRunner wrote: »
    jdb3388 wrote: »
    SLLRunner wrote: »
    Dano74 wrote: »
    You sound discouraged, my man. If I could offer some hope... 1899 seems extremely low for any kind of maintenance. What are your stats?

    This is what I was going to say. I'm a 5 ft 4 female at with a weight range 140-145 and I maintain in 1960 without exercise, and between 2060 and 2200 with exercise, depending on what I do. OP is a guy. Something is not right with the TDEE calc.

    It's correct. I've tried it out on 3 separate calculators and they all say the same thing.

    No it's not.

    I just used this calculator set at the sedentary setting and came up with much higher numbers. You're inputting wrong information.

    Your TDEE is: 2826 Calories per day
    Your BMR is: 2355 Calories per day
    We suggest the following for your goal to Maintain
    2826 Calories per day

    To lose to pounds a week you'd eat 2260, then your calories would decrease with every ten pounds you lose.

    Let's say you reach your goal weight of 165 (I don't know if that's your goal weight, this is just for demonstration purposes) in 2018 (100 pounds is a lot to lose), then your TDEE at sedentary would be 2063.
    That calculator is very similar to the one I used. I just put in all of my information and calculated it at my goal weight. Other calculators have said 1899, this one says 1967. that's virtually the same thing. 68 calories is not enough to change anything.

    Your goal weight? No, you calculate at your current weight, and recalculate with every ten pounds you use (or, you let your food app recalculate for you).
  • Resistive
    Resistive Posts: 212 Member
    I would like to see a listing of the food you ate that tallied 4500 calories.

    I just cannot fathom that many calories in a day.
  • A lot of this process, for me anyhow, has been about retraining myself gradually to think differently about food. I use smaller plates. I have gradually gotten down to smaller portion sizes. Like tonight as part of my dinner I cooked 2 ounces of dried pasta. There was a time not so long ago when that would have been 16 ounces of pasta. The first time I had 4 ounces I thought it looked insanely small, but to my surprise it filled me. Now I feel filled at 2 ounces.

    It takes time. It takes experimentation. I've re-learned that cooking and carefully planning my meals makes a difference. My taste buds have changed. I don't crave a lot of the foods I craved before. Every so often, I have a nice meal out. Every so often I make something that takes me over in calories, but I'm trying (still trying--this is hard) to let that be the exception. Not the norm.

    Even when you get to maintenance, you can probably still have some of the foods you list. It's a matter of portion control and balance.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    edited September 2016
    .
  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
    Resistive wrote: »
    I would like to see a listing of the food you ate that tallied 4500 calories.

    I just cannot fathom that many calories in a day.

    Really? I just started to give up on caring how many calories I eat half-way through today (thanks to this thread) and had 4K calories just in the evening. In fact, 2K of those calories were just from peanut butter alone. It isn't hard to add on the calories pretty fast. If I had not cared how many calories I ate for breakfast and lunch, consider how many calories I could have eaten today...
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    edited September 2016
    Has op come back or is he just loitering?
  • SusanMFindlay
    SusanMFindlay Posts: 1,804 Member
    edited September 2016
    Sued0nim wrote: »
    I was convinced I was an outlier due to my frame when I was fat .. My goal was to get close to 25 ...cos I bought into the whole population measure,not for individuals, I'm large framed / big boned (I am by wrist and forearm dimensions) .turns out I sit nicely around a BMI of 24 (and I have decent muscles

    As I mentioned, height is a big issue with BMI. My husband is 6'1, used to throw javelin, shot put, discus, etc. and has the build you'd expect from that. BMI says he'd have to be below 190 to be "healthy" which is total BS. I've seen photos of him as a teenager weighing that much and he was skinny as a rail. You shouldn't be skinny as a rail at the top of your "healthy" BMI range. But he is the exception not the rule (and it is largely because he is tall in addition to being broad shouldered and broad chested).

    Similarly, for some very very short women (substantially sub-five-feet), the bottom end of the healthy range doesn't go low enough.
  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
    Nony_Mouse wrote: »
    Resistive wrote: »
    I would like to see a listing of the food you ate that tallied 4500 calories.

    I just cannot fathom that many calories in a day.

    Really? I just started to give up on caring how many calories I eat half-way through today (thanks to this thread) and had 4K calories just in the evening. In fact, 2K of those calories were just from peanut butter alone. It isn't hard to add on the calories pretty fast. If I had not cared how many calories I ate for breakfast and lunch, consider how many calories I could have eaten today...

    You're seriously blaming this thread for your lack of self control? No wonder you struggle.

    No, I am saying this thread helped me finally realize that the low calorie level I am now at is not satisfying, and that I am not happy with it. In fact, I may be less unhappy being overweight.

    Also, I didn't say I gave no self control. This thread isn't about me, but I will point out that I don't lose weight as easily as most MFP users. CICO alone does not work for me, which is why it has taken almost 3 years to lose 45 lbs. For all I have been through along the way, I would argue I have far more self control than most. But that is a whole separate thread which isn't germane to this topic, nor is there any value for me to try to help you understand (that is assuming you are capable of understanding the struggles I have endured). It isn't that I have no self control, it is that I finally acknowledge (thanks to this thread) that being hungry all the time is a result that needs to be considered into my weight loss plan and how I move forward.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    Nony_Mouse wrote: »
    Resistive wrote: »
    I would like to see a listing of the food you ate that tallied 4500 calories.

    I just cannot fathom that many calories in a day.

    Really? I just started to give up on caring how many calories I eat half-way through today (thanks to this thread) and had 4K calories just in the evening. In fact, 2K of those calories were just from peanut butter alone. It isn't hard to add on the calories pretty fast. If I had not cared how many calories I ate for breakfast and lunch, consider how many calories I could have eaten today...

    You're seriously blaming this thread for your lack of self control? No wonder you struggle.

    No, I am saying this thread helped me finally realize that the low calorie level I am now at is not satisfying, and that I am not happy with it. In fact, I may be less unhappy being overweight.

    Also, I didn't say I gave no self control. This thread isn't about me, but I will point out that I don't lose weight as easily as most MFP users. CICO alone does not work for me, which is why it has taken almost 3 years to lose 45 lbs. For all I have been through along the way, I would argue I have far more self control than most. But that is a whole separate thread which isn't germane to this topic, nor is there any value for me to try to help you understand (that is assuming you are capable of understanding the struggles I have endured). It isn't that I have no self control, it is that I finally acknowledge (thanks to this thread) that being hungry all the time is a result that needs to be considered into my weight loss plan and how I move forward.

    I remember you from quite a long time ago.. Don't you have several medical conditions like insulin resistance and Hashimotos?
  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
    RoxieDawn wrote: »
    Nony_Mouse wrote: »
    Resistive wrote: »
    I would like to see a listing of the food you ate that tallied 4500 calories.

    I just cannot fathom that many calories in a day.

    Really? I just started to give up on caring how many calories I eat half-way through today (thanks to this thread) and had 4K calories just in the evening. In fact, 2K of those calories were just from peanut butter alone. It isn't hard to add on the calories pretty fast. If I had not cared how many calories I ate for breakfast and lunch, consider how many calories I could have eaten today...

    You're seriously blaming this thread for your lack of self control? No wonder you struggle.

    No, I am saying this thread helped me finally realize that the low calorie level I am now at is not satisfying, and that I am not happy with it. In fact, I may be less unhappy being overweight.

    Also, I didn't say I gave no self control. This thread isn't about me, but I will point out that I don't lose weight as easily as most MFP users. CICO alone does not work for me, which is why it has taken almost 3 years to lose 45 lbs. For all I have been through along the way, I would argue I have far more self control than most. But that is a whole separate thread which isn't germane to this topic, nor is there any value for me to try to help you understand (that is assuming you are capable of understanding the struggles I have endured). It isn't that I have no self control, it is that I finally acknowledge (thanks to this thread) that being hungry all the time is a result that needs to be considered into my weight loss plan and how I move forward.

    I remember you from quite a long time ago.. Don't you have several medical conditions like insulin resistance and Hashimotos?

    I no longer am insulin resistant, but am a type 1 (I don't make insulin). More relevant to the topic of hunger is that type 1's don't make amylin either.
  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
    Nony_Mouse wrote: »
    Resistive wrote: »
    I would like to see a listing of the food you ate that tallied 4500 calories.

    I just cannot fathom that many calories in a day.

    Really? I just started to give up on caring how many calories I eat half-way through today (thanks to this thread) and had 4K calories just in the evening. In fact, 2K of those calories were just from peanut butter alone. It isn't hard to add on the calories pretty fast. If I had not cared how many calories I ate for breakfast and lunch, consider how many calories I could have eaten today...

    You're seriously blaming this thread for your lack of self control? No wonder you struggle.

    No, I am saying this thread helped me finally realize that the low calorie level I am now at is not satisfying, and that I am not happy with it. In fact, I may be less unhappy being overweight.

    Also, I didn't say I gave no self control. This thread isn't about me, but I will point out that I don't lose weight as easily as most MFP users. CICO alone does not work for me, which is why it has taken almost 3 years to lose 45 lbs. For all I have been through along the way, I would argue I have far more self control than most. But that is a whole separate thread which isn't germane to this topic, nor is there any value for me to try to help you understand (that is assuming you are capable of understanding the struggles I have endured). It isn't that I have no self control, it is that I finally acknowledge (thanks to this thread) that being hungry all the time is a result that needs to be considered into my weight loss plan and how I move forward.

    Okay, so stay fat then ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
  • Qskim
    Qskim Posts: 1,145 Member
    I just wanna add to great advice that you may benefit, like I did, to the way in which exercise can suppress appetite. I enjoy it and I do better staying within my calorie allowance..it's not meaningful to me in that it gives me extra cals to eat but that it helps me feel good, motivated and hormonally balanced.

    That's its biggest draw for me. And it can take a bit of pushing yourself internally to do it but you make the time fit (even a short walk to start) and eventually you'll crave it, prioritise it, demand it. So, essentially, exercise means more than 200-300 cals...helps mindset.

  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
    Sued0nim wrote: »
    I was convinced I was an outlier due to my frame when I was fat .. My goal was to get close to 25 ...cos I bought into the whole population measure,not for individuals, I'm large framed / big boned (I am by wrist and forearm dimensions) .turns out I sit nicely around a BMI of 24 (and I have decent muscles

    As I mentioned, height is a big issue with BMI. My husband is 6'1, used to throw javelin, shot put, discus, etc. and has the build you'd expect from that. BMI says he'd have to be below 190 to be "healthy" which is total BS. I've seen photos of him as a teenager weighing that much and he was skinny as a rail. You shouldn't be skinny as a rail at the top of your "healthy" BMI range. But he is the exception not the rule (and it is largely because he is tall in addition to being broad shouldered and broad chested).

    Similarly, for some very very short women (substantially sub-five-feet), the bottom end of the healthy range doesn't go low enough.

    Checking for FFMI and assuming he's in the land between very fit and still humanly possible, he could be between 10 and 15% bodyfat at below 190 with plenty of musculature because high FFMI. Hardly thin as a rail.
  • Resistive
    Resistive Posts: 212 Member
    bethannien wrote: »
    Resistive wrote: »
    I would like to see a listing of the food you ate that tallied 4500 calories.

    I just cannot fathom that many calories in a day.

    Easy peasy. A fat Belgian waffle, slathered in a couple tablespoons of butter for breakfast and at LEAST 1/2 cup of maple syrup. Can't eat that without a couple slices of bacon and a fried egg or two (cooked in the bacon grease of course). 800 calories for the waffle, butter and syrup. Another 100 or so for the bacon and conservatively another 150 for the eggs. Pushing 1000 just on breakfast.

    Lunch, I'd eat a Big Mac meal (with a Diet Coke at least) which tops out at around 900 calories. Sometimes I'd get a dipped ice cream cone for another 150 (1050).

    A snack before dinner of a snickers bar (280 cals if I'm not mistaken) and maybe a couple ounces of cheese for 220 cals or so (500).

    Dinner, if I cooked at home, would be some form of creamy pasta with meat. I would easily eat two servings, if not more but let's say I just ate two. I guarantee just the entree would be 1000 calories, plus one or two slices of garlic bread, 400 calories for 2 slices. (1400).

    I nearly always ate something before bed too. Maybe it was leftovers in the fridge (anywhere from 500-750 calories would be my guess). Maybe it was swinging through a drive thru and eating egg rolls dipped in ranch (3 at 150 cals each plus 200 or so calories worth of ranch-650). Sometimes it would be a whole pint of Ben and Jerry's (1200 give or take 200 calories).

    Conservatively, that's about 4400 calories but it could get as bad as 6000 calories. And that was a pretty regular Saturday for me.

    But that's my point, it is attainable when eating utter crap food. When trying to lose weight, in my opinion, there is no way you should be even coming close to that.
  • Resistive
    Resistive Posts: 212 Member
    Clearly you eat 4k calories every day of McDonalds, Waffles bathing in syrup, 6 pack of coke, Ding Dongs, Chips etc...
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    Resistive wrote: »
    Clearly you eat 4k calories every day of McDonalds, Waffles bathing in syrup, 6 pack of coke, Ding Dongs, Chips etc...

    I wish...
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