Who has actually lost a significant amount of weight using only CICO?

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  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,641 Member
    edited June 2017
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    I lost my first 50+ lbs eating most of the same garbage I ate to gain weight. Just counting the calories and walking. Took about 8 months.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    Today I am at a loss of 99 lb using CICO since January 25, 2016. Using dumb luck since January 1, 2000 I'm down about 160. Weight loss is always and almost everywhere about CICO. Some places it is about amputation and liposuction surgery. Weight watchers works by CICO. Keto works by CICO. Atkins works by CICO. South Beach works by CICO. Anything with any name in any book by any author which helps people lose weight works by CICO.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    I lost over 50 lbs eating fewer calories than I burned each day. That is CICO, whether or not I ate a specific type of food or did a certain kind of activity.
  • SusanMFindlay
    SusanMFindlay Posts: 1,804 Member
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    SafioraLinnea wrote: »
    Why are you only interested in people who have lost 60+ pounds? I've lost 53 pounds but the fact that I'm 7 pounds off your arbitrary number means my fat loss isn't valid for your purposes?

    I think she just picked that as an arbitrary number (likely because it's her goal or something) because she didn't want to hear stories of "I lost my 5 vanity pounds by..." because she felt like she couldn't relate to that so it wouldn't be motivating to her. I'd imagine she'd find "I lost 59 pounds" as motivating as "I lost 61 pounds".
  • ruqayyahsmum
    ruqayyahsmum Posts: 1,514 Member
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    Ive lost 143lb counting calories

    I lose 2lb a week, my calories arnt as low as yours, im at around 1750

    My dinner tonight was an 8oz steak, grilled mushrooms and 6 chips (too full for more chips)
    I then had a few bites of cheesecake

    I did hike for 2 hours so ive got even more calories to enjoy later :)
  • fitmom4lifemfp
    fitmom4lifemfp Posts: 1,575 Member
    edited June 2017
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    Scochrane86 wrote: »
    I am interested in hearing from those who have lost a significant amount of weight 60+lbs, using only the CICO method? how long did this take you?
    Not wanting stories of people you know, or if you lost 20lbs - I wan't to hear from those who were actually able to significantly change their lives using CICO.

    Huh?? How else would you lose???

    Ah...read more. I see that the OP was confused as to what CICO actually is. ;)
  • ccsernica
    ccsernica Posts: 1,040 Member
    edited June 2017
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    What makes you say only 60+ lbs is "significant"? Losing nearly 40 lbs and more than 4 inches off my waist sure seems significant to me. And yes, I did it with CICO.
    Scochrane86 wrote: »
    yes, my original post say using ONLY CICO.

    So, not clean eating, working out daily, etc... strictly CICO.

    As others have pointed out, you seem to have a fundamental misunderstanding of what is meant by CICO. Working out is only helpful for weight loss to the extent it helps to create a calorie deficit.
  • frawley23
    frawley23 Posts: 31 Member
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    I lost 48lbs in 8 months just eating whatever I wanted within my calorie goal (set for 1lb a week) without really exercising and never counting it if I did (I think this is what OP was meaning) but I started losing steam as I got closer to my original goal. I love food and steadily decreasing calorie goal was no longer satisfying me.

    I started exercising and eating back 50-75% of my exercise calories. I've lost another 15lbs in 5 months doing this. I'm still losing but it's much easier on me mentally. I'm also watching my micros/macros now which I presume is helping my energy levels.
  • SeikoMonster
    SeikoMonster Posts: 105 Member
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    Ive lost 106 pounds since January. I eat the same thing every day, 1400 calories. I care nothing about macros, I eat mostly carbs, no fat and some protein. Literally chicken and potatoes.

    Simply put there is no miracle eat this don't eat that diet. Its all math.
    If we are talking strictly about loosing weight. Not general health.

    Work out a bit, it will improve your general health. That doesn't mean you have to hit 1000 squats a day or run on the treadmill for 2 hours. Go do a weight lifting routine that runs you around 20 mins a day, then hit the bike or walk on the treadmill for 10-15 mins. It will improve your life drastically with very little effort.

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  • fitmom4lifemfp
    fitmom4lifemfp Posts: 1,575 Member
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    SusanMFindlay wrote: »
    SeikoMonster wrote: »
    Ive lost 106 pounds since January. I eat the same thing every day, 1400 calories. I care nothing about macros, I eat mostly carbs, no fat and some protein. Literally chicken and potatoes.

    Please tell me this is an exaggeration (or, at least, that you're eating dark meat chicken which contains fat). A diet containing absolutely no fat will cause significant health problems in the long run as your body needs fat to survive (and to absorb about half of the vitamins).

    Definitely an exaggeration. Check his diary. He had a Chick Filet sandwich a few days ago. Also, cheese every day. Weird diet though.
  • SeikoMonster
    SeikoMonster Posts: 105 Member
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    fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »
    SusanMFindlay wrote: »
    SeikoMonster wrote: »
    Ive lost 106 pounds since January. I eat the same thing every day, 1400 calories. I care nothing about macros, I eat mostly carbs, no fat and some protein. Literally chicken and potatoes.

    Please tell me this is an exaggeration..

    Definitely an exaggeration. Check his diary. He had a Chick Filet sandwich a few days ago. Also, cheese every day. Weird diet though.

    Yes slight exaggeration. I should say very little fat.
    It was my birthday, went crazy and had chick fil a for lunch and dinner. Instead of just one a month as my "cheat meal".

    You know what they say, If it works, it aint crazy. I'm full every day, and do't fall into my old trap of no plan for a meal so I get fast food or pizza. Starting on the 6th month now and still look forward to my potatoes every meal. I just boil and mash red potatoes in batches of 2 days worth of meals. Then put them in the waffle maker. They are honest to god better than french fries.



  • firef1y72
    firef1y72 Posts: 1,579 Member
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    I've lost 120lb so far just by making sure I eat less than I burn. Even though I do exercise it's still CI<CO, I exercise because I enjoy doing it, want to minimise muscle loss, it's good for me, I enjoy my food. What I haven't done is ban any particular food, if I want chocolate and its within my allotted Calories then I'll eat it. If it's not within my allotted Calories and I really really want it then I might just do some extra walking or dancing around the front room so that it is.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,180 Member
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    Scochrane86 wrote: »
    I am interested in hearing from those who have lost a significant amount of weight 60+lbs, using only the CICO method? how long did this take you?
    Not wanting stories of people you know, or if you lost 20lbs - I wan't to hear from those who were actually able to significantly change their lives using CICO.

    25 kg = 55 lbs ... about 30% of me gone. :)

    It took me two sets of 16 weeks.

    16 weeks to lose 15 kg ... 1 month break ... 16 weeks to lose the remaining 10 kg.
  • mlinci
    mlinci Posts: 403 Member
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    I lost 46 lbs - over 20% of my starting weight - by CICO. Note - CICO. Not just CI. I had to decrease my CI, but in order to help being able to still enjoy a decent amount of food, I increased my CO, by walking over 10000 steps a day.
    During my weight loss, there's hardly been a day I ate under 1600 calories and I lost the weight slowly and steadily. I am just pointing this out because I have a feeling that quite a few people on MFP (OP I'm not saying this includes you) have the impression that CICO means eating 1200 calories per day, when it means nothing of the sort.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,180 Member
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    mlinci wrote: »
    I lost 46 lbs - over 20% of my starting weight - by CICO. Note - CICO. Not just CI. I had to decrease my CI, but in order to help being able to still enjoy a decent amount of food, I increased my CO, by walking over 10000 steps a day.
    During my weight loss, there's hardly been a day I ate under 1600 calories and I lost the weight slowly and steadily. I am just pointing this out because I have a feeling that quite a few people on MFP (OP I'm not saying this includes you) have the impression that CICO means eating 1200 calories per day, when it means nothing of the sort.

    Very true ... there are two sides to CICO. In fact, I tend to write it CI<CO. As long as you consume less than you burn, you'll lose weight.

    I'm active every day (unless I happen to be ill or something which happens rarely), so although I'm set at 1300 calories, I rarely eat just 1300 calories.
  • Erotyka
    Erotyka Posts: 82 Member
    edited June 2017
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    As everyone else has said... it's the only reason diets work.

    To the point though: I've lost 90lbs so far just by counting calories. Went from 224 to 134 on math alone. Haven't had access to a scale for a couple weeks so probably looking at 91-92 lost by now, but that's not confirmed!

    I don't really have any set plan for what I eat. I do follow OMAD but don't believe it gives me any competitive edge - I just really like spaghetti and like eating mountains of the stuff. Even at my biggest I was prone to skipping meals (and really overdoing it at night) so OMAD was pretty much just a streamlining of what I was already doing. I don't follow any specific macros or diet plan rigidly, although because of the things I like to eat I tend to follow HCLF (hello spaghetti, my dearest friend). I eat vegan, but that long pre-dated my calorie counting (yes, I got to 224lbs as a vegan!). I just eat what I like and mess around with quantities so I can stay within my calorie allowance. Has worked pretty solidly.

    Edit: forgot to mention! Haven't missed a day on MFP, today is day 260, so that's... 8 and a half months, roughly.
  • Meelisv
    Meelisv Posts: 235 Member
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    I lost 74 kg (or about 160 lbs) - which was exactly half my starting weight, first 60 kg of which I'll lost purely by CICO, following a meal plan without any extra excercise. Took me around 2 years.

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