I just don't get it
kam3190
Posts: 157 Member
Why are there always people in the forum that make comments like ;
I'm eating 1200 Cals and working out for an hour and not losing weight.
I'm 300 lbs and can only lose at 1100 Cals.
How is this even feasible or possible. Last year I lost 35 lbs at 3 lbs a week eating 1800 calories a day. With two weekly walks. Starting weight 252. And 5ft 6 in. I don't even feel like a majorly active person. Are people really just that much in denial about how much they eat or am I just that much more active than I realize?
I'm eating 1200 Cals and working out for an hour and not losing weight.
I'm 300 lbs and can only lose at 1100 Cals.
How is this even feasible or possible. Last year I lost 35 lbs at 3 lbs a week eating 1800 calories a day. With two weekly walks. Starting weight 252. And 5ft 6 in. I don't even feel like a majorly active person. Are people really just that much in denial about how much they eat or am I just that much more active than I realize?
17
Replies
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Broadly speaking, people who make comments like that are eating more than they think they are (due to logging errors) or they are over-estimating their calories burnt from exercise.40
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About 99% of the time those people are eating more than they think19
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I feel lucky tbh... It's going well and relatively easy
I don't weigh my food... I'm proud of that lol 
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In 90% of cases, it's a failure in the CICO equation--they think they're eating 1200 but are eating way more because they eyeball things instead of weighing, or forgetting to log food. The rest of the time, it's usually a health issue. Strictness with logging varies from person to person. So do results.5
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janejellyroll wrote: »
There was a lol11 -
Ok. Because I could never survive on 1200 calories lol. Just thinking about it makes me hungry. I understand it's different when your alot smaller because I have quite a bit to lose. P.S. this year is a bit different because I'm breastfeeding and trying to keep weightloss about 1.5 lbs a week.So I can eat quite a bit. Honestly I have to be more active than I realize because in the beginning when I first started recording I was maintaining my 252 on about 3500 cals a day.1
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janejellyroll wrote: »
There was a lol
I saw the "lol," unsure how that modifies the sentiment. Like, you wrote it and then you laughed out loud? Okay, but my question still stands.4 -
janejellyroll wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »
There was a lol
I saw the "lol," unsure how that modifies the sentiment. Like, you wrote it and then you laughed out loud? Okay, but my question still stands.
People get slated on here for not weighing food like you can't lose weight if you don't....24 -
I started at 1200 calories, at 220.
Some days I could stick to it, but mostly I did quite a lot of exercise so I could eat more like 1700. That is a perfectly reasonable amount, and I was able to stick to that.2 -
janejellyroll wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »
There was a lol
I saw the "lol," unsure how that modifies the sentiment. Like, you wrote it and then you laughed out loud? Okay, but my question still stands.
People get slated on here for not weighing food like you can't lose weight if you don't....
I've never seen anyone say you can't lose weight if you don't weigh your food. I have seen people say that accurate logging can increase your chances of reliably being in a calorie deficit. A scale is a tool that can help you do that, but it's glaringly obvious that humans can achieve a deficit without one.18 -
janejellyroll wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »
There was a lol
I saw the "lol," unsure how that modifies the sentiment. Like, you wrote it and then you laughed out loud? Okay, but my question still stands.
People get slated on here for not weighing food like you can't lose weight if you don't....
It's not too difficult when you have quite a bit to lose and a lot of room for error, but it gets tougher as a person gets smaller and the numbers have to be tighter. And of course, it only becomes an issue when a person specifically posts and says, "Why am I not losing the weight I think I should be?"19 -
I feel lucky tbh... It's going well and relatively easy I don't weigh my food... I'm proud of that lol
For now.........
Of course you can lose weight without weighing portions. But, as you get closer to goal weight loss slows. This is when being REALLY accurate with calorie counts is going to matter even more. Measuring cups suck for may foods. I once sat at a 6 week plateau.....a digital scale would have helped me figure out where I was going wrong.
OP - also some people think that they should see weight loss each and every week.7 -
When I was still eating 1200 cals a day, I was losing about 1.5lbs/week, and I'm a shortie (5'1"). When I got stuck, I started weighing my food and the weight started coming off again.11
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1200 Cal is too little even for smaller people. I don't know how people keep up their energy daily on 1200.. couldn't and won't do it!3
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It's possible you need to start a bit higher, like 1500-1700. Your body can go into a "starvation mode" and make it hard to lose, not to mention makes it harder to stick with the plan. Keep with it though, and you'll likely see results. I know I had some plateaus and for several reasons: 1) I wasn't really making great choices, even though I stayed at my calorie limit; also made me feel deprived, 2) I wasn't careful measuring what I ate, so really fooling myself (it's stunning how little Triscuits you have to each to reach 300+ calories). I try to find foods that I can have a large portion of so I FEEL like I've had lots to eat while still staying within my "budget."
Also, one last caution is that the MFP entries are made by humans, you and me. Some of these entries are WAY off. We don't always populate the website with the most quality information. So look for the green checkmark to see if the food is "verified", meaning its nutritional and calorie info is correct. That's a good start. Best of luck to you!!51 -
It's possible you need to start a bit higher, like 1500-1700. Your body can go into a "starvation mode" and make it hard to lose, not to mention makes it harder to stick with the plan. Keep with it though, and you'll likely see results. I know I had some plateaus and for several reasons: 1) I wasn't really making great choices, even though I stayed at my calorie limit; also made me feel deprived, 2) I wasn't careful measuring what I ate, so really fooling myself (it's stunning how little Triscuits you have to each to reach 300+ calories). I try to find foods that I can have a large portion of so I FEEL like I've had lots to eat while still staying within my "budget."
Also, one last caution is that the MFP entries are made by humans, you and me. Some of these entries are WAY off. We don't always populate the website with the most quality information. So look for the green checkmark to see if the food is "verified", meaning its nutritional and calorie info is correct. That's a good start. Best of luck to you!!
Starvation mode does not exist in the context you are describing.
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I didn't buy a food scale until I was already in a healthy weight range. Now I use it every day, and I'm able to maintain my weight in a five pound range. Is it necessary? Not for everyone, so I hear. For me - yeah. I have to keep the reins tightly held or ...I don't know. I start not caring.5
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1200 Cal is too little even for smaller people. I don't know how people keep up their energy daily on 1200.. couldn't and won't do it!
Not necessarily true, for shorter slimmer people that may not be too far from their daily burn. For example a sedentary 55 year old woman who is 5'0" and 140lb is overweight would be burning under 1400 calories.13 -
I feel lucky tbh... It's going well and relatively easy I don't weigh my food... I'm proud of that lol
For now.........
Of course you can lose weight without weighing portions. But, as you get closer to goal weight loss slows. This is when being REALLY accurate with calorie counts is going to matter even more. Measuring cups suck for may foods. I once sat at a 6 week plateau.....a digital scale would have helped me figure out where I was going wrong.
OP - also some people think that they should see weight loss each and every week.
Fair point and I do have a scale I'm 6lbs off my goal weight so maybe it'll bite me in the *kitten*! 1 -
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/health/biggest-loser-weight-loss.html
This New York Times article on the Biggest Loser Show gives you a good perspective on how severely limiting your calories does not work.12 -
1200 Cal is too little even for smaller people. I don't know how people keep up their energy daily on 1200.. couldn't and won't do it!
Everyone's needs are different, comparing is a waste of time unless you've got exactly the same stats. 1200 calories is more than enough to keep my energy levels up! I'm 5 foot nothing, have an active job, and workout 6 days a week. Sometimes I eat back an extra hundred exercise calories or so, but most days I'm right around 1200-1300. 6 -
I think there's at least one other factor, sometimes, besides eating more than they think: I think some report that they are "eating 1200" because they truly think of themselves as doing so (and maybe even are weighing/tracking carefully).
But some of those, when asked to open their food log, turn out to have a fair number of blank or partial days.
I think some of those have their goal set so low that they fall into over-eating, followed by extreme guilt and denial (because they know they're good people, and they're trying so hard to "be good", giving up all foods they enjoy, cooking separate meals for the family, doing exercise they find unpleasant, etc. ) The guilt-laden overeating episodes are wiping out their deficits. But they're trying so hard . . . they feel like that pain & stress should be achieving something.
Compassion, folks . . . I've seen it work.
I've seen MFP old hands kindly, empathetically talk people off that low-cal ledge, convince them that reality-TV fueled loss-rate expectations are dangerous, get them to increase calories eaten to a sensible deficit level, start eating in a way that actually works in their lives, and learn to be active in more fun and practical ways.
Sometimes, because I've been here a while, I've seen those "failed" people come back in a few weeks/months & report back that the new routine is a great success, or I spot them in other threads reporting success, and helping other new peoole along. So touching!
I just love the kind, patient MFP old hands.39 -
A. Serious miscalculations
B. They aren't being honest with themselves
C. They aren't giving it TIME to work. (They want the loss to happen yesterday and well.... it doesn't work like that)6 -
Also:
- Don't forget the influence of age. Calculators, including MFP's, say my sedentary maintenance, at age 61, is in the 1500s-ish for even some weights well into the overweight BMI zone. A 300-ish daily deficit will show up on the scale very slowly - much more slowly than folks expect given reality TV's massive loss examples - especially in a context where newly added exercise (or TOM) add some water weight. At a tiny deficit, it could take over a month to see clear results in that case.
- Years of yo-yo dieting, for some, have consequences: Reduced TDEE. "Starvation mode" is bunk. "Adaptive Thermogenesis" is real.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/heybales/view/reduced-metabolism-tdee-beyond-expected-from-weight-loss-616251 (bonus in that blog: hints about how to avoid it). - The NEAT/TDEE calculators just provide estimates based on statistical averages from large-group studies. Most people are close to those averages (i.e., there's a fairly small standard deviation, in statistical terms). But a very small percentage - about 5% - of people can be up to several hundred calories different from those estimates, in either direction. The ones who must eat less are much more likely to post here looking for help. Around here, we tend to cheer the people who can eat more than expected, and disbelieve/disparage those who must eat less.
https://examine.com/nutrition/does-metabolism-vary-between-two-people/
11 - Don't forget the influence of age. Calculators, including MFP's, say my sedentary maintenance, at age 61, is in the 1500s-ish for even some weights well into the overweight BMI zone. A 300-ish daily deficit will show up on the scale very slowly - much more slowly than folks expect given reality TV's massive loss examples - especially in a context where newly added exercise (or TOM) add some water weight. At a tiny deficit, it could take over a month to see clear results in that case.
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When I lost 50 pounds I thing I was eating about 2300 a day but I was running a lot. 1200 a day would mean death for me in a week. I too think that people go low on calorie estimates for difficult foods like prepared foods or salads and probably mis counting the candy bowl they hit at the office etc.3
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Why are there always people in the forum that make comments like ;
I'm eating 1200 Cals and working out for an hour and not losing weight.
I'm 300 lbs and can only lose at 1100 Cals.
How is this even feasible or possible. Last year I lost 35 lbs at 3 lbs a week eating 1800 calories a day. With two weekly walks. Starting weight 252. And 5ft 6 in. I don't even feel like a majorly active person. Are people really just that much in denial about how much they eat or am I just that much more active than I realize?
It isn't feasible or possible, but in many cases a necessary step in the psychological process of dealing with stress - denial.
Many people realize full well what the underlying issue is and this comes across in these posts by what facts are omitted. Statements tend to be vague and dramatic - e.g. "I eat under 1200 cals/day and work out 3 hours at the gym", but diary is closed, no mention of any of the points that matter - starting weight, goal weight, caloric intake, caloric output, etc. It's a focus on all the points that hold little to no relevance.
It takes a multitude of responses and there is no one "correct" response. Each person is going to react differently - some will prefer directness, others indirect, some logical, others empathetic.
When I see posts like this I think "you're focusing on the wrong issues", but years of programming from the diet industry is difficult to take on and they do a damn good job of convincing people that weight management is harder than it is. If the poster becomes defensive there's not much you can do. They simply aren't ready to move on. Some will and it's those posts I love to see - the "wake-up" posts where you really see people on the path to success.6 -
There is a large body of research looking at accuracy of self-reported intakes. They consistently find there is a large amount of under reporting.
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/y90-143#.WTB36k2GPIU
From the abstract: Obese populations demonstrated the largest mean differences (−35 and −50%).
http://www.nature.com/ijo/journal/v22/n4/pdf/0800584a.pdf?origin=publication_detail
From the abstract: Reported total daily energy intake was signitcantly lower than measured intake.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19094249
From the abstract: Women are more likely to under-report than men, and under-reporting is more common among overweight and obese individuals.
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199212313272701#t=article
From the article: The energy intake reported by the subjects in group 1 during the 14-day study period was 1028±148 kcal per day, whereas their actual energy intake was 2081±522 kcal per day. Thus, these subjects significantly (P<0.05) underreported their energy intake by a group mean of 1053 kcal per day, or a mean for individual subjects of 47±16 percent.
Or just watch an episode of Secret Eaters.3 -
1200 Cal is too little even for smaller people. I don't know how people keep up their energy daily on 1200.. couldn't and won't do it!
Good for you. You don't have to do it.
For me, 5'1 100-105lbs 63yo, 1200 is MFP maintenance when sedentary, not even to lose.
That isn't what I eat but the number was quite accurate when I started maintenance 7 years ago.
1200 is headlined so much in mags etc that a lot of women come here and override the MFP recommendations and do 1200 to lose fast. All those lose 10 lbs and lose 5in off your waist in a week headlines are selling a myth too many women buy into.
Cheers, h.
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