Eat more, lose more - I know it's not true but why does it feel like that sometimes?

abbynormalartist

I competently understand that eating more does not mean I will lose more weight BUT, why does it sometimes feel like that? What's the physiology or psychology behind it?

This weekend I went on a camping trip and I tried to track at least most of what I ate. I was planning to be lax this weekend so I didn't log that handful(s) of potato chips I grabbed while making a plate for my daughter, or the slice of cheese I picked off my son's burger... it goes on and on. Still, for what I did log, I was nearly 800 calories over my limit for the day.

When I weighed myself this morning I was down a couple of pounds and my belly was looking less pouchy than ever before. I know the key for long term success is not to continue to consume 6 smores a night but I'm just curious why I feel like this after an over-indulgent couple of days.

VintageFeline

I'd hazard a guess that having a relaxing break reduced cortisol levels thus caused you to whoosh some water weight off. You may have been waiting for that whoosh anyway and again that worry can cause some increases in cortisol.

WinoGelato

While I'm a huge proponent of "eat more to weigh less" or "the winner is the one who eats the most and still loses the weight"... it's unlikely that the food choices you made this weekend are showing direct impact on the scale this rapidly. Weight fluctuates all the time due to a variety of reasons and while often the opposite is true, a weekend indulgence results in temporary water weight gain, sometimes it goes the other way. I've always found that the impact of my choices (like a full week of indulgence on vacation) doesn't show up for a couple of weeks, similarly when I've been really careful and ended below goal when I was losing, it was usually more than a week before I would see the "woosh". My guess is that you are seeing the product of recent efforts to stay in deficit, and not the camping food choices.

That said, back to your original question. The reason I am an advocate of eating as much as possible while staying in a deficit, rather than aggressively cutting calories... cals provide energy for daily activities, for exercise, etc. cutting too low can result in fatigue and burnout while eating at a modest deficit to fuel workouts can have a self sustaining positive effect. Additionally eating more cals provides more room for basic nutrition AND treats, both of which I feel are an important part of a healthy, balanced, sustainable lifestyle. Lastly, eating at a modest deficit can help mitigate adaptive thermogenesis and the impact of cortisol on the body and metabolism. It's why a lot of folks advocate for periodic diet breaks to allow your body (and mind) to reset.

Anyway, enjoy the loss and glad you had a great camping adventure - next time, try making the s'mores with roasted marshmallow Peeps.. you will thank me later!

notreallychris

How are you logging foods when you do log? Are you weighing everything? You could actually be in a deficit and not know it if you are estimating.

jjpptt2

Could also be simple fluctuations in water weight. Did you stop working out? Did you take in less sodium? Fewer carbs?

Damien_Damien

Did you account for walking/lugging around a ton of camping equipment in your calorie counts for the weekend? Camping can be a pretty physical activity, without being that noticeable.

abbynormalartist

notreallychris wrote: »

How are you logging foods when you do log? Are you weighing everything? You could actually be in a deficit and not know it if you are estimating.

I didn't weigh my food this weekend but a lot of items were easy to calculate because they were packaged and not homemade- like pre-made burgers/sausages, individual marshmallows, graham cracks, Hershey bars, cups of yogurt, etc. Knowing what I ate this weekend compared to what I usually eat... there is no possible way I was in a deficit. Not even close! We mostly sat around the camp fire all weekend and ate. Lot of fun with family and friends but not great for the diet.

abbynormalartist

jjpptt2 wrote: »

Could also be simple fluctuations in water weight. Did you stop working out? Did you take in less sodium? Fewer carbs?

I did a short work out Saturday morning but without weights (had to supplement with a case of bottled water) and juggling 2 small kids, it wasn't the same as usual. I may have taken in less sodium because I mostly ate sugar and refined carbs for two days straight.

abbynormalartist

Damien_Damien wrote: »

Did you account for walking/lugging around a ton of camping equipment in your calorie counts for the weekend? Camping can be a pretty physical activity, without being that noticeable.

Unfortunately our version of camping was pretty tame. We were at a camp ground, in a cabin, and since some of the family (us too) had young kids, we mostly sat around eating food and yacking while the kiddos ran around entertaining us.

jelleigh

This doesn't directly apply to your question, but in general, I notice that on days I eat more I'm also more inclined to move more. I wonder if sometimes eating at a higher calorie level fuels us better and we then in turn do things that burn more calories .

WinoGelato

The other thing I forgot to mention above, is that often when people are too restrictive in their food choices and/or their total calorie level while losing - they end up having difficulty sticking with it and have a cheat day or even a binge (for those who are prone to binge restrict cycles) which can totally offset their deficit and/or cause them to give up altogether, maybe even saying to hell with it, why bother logging I've already fallen off the wagon. Eating at the modest deficit and allowing for foods you love like pizza or chocolate or what ever you fancy, in moderation, helps keep someone motivated to stay on track, to continue logging, and to keep with the total deficit over time.

ninerbuff

It's sometimes a couple of things:

No working out "reduces" the amount of glycogen storage and water in the cells.

Diet break sometimes RAISES metabolic rate temporarily because you're not in deficit.

If you're in a higher altitude, you expend an little more energy with respiration if you're not acclimated to it.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

jjpptt2

ninerbuff wrote: »

It's sometimes a couple of things:

No working out "reduces" the amount of glycogen storage and water in the cells.

Diet break sometimes RAISES metabolic rate temporarily because you're not in deficit.

If you're in a higher altitude, you expend an little more energy with respiration if you're not acclimated to it.

Do those last 2 points make enough of a difference to be meaningful... to be reflected in scale weight? Asking honestly... no snark.

ninerbuff

jjpptt2 wrote: »

ninerbuff wrote: »

It's sometimes a couple of things:

No working out "reduces" the amount of glycogen storage and water in the cells.

Diet break sometimes RAISES metabolic rate temporarily because you're not in deficit.

If you're in a higher altitude, you expend an little more energy with respiration if you're not acclimated to it.

Do those last 2 points make enough of a difference to be meaningful... to be reflected in scale weight? Asking honestly... no snark.

Yes, but it's more likely due to release of water in the cells rather than fat weight. Unfortunately many people look at weight loss on the scale as primarily losing fat, when most of the time the small fluctuations are just water.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition