Is it really about calories in vs calories out ?

adomingo426

I’ve signed up for so many programs and they have me eating 1200 calories a day with little carbs. I find I only lose weight when I eat about 900 calories a day but I can’t cut out carbs or else I just binge eat the next day. Can anyone provide some insight to how true the calories in vs calories out idea is true? Share some experiences/pictures? Ps I’m about 5 feet tall and I’m guessing I ruined my metabolism to only lose weight on 900 calories if anyone shares the same experiences or calorie intake please help share what you eat, what you do, exercises, or how you lost weight ! Thx you

WinoGelato

Start with reading the Most Helpful Forum Posts in the Getting Started Section as well as some of the Success Stories.

You should find all the examples of how CICO works, how people really can achieve their goals using MFP, and how you don't have to starve yourself or cut out any particular type of food in order to be successful.

For reference I'm 5'2, lost ~35 lbs eating b/w 1600-1900 calories and am currently maintaining at 118 lbs with a maintenance calorie burn of 2200. The reason I can eat that much and still lose is absolutely because of CICO.
I didn't restrict, or even look at carb levels, when I was losing or now that I'm maintaining. I ate things like pizza, ice cream, and doughnuts and drank wine. I also ate lean protein, whole grains, vegetables and fruit. I stared with a sedentary lifestyle and now I average 12-15k steps/day.

Good luck.

RelCanonical

You're probably eating more than 900 and just not weighing/tracking accurately. Don't worry, you can't ruin your metabolism. I'm 5'1'', when I was in a normal weight range I could lose 1/2lb. a week on 1,400 a day without exercise, which is enough for me with the food choices I make.

heybales

It's true regarding fat loss.

Sadly you make the difference too great for the amount needed to lose to healthy weight - you could lose muscle mass too.

Also, it's not true regarding water weight - which can go all over no matter what you are doing.
Differences in sodium levels between weigh-ins.
Differences in glucose storage with attached water, which your body wants or it wouldn't store it - starting a diet always drops some of that, coming back out gains some.
Difference in blood volume winter or summer and level of activity.
Being sore from a hard workout the body is recovering from and getting stronger (if diet allows).

As the others have shared their body stats - that is needed to provide any insight to appropriate goals.

jjpptt2

The concept is very true/accurate. It's no different than finances - If you save more than you spend, your account will grow. If you spend more than you save, it'll shrink.

Money is very easy to count, and it's very easy to see when you're spending more than you're saving.
Calories are harder to count/track/estimate, and that's where the difficulty comes in. But CI vs CO is still true.

cwolfman13

adomingo426 wrote: »

I’ve signed up for so many programs and they have me eating 1200 calories a day with little carbs. I find I only lose weight when I eat about 900 calories a day but I can’t cut out carbs or else I just binge eat the next day. Can anyone provide some insight to how true the calories in vs calories out idea is true? Share some experiences/pictures? Ps I’m about 5 feet tall and I’m guessing I ruined my metabolism to only lose weight on 900 calories if anyone shares the same experiences or calorie intake please help share what you eat, what you do, exercises, or how you lost weight ! Thx you

A calorie is a unit of measure...your body requires XXXX calories to maintain the status quo...keep you alive, go about your day to day, exercise, etc. When you consume a balance of energy (calories) you maintain weight. When you consume energy in excess of what you need, that energy is stored as body fat for later use...it's basically your backup generator. When you consume less energy than your body requires, that deficiency has to be reconciled...so your backup generator kicks on and you burn body fat.

kommodevaran

You could try a search, this subject is debated daily. Everything in the world works according to physical laws. Do you need pictures to prove gravity? (I fell off a horse once - I guess that's an experience.) So of course weightloss is about calories in/out, but it's about REAL calories in/out. You're eating more than you think/not able to be patient enough to keep eating in a calorie deficit because you try to eat too little/follow each and every fad and tip/not measuring your weight trend properly. Your metabolism is fine, and you'd hate what I eat and be bored to death by my "exercise".

Nova

Dear Posters,

I wanted to offer a brief explanation for closing this topic.

The forum guidelines include this item:

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Nova
MyFitnessPal Staff