It baffles me how...
SomewhatCool
Posts: 78
some people work so hard to lose the weight. They might exercise 6-7 days a week and be doing everything right and STILL not losing.
Then, there are people like me, who don't exercise at all, eyeball all their portions, go over calories nearly every day... And lose like it's nothing.
What's the deal there?
Then, there are people like me, who don't exercise at all, eyeball all their portions, go over calories nearly every day... And lose like it's nothing.
What's the deal there?
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Replies
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I think those people who are not losing just *think* they are "doing everything right." Either that or they have some medical condition that is altering their perceived calorie burns.0
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I'm not baffled.
Obviously those that aren't losing aren't working out as much as they think or are not watching calories as close as they assume.0 -
Everybody can lose that way initially... but trust me... it slows down and you have to start putting a little more effort in it.0
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Idk, it's just weird.
Back when I tried to lose weight the first time, I exercised for a tad every day. At the same amount of calories, didn't eat my exercise calories back because they were so low.
I lost at about half the rate I am now.0 -
The less weight I had to lose the harder it became. I had to watch my calories a lot more closely and eat less to still lose.0
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Age makes a big difference, so does being M or F.0
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I lose weight while eating ice cream and pizza. Horray for good genetics!! :drinker:0
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Most people who say they're doing everything right and not losing are in fact not doing everything right. Others have destroyed their metabolisms with repeated crash dieting and severe under-eating...others have nutrient deficiencies because they don't understand what their body needs nutritionally to function properly...this stresses the body out, hormones get all whacked and nothing works right. Others have vitamin deficiencies that hinder weight loss...others have medical conditions or sensitivities to contend with.0
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I'm not baffled.
Obviously those that aren't losing aren't working out as much as they think or are not watching calories as close as they assume.
^This.
I have a friend who made a resolution with me last December to start working out and eating healthy. He enthusiastically signed up for a gym membership with me and we started going early in the mornings most days of the week. He did work out pretty vigorously when he went to the gym, but he continued to eat poorly and would not count his calories with MFP. He kept eating out with another friend and eating huge meals, would not track calories, and thought exercise alone would work.
No amount of exercise will fix a bad diet. It is impossible to burn off excess calories if you are eating crap all day. If you want to exercise for health benefits, you need to pair it with a healthy diet. There is no substitute for good nutrition.0 -
Actually if we're speaking from a calorie standpoint, you could eat crap all day and lose weight if output exceeds intake. I wouldn't recommend it because it's usually going to mean inadequate amounts of nutrition though.No amount of exercise will fix a bad diet. It is impossible to burn off excess calories if you are eating crap all day. If you want to exercise for health benefits, you need to pair it with a healthy diet. There is no substitute for good nutrition.
A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition0 -
Can't really say because your diary isn't open... but I'd guess your "goal" is low enough that even when you go over, you are still at a moderate deficit.
Others are probably either eating more than they think, or burning less than they think, and are going over their not-so-moderate deficit.0 -
some people work so hard to lose the weight. They might exercise 6-7 days a week and be doing everything right and STILL not losing.
Then, there are people like me, who don't exercise at all, eyeball all their portions, go over calories nearly every day... And lose like it's nothing.
What's the deal there?
Out to make yourself popular?0 -
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Actually if we're speaking from a calorie standpoint, you could eat crap all day and lose weight if output exceeds intake. I wouldn't recommend it because it's usually going to mean inadequate amounts of nutrition though.No amount of exercise will fix a bad diet. It is impossible to burn off excess calories if you are eating crap all day. If you want to exercise for health benefits, you need to pair it with a healthy diet. There is no substitute for good nutrition.
A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
But if you eat crap all day (Little debbies, refined sugar sweets, etc), you will not possibly achieve satiety for long and will constantly go back for more food quickly because your blood sugars are all over the map. People who eat junk food all day will end up overweight.
It is not possible to eat 1,000 calories of chocolate for lunch and then eat 600 calories of ice cream in the evening and be satisfied all day. That does not happen.
What you are talking about are technically possible situations, they are not realistic expectations. Anyone that eats junk food and refined sugars all day is going to end up overweight in time. Young people who do so will end up overweight as their metabolism slows and muscle mass goes down with age. It is the endpoint for such a diet.
And, no, only serious athletes get to eat 3,000+ calories a day and still maintain health. They usually are sure to eat healthy when they do this, but they are essentially doing their workouts as if it is a fulltime job, because that's actually what their job is. For the rest of us, it is not possible to workout for 2 hours and burn off the amount of excess calories we would consume if we finished off every huge meal with a huge bowl of ice cream with melted hot chocolate etc. More and more research is showing all the time that moderate exercise cannot balance out for sustained poor food choices throughout the day.
You may be a physical trainer, so its essentially your job to stay in shape. But the rest of us have responsibilities like 8 hour shifts at a desk or kids and relationships. So treating workouts like a fulltime job is not an option for most people, and thus they must make healthier food choices.0 -
It's a lot easier to lose weight when you are young and when you have more to lose. When you're not overweight and just want to be a lower healthy weight, it requires much more discipline. It's also tends to be harder for women, and of course, genetics plays a big factor. Some people have higher BMRs and more active jobs/lifestyles.0
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-OP's 3rd or 4th time on MFP trying to lose weight.
-Makes post about easy it is to lose weight and wonders why everyone else is having problems with it.
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Difference in metabolism and genetics, maybe?0
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It's a lot easier to lose weight when you are young and when you have more to lose. When you're not overweight and just want to be a lower healthy weight, it requires much more discipline. It's also tends to be harder for women, and of course, genetics plays a big factor. Some people have higher BMRs and more active jobs/lifestyles.
^This. When you are severely overweight, sustained healthy habits can lead to huge weekly losses. Once your body weight gets beyond 300 pounds, it's quite possible to lose 10+ pounds a week if you all of a sudden reduced your calorie intake to 1,500 per day. This has something to do with basal metabolic rate. It takes a lot of calories to sustain 300 pounds of mass. Eat calories that would sustain a 150 pound person of your height and the pounds will melt off.
When I started WW in 2006, I probably lost 40 pounds in the first couple months before I even had a single weightgain. . .0 -
Actually if we're speaking from a calorie standpoint, you could eat crap all day and lose weight if output exceeds intake. I wouldn't recommend it because it's usually going to mean inadequate amounts of nutrition though.No amount of exercise will fix a bad diet. It is impossible to burn off excess calories if you are eating crap all day. If you want to exercise for health benefits, you need to pair it with a healthy diet. There is no substitute for good nutrition.
A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
But if you eat crap all day (Little debbies, refined sugar sweets, etc), you will not possibly achieve satiety for long and will constantly go back for more food quickly because your blood sugars are all over the map. People who eat junk food all day will end up overweight.
It is not possible to eat 1,000 calories of chocolate for lunch and then eat 600 calories of ice cream in the evening and be satisfied all day. That does not happen.
What you are talking about are technically possible situations, they are not realistic expectations. Anyone that eats junk food and refined sugars all day is going to end up overweight in time. Young people who do so will end up overweight as their metabolism slows and muscle mass goes down with age. It is the endpoint for such a diet.
And, no, only serious athletes get to eat 3,000+ calories a day and still maintain health. They usually are sure to eat healthy when they do this, but they are essentially doing their workouts as if it is a fulltime job, because that's actually what their job is. For the rest of us, it is not possible to workout for 2 hours and burn off the amount of excess calories we would consume if we finished off every huge meal with a huge bowl of ice cream with melted hot chocolate etc. More and more research is showing all the time that moderate exercise cannot balance out for sustained poor food choices throughout the day.
You may be a physical trainer, so its essentially your job to stay in shape. But the rest of us have responsibilities like 8 hour shifts at a desk or kids and relationships. So treating workouts like a fulltime job is not an option for most people, and thus they must make healthier food choices.
It must be nice to be able to post a wall of text without any actual fact and base everything merely on your own personal speculation.0 -
Watch "Secret Eaters" out of Britain and it will explain it all.
You can watch the episodes on youtube.
Someone on MFP mentioned it last month and I have seen all 15 episodes.0 -
I'm not baffled.
Obviously those that aren't losing aren't working out as much as they think or are not watching calories as close as they assume.
I am one of those people. My diary is typically fairly good, and I exercise 5-6 days a day, and I still have a VERY hard time losing weight. I still weigh quite a bit too, so it should come off quicker than it does. I've been at this for over a year, I've lost 60 lbs, and now I'm lucky if I lose 2-3 lbs every month or 2. I stick with it, though, as it's now a lifestyle change. It IS possible to have trouble losing weight and still be counting calories and exercising (accurately, at that). Don't discredit their efforts just because the weight isn't falling off. Everyone's bodies are different and function differently.0 -
I'm not baffled.
Obviously those that aren't losing aren't working out as much as they think or are not watching calories as close as they assume.
I am one of those people. My diary is typically fairly good, and I exercise 5-6 days a day, and I still have a VERY hard time losing weight. I still weigh quite a bit too, so it should come off quicker than it does. I've been at this for over a year, I've lost 60 lbs, and now I'm lucky if I lose 2-3 lbs every month or 2. I stick with it, though, as it's now a lifestyle change. It IS possible to have trouble losing weight and still be counting calories and exercising (accurately, at that). Don't discredit their efforts just because the weight isn't falling off. Everyone's bodies are different and function differently.
QFT!!! This is me too, Amy!0 -
Your profile says you're 18 and it's your 4th time on MFP.
Nothing inherently wrong with that but.... perhaps it might be an idea to be a little less smug, as judging by your history you haven't got all the answers either.0 -
No amount of exercise will fix a bad diet. It is impossible to burn off excess calories if you are eating crap all day.
that's garbage.
it's all about calories in and calories out.
i can lose weight eating pop tarts and ice cream if i so choose.
only a poor craftsman blames his tools and only a fool blames his food choices.0 -
Well - some of us aren't 18 year old pre-menopausal females who haven't yet messed their metabolism by 20 years of "dieting".
And yes - some do not measure or track correctly.
But some do, and still struggle or lose slowly.0 -
Secret Eaters is what made me realise where I was going wrong!
Everyone is different. I think some people maybe log things incorrectly. For example in my first week I logged a roll and turkey the way MFP suggested it. So I was getting about 200 calories from 1 roll with turkey.
However as the month went on I delved deeper into each log and realised the particular roll I choose ( a scotch batch ) is almost 200 calories on its OWN! Then I was adding tonnes of butter and full fat mayonnaise! Also not remembering that I chose a butter basted turkey, over normal turkey. So each roll was coming to more like 400 than 200 calories.
Things like this are the problem for many. And over estimating workouts.0 -
Then that person is either eating more than he/she thinks or has his/her goal set too high. This isn't magic.
Edit: typo0 -
and to add to this... my sister was a dancer for 20 years, and she was always involved in school sports growing up. She's always been extremely active, and she's always watched her diet. She has NEVER been thin. No one in our family is thin. Genetics have a lot to do with it, too. While I DO agree that anyone can take off weight no matter their genetics, I also believe the time frame/effort for it to happen is going to be different. For some people, they can drop 120 lbs in less than a year. That's great! For others, it takes 3 years, and they did the same damn thing as each other.0
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It's not always calories in, calories out. Sometimes, if your hormones are out of balance, your body can hold onto extra weight. If a woman is stressed out and using up all of her stress hormones, it affects the adrenals and the body metabolism overall. I've been reading this book and learning SO MUCH: http://www.amazon.com/Balance-Your-Hormones-Life-Achieving/dp/0738214825. All women should read this.
We need to pay attention to our inner self through yoga, meditation, breathing, being in nature, spending time with friends, being creative just as much, if not more than working on our outer self (image) through diet and exercise. Eventually it will all balance out.0 -
Oh gosh.
I didn't mean to start something like this.
Sorry guys, I wasn't trying to be smug--it was an innocent question, but I could see how it could have come across as arrogant. I'm really sorry.
Won't do it again. : /0
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