Common questions and their answers
KateK8LoseW8
Posts: 824 Member
I've been seeing a LOT of the same topics coming up, and thought I would write a post answering them in one handy place.
1. "I've been eating _____ calories for a month and I'm not losing weight! Why?"
You're eating too many calories. New dieters do NOT experience adaptive thermogenesis ("starvation mode") right off the bat. This happens after a long period of time at a large calorie deficit. It is IMPOSSIBLE to eat at a deficit and not lose weight in the beginning unless you have an un-diagnosed medical condition. You either overestimated your target intake, you're using inaccurate volume measurements and/or "eyeballing" on your portions, or you're overestimating your calorie burn through exercise and are eating everything back.
2. "Is ________ good or bad for weight loss?"
Calorie deficits are good for weight loss. Eating at or above maintenance intake is bad for weight loss. If you want to eat all raw vegan whole foods, do it at a deficit and you will lose weight. If you want to eat ice cream and peanut butter and pop-tarts, do it at a calorie deficit and you will lose weight.
3. "What is TDEE?"
TDEE is total daily energy expenditure. It's an estimate of your daily caloric needs using a formula based on your sex, height, weight, and physical activity. Myfitnesspal is NOT a TDEE calculator, in that it does not include your exercise in the equation. You can use the MFP equation, log your exercise, and eat exercise calories back OR you can use the TDEE method and not eat your exercise calories back. You cannot look up your TDEE, see that you can eat 1800 calories to lose weight, and eat back exercise calories. Your exercise is already included in that 1800 calorie number.
4. "I've been eating _______ calories and I lost weight, but now I've been stalled for a month!"
Could be one of two things. One is that you never recalculated your caloric needs while you lose weight. A 250 lb body requires a lot more calories than a 175 pound body, and if you continue to eat at the deficit necessary to lose at 250, you will stall. Recalculate based on your new weight. Second thing - you started out eating bare minimum and are still eating bare minimum. Congratulations, you have unlocked adaptive thermogenesis! Your body is now efficient at eating at a very low calorie intake, and now you don't have the option to lower your intake due to weight loss. Find out your maintenance intake and eat that for a couple weeks. Now lower again SLOWLY (by 150 calories or so) each week until you start losing again. Do your best not to get all the way down to 1200 again. Most people can lose weight at higher intakes than 1200.
5. "How can I reduce my sugar intake? Every time I eat fruit I go over!"
Myfitnesspal's sugar recommendation is quite low. Unless you have a medical reason (like diabetes) to limit your sugar intake, don't worry too much about it. Unless you're eating nothing but candy bars and gummy worms, your sugar intake is probably fine. Don't cut out fruit because myfitnesspal is yelling at you about your sugar if you enjoy it, eat moderate portions, and it helps you stay in a deficit.
6. "Why should I eat my exercise calories back? Won't I lose faster if I don't?"
You should eat them back because your body needs calories to perform basic daily functions, like breathing. If you are depleting your calorie intake through exercise and not replenishing, you may experience symptoms of malnutrition. This happened to me. I ate 1400 calories, burned 800 through exercise, and I FELT FINE. Feeling fine is NOT a good enough reason why you should maintain this extreme of a deficit. But you know what happened? I stopped losing weight, my nails started breaking and chipping, and I had horrible circles under my eyes. Yes, you may lose faster, but that will stop. You can get really ill from not properly fueling your body. Eat them back. Or at least a good portion of them back. Some people only like to eat 2/3-3/4 of them back to leave room for overestimating burns and underestimating calories. That's okay. But please eat at least some of them back.
7. "What diet should I do? Keto, paleo, whole30? What works best?"
ALL diets work through calorie deficits. Do whatever diet you are most likely to stick to and stay under your calorie goal. If you find it easiest to stick to your calorie limit eating lots of meat and fat, by all means, go with keto. If you absolutely cannot live without your daily dose of ice cream, don't. Eat at a deficit, that's all there is to it.
8. "I heard about ________ supplement, does it work?"
Most weight loss supplements do not work. If they did, would so many people be overweight? Probably not. Do your research. The Internet can be a wealth of good information if you use it properly. Use google scholar to search for studies about the efficacy of whatever supplement you are interested in.
That's all, folks.
1. "I've been eating _____ calories for a month and I'm not losing weight! Why?"
You're eating too many calories. New dieters do NOT experience adaptive thermogenesis ("starvation mode") right off the bat. This happens after a long period of time at a large calorie deficit. It is IMPOSSIBLE to eat at a deficit and not lose weight in the beginning unless you have an un-diagnosed medical condition. You either overestimated your target intake, you're using inaccurate volume measurements and/or "eyeballing" on your portions, or you're overestimating your calorie burn through exercise and are eating everything back.
2. "Is ________ good or bad for weight loss?"
Calorie deficits are good for weight loss. Eating at or above maintenance intake is bad for weight loss. If you want to eat all raw vegan whole foods, do it at a deficit and you will lose weight. If you want to eat ice cream and peanut butter and pop-tarts, do it at a calorie deficit and you will lose weight.
3. "What is TDEE?"
TDEE is total daily energy expenditure. It's an estimate of your daily caloric needs using a formula based on your sex, height, weight, and physical activity. Myfitnesspal is NOT a TDEE calculator, in that it does not include your exercise in the equation. You can use the MFP equation, log your exercise, and eat exercise calories back OR you can use the TDEE method and not eat your exercise calories back. You cannot look up your TDEE, see that you can eat 1800 calories to lose weight, and eat back exercise calories. Your exercise is already included in that 1800 calorie number.
4. "I've been eating _______ calories and I lost weight, but now I've been stalled for a month!"
Could be one of two things. One is that you never recalculated your caloric needs while you lose weight. A 250 lb body requires a lot more calories than a 175 pound body, and if you continue to eat at the deficit necessary to lose at 250, you will stall. Recalculate based on your new weight. Second thing - you started out eating bare minimum and are still eating bare minimum. Congratulations, you have unlocked adaptive thermogenesis! Your body is now efficient at eating at a very low calorie intake, and now you don't have the option to lower your intake due to weight loss. Find out your maintenance intake and eat that for a couple weeks. Now lower again SLOWLY (by 150 calories or so) each week until you start losing again. Do your best not to get all the way down to 1200 again. Most people can lose weight at higher intakes than 1200.
5. "How can I reduce my sugar intake? Every time I eat fruit I go over!"
Myfitnesspal's sugar recommendation is quite low. Unless you have a medical reason (like diabetes) to limit your sugar intake, don't worry too much about it. Unless you're eating nothing but candy bars and gummy worms, your sugar intake is probably fine. Don't cut out fruit because myfitnesspal is yelling at you about your sugar if you enjoy it, eat moderate portions, and it helps you stay in a deficit.
6. "Why should I eat my exercise calories back? Won't I lose faster if I don't?"
You should eat them back because your body needs calories to perform basic daily functions, like breathing. If you are depleting your calorie intake through exercise and not replenishing, you may experience symptoms of malnutrition. This happened to me. I ate 1400 calories, burned 800 through exercise, and I FELT FINE. Feeling fine is NOT a good enough reason why you should maintain this extreme of a deficit. But you know what happened? I stopped losing weight, my nails started breaking and chipping, and I had horrible circles under my eyes. Yes, you may lose faster, but that will stop. You can get really ill from not properly fueling your body. Eat them back. Or at least a good portion of them back. Some people only like to eat 2/3-3/4 of them back to leave room for overestimating burns and underestimating calories. That's okay. But please eat at least some of them back.
7. "What diet should I do? Keto, paleo, whole30? What works best?"
ALL diets work through calorie deficits. Do whatever diet you are most likely to stick to and stay under your calorie goal. If you find it easiest to stick to your calorie limit eating lots of meat and fat, by all means, go with keto. If you absolutely cannot live without your daily dose of ice cream, don't. Eat at a deficit, that's all there is to it.
8. "I heard about ________ supplement, does it work?"
Most weight loss supplements do not work. If they did, would so many people be overweight? Probably not. Do your research. The Internet can be a wealth of good information if you use it properly. Use google scholar to search for studies about the efficacy of whatever supplement you are interested in.
That's all, folks.
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Replies
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I am a very active person and eat a reasonable diet. But I have not lost any weight for 3 months now. It is frustrating but I keep thinking I will kick in again. I only have 12 pounds to go out of 98 and I think my body wants to keep those 12 pounds. What can I add/subtract/change that will help me kick start again. I run, kickbox, lift weights and am on a 1200 calories through MFP. I usually eat approxamitely 1400 calories because of how much I work out. I also am active a work and on my feet all day.
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Is it that I'm 68 and my body is just in a holding pattern????? I know other folks out there close to my age are asking the same question.0 -
Either eat less calories or work out more. Create a bigger deficit0
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Great FAQ - it should be "stickied" to the top, or bumped up daily.0
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I am a very active person and eat a reasonable diet. But I have not lost any weight for 3 months now. It is frustrating but I keep thinking I will kick in again. I only have 12 pounds to go out of 98 and I think my body wants to keep those 12 pounds. What can I add/subtract/change that will help me kick start again. I run, kickbox, lift weights and am on a 1200 calories through MFP. I usually eat approxamitely 1400 calories because of how much I work out. I also am active a work and on my feet all day.
.
Is it that I'm 68 and my body is just in a holding pattern????? I know other folks out there close to my age are asking the same question.
Sounds like you need to change things up. Your body will burn fewer calories doing a physical activity the better you get at it, making your deficit smaller. So try picking up a new activity, like swimming. Also make sure you are measuring food accurately, logging every little bit of food, and being honest about cheat days. If all else fails, try a refeeding period and reducing calories again from there.0
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