Calorie deficit not the answer?

ljk3

Although I don't count calories (I know many of you are going to say that I'm eating more than i think), i'm quite confident that I never exceed my daily maintenance number. I say this because I do not eat anything throughout the entire day and only drink diet coke. At dinner I eat varied meals with family from healthy to pizza and may have a beer or glass of wine. To the point, I believe my body has learned to compensate by slowing my metabolism, such that I don't gain or lose, despite being under calorie recommendations. I'm 6'1" and 230lbs and estimate eating 1500 calls per day... lifestyle is sitting behind a desk in home office.

Advice anyone? I would like to drop 30lbs before building muscle. Could it really be as simple as eating more often and cleaner calories in the 2500 per day range along with walking or jogging 3 days per week???

BigT555

some people dont need to count calories to lose weight, so if it works for you then thats cool, but you still need to eat less calories than you are expending.

meal frequency has no impact on weight loss, some people just find it easier to eat smaller meals throughout the day, and some find it easy to just go with one big one.

"clean" calories make no difference either. take a fast food burger thats 500 cals and a plate of broccoli thats 500 cals, each one would make you gain the same amount of weight. that being said, the broccoli is going to fill you up quite a bit more

your range of calories should be 500 minus whatever your TDEE is

exercise isnt necessary for weight loss, i hardly do cardio at all and have lost just under 70 lbs. i would advise lifting since your eventual goal is building muscle, you wont build muscle if your trying to lose weight but you'll help prevent muscle loss during the weight loss process.

and for the record, youre probably eating more than you think count calories, it really makes weight loss easy because it takes all the guesswork out of it

jenmom2myboys

If you dont count you have no clue how many calories you re getting. And pizza and alcohol can have a lot of calories.

ninerbuff

So let's understand this. You don't count calories and you know you don't overeat, yet somehow you have 30lbs to lose? It has nothing to do with clean food or meal timing, although you MAY be lacking some micronutrients. Not sure since I really have no idea what you eat.
So why are you overweight again?

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

DanaDark

janeytom

^^^^THIS^^^
You know, when I first started here, I was horrified at the replies given to some seemingly innocent questions. Now, not so much....same old, same old, OMG how many times have I heard this!!!!

If you're not counting calories and WEIGHING your food then why are you here?

BigGuy47

Although I don't count calories ... i'm quite confident that I never exceed my daily maintenance number.

How did you gain this confidence?

whitebalance

What do you eat on Mondays?
... for science.

redversustheblue

What do you eat on Mondays?
... for science.

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

LoupGarouTFTs

". . . from healthy to pizza . . ."

How do you define "healthy?"

lemurcat12

If you aren't currently gaining or losing (how long have you been 230?), you ARE eating at maintenance. What you don't know is what maintenance is for you and whether it's truly at some absurdly low number due to a damaged metabolism or if you are eating more than you think (which, yes, seems more likely, although obviously I don't know what your dinners consist of). So what makes sense to me is to figure that out by logging for a while to see the calories you are eating. If you want to get started trying to lose, aim for a number that creates a deficit according to one of the TDEE calculators and log that and see what happens. Then you can adjust or if your metabolism is damaged, work on that.

I don't think metabolism damage happens that easily, though.

muppet1501

Log everything that passes your lips from drinks, snacks to evening meals. It shows you exactly what your consuming and believe me when I first did it I was gobsmacked. Definitely the best thing to log everything then you know exactly what your eating and also keep under your calorie limit to help with the weight loss you want to achieve. You say you sit at a desk but could you walk around the office? do exercise when you get home or just up and down some stairs?

GiveMeCoffee

Ayh5xd

Dump the diet soda. Just dump it.

GiveMeCoffee

Dump the diet soda. Just dump it.

Why? I'm having a diet soda now am I going to gain back all 111 lbs?

Lleldiranne

It's going to take a calorie deficit to lose weight. You're maintaining right now because you're eating right around your daily usage (some days a bit over, some under, but it works out in the long run to average out ... that's what maintaining is).

So my advice, if you want to lose 30 pounds, is to start with tracking everything you currently are eating. Do this for a good 2 weeks, so you get a decent idea. (You may find that you lose a few pounds doing this, because the very activity of tracking can cause some people to eat less as they become more aware). Take an average (add it all up and divide by the number of days) then focus on dropping 300-500 calories a day off that number. That should help you lose around 1 pound a week, give or take. As you get closer to your goal, drop it to 250-300; the closer you are to ideal weight, the slower you should be losing.

Yes, I'm talking about calorie counting and achieving a calorie deficit. Because, really, that's what it comes down to. Calorie deficit IS the answer ... a consistent, over time calorie deficit is how you lose weight. Meal timing is irrelevant (what you're doing is generally referred to as IF, there are many people who chose this lifestyle and use it to lose, maintain, gain, etc). The type of foods you eat don't matter, for loss - although you want to focus mostly on nutrient-dense foods for overall health. Exercise is good for your health, and can increase your daily deficit, but is not necessary simply for weight loss. It's just the deficit. But it's not that hard to do.


EDIT: I just re-read OP, and realized that he wants to gain muscle after losing 30 pounds. I would suggest, in that case, to not delay in adding in the exercise. Really, start lifting NOW. Look up Starting Strength or Strong Lifts 5x5. Do a bit of research on proper form, or get a few sessions with a trainer, if you haven't lifted before. Because it's actually going to far easier to maintain the muscle you have now (while eating at a 250-500 calorie deficit) and then build from there when you decide to bulk, than to lose more of the muscle as you lose the weight by what I suggested above and then try to rebuild it. Other than that, I stick with EVERYTHING else I said.

SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish

You want no counting advice that kind of works (as long as you don't have a calorie surplus), try cutting out as much as possible breads/carbs/sodas/sweets/juices/cheeses, try to reduce portion sizes, exercise longer and more often than you think above and don't deprive yourself of anything on the "cut out as much as possible" list (meaning try to fit it in if you crave it). That does work slowly for me when I do it (as long as you don't have a calorie surplus).

Now maybe you are much much better than me, but I find when I track calories I am eating more than I think. Not only that, but days later I'll remember foods I forgot to log, EVEN WHILE STRICTLY counting calories. I have no reason to lie, nobody is looking over my shoulder, and I eat whatever I feel like, but it still happens to me. I bet it happens to you, because, it just does happen with easy readily available food.

Also, if you put yourself as lightly active, you may actually be the lowest level of activity with your job, sedentary, and this could have the same result: no loss even though you have truely counted all calories accurately, your activity level is set too high.

tracydr

Not sure if eating more frequently will help your weight loss but it is easier on your bodies insulin/glucagon and adrenal hormones. It's harder to regulate blood sugar when you fast and then eat a huge meal everyday. I think it also raised cortisol which is death to weight loss, not to mention very bad for everything.