WHY AM I NOT LOSING??? :(

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  • ArroganceInStep
    ArroganceInStep Posts: 6,239 Member
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    Do not eat all your exercise calories back! That's the biggest bunch of BS peddled around here. What's the point of exercising with the goal of losing weight if you're just going to eat it all back? It's just an excuse to eat more. There's anecdotal evidence and there's science. Don't over-complicate the issue. Your body can't just "hold on" to fat when faced with a consistent caloric deficit. Your brain and vital organs would shut down and you would eventually die if that were the case. There is energy in stored fat and your body will tap into those stores when it needs it. Stick with your program and the losses will come. Eat a balanced diet and take a multivitamin if you're worried about it. Work hard, stay focused and remain disciplined. Be patient and you will succeed.

    Do back up what your saying with some research please.
  • Dragn77
    Dragn77 Posts: 810 Member
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    I dont think its BS at all. If someone needs 2000 and using a deficient of 800 so eating 1200 cals to lose weight, and burning say 500 of that, then they are only giving their body 700 cals to function..thats a 1300 deficient.

    The more active a person is, the more calories they need to consume to keep up with the demand they are putting on their body, so the deficient is actually even more.

    And the more a person is working out, the higher rate their body burns calories, even after the workout is over.
  • devins13
    devins13 Posts: 15
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    Do not eat all your exercise calories back! That's the biggest bunch of BS peddled around here. What's the point of exercising with the goal of losing weight if you're just going to eat it all back? It's just an excuse to eat more. There's anecdotal evidence and there's science. Don't over-complicate the issue. Your body can't just "hold on" to fat when faced with a consistent caloric deficit. Your brain and vital organs would shut down and you would eventually die if that were the case. There is energy in stored fat and your body will tap into those stores when it needs it. Stick with your program and the losses will come. Eat a balanced diet and take a multivitamin if you're worried about it. Work hard, stay focused and remain disciplined. Be patient and you will succeed.

    Do back up what your saying with some research please.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laws_of_thermodynamics
  • SergeantSunshine_reused
    SergeantSunshine_reused Posts: 5,382 Member
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    Do not eat all your exercise calories back! That's the biggest bunch of BS peddled around here. What's the point of exercising with the goal of losing weight if you're just going to eat it all back? It's just an excuse to eat more. There's anecdotal evidence and there's science. Don't over-complicate the issue. Your body can't just "hold on" to fat when faced with a consistent caloric deficit. Your brain and vital organs would shut down and you would eventually die if that were the case. There is energy in stored fat and your body will tap into those stores when it needs it. Stick with your program and the losses will come. Eat a balanced diet and take a multivitamin if you're worried about it. Work hard, stay focused and remain disciplined. Be patient and you will succeed.

    Have fun being skinny fat then -.-
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    Do not eat all your exercise calories back! That's the biggest bunch of BS peddled around here. What's the point of exercising with the goal of losing weight if you're just going to eat it all back? It's just an excuse to eat more. There's anecdotal evidence and there's science. Don't over-complicate the issue. Your body can't just "hold on" to fat when faced with a consistent caloric deficit. Your brain and vital organs would shut down and you would eventually die if that were the case. There is energy in stored fat and your body will tap into those stores when it needs it. Stick with your program and the losses will come. Eat a balanced diet and take a multivitamin if you're worried about it. Work hard, stay focused and remain disciplined. Be patient and you will succeed.

    Your are completely right, but only in a very specific scenario, and that scenario is NOT true for the VAST MAJORITY of people on this site. So by giving your advice with no context, you are actually misleading more than you are informing.

    So in some regards, you're pedaling some BS yourself.
  • Jorra
    Jorra Posts: 3,338 Member
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    Do not eat all your exercise calories back! That's the biggest bunch of BS peddled around here. What's the point of exercising with the goal of losing weight if you're just going to eat it all back? It's just an excuse to eat more. There's anecdotal evidence and there's science. Don't over-complicate the issue. Your body can't just "hold on" to fat when faced with a consistent caloric deficit. Your brain and vital organs would shut down and you would eventually die if that were the case. There is energy in stored fat and your body will tap into those stores when it needs it. Stick with your program and the losses will come. Eat a balanced diet and take a multivitamin if you're worried about it. Work hard, stay focused and remain disciplined. Be patient and you will succeed.

    Your statement shows a general ignorance of the MFP program. MFP has a built in healthy caloric deficit based on how many calories you burn on an average day. When you exercise you burn more, possibly creating an unhealthy deficit. MFP is set up to allow you to eat exercise calories and still lose.
  • SergeantSunshine_reused
    SergeantSunshine_reused Posts: 5,382 Member
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    Do not eat all your exercise calories back! That's the biggest bunch of BS peddled around here. What's the point of exercising with the goal of losing weight if you're just going to eat it all back? It's just an excuse to eat more. There's anecdotal evidence and there's science. Don't over-complicate the issue. Your body can't just "hold on" to fat when faced with a consistent caloric deficit. Your brain and vital organs would shut down and you would eventually die if that were the case. There is energy in stored fat and your body will tap into those stores when it needs it. Stick with your program and the losses will come. Eat a balanced diet and take a multivitamin if you're worried about it. Work hard, stay focused and remain disciplined. Be patient and you will succeed.

    Do back up what your saying with some research please.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laws_of_thermodynamics

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html
  • ArroganceInStep
    ArroganceInStep Posts: 6,239 Member
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    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laws_of_thermodynamics

    Lol, I guess I had that coming.

    I meant to provide reasearch to backup your claim that not eating back your exercise calories when already eating at a deficit is more likely to result in long term weight loss than a more gradual approach (that still upholds a deficit) and that in the extreme sense of massive caloric expenditures coupled with a low calorie intake there won't be physiological consequences.
  • ArroganceInStep
    ArroganceInStep Posts: 6,239 Member
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    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html

    Hey! I was saving that reference as my trump card! Way to ruin it for me =)
  • devins13
    devins13 Posts: 15
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    Do not eat all your exercise calories back! That's the biggest bunch of BS peddled around here. What's the point of exercising with the goal of losing weight if you're just going to eat it all back? It's just an excuse to eat more. There's anecdotal evidence and there's science. Don't over-complicate the issue. Your body can't just "hold on" to fat when faced with a consistent caloric deficit. Your brain and vital organs would shut down and you would eventually die if that were the case. There is energy in stored fat and your body will tap into those stores when it needs it. Stick with your program and the losses will come. Eat a balanced diet and take a multivitamin if you're worried about it. Work hard, stay focused and remain disciplined. Be patient and you will succeed.

    Your statement shows a general ignorance of the MFP program. MFP has a built in healthy caloric deficit based on how many calories you burn on an average day. When you exercise you burn more, possibly creating an unhealthy deficit. MFP is set up to allow you to eat exercise calories and still lose.

    Why exercise then? What is the net benefit?
  • em_ilyc
    em_ilyc Posts: 6
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    If you are losing inches, why does it matter what the scales say? If your aim of weight loss is lo look better, then the inches are what actually matters.
  • oaken
    oaken Posts: 35 Member
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    I disagree with the last 6 or 7 posts.

    I was really taken aback by some of the comments people posted to Devins. We are here to support, not bring people down.

    Losing weight is simple, no one said it was easy. It's simple math.
  • ArroganceInStep
    ArroganceInStep Posts: 6,239 Member
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    Why exercise then? What is the net benefit?

    Absolutely nothing...well beyond preservation of lean mass (which increases metabolism over time) and improved bodily function. Oh and so you actually look good following your weight loss.

    You don't need to exercise to lose weight. You need to exercise to improve overall health and look good (or at least better, some people just can't be helped) after losing that weight.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    If you are losing inches, why does it matter what the scales say? If your aim of weight loss is lo look better, then the inches are what actually matters.
    While that's true, that shouldn't be her goal (to look better). Hear goal should be to be healthier, which will generally include a loss of both weight and inches. But to lose weight blindly (with complete disregard to body composition) isn't a good idea, especially long term.
  • oaken
    oaken Posts: 35 Member
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    TO THE OP:

    If you're truly watching what you eat and maintaining your calorie deficit, then you might want to see an Endocrinologist and get tested for hormone issues.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    I disagree with the last 6 or 7 posts.

    I was really taken aback by some of the comments people posted to Devins. We are here to support, not bring people down.

    Losing weight is simple, no one said it was easy. It's simple math.

    Then why not just stop eating. If a calorie deficit is good, then a complete absence of calories must be better, right?

    We are here to support people in their efforts to be healthy, not to allow bad information/advice to perpetuate. If you can't take some debate/criticism, then MFP might not be the place for you.
  • oaken
    oaken Posts: 35 Member
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    You don't need to exercise to lose weight. You need to exercise to improve overall health and look good (or at least better, some people just can't be helped) after losing that weight.

    Diet & Exercise go hand-in-hand. Exercise fuels weight loss and diet helps the body to continue to lose. I can't believe there are people on this message board telling people that you don't need to exercise to lose weight.

    I don't come here for unhealthy thinking. Cocaine also helps you lose weight, should I start the cocaine diet? Starving yourself also helps you lose weight. Should I become anorexic? This is not healthy thinking.
  • SarabellPlus3
    SarabellPlus3 Posts: 496 Member
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    Stay focused and stay on track. You said you are noticing a difference in your waist right? Someone once told me not to pay attention to the scale but to the way you look because afterall that's the ultimate goal isn't it? If you look GREAT and your HAPPY about it, isn't that all that matters? Everyone's body chemistry is different too. I bet if you keep going that at some point soon your going to notice a good amount of weight loss in the scale.
    That's exactly it!
    Maybe because my formative years were spent too skinny, I never 'got' the obsession with the scale. If you're feeling & looking better, who cares? :) I record my weight, and I watch it, but what I WANT is to look and feel great. Id rather the scale was 20 lbs higher & I looked & felt better, than looking/feeling worse but having a real pretty number that no one but me sees on the scale, anyway.

    Well, that's my perspective. :) I think you're doing awesome, but my advice would be to eat back those calories more, and to focus on feel/look rather than the scale, especially in the short-term where it's going to be affected by water weight, TOM, etc, as other posters have said.

    Best of luck!
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    You don't need to exercise to lose weight. You need to exercise to improve overall health and look good (or at least better, some people just can't be helped) after losing that weight.

    Diet & Exercise go hand-in-hand. Exercise fuels weight loss and diet helps the body to continue to lose. I can't believe there are people on this message board telling people that you don't need to exercise to lose weight.

    I don't come here for unhealthy thinking. Cocaine also helps you lose weight, should I start the cocaine diet? Starving yourself also helps you lose weight. Should I become anorexic? This is not healthy thinking.

    Exercise is not a requirement to lose weight. Yes, they compliment each other, and the overall effects/results will be better if you are eating well and exercising appropriately, but people can be successful simply be eating correctly.
  • oaken
    oaken Posts: 35 Member
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    Then why not just stop eating. If a calorie deficit is good, then a complete absence of calories must be better, right?

    We are here to support people in their efforts to be healthy, not to allow bad information/advice to perpetuate. If you can't take some debate/criticism, then MFP might not be the place for you.

    He didn't say to stop eating. I'm pretty sure it's common knowledge that if you're on a calorie deficit of 1200 calorie limit, you're going to lose weight if your body was accustomed to 2000+ calories. However, it does not warrant eating back all the calories you just burned. How is your body supposed to tap into its own resources if you're putting back in what you just burned off?

    Again, it's simple math.
    While that's true, that shouldn't be her goal (to look better). Hear goal should be to be healthier, which will generally include a loss of both weight and inches. But to lose weight blindly (with complete disregard to body composition) isn't a good idea, especially long term.

    Who are we to tell her what her goal should and shouldn't be? Whatever gets her to be healthy, whatever gets her to lose unnecessary weight should be what she focuses on. If looking good is what her ultimate goal is, then so be it. More power to her!

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