counting cals doesnt work

IvoryParchment

Just for ___ and giggles, I calculated how much she needs to reduce her calorie intake to reduce her weight to 125 lbs, as she wanted.

The equation for calorie consumption in English measures is

655 + (4.35*W) + (4.7*H) - (4.7*A) = X

X= the calories you need to consume to stay at weight W if your height is H and your age is A and you are female (whole different equation for men). The asterisks mean multiplication, instead of using little x's.

So for her, her current consumption X calories that is keeping her stable at 144 lbs is defined as

655 + (4.35*144) + (4.7*H) - (4.7*A) = X

Now we don't know her height or age, just that she is female. And we don't know how many calories she's eating now.

But we don't need to . The equation for the calories she needs to consume to drift down to 125 lbs and stay there is

655 + (4.35*125) + (4.7*H) - (4.7*A) = Y

Where Y is the number of calories she needs a day to remain at 125 lbs.

You can subtract equations just like you subtract numbers. So you can set it up like this:

655 + (4.35*144) + (4.7*H) - (4.7*A) = X
655 + (4.35*125) + (4.7*H) - (4.7*A) = Y
_______________________________


We don't know what 4.7* H is, and we don't know what 4.7*A is, but we know that if we subtract two things that are the same, we always get zero.

655 + (4.35*144) + (4.7*H) - (4.7*A) = X
655 + (4.35*125) + (4.7*H) - (4.7*A) = Y
_______________________________
0+(4.35*144)-(4.35*125)+0-0 = X-Y


Get rid of the zeros to make it pretty

(4.35*144)-(4.35*125) = X-Y

4.35*144 is 626.4
4.35*125 is 543.75
(4.35*144)-(4.35*125) = 626.4 - 543.75 = 82.65, or about 83 calories.

So we don't know how many calories she's eating now, but we know that if she ate 83 less per day, she'd go down to 125 lbs.

But what if she's got a weird low metabolism and is already eating the amount the equation predicts she needs for 125 lbs?
That would mean that her weight would be multiplied by a lower number than 4.35. That means she can go down even less than 83 calories and lose the weight.

Obvioiusly, no one can reduce their intake by exactly 83 calories every day without measuring. That's why a diet scale is so useful. If you guestimate, you overshoot, you get hungry, and you gain all the weight back.

dlaplume2

How tall are you?

144-145 might be your ideal weight.

bogle34

I feel ya - frustrated here...!!

JeSuisPrest

If you truly want advice from people you need to open up your diary. What's the point of asking for help, complaining it doesn't work (when it clearly does, it's all what YOU put into to it), but not opening up your diary? Believe me, if I can do this, anyone can!

tammypatterson62

Counting calories works for me, BUT i agree with the other post concerning your thyroid. i had surgery in 2010 and my levels change from too low to too high. i would lose then gain lose gain and nothing worked. i joined weight loss for life and have lost 16 lbs since nov 1. another but my thyroid less had evened out. see your health care provider before giving up on calorie counting.