Very interesting research on weight loss rate

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  • dalila747
    dalila747 Posts: 153 Member
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    Very interesting, indeed. It flies in the face of the standard MFP advice to eat your exercise calories back, which I've always been a bit leary of anyways. I haven't been losing as fast as I'd like, and my average calorie intake has been 100 calories over my goal. I'm gonna try not eating my exercise calories for a few weeks and see if that works out better.
  • leodru
    leodru Posts: 321 Member
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    Great tool but i hate how all of these tools assume that because I'm 185 pounds and that I'm 5'6" therefore I'm obese even though i know my body fat is 22.7%. You would think the scientific community would at least put some time and effort into being better predictors of this.
  • pittskaa
    pittskaa Posts: 319 Member
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    bump
  • jennadelane
    jennadelane Posts: 127 Member
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    I'm confused by the weight loss predictor. Where is it getting the current calorie intake from? It tells me my current intake is 2445 calories? My TDEE isn't even that high!
  • Klem4
    Klem4 Posts: 399 Member
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    Interesting!

    I was wondering what the current calorie intake was about too? I don't see any info explaining that.
  • Mrsbrandnewmeslimandtrim
    Mrsbrandnewmeslimandtrim Posts: 267 Member
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    bump
  • ahamm002
    ahamm002 Posts: 1,690 Member
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    The article's conclusion isn't even remotely supported by the data. The male tribesmen were much more active than a typical westerner, walking on average 7 miles per day. The reason their energy expenditure was simliar was simply because they aren't so overweight. It's an interesting finding but it doesn't prove anything whatsoever.
  • athensguy
    athensguy Posts: 550
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    Maintaining muscle mass with weight loss negates much of if not all of the decrease in metabolism that usually follows weight loss...

    You'd have to gain about a pound of muscle for every three pounds of fat lost to keep RMR the same. Even if you did that, your exercise calories would still go down because that is mostly affected by overall mass.
  • ahamm002
    ahamm002 Posts: 1,690 Member
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    Maintaining muscle mass with weight loss negates much of if not all of the decrease in metabolism that usually follows weight loss...

    You'd have to gain about a pound of muscle for every three pounds of fat lost to keep RMR the same. Even if you did that, your exercise calories would still go down because that is mostly affected by overall mass.

    That depends. If you lose weight while exercising, often you get into good shape and can burn far more calories by exercising longer and harder.
  • athensguy
    athensguy Posts: 550
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    Very interesting, indeed. It flies in the face of the standard MFP advice to eat your exercise calories back, which I've always been a bit leary of anyways. I haven't been losing as fast as I'd like, and my average calorie intake has been 100 calories over my goal. I'm gonna try not eating my exercise calories for a few weeks and see if that works out better.

    How does it fly in the face of the advice to eat your exercise calories?

    If your exercise calories are accurate and your net goal is accurate for the weight loss you are seeking, you should eat your exercise calories and you will lose weight at the rate predicted.

    If your net goal is higher than it should be (quite likely for someone who has lost a lot of weight since there appears to be additional metabolic slowdown for those with large losses) or your exercise calories are exaggerated, your weight loss will obviously be less than desired. That, however, is not a problem with eating exercise calories, but rather of inaccuracy.
  • athensguy
    athensguy Posts: 550
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    Maintaining muscle mass with weight loss negates much of if not all of the decrease in metabolism that usually follows weight loss...

    You'd have to gain about a pound of muscle for every three pounds of fat lost to keep RMR the same. Even if you did that, your exercise calories would still go down because that is mostly affected by overall mass.

    That depends. If you lose weight while exercising, often you get into good shape and can burn far more calories by exercising longer and harder.

    True, if you exercise more or with higher intensity, then you can keep up your earned calories. For example, since I've shaved a couple of minutes from my easy pace, I can burn more calories per hour running than I did 15 lbs ago. However, if I ran at the same pace as before, I'd burn less per hour. I'm always burning less per mile than I was at the beginning.
  • _Mimi_
    _Mimi_ Posts: 233
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    bumping so I can study when I have a little more time. Thanks!
  • nancycola
    nancycola Posts: 98 Member
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    Bump. Want to keep this fresh so I can report back with my Pennington results. Java is not working on my old Mac. Grrr...
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    Maintaining muscle mass with weight loss negates much of if not all of the decrease in metabolism that usually follows weight loss...

    That would depend on how much weight is lost, wouldn't it? I don't think muscle can counteract a huge weight loss when it comes to metabolism. I mean if you go from 300 lbs to 150 lbs your metabolism is going to be slower even if you have a lot of muscle.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    Here is a fascinating online calculator that illustrates the improved weight loss prediction models from this research.
    http://www.pbrc.edu/research-and-faculty/calculators/weight-loss-predictor/

    I'm not sure I understand where they are getting the "current intake" from, but I put the deficit so that it reflected what the number of calories I am currently averaging per day and it says I'll lose 21 lbs in the next year. I've been eating this amount for about a year and I'm maintaining. :huh:

    The "current intake" shown is more than 1000 calories over my BMR. If I ate that much I'd gain weight quickly.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    Great tool but i hate how all of these tools assume that because I'm 185 pounds and that I'm 5'6" therefore I'm obese even though i know my body fat is 22.7%. You would think the scientific community would at least put some time and effort into being better predictors of this.
    They have - http://bwsimulator.niddk.nih.gov/ you may have to set a few things to Manual or select "Advanced settings" but it can handle your input of % body fat.

    The online tools are simplified for online interactive use and public consumption. The work done by Hall is available as a model for you to run yourself in its full glory.
  • lilyinlove
    lilyinlove Posts: 441 Member
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    Gotta read this later. Bump
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    Bump
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    I'm not sure I understand where they are getting the "current intake" from
    It's their TDEE estimate. The RMR element is from the Livingston-Kohlstadt model as described at http://www.pbrc.edu/research-and-faculty/calculators/weight-loss-predictor/about/

    "EE was modeled as the sum of resting metabolic rate (RMR), voluntary physical activity (PA), dietary induced thermogenesis (DIT), and spontaneous physical activity (SPA)" - their estimates of these elements are also outlined at the above ref
  • mcarter99
    mcarter99 Posts: 1,666 Member
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    Additionally, since the body naturally slows metabolism as pounds are lost, the dieter must recalibrate their caloric needs every so often to account for their reduced RMR. If not, their predicted weight loss will dwindle and they will hit the dreaded plateau.

    Of course as you get smaller you will need to keep adjusting your intake downward because your body takes less calories overall.

    That's one thing I don't like about that calculator, too. It assumes you can't change your eating over time? I think it makes a lot more sense to just readjust your goals/plan as you shrink than to try to map out diminishing returns from keeping a steady intake for a year or more while losing weight.

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