Calories In Versus Calories Out = CRAP!

taso42

You must be different
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/you-are-not-different.html

baptiste565

It could be user error?

1.) you are underestimating what you eat
2.) you are overestimating what you are burning with exercise
3.) you are not logging properly
4.) you assume weight loss happens overnight. (you didn't gain all that weight overnight did you?)

Also, maybe you have some medical problem? Doubtful.

You are not a special snowflake. Fix the above and go from there!

Best of luck!

this is right. if u r in a 1800cal deficit u would be losing CRAZY weight until u get to about 20%bf when u would probably see slower weight loss becuz of starvation mode.

BeingAwesome247

It works, you aren't working it correctly.

I don't have the link but its in the forums - in place of a road map.

It is every informational, and it will help you figure things out.

Trust me - you are not a special snow flake, calories in Vs Calories out works if you understand your BRM and your TDEE its how I have lost 14ish pounds. I used to think it would never work for me.

bahahaha and she's on a roll folks

psuLemon

I would suggest altering your expectations. Weight loss is about trends, not weekly results. The science is there and is proven you lose weight and fat by consuming less calories than you burn.

Linli_Anne

Unfortunately the scale doesn't always move the way we want it too.

Just because MFP has you set up to lose 1 or 2 or 1/2 pound per week doesn't mean that you will lose that every week.

I have had small losses, and a gain thrown in, since I started at the beginning of November. It's been about 7 weeks, and I've lost 7 pounds overall.

My best losses happened in the last week - after I really and truly began to understand just what my BMR and TDEE were, and how that effects how my body functions through regular day to day movements and increased movements through exercise.

I had always been under the mind set that if I had big deficits, that should equal big losses. This is where the crap is.

It is something that has to be learned, and I am still learning and still, even after a week, am not as high as I should be for my BMR/TDEE, but I am working on it, and I'm working on myself.

Educate yourself, really understand what it is that you want from this process and please be kind to your body and give it everything that it needs so it will respond to you when you do ask more from it in terms of exercise.

kaypee65

Granted, most of us here at MFP want to lose weight. But if your primary measure of success is the scale it can become discouraging in short order.

I keep my motivation up by always remembering that my MFP eating and fitness plan are about being healthy and taking care of myself. It helps me to worry less about my scale and having great value for eating foods and staying active so that my current and future quality of life is as high as I can make it. Every day I see that I'm under, it's a win! I don't need a scale to know that I have more energy, I need less sleep and that muffin top already seems to have faded away from my fat jeans.

Chief_Rocka

I did not have a loss this week

so what?

AntWrig

There are a large number of reasons why you may not be experiencing a weight loss.

1: With a deficit as extreme as you are citing your body may be in starvation mode and actually holding on to everything it can.

2: Your sodium intake may be pretty high and you're retaining a lot of water.

3: Fat may be being converted into muscle which is a good thing, but won't hit the scales.

Generally speaking one week is to small of a sample period. I've often had times where I wouldn't lose anything for a week, and the next week I would drop 5 pounds, despite little to no change in diet/exercise. Give it some time, see what happens.

Oh my god.

1: With a deficit as extreme as you are citing your body may be in starvation mode and actually holding on to everything it can.-No. No it is not. This is not true.

2: Your sodium intake may be pretty high and you're retaining a lot of water.- Very likely.

3: Fat may be being converted into muscle which is a good thing, but won't hit the scales.- This is not physiologically possible. This is completely untrue.

Although yes, give it more time.

Just a light correction. Fat is not converted to muscle. Your fat cells shrink and never go away. Muscle is "built" due to tearing of fibers during resistance training.

Shock_Wave

I did not have a loss this week despite the fact that I have been eating at a calorie deficit of between 800 and 1800 per day for the entire week. I haven't worked out as much but I have still worked out moderately 3 times this week. This is what I hate about traditional weight loss advice. It is simply not a matter of calories in versus calories out! Well it sure isn't for me! I have never had any real success with WW, Jenny Craig, Gloria Marshall and even dieticians for this reason. With the dieticians advice to eat more wholegrains like brown rice and whole wheat bread, I have been twice, and both times I gained weight!! It is very disheartening.

I guess it just means I have to work a lot harder than what I have been. Which is something I have never really done. So here goes to working harder and seeing what the results bring. I just thought I would post this for others who might be in the same boat.

Take about 2 weeks for you to start seeing results starting a new diet. Also just in case you have not already done so you might want to get a check up from the doc. Some people have thyroid issues that can cause issues and such. If you use MFP correctly it will work for you. Keep going and good luck.

BrettPGH

I did not have a loss this week

so what?

So clearly the whole site and most research and studies on weight loss through calorie counting is completely made up just to mess with people.

Or...special snowflakes.

BACONJOKESRSOFUNNY

I did not have a loss this week

Try fiber. Maybe prunes?

DontStopB_Leakin

I did not have a loss this week

so what?

So clearly the whole site and most research and studies on weight loss through calorie counting is completely made up just to mess with people.

Or...special snowflakes.

^This.


I didn't have a loss for two flippin' years. Does that mean science was wrong? No. It meant I was wrong.


You are not special.

rainbowbow

There are a large number of reasons why you may not be experiencing a weight loss.

1: With a deficit as extreme as you are citing your body may be in starvation mode and actually holding on to everything it can.

2: Your sodium intake may be pretty high and you're retaining a lot of water.

3: Fat may be being converted into muscle which is a good thing, but won't hit the scales.

Generally speaking one week is to small of a sample period. I've often had times where I wouldn't lose anything for a week, and the next week I would drop 5 pounds, despite little to no change in diet/exercise. Give it some time, see what happens.

Oh my god.

1: With a deficit as extreme as you are citing your body may be in starvation mode and actually holding on to everything it can.-No. No it is not. This is not true.

2: Your sodium intake may be pretty high and you're retaining a lot of water.- Very likely.

3: Fat may be being converted into muscle which is a good thing, but won't hit the scales.- This is not physiologically possible. This is completely untrue.

Although yes, give it more time.

Just a light correction. Fat is not converted to muscle. Your fat cells shrink and never go away. Muscle is "built" due to tearing of fibers during resistance training.

Exactly. Thank you. SMH

Besides, you are in a caloric deficit (a ridiculous one possibly); you are not gaining muscle.

NeverGivesUp

Us over 40 year old women seem to have a much harder time than the rest to lose weight. You have to figure out how to get it done. It takes perserverance, patience, persistence and a ton of moxy. Hang in there. There really is no other alternative. Replace your bad habits with good ones and embark on this journey 100%. Keep switching things up till you fid what works for you and till you find what you are comfortable doing for the rest of your life.

AlsDonkBoxSquat

I did not have a loss this week despite the fact that I have been eating at a calorie deficit of between 800 and 1800 per day [/b} for the entire week. I haven't worked out as much but I have still worked out moderately 3 times this week. This is what I hate about traditional weight loss advice. It is simply not a matter of calories in versus calories out! Well it sure isn't for me! I have never had any real success with WW, Jenny Craig, Gloria Marshall and even dieticians for this reason. With the dieticians advice to eat more wholegrains like brown rice and whole wheat bread, I have been twice, and both times I gained weight!! It is very disheartening.

I guess it just means I have to work a lot harder than what I have been. Which is something I have never really done. So here goes to working harder and seeing what the results bring. I just thought I would post this for others who might be in the same boat.

I bolded the part that stuck out for me . . . you are doing it wrong. 1) That's a crazy large deficit and I'm uncertain how you're even getting to a deficit as large as you say. 2) There are many reasons why you may or may not have a loss from 1 week to the next including water weight and bloating. 3) how are you coming up with your estimated calorie burns and how are you measuring your foods and how accurate are you actually being?

wswilliams67

Your deficit is WAY too high... you are probably in famine mode and your metabolism is shutting down.

READ THIS: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

I can't see your food diary, but my guess is your sodium is through the roof as well? Try eating clean for a week or two and see how you feel.

fishgutzy

Content of the calories can be more important than the absolute number.
If I have too many carbs but still at or below target, weight loss can slow to a crawl.
Upping fat and reducing carbs speeds things up again.
An uptick in salt can mess everything up.

drmerc

Content of the calories can be more important than the absolute number.
If I have too many carbs but still at or below target, weight loss can slow to a crawl.
Upping fat and reducing carbs speeds things up again.
An uptick in salt can mess everything up.

Everything you said is wrong

alpine1994

I get why you're saying what you're saying and I agree but not 100%. It's not really crap, it does make sense and work. There are weeks when I don't lose anything but did well work out wise and calorie wise and then the next week I lose 2-3 pounds. Losing weight doesn't work like we'd like, it's some give and some take. You could be retaining water, you might have had a bit more sodium than you realized and that's why the scale isn't showing anything different.

If you haven't already, I'd suggest using a measuring tape as well-inches don't lie but the scale can.

I completely agree with you. I seem to lose in weeks. Last week I lost, this week nothing. I"m so not sweating it (like i did in the beginning) because I KNOW i'll see a loss next week. It's a long process, the weight didnt get put on overnight, it dont expect it to come off overnight

Same for me. It's so inconsistent week to week, but when you average out my loss on a monthly basis, it's 4.5 lbs per month and my goal is set at 1 lb per week. It works itself out, but you just need to give it time. LOTS of time.

tashiaberman

Phee,

You're in the same boat as I am. You probably are starting into peri-menopause, which causes your metabolism to slow down dramatically. You might check into getting your hormonal status checked. I have tried a couple of different natural hormone balancing programs to try to get back on an even keel. I am also having a great deal of difficulty losing weight, despite having been on at least half-dozen different "doctor supervised" diets and exercising over the past 3 years. \

I think I've finally worked out the hormonal thing and I'm getting a lot better at tracking my calories. I just need to reduce my carbs more, increase my protein and exercise more regularly. I've lost 2 inches on my waist, but my scale hasn't budged more than 2 lbs. up or down over the past month.

Don't give up. What do you have to lose but weight? Every time I give up and decide to eat what I want, because I'm not losing any weight anyway, I end up gaining another 5 or 10 lbs. So look at it this way: if you weren't dieting you might be 10 lbs heavier!