Calories In Versus Calories Out = CRAP!

phee

I looked at your diet and exercise only for Wednesday. Food looked a little too low cal IMO (for what it's worth). I was curious what the calorie adjustment was on your exercise page. Is that from a HRM or something? Care to educate me? I'm not questioning your calorie burn, just ignorant of how you calculated it. I've only ben on here three months so there's lots for me to learn.

Yes, that's right...the adjustment is from my fitness monitor. But my bmr does not show on MFP. It only shows on my fitness monitor at around 2200 calories daily. As I said, I am eating 1200 - 1600 calories daily and adding exercise of usually around 400 -500 calories daily.

My food diary was mostly recorded before 28 November.

I hope this helps. If you think I am misunderstanding the calculations, please let me know. I am new at this too.

BACONJOKESRSOFUNNY

We all have different opinions and that's ok.

Unless it's different from yours, in which case, it's narrow-minded -- right?

You know there is a chance that current scientific knowledge about food and body weight could be wrong. I mean Australia and the United States do have the fattest populations in the world you know! Not to mention the fattest children! I think we should be taking that into account. Could this be because our current food pyramid is faulty?

I don't know about Australia, but the vast majority of Americans do not consult with government recommendations or scientific studies when it comes to making nutrition choices. If a patient chooses not to take a medication that will cure him, and subsequently dies, does that mean that the medicine was ineffective?

Firefox7275

You talk about fat loss, but have you actually measured your bodyfat percentage or are you relying on the scales for guesstimates of your BMR and body composition? If you think you have a hormonal or metabolic reason why you are struggling to lose weight then you need to get tested for that. Dropping carbs will primarily cause you to dehydrate initially, since 3g of water is stored alongside 1g of glycogen (muscles' carbohydrate fuel).

If you want to eat low carb go ahead, but be sure you are replacing the nutrients in the food groups you omit, your body cannot tell the difference between a restrictive weight loss diet and a famine and you should not be doing reduced fat simultaneously unless you are under the supervision of a healthcare professional. I don't see anywhere near enough low sugar fruits and non starchy vegetables in the full rainbow of colours, oily fish nor mineral rich foods (bones in canned fish, nuts, seeds, green veggies). Your fibre intake is not great, surprised you are not constipated.

Akimajuktuq

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.

Edited: because I missed the part about not losing "this week". One week, no weight loss = completely normal and expected.

But for me, it's not just calories in and calories out (but of course I have to have a deficit!) because some types of food create uncontrollable hunger for me and others do not.

JMJ1983

You're not logging....You say before November 28th you logged That was 2 weeks ago, If you aern't logging, I am willing to bet you aern't measuring either, just guestimating a serving size and are overeating by what you think is really a deficit...

It really is all about calories in vs calories out...This motto has not failed me for the 58.2 pounds I have lost.

Try keeping an accurate food and exercise journal for 2 weeks and I bet you you will see a move in the direction you want it to go...Then, stick with it, don't stop doing the things that give you the results you want.

demilade

Maybe try increaing your calories a bit. I was ending up with 300 net calories a day and when I upped them the weightloss took off.
I find what works best for me is small meals every 3 hrs. High protein and lower on the refined carbs like white bread, pasta and rice.

Good luck

diodelcibo

Lmao you broke thermodynamics.

My weight can fluctuate +or- 6lbs ish depending on my water intake and ion concentrations.

axialmeow

I don't lose weight every week. Sometimes I'll go 2-3 weeks with no loss(and no diet/exercise changes) and then drop a couple pounds the following week. Something I have learned is to look at a trend overall, not exact time. Look at a span of a few weeks or months and what do you see?

MacInCali

For me, cutting the carbs results in better fat loss. Actually, cutting carbs is the only way I have been able to successfully lose a substantial amount of weight in the past (kept it off for 5 years but very gradually returned when I started eating carbs again).

I'm sorry, but you were not "successful" in losing a substantial amount of weight by cutting carbs if you gained the weight back. A "success" would indicate that you ~maintained~ that weightloss regardless of what you ate or didn't eat after you lost it .

Do you plan to never eat carbs again? My worry is that you see carb cutting as being the only thing that works for you, however, if you can't maintain that way of eating forever (and why you would WANT to is beyond me), then why start down that path to begin with?

Eat the foods you enjoy while staying at a small deficit. The weight WILL come off and because you will be enjoying the way you eat, you'll be able to maintain the loss.

etoiles_argentees

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!

You are not her, you don't know where she is coming from, what she is doing to use calories, and guess what? There are a lot of outliers. Snowflakes. Stop giving dietary advice when you have no idea of what she's doing or eating, and NO qualifications to back your words.

etoiles_argentees

and it's "laws". 4 laws of thermomdynamics. Not 1 !
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laws_of_thermodynamics

etoiles_argentees

and yes, the science is there, too bad that most of you don't read it.

firstsip

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!

You are not her, you don't know where she is coming from, what she is doing to use calories, and guess what? There are a lot of outliers. Snowflakes. Stop giving dietary advice when you have no idea of what she's doing or eating, and NO qualifications to back your words.

I don't understand... we do know what she's eating... outside of the two weeks of inconsistency. She's been on here since January 2009. Obviously not the entire time, but enough to know that, almost four years later, her patterns have not helped her successfully lose weight.

You don't need to be her to observe things that may be hindering her and then pointing them out if she's publicly discrediting science with obvious variables she herself is throwing in to skew the "calories in vs. calories out" and/or looking for input.

OP, you said it yourself... it's time to work harder. Doesn't necessarily mean calorie wise, but exercise (strength training, cardio, whatever) might be the key you've been missing.

WendyTerry420

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.

That says it all. Your deficit is too big, and it's only been a week.

/end thread

PetulantOne

so you don't have a loss after 1 week and you think that the entire basis of weight loss doesn't apply to you? No wonder you didn't have much success on those other programs...

You are making excuses for yourself.

This was my thought too. That and an 800 to 1800 a day deficit? You are already setting yourself up for failure.

tigersword

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

Agreed!

Please explain that to the hundreds of bodybuilders who cut carbs a few weeks before a show to get more deffinition, then add carbs a day or two before the show to add some size if needed.

ETA, I was talking to the person who said that it was wrong.

They cut carbs to cut water. They dehydrate themselves also in order to get more definition. It has nothing to do with fat loss.

etoiles_argentees

You don't need to be her to observe things that may be hindering her and then pointing them out if she's publicly discrediting science with obvious variables she herself is throwing in to skew the "calories in vs. calories out" and/or looking for input.

you are correct, my fault for not reading the entire thread....I just don't care to see those that don't know immediately throwing in their packaged advice before delving deeper.

phee

I kept 35kg off for over 5 years as well as had another baby during that time and lost my baby weight afterward as well. But due to "life" and my own weaknesses, I went back to eating carbs like pasta and potatoes. I thought I could reintroduce them. I never went back to eating as much of them as I used to but over about a 3 year period, I regained that 35kg. I do believe that certain foods are just not for me. I do believe that I can eat small quanities of low GI carbohydrates early in the day and still be ok.

I completely disagree with you when you say that I did not maintain my weight loss. I certainly did. It was a lifestyle change for me and it worked. There were other reasons that contributed to me letting the kilos slip back on without dealing with it.

I have been thinking about this issue, and this is addressed to everyone, not just you, but it is clearly only those people who low calorie has worked for that are the hardcore promoters of calorie in versus calorie out! What would you all say if calories in versus calories out did not work for your body? The proponents are of the opinion that they represent the only truth about weight loss and that anybody who is different is just either lazy or an incompetent who can't weigh, calculate or measure their food accurately.

Let me just point out: I am not an idiot. I am educated! As I have said repeatedly, I have followed a low calorie diet many times without success while seeing others following the same program succeed. In my opinion there are obviously other factors which come into play. And the article that one poster put up seems to offer an explanation which suits my circumstances perfectly:

The overeating hypothesis : “All obese persons are alike in one fundamental respect,” Newburgh insisted, “they literally overeat.” This paradigm of energy balance/overeating/gluttony/sloth became the conventional, unquestioned explanation for why we get fat.

The alternative hypothesis: That obesity is a hormonal, regulatory defect — leads to a different prescription. In this paradigm, it is not excess calories that cause obesity, but the quantity and quality of carbohydrates consumed. The carbohydrate content of the diet must be rectified to restore health. This conclusion is based on endocrinology that has been understood for 50 years: insulin regulates fat accumulation, and blood levels of insulin are effectively determined by carbohydrate intake. The more easily digestible are the carbohydrates we eat (the higher their glycaemic index) and the sweeter they are (the higher their fructose content) the higher are our blood insulin levels, and the more fat accumulates.
If this is true, it suggests that the obesity epidemic was caused at least in part by the research community's failure to understand the nature of the disease, and by the food industry's exploitation of that failure.

WendyTerry420

How do you get a deficit of 1800??

Not eating and exercising your butt off. A lot of cardio.

One benefit of being on the lazy side... This never happened to me.

jofjltncb6

Just a bump.

The first five pages have been fascinating. Didn't want to miss what comes next.