RANT: Careless Weightloss Goals!

IronPlayground

I'm going to take a few minutes and rant a little. It's that time of year again where people are looking to better themselves and set goals for weight loss. I've seen the posts all over the place with challenges folks have set for themselves or competitions with others. While all these are great, the focus doesn't need to be just on weight. If you are doing these types of things and the only marker for success is what the scale reads, you're doing it wrong! If you are eating below BMR on daily basis, you're doing it wrong! If you don't know what BMR means, you're doing it wrong! If you don't know what your BMR or TDEE is, you're doing it wrong! If you haven't taken measurements, you're doing it wrong! If you haven't calculated your body fat percentage, YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG!!!

This is what people tend to miss when trying to lose weight. If you are eating a very low calorie diet, you will lose weight, not only from fat, but from lean body mass, as well. The scale doesn't tell you which one the weight loss is coming from. This is why gauging your success by body fat percentage is a better way to go.

Calculate your BMR! Calculate your TDEE! Take 20% from TDEE and eat at that level! Lift weights and eat sufficient protein. Recommended at least .8 grams/lb of body weight. This will help preserve LBM. If you like cardio better, fine, but still find time to get in a couple strength training sessions per week.

Lastly, don't be in such a hurry to hit some goal. You want this transformation to last. Take is slow and learn how to eat, what workouts you enjoy and what eating pattern fits your schedule.

Crankstr

:flowerforyou:

GauchoMark

but... there's that wedding coming up in a month! I just HAVE to get that last 75 lbs off.

Fozzi43

Great post dude

MidwestAngel

Chief_Rocka

Lastly, don't be in such a hurry to hit some goal. You want this transformation to last. Take is slow and learn how to eat, what workouts you enjoy and what eating pattern fits your schedule.

People don't realize that getting the body you want can take years.

dare2love81

and also :flowerforyou:

Martucha123

Lastly, don't be in such a hurry to hit some goal. You want this transformation to last. Take is slow and learn how to eat, what workouts you enjoy and what eating pattern fits your schedule.

this
1000 times
I have lost weight in 6 months before, this time I'm in for a long run, and I love it!

kirstyfairhead

Do all of this, if you are this guy. If you are your own person, do what works for you.

I regularly eat below my BMR but always over 1200. I exercise fairly regularly, mostly cardio and have never done any strength training in my life. I've lost 28lbs over the last 7 - 8 months and am still losing slow and steady. Another 10-12lbs and I'll be very happy but I'm pretty comfortable with my exercise and food plan so don't see the need to make any huge changes once I hit that 'goal'.

This is about changing my life and being happy with it not about making weight loss and fitness the be all and end all.

I'm really pleased that your plan works for you and you are absolutely right that understanding how your body works and what your stats are is a huge help. Just don't assume its the only way!!!

Barbellerella

HIITMe

well Im SICK of folks saying you MUST count BMR & TDEE ( the newest & latest macros for self-imposed gurus to insist everyone follow or else fail)


Im sick of people like the OP overcomplicating weightloss... eat a well balanced diet, take in less than you put out & exercise that includes stregnth training...you will lose weight and/or inches... SIMPLE... to hell with TDEE, BMR, counting points, calories, etc... I dont need to know or to count my body fat percentages...

if keeping a ledger and making a grad school project out of your daily meals works for you, so be it, but dont act like its the ONLY way for folks to shed pounds....

IronPlayground

Do all of this, if you are this guy. If you are your own person, do what works for you.

I regularly eat below my BMR but always over 1200. I exercise fairly regularly, mostly cardio and have never done any strength training in my life. I've lost 28lbs over the last 7 - 8 months and am still losing slow and steady. Another 10-12lbs and I'll be very happy but I'm pretty comfortable with my exercise and food plan so don't see the need to make any huge changes once I hit that 'goal'.

This is about changing my life and being happy with it not about making weight loss and fitness the be all and end all.

I'm really pleased that your plan works for you and you are absolutely right that understanding how your body works and what your stats are is a huge help. Just don't assume its the only way!!!

I think you will find that this will work for just about everyone barring any type of medical condition.

You seem to miss the part of LBM.

Pedal_Pusher

lol. thanks for the heads up.

dinosnopro

Awesome Thread

:drinker:

IronPlayground

well Im SICK of folks saying you MUST count BMR & TDEE ( the newest & latest macros for self-imposed gurus to insist everyone follow or else fail)


Im sick of people like the OP overcomplicating weightloss... eat a well balanced diet, take in less than you put out & exercise that includes stregnth training...you will lose weight and/or inches... SIMPLE... to hell with TDEE, BMR, counting points, calories, etc... I dont need to know or to count my body fat percentages...

if keeping a ledger and making a grad school project out of your daily meals works for you, so be it, but dont act like its the ONLY way for folks to shed pounds....

It's actually quite simple!

Fozzi43

well Im SICK of folks saying you MUST count BMR & TDEE ( the newest & latest macros for self-imposed gurus to insist everyone follow or else fail)


Im sick of people like the OP overcomplicating weightloss... eat a well balanced diet, take in less than you put out & exercise that includes stregnth training...you will lose weight and/or inches... SIMPLE... to hell with TDEE, BMR, counting points, calories, etc... I dont need to know or to count my body fat percentages...

if keeping a ledger and making a grad school project out of your daily meals works for you, so be it, but dont act like its the ONLY way for folks to shed pounds....

Who pi$$ed on your Weetabix??

Doing the math WORKS.

Flowers4Julia

Great post and couldn't be more true! always good to read! :bigsmile:

doorki

well Im SICK of folks saying you MUST count BMR & TDEE ( the newest & latest macros for self-imposed gurus to insist everyone follow or else fail)


Im sick of people like the OP overcomplicating weightloss... eat a well balanced diet, take in less than you put out & exercise that includes stregnth training...you will lose weight and/or inches... SIMPLE... to hell with TDEE, BMR, counting points, calories, etc... I dont need to know or to count my body fat percentages...

if keeping a ledger and making a grad school project out of your daily meals works for you, so be it, but dont act like its the ONLY way for folks to shed pounds....

Query: How does one know they are taking in less than they are putting out without calculating calories and TDEE/BMR?

Greenrun99

So you mean if I do 2 hours of cardio a day, eat 1000 calories, and aim for 4 lb weight loss a week, even when I only have 20lbs to lose, I am doing it wrong??? Then after 2 weeks of no results, I will post on the forum complaining about not losing weight..

Or even better, I will lose all my weight, and complain that I still have a stomach that doesn't look ripped and toned, and can't see my abs even though I did a ton of cardio and ate 1200 calories a day.. I am at my goal weight but I have flap everywhere...

Seriously people.. calculate your numbers and be patient and work hard, you will get there.

LeenaRuns

Love this article. Gist is: low cals + cardio = fat + muscle loss; higher cals + lifting = fat only loss. There is NO QUICK FIX.

http://blog.metaboliceffect.com/2012/03/29/are-you-measuring-weight-loss-or-fat-loss/

dovetail22uk

Lastly, don't be in such a hurry to hit some goal. You want this transformation to last. Take is slow and learn how to eat, what workouts you enjoy and what eating pattern fits your schedule.

People don't realize that getting the body you want can take years.

He'll give it up eventually if I keep on asking :noway:

Andrea3030

well Im SICK of folks saying you MUST count BMR & TDEE ( the newest & latest macros for self-imposed gurus to insist everyone follow or else fail)


Im sick of people like the OP overcomplicating weightloss... eat a well balanced diet, take in less than you put out & exercise that includes stregnth training...you will lose weight and/or inches... SIMPLE... to hell with TDEE, BMR, counting points, calories, etc... I dont need to know or to count my body fat percentages...

if keeping a ledger and making a grad school project out of your daily meals works for you, so be it, but dont act like its the ONLY way for folks to shed pounds....

Bravo! Totally agreed.

GauchoMark

well Im SICK of folks saying you MUST count BMR & TDEE ( the newest & latest macros for self-imposed gurus to insist everyone follow or else fail)


Im sick of people like the OP overcomplicating weightloss... eat a well balanced diet, take in less than you put out & exercise that includes stregnth training...you will lose weight and/or inches... SIMPLE... to hell with TDEE, BMR, counting points, calories, etc... I dont need to know or to count my body fat percentages...

if keeping a ledger and making a grad school project out of your daily meals works for you, so be it, but dont act like its the ONLY way for folks to shed pounds....

BMR and TDEE aren't macros...

"taking in less than you put out" is really easy to say, but how can you do that without counting anything?

As one of those nerdy, grad school types, I get tired of people whining about not getting results but not having a decent record of anything, so they have no idea what changes they need to make. If you can manage to lose weight or maintain without tracking things, that's great, but why be on a food logging website if you aren't going to count?

ilovescarymovies

Skinny Fat-

To look slim, even with revealing clothes, but when touched, the touching hand sinks into fat before reaching muscle. Older people will 'show' "Skinny fat" visually, but young people have firm skin that hides it until they're touched.

A person who is not overweight and have skinny look but still have a high fat percentage and low muscular mass. Usually those people have a low caloric diet, that's why they are skinny, but are not involved in any sports activities or trainings and that's why they don’t have any muscle. Since between the bone and the skin those people only have fat, the skin can be deformed easily because the skin layer is located on an unstable matter (fat).

Skinny fat woman look sexy from a certain distance but they have soft jelly skin and still have some cellulite even if they are in there early 20s.

susanmc31

I absolutely agree with your post.

I was once the person looking for the 'quick fix' and wanting to lose weight quickly. I now understand (through years of yo-yo dieting and exercise) that it is going to take a long time to get the body I want. Sometimes, it can be frustrating to see people losing weight faster than me but I am so happy with the amount of muscles and strength I have gained through weight lifting (5x5). Even though the scale hasn't moved, I am down a pant size! I have seen a huge improvement in my overall strength and energy which is the biggest boost to me. Body fat and inches is now how I measure my success.

Thanks for this great thread! :flowerforyou:

BeachGingerOnTheRocks

AllTehBeers

well Im SICK of folks saying you MUST count BMR & TDEE ( the newest & latest macros for self-imposed gurus to insist everyone follow or else fail)


Im sick of people like the OP overcomplicating weightloss... eat a well balanced diet, take in less than you put out & exercise that includes stregnth training...you will lose weight and/or inches... SIMPLE... to hell with TDEE, BMR, counting points, calories, etc... I dont need to know or to count my body fat percentages...

if keeping a ledger and making a grad school project out of your daily meals works for you, so be it, but dont act like its the ONLY way for folks to shed pounds....

Query: How does one know they are taking in less than they are putting out without calculating calories and TDEE/BMR?

I was going to point this out, but you got to it first.

Also, how do you know if maybe you're eating too little? I'd be a b!tch if I were hangry all the time.

Andrea3030

"Query: How does one know they are taking in less than they are putting out without calculating calories and TDEE/BMR? "

It's really easy: you lose weight.

Oh, and you are not starving all of the time if you are eating lots of vegetables, protein, fruit and other such healthy whole foods.

AllTehBeers

Skinny Fat-

To look slim, even with revealing clothes, but when touched, the touching hand sinks into fat before reaching muscle. Older people will 'show' "Skinny fat" visually, but young people have firm skin that hides it until they're touched.

A person who is not overweight and have skinny look but still have a high fat percentage and low muscular mass. Usually those people have a low caloric diet, that's why they are skinny, but are not involved in any sports activities or trainings and that's why they don’t have any muscle. Since between the bone and the skin those people only have fat, the skin can be deformed easily because the skin layer is located on an unstable matter (fat).

Skinny fat woman look sexy from a certain distance but they have soft jelly skin and still have some cellulite even if they are in there early 20s.

Sorry, I'll take "skinny anything" over being fat.

SquidgySquidge

I'm going to take a few minutes and rant a little. It's that time of year again where people are looking to better themselves and set goals for weight loss. I've seen the posts all over the place with challenges folks have set for themselves or competitions with others. While all these are great, the focus doesn't need to be just on weight. If you are doing these types of things and the only marker for success is what the scale reads, you're doing it wrong! If you are eating below BMR on daily basis, you're doing it wrong! If you don't know what BMR means, you're doing it wrong! If you don't know what your BMR or TDEE is, you're doing it wrong! If you haven't taken measurements, you're doing it wrong! If you haven't calculated your body fat percentage, YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG!!!

Posts like this just make newbies (like me) feel further deflated, like we've no clue what we're doing and people like you are somehow better than us or above us.
You're doing it wrong, you're doing it wrong...yeah well, we're trying and joining a site like this is a big step. We're learning. We'll get there. We can't know all the 'right' things to do automatically, if we came here with all the knowledge we probably wouldn't be overweight in the first place. I understand you want to offer advice to others but posts like this are just annoying.
I hadn't even heard of things like TDEE before I joined this site and I'm slowly working it all out, whilst trying to make some major changes in my life which isn't easy. I'm asking others on here for advice when it's needed.
I'm very sorry that us newbies are p*ssing you off because we're not as awesome as you are just yet but please just give us some time and the ones who are truely motivated and in it for the long haul will learn all the 'proper' things to do with time, we don't need your patronising posts screaming how crap we all are.

TheCaren

I normally get all mad when I see someone post in a forum that people are "doing it wrong", but I actually enjoyed your rant. There is so much truth in it.

Thanks for sharing.