It is NOT that simple.

I have seen so many people here quote the "calories in, calories out" mantra it's ridiculous.

If that is true, please explain how I could be my heaviest while consuming only 1100 cals a day, and "suddenly" lost 60 lbs when I changed my diet to 1600-1800 cals of whole foods. It was the QUALITY of food that changed my health, not the QUANTITY. Not only that, but for overall HEALTH AND WELLNESS, there needs to be much more to it than simply BMI or BF%. There is such a thing as a "skinny fat" person--who may not be "obese" but is still extremely unhealthy. There are thin people who eat 2500 cals/day and obese people who eat 1000 cals/day.

It is absolutely NOT as simple as cals in, cals out. It's much more complicated. Our bodies are so much more complex than that. I can't tell you how many times docs told me I should simply eat less to lose weight. Which is how I got down to 1100 cals/day... and 235lb. I met a trainer who told me to EAT, but to eat WELL, and SURPRISE!!! I lost weight. Go figure. Now, two children later, I'm trying to lose a little more. Not at my heaviest, by far, and even 10lb under what I weighed at high school graduation... but still not where I want to be. Point being, I have SEEN FOR MYSELF what "lower cals" can do, and what "more cals" can do. And I am here to tell you that QUALITY IS WAY MORE IMPORTANT THAN QUANTITY. You cannot be healthy when you eat fewer cals but all processed food; and you can be healthy by eating more cals of whole foods.

Please stop perpetuating this lie. It's just not that simple.
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Replies

  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    How long did you consume 1100 cals per day for and do you still have those tracking records?
  • DrBroPHD
    DrBroPHD Posts: 245 Member
    Weightloss is magic

    what makes you think you were overweight at 1100 calories a day?
  • It is generically true but you also have to eat enough to support your body's basic needs. If you eat too little your body goes into "starvation mode" and starts to fight against losing its needed weight.
  • binknbaby
    binknbaby Posts: 207 Member
    How long did you consume 1100 cals per day for and do you still have those tracking records?

    Roughly a year, possibly more. But it was mostly processed foods--just smaller quantities.

    Weightloss is magic

    what makes you think you were overweight at 1100 calories a day?

    Ummm... Being 235 lb. Am I understanding this question correctly? I was clinically obese and was only consuming 1100 cals a day. I increased my intake, but changed the quality of food, and lost 60 lb.
  • DrBroPHD
    DrBroPHD Posts: 245 Member
    How long did you consume 1100 cals per day for and do you still have those tracking records?

    Roughly a year, possibly more. But it was mostly processed foods--just smaller quantities.

    Weightloss is magic

    what makes you think you were overweight at 1100 calories a day?

    Ummm... Being 235 lb. Am I understanding this question correctly? I was clinically obese and was only consuming 1100 cals a day. I increased my intake, but changed the quality of food, and lost 60 lb.

    I think it is more likely you did not track properly
  • tsh0ck
    tsh0ck Posts: 1,970 Member

    Please stop perpetuating this lie. It's just not that simple.

    No_ff4047_1147684.jpg
  • sz8soon
    sz8soon Posts: 816 Member
    It's because it's magic.

    rMD0w.gif
  • Aviva92
    Aviva92 Posts: 2,333 Member
    There is such a thing as a "skinny fat" person--who may not be "obese" but is still extremely unhealthy.

    I really hate this term and think it needs to stop. It's used way too much to shame otherwise healthy women who just happen to not be muscular. I don't believe you have to be muscular in order to be healthy.
  • prism6
    prism6 Posts: 484 Member
    glad you lost weight but you seem very angry..at least thats what I got....
  • binknbaby
    binknbaby Posts: 207 Member
    How long did you consume 1100 cals per day for and do you still have those tracking records?

    Roughly a year, possibly more. But it was mostly processed foods--just smaller quantities.

    Weightloss is magic

    what makes you think you were overweight at 1100 calories a day?

    Ummm... Being 235 lb. Am I understanding this question correctly? I was clinically obese and was only consuming 1100 cals a day. I increased my intake, but changed the quality of food, and lost 60 lb.

    I think it is more likely you did not track properly


    We need an eyeroll smiley.

    Yes, because it is so impossible for me to have only consumed 1100 cals and be nearly 100lb oveweight. It MUST be that I just didn't track properly. And the part about losing 60 lbs when adding cals... that was a fluke, right??
  • MidwestAngel
    MidwestAngel Posts: 1,897 Member
    How long did you consume 1100 cals per day for and do you still have those tracking records?

    Roughly a year, possibly more. But it was mostly processed foods--just smaller quantities.

    Weightloss is magic

    what makes you think you were overweight at 1100 calories a day?

    Ummm... Being 235 lb. Am I understanding this question correctly? I was clinically obese and was only consuming 1100 cals a day. I increased my intake, but changed the quality of food, and lost 60 lb.

    I think it is more likely you did not track properly


    We need an eyeroll smiley.

    Yes, because it is so impossible for me to have only consumed 1100 cals and be nearly 100lb oveweight. It MUST be that I just didn't track properly. And the part about losing 60 lbs when adding cals... that was a fluke, right??
    Looks like we finally agree :flowerforyou:
  • DrBroPHD
    DrBroPHD Posts: 245 Member
    How long did you consume 1100 cals per day for and do you still have those tracking records?

    Roughly a year, possibly more. But it was mostly processed foods--just smaller quantities.

    Weightloss is magic

    what makes you think you were overweight at 1100 calories a day?

    Ummm... Being 235 lb. Am I understanding this question correctly? I was clinically obese and was only consuming 1100 cals a day. I increased my intake, but changed the quality of food, and lost 60 lb.

    I think it is more likely you did not track properly


    We need an eyeroll smiley.

    Yes, because it is so impossible for me to have only consumed 1100 cals and be nearly 100lb oveweight. It MUST be that I just didn't track properly. And the part about losing 60 lbs when adding cals... that was a fluke, right??

    Yes exactly I'm glad you understand now
  • pastryari
    pastryari Posts: 8,646 Member
    wGGL8Zs.gif
  • Crankstr
    Crankstr Posts: 3,958 Member
    Excellent...you ate more, and were able to lose the weight.

    Where those calories came from is irrelevant, however.
    You would have lost either way.
  • There is such a thing as a "skinny fat" person--who may not be "obese" but is still extremely unhealthy.

    I really hate this term and think it needs to stop. It's used way too much to shame otherwise healthy women who just happen to not be muscular. I don't believe you have to be muscular in order to be healthy.

    this++++++
  • binknbaby
    binknbaby Posts: 207 Member
    I really hate this term and think it needs to stop. It's used way too much to shame otherwise healthy women who just happen to not be muscular. I don't believe you have to be muscular in order to be healthy.

    I didn't intend it that way. If you look at the context, I was referring to people who were unhealthy but were not obese. That's all I meant by that.

    glad you lost weight but you seem very angry..at least thats what I got....

    I am angry because there is an awful lot of shaming and pretentiousness coming from the cals-in/cals-out crowd who look down their noses at anyone who doesn't agree with their oversimplification of how weight loss works. Well, it doesn't work that way for everyone, and overall health is found in eating healthfully, which means a lot more than simply eating less. Otherwise anorexic people would be the epitome of health, no? It does make me angry that when someone posts something that might be useful to someone pursuing health, and when they post something that is different from the mainstream view of health/weight loss, then they get jumped on and called idiots because of course the answer is fewer cals... And that's not the whole picture. That's one tiny piece of the puzzle.
  • quirkytizzy
    quirkytizzy Posts: 4,052 Member
    wGGL8Zs.gif

    I don't understand the gif, but I am feeling nice and tranquil now....
  • bearkisses
    bearkisses Posts: 1,252 Member
    How long did you consume 1100 cals per day for and do you still have those tracking records?

    Roughly a year, possibly more. But it was mostly processed foods--just smaller quantities.

    Weightloss is magic

    what makes you think you were overweight at 1100 calories a day?

    Ummm... Being 235 lb. Am I understanding this question correctly? I was clinically obese and was only consuming 1100 cals a day. I increased my intake, but changed the quality of food, and lost 60 lb.

    I think it is more likely you did not track properly

    this. people with eating disorders will eat under 1200, way under, for months even and it shows. the weight just drops. yes, they are losing important muscle and body functions in the process, but i have such a hard time believing you ate 1100 calories for a year, and were at your heaviest. i have an ex-fat-girlfriend who would say just this and whine and ***** about it being fat because she 'ate' 'nothing'. lies!
  • skinny fat is real thing. A "skinny" aka small, thin, not large or what one would call normally fat person, having poor body composition. One that is high in fat content. If you prefer your body composition to that of a lean muscular person then you should not feel shame. But your body is in fact fatter regardless of the space it takes up. Those are just facts.

    ^^sorry meant to quote the person who said skinny fat is shaming un muscular "healthy" women
  • 1ConcreteGirl
    1ConcreteGirl Posts: 3,677 Member
    New to MFP.

    Wants to tell me how it is.

    Hmmmm...
  • diodelcibo
    diodelcibo Posts: 2,564 Member
    Micronutrients changes will change metabolic rate...

    /thread.
  • lambertj
    lambertj Posts: 675 Member
    I have seen so many people here quote the "calories in, calories out" mantra it's ridiculous.

    If that is true, please explain how I could be my heaviest while consuming only 1100 cals a day, and "suddenly" lost 60 lbs when I changed my diet to 1600-1800 cals of whole foods. It was the QUALITY of food that changed my health, not the QUANTITY. Not only that, but for overall HEALTH AND WELLNESS, there needs to be much more to it than simply BMI or BF%. There is such a thing as a "skinny fat" person--who may not be "obese" but is still extremely unhealthy. There are thin people who eat 2500 cals/day and obese people who eat 1000 cals/day.

    It is absolutely NOT as simple as cals in, cals out. It's much more complicated. Our bodies are so much more complex than that. I can't tell you how many times docs told me I should simply eat less to lose weight. Which is how I got down to 1100 cals/day... and 235lb. I met a trainer who told me to EAT, but to eat WELL, and SURPRISE!!! I lost weight. Go figure. Now, two children later, I'm trying to lose a little more. Not at my heaviest, by far, and even 10lb under what I weighed at high school graduation... but still not where I want to be. Point being, I have SEEN FOR MYSELF what "lower cals" can do, and what "more cals" can do. And I am here to tell you that QUALITY IS WAY MORE IMPORTANT THAN QUANTITY. You cannot be healthy when you eat fewer cals but all processed food; and you can be healthy by eating more cals of whole foods.

    Please stop perpetuating this lie. It's just not that simple.

    I'm going to agree with you in that it is not as simple as calories in and calories out. I've been at this over a year and I log consistently and measure everything. I wear a heart rate monitor during workouts as well. I can have a week where I am in a calorie deficit and gain and weeks where I over eat and I lose. It's crazy. I think particularly for women, moreso than men, there are many more factors that go into weight loss and yes it's frustrating as hell.
  • Excellent...you ate more, and were able to lose the weight.

    Where those calories came from is irrelevant, however.
    You would have lost either way.

    agreed.
    #iifym
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
    How long did you consume 1100 cals per day for and do you still have those tracking records?

    Roughly a year, possibly more. But it was mostly processed foods--just smaller quantities.

    Weightloss is magic

    what makes you think you were overweight at 1100 calories a day?

    Ummm... Being 235 lb. Am I understanding this question correctly? I was clinically obese and was only consuming 1100 cals a day. I increased my intake, but changed the quality of food, and lost 60 lb.

    I think it is more likely you did not track properly


    We need an eyeroll smiley.

    Yes, because it is so impossible for me to have only consumed 1100 cals and be nearly 100lb oveweight. It MUST be that I just didn't track properly. And the part about losing 60 lbs when adding cals... that was a fluke, right??

    By eating too little, you altered the "CALORIES OUT" side of the equation. You didn't defy physics, sorry. It still applies to you.
  • TripleJ3
    TripleJ3 Posts: 945 Member
    I had a coworker who swore that she tried everything, even Weight Watchers but could never lose weight because she only ate one to two times a day and would always have all these points/calories left over.....

    She never logged or considered it may have been the full size Snickers bars, Reese's PB cups, Doritos, sodas and candy such as Laffy Taffys that she consumed at all times during work. Every day.
  • tino124
    tino124 Posts: 25
    I have seen so many people here quote the "calories in, calories out" mantra it's ridiculous.

    If that is true, please explain how I could be my heaviest while consuming only 1100 cals a day, and "suddenly" lost 60 lbs when I changed my diet to 1600-1800 cals of whole foods. It was the QUALITY of food that changed my health, not the QUANTITY. Not only that, but for overall HEALTH AND WELLNESS, there needs to be much more to it than simply BMI or BF%. There is such a thing as a "skinny fat" person--who may not be "obese" but is still extremely unhealthy. There are thin people who eat 2500 cals/day and obese people who eat 1000 cals/day.

    It is absolutely NOT as simple as cals in, cals out. It's much more complicated. Our bodies are so much more complex than that. I can't tell you how many times docs told me I should simply eat less to lose weight. Which is how I got down to 1100 cals/day... and 235lb. I met a trainer who told me to EAT, but to eat WELL, and SURPRISE!!! I lost weight. Go figure. Now, two children later, I'm trying to lose a little more. Not at my heaviest, by far, and even 10lb under what I weighed at high school graduation... but still not where I want to be. Point being, I have SEEN FOR MYSELF what "lower cals" can do, and what "more cals" can do. And I am here to tell you that QUALITY IS WAY MORE IMPORTANT THAN QUANTITY. You cannot be healthy when you eat fewer cals but all processed food; and you can be healthy by eating more cals of whole foods.

    Please stop perpetuating this lie. It's just not that simple.

    It is that simple. U mad bro?
  • ApexLeader
    ApexLeader Posts: 580 Member
    How long did you consume 1100 cals per day for and do you still have those tracking records?

    Roughly a year, possibly more. But it was mostly processed foods--just smaller quantities.

    Weightloss is magic

    what makes you think you were overweight at 1100 calories a day?

    Ummm... Being 235 lb. Am I understanding this question correctly? I was clinically obese and was only consuming 1100 cals a day. I increased my intake, but changed the quality of food, and lost 60 lb.

    I think it is more likely you did not track properly

    exactly. if she was only eating 1100 calories a day, somehow she was burning fewer. you can't spontaneously create energy in the human body. if she was capable, scientists should be picking and prodding at her to find out how she is mystically creating more energy than she's consuming.

    maybe she's a plant and was using photosynthesis and she didn't realize.
  • bearkisses
    bearkisses Posts: 1,252 Member
    I had a coworker who swore that she tried everything, even Weight Watchers but could never lose weight because she only ate one to two times a day and would always have all these points/calories left over.....

    She never logged or considered it may have been the full size Snickers bars, Reese's PB cups, Doritos, sodas and candy such as Laffy Taffys that she consumed at all times during work. Every day.

    this. or starving themselves for a day or two and then eating the whole world.
  • rockangel8907
    rockangel8907 Posts: 429 Member
    I started losing when I upped my calories. I had been eating at 1200 Cals a day but I was miserable and I'd end up bingeing and eating 2000+ Cals....then other days I'd barely hit 800 Cals. Now I'm at 1550 Cals and some days I do go over but I find it much easier to eat at that level. I started losing because my body was being properly fueled, not starved one day then having a surplus the next.
  • AllTehBeers
    AllTehBeers Posts: 5,030 Member
    wGGL8Zs.gif

    Awww all those special snow flakes are so pretty!