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It is NOT that simple.

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  • Posts: 16,356 Member

    Only the rich ones, honey. The rest of the folks were very fortunate to get three squares a day and were engaged in heavy manual labor for their rich, fat overlords. That is why "corpulence" was a status symbol among the wealthy and wannabes.

    Now it is completely reversed--obesity is a sign of poverty and being slim and trim is the province of those better off.

    Only a sign of relative poverty, some of the time, since plenty of rich folks are fat. I'd say starvation is still a sign of poverty in most parts of the world outside of first world nations.
  • Posts: 2,560 Member
    i agree with you. I lost weight at 1200 calories but I was still fat, like I still had the same fat distribution. Then I started eating more, but it was healthy mostly whole food and I lost weight slower, but my composition was different. I lost far more belly fat that way.
  • Posts: 28,072 Member


    I worked my way down to 1100, but my starting point was still under my TDEE (found that out later, actually, but still true). I think I was around 1600 when I started (if I'm remembering correctly), and then kept cutting down more and more until I remained at 1100 for about 8 months. When I hadn't lost after 8 mos of being 1100 (net, after workouts, which I never ate back), I sought a trainer, who told me to eat more.

    The doctor was the one who told me to cut down, and that it was basic math, and if I just cut down enough, it would come off.

    And there WERE underlying factors, which is exactly my point. That yes, I was starving myself and that clearly wasn't going to work in my favor, but also the oversimplification from the doctor did not account for the possibility of any other problems. I went to multiple doctors who all assumed that since I was overweight, I must eat too much. They saw the weight as the cause, not the symptom, of something larger. And so when people on here oversimplify and INSIST that if someone isn't losing on CI/CO that they are doing it wrong, lying, or ignorant... they completely ignore the possibility that there are other things going on that may make it difficult (or impossible) to lose weight. To them, there seems to be no other possibilities or other means to lose weight. They seem to assume that there is nothing more to it--that everyone's metabolism is exactly the same. But certain foods can cause inflammation, water retention, hormonal imbalances, gut disturbances, malnutrition, and even autoimmune reactions. But none of that is mentioned--it's just "You're wrong", "You're lying", "You don't understand science", "You just don't get it", etc. It's rude and ignorant to take that stance.

    In defense of a lot of people, I see a lot of threads that ask whether someone has been tested for something that would cause metabolic issues such as thyroid problems and PCOS when they post that they have not been losing weight. Were you ever diagnosed with something along those lines?
  • Posts: 31
    I think you have hit the nail on the head. I have dropped down to roughly 1200 calories a day and only lost 2kg in a 3 week period nearly. My weight seems to have levelled out at this, which I find strange.
    I am not hungry and usually eating well, ensuring lots of veggies but I have picked up on my fruit intake though.
    Stick with it, you are doing well.
  • Posts: 28,072 Member
    I think you have hit the nail on the head. I have dropped down to roughly 1200 calories a day and only lost 2kg in a 3 week period nearly. My weight seems to have levelled out at this, which I find strange.
    I am not hungry and usually eating well, ensuring lots of veggies but I have picked up on my fruit intake though.
    Stick with it, you are doing well.

    You have lost 7lb in 3 weeks - that is a perfectly acceptable rate. The leveling off is because the first week or two, the majority of the loss is water weight. That being said, 1,200 is way too low for you.
  • Posts: 961 Member
    ...and that's the problem. We're trying to help the OP understand that in order for the body to burn calories, it needs to have fuel to do so. If you don't amply fuel the body, it won't burn and lose. Eating less isn't necessarily the answer in a straight-forward sense. It is, however, burning more than you consume.

    It is CI/CO, effectively. It is more complex in the sense of figuring out what number an individual needs to be at, but it isn't "everyone is a special unique snowflake" complex.

    Yes, but another thing, that I said earlier, is that when you hit a plateau, you need to also increase your CI, gain 1-2 lb's, and lose again, and repeat. That gets the body burning again, which again, is more complex than CI/CO. I think she is just saying that there is more to it than the general in/out. But like I said, In vs out is the basics of it, yes, but then there's all the other stuff that people would benefit from knowing.
  • Posts: 185 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 agree.
  • Posts: 505

    Yes, but another thing, that I said earlier, is that when you hit a plateau, you need to also increase your CI, gain 1-2 lb's, and lose again, and repeat. That gets the body burning again, which again, is more complex than CI/CO. I think she is just saying that there is more to it than the general in/out. But like I said, In vs out is the basics of it, yes, but then there's all the other stuff that people would benefit from knowing.

    I have yet to hit a plateau. Every time my weight has stayed the same or gone up a little, it was obvious it was either an increase in food intake (easily explained by holiday meal) or water retention due to my time of month, which is gone a week later. So all I do is just keep doing what I am doing and not sweat a stall on the scale too much when the tape measure is still getting smaller.
  • Posts: 961 Member


    Wow, way to totally twist everything I've said to this point. And since you repeatedly do that each and every time you respond, I don't see the point in actually addressing what you've said, other than to say, "Thanks for proving my point."

    Girl, just give up! Run away from this thread!!! Lolol...some people just like starting crap, and getting people P'd off. I guess it's fun for them! I'm with you, I think I know where you're coming from, but there's no use in repeating yourself over, and over, if people are just going to get all defensive about it. I'm going to hit the treadmill and run away from this thread....and most of the other ones tonight! Don't worry, be happy!!! :laugh:
  • Posts: 2,333 Member
    My goodness!!! Where's the love folks???? I think the OP was not meant to be rude, and I didn't see it as being such. I think that it is just upsetting to people trying to lose weight, when people are always saying CI/CO, and so they keep cutting down calories, more and more, until they're just starving themselves! I've been there! I know what it felt like! Not good! Nobody wants to go through the torture of starving themselves, just to come up short! It's very discouraging, and eventually, the person will give up. While it is, on one hand, basically CI/CO, it CAN be more complex, like she is trying to say! She's not cutting down MFP, she's just telling people that it is not ALWAYS that simple. I think that we all need to be supporting each other!!! Weight loss is a hard enough thing to do, let alone all the crap we have to deal with just with life, in general. Can't we all just get along!!! :tongue: :heart:

    yeah, i thought the op was perfectly polite and her views made sense, but then people were extremely rude to her because they disagreed with her opinion. seems to be the way this forum works a lot of the time.
  • Posts: 2,333 Member

    Um, stop overgeneralizing based on your own personal experiences. For some people it is that simple - for others, it's not.

    pretty sure she was trying to tell other people to stop overgeneralizing. that was the entire point of her post and you missed it.
  • Posts: 2,333 Member
    Sure a person can be skinny fat... Triglycerides through the roof, hypercholesterolemia, poor HDL/LDL ratio, hypertension. Unless someone is morbidly obese or seriously underweight you cant tell the health of person by the scale. Jeeshers!

    then why not just call them unhealthy? the term skinny fat tends to be used for people who don't have muscle. you would have no clue just based on looking at them what those numbers even are. that is why i don't like that term.
  • Posts: 3,161 Member

    What Dr. Lustig says about sugar, was pretty much said by my cardiologist about a decade ago. Not much new there, I just wasn't ready to listen.

    I still think he is trying to sell a book and sensationalising it more than necessary, giving some people the wrong impression that they don't have to exercise (wrong) and they don't have to count calories (also wrong). But overall, he is right about how different sugars metabolise and it is advice well heeded.

    I know quite a few people that don't count calories. My personal endocrinologist stated that calorie counting is worthless because people think it is counted in absolutes and it is just estimations, my Endo also stated that we should learn to eat intuitively.
  • Posts: 1,102 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.

    There is nothing wrong with that term. It doesn't exist to say that thinner people with no muscle tone are "skinny fat" people. Its saying that there are thinner people that have awful diets and treat their body terribly but don't necessarily gain a ton of weight and look completely health on the outside but have the same health issues on the inside as someone that is significantly overweight.

    Don't worry hun, no one is trying to shame you.
  • Posts: 207 Member

    In defense of a lot of people, I see a lot of threads that ask whether someone has been tested for something that would cause metabolic issues such as thyroid problems and PCOS when they post that they have not been losing weight. Were you ever diagnosed with something along those lines?

    Yes, as I said, it's not everyone--just some who are rather vehement about it, and tend to be condescending to anyone who offers a differing viewpoint.

    After nearly 20 years of various symptoms, half a dozen doctors, and nothing more than "Eat less to lose the weight", I did finally receive a diagnosis of PCOS (including the accompanying hypoglycemia), and later, of Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, which is a form of hypothyroidism that is primarily triggered by gluten. So by following the doc's advice of simply eating less, and by following mainstream dieting (counting calories, but keeping "whole grains" as a major part of my diet), I did myself no favors. By oversimplifying and assuming that I simply needed to cut calories, it pushed me into a dangerous mode of malnutrition. By altering my diet to whole foods, my hormones became level again, my neurological health was improved (suffered from depression and was able to defeat that with increased natural fat intake), my digestion was much improved--even better once I cut out gluten, which I did not initially do when I lost the first 60 lbs--and I even had better skin, hair, nails, and teeth. Overall, I'm healthier, despite still having a few more pounds I'd like to shave off. The "final fifteen", if you will. But that process taught me that not only is it just plain incorrect to oversimplify weight loss with such broad statements, but it can also be dangerous if taken too strictly/literally.
  • Posts: 441 Member

    Awww all those special snow flakes are so pretty!

    Thanks for the "special snow flakes" comment. I was really trying to figure out what the h*** that gif had to do with anything. :-P
  • Posts: 505

    I know quite a few people that don't count calories. My personal endocrinologist stated that calorie counting is worthless because people think it is counted in absolutes and it is just estimations, my Endo also stated that we should learn to eat intuitively.

    I am aware it is an estimation, but it is an estimation that generally works, and I link it to my use of a food scale to exercise portion control, which after a while teaches you the intuitive skills that you are probably lacking (I certainly was lacking them). My "intuitive skills" for portion control are crap without measuring it out beforehand. Snacking is where I go wrong and measuring it out keeps me from uncontrolled snacking.

    As I said in a previous post, I made up all kinds of excuses, I won't accept this as an excuse either. No portion control means I would have never gotten a handle on my snacking. I watch more than just calories, I maintain ratios of protein vs. carbohydrate and fats in my diet as well, as well as a particular amount of fiber intake.
  • OP: You are either not including, or are unaware of the entire situation. If you had only 1100 or so calories a day for a year straight, you would be nothing but bones. The science behind it is solid.

    To Everyone Else: It really ISN'T as simple as calories in, calories out in the context of the original post. In literal times, yes, it is correct, but for a person who hasn't studied human physiology the myriad of variables that go into the "calories out" portion is to much to take in. Lay off the OP- bottom line here is that she is posting that she had more success with eating more calories. I have my theories as to why she didn't lose weight with less calories, but because I'm not an evil forum troll and have basic human compassion I don't feel compelled to attack her.

    ::rolleyes::
  • Posts: 28,072 Member

    Yes, as I said, it's not everyone--just some who are rather vehement about it, and tend to be condescending to anyone who offers a differing viewpoint.

    After nearly 20 years of various symptoms, half a dozen doctors, and nothing more than "Eat less to lose the weight", I did finally receive a diagnosis of PCOS (including the accompanying hypoglycemia), and later, of Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, which is a form of hypothyroidism that is primarily triggered by gluten. So by following the doc's advice of simply eating less, and by following mainstream dieting (counting calories, but keeping "whole grains" as a major part of my diet), I did myself no favors. By oversimplifying and assuming that I simply needed to cut calories, it pushed me into a dangerous mode of malnutrition. By altering my diet to whole foods, my hormones became level again, my neurological health was improved (suffered from depression and was able to defeat that with increased natural fat intake), my digestion was much improved--even better once I cut out gluten, which I did not initially do when I lost the first 60 lbs--and I even had better skin, hair, nails, and teeth. Overall, I'm healthier, despite still having a few more pounds I'd like to shave off. The "final fifteen", if you will. But that process taught me that not only is it just plain incorrect to oversimplify weight loss with such broad statements, but it can also be dangerous if taken too strictly/literally.

    Did you find that by cutting out processed foods you decreased your carb intake?
  • Posts: 1,941 Member
    I made it four pages into this thread before I rage quit.
  • Posts: 1,102 Member

    well yeah in that case it's true. eating a crappy diet is bad. most people don't use the term skinny fat to mean that. they use it to mean skinny, but not muscular. that's why i hate the term.

    I don't think anyone using that term means a skinny person that isn't muscular. I think you're letting your insecurities creep out about that phrase.
  • Posts: 34,415 Member
    I made it four pages into this thread before I rage quit.

    I'll ruin the ending for you: on page EIGHT, we finally get the missing vital information that resolves the mystery for everyone. Sure, many foreshadowed the twist very early on in the thread, but even after dozens of posts from OP, it was PAGE EIGHT when she revealed a medical condition.
  • Posts: 207 Member
    Did you find that by cutting out processed foods you decreased your carb intake?

    Not necessarily, because at first I just switched out white for wheat, etc. I did, however, increase my protein to make it a 1:2 protein:carb ratio, rather than the 1:3 that it was previously. But when I did cut out processed at that point, I cut out trans fats, down on sodium, down on processed sugar (replaced with natural), down on dairy. It wasn't until I went gluten free (4 years after the initial weight loss) that I cut way down on carbs. That diet change allowed me to lose 30lb without even trying. I did no additional exercise other than being as active as I was before (hiking with kids, walks around the block, etc), but by going gluten free and cutting my carbs practically in half, I lost 30 lb in 3 months. Unfortunately, that was after gaining 20 during two pregnancies, so it only got me 10 under what I was at the initial weight loss.
  • Posts: 3,161 Member

    Um, stop overgeneralizing based on your own personal experiences. For some people it is that simple - for others, it's not.

    Umm, how about you stop generalizing about the CI/CO myth. It's not that simple. There are many doctors that call it the low fat myth as that is when "calorie counting" became popular.

    As my Endo has stated.........Physics (thermodynamics) has no place in human biochemistry. They aren't the same science and should not be treated as such.

    You are saying it is that simple that everyone is in perfect hormonal balance and such that weight loss should be that easy.

    Well, I have news for you. It is not.
  • Posts: 34,971 Member

    I'll ruin the ending for you: on page EIGHT, we finally get the missing vital information that resolves the mystery for everyone. Sure, many foreshadowed the twist very early on in the thread, but even after dozens of posts from OP, it was PAGE EIGHT when she revealed a medical condition.

    Wow..things that should be included from the beginning *smh* :grumble:
  • Posts: 207 Member

    I'll ruin the ending for you: on page EIGHT, we finally get the missing vital information that resolves the mystery for everyone. Sure, many foreshadowed the twist very early on in the thread, but even after dozens of posts from OP, it was PAGE EIGHT when she revealed a medical condition.

    And that's exactly my point. All the oversimplification of CICO doesn't account for those things, and they automatically assumed I was "doing it wrong". Rather than looking at outside factors, or considering the possibility that there is a "complication" to the weight loss, the knee-jerk reaction is to assume that someone is either lying or not doing something right, or that they "don't understand". The automatic reaction is to accuse and be condescending, rather than look to other possibilities.
  • Posts: 265 Member
    I wasted an hour reading this thread and all i got was this "Cals in < Cals out" shirt.
    I just want to sum up what happened to be sure I understand. No offense intended and please correct me if I am wrong.

    OP went in Starvation mode per directives from her doctor.
    OP got a trainer and upped calories at the same time switched to whole foods
    -then also added a day of exercise.
    -1600 cals = drop 60lbs
    OP reveals 8 pages in that has had a thyroid issue with several other health problems. (one of the mentioned exceptions)
    OP admits that simply or generically the CI/CO is true... but not for everyone.
    Overall health is not equal to weight loss goals.
    Something about a car or unleaded fuel. Here I got lost in the thread but this was important


    Dammit nothing new. Oh wait I need to check out the doctor selling his book on NPR.
  • Posts: 34,971 Member

    And that's exactly my point. All the oversimplification of CICO doesn't account for those things, and they automatically assumed I was "doing it wrong". Rather than looking at outside factors, or considering the possibility that there is a "complication" to the weight loss, the knee-jerk reaction is to assume that someone is either lying or not doing something right, or that they "don't understand". The automatic reaction is to accuse and be condescending, rather than look to other possibilities.

    No one and no post I've ever seen belittles someone for having a condition or states that they are lying about their issues with a "program" based on their condition. But the people that have issues normally let others know their medical condition upfront. I am very confident that there has not been a post in which someone said this doesn't work and they have a medical condition and people belittled them for it. If so, would love to have that link because that will definitely be a first.

    If someone doesn't let others know about their condition, though, *coughs*..then others will question and try to figure out what's going on.
  • Posts: 505
    As my Endo has stated.........Physics (thermodynamics) has no place in human biochemistry. They aren't the same science and should not be treated as such.

    I would have walked out on your endo. It IS the same science, it's that the way calories are calculated in foods is not how the body metabolises them. Your endo should have known that.

    How much weight have you lost using this method, by the way?
  • Posts: 3,863 Member

    And that's exactly my point. All the oversimplification of CICO doesn't account for those things, and they automatically assumed I was "doing it wrong". Rather than looking at outside factors, or considering the possibility that there is a "complication" to the weight loss, the knee-jerk reaction is to assume that someone is either lying or not doing something right, or that they "don't understand". The automatic reaction is to accuse and be condescending, rather than look to other possibilities.
    People were asking you for EIGHT pages whether or not you had a medical condition that affects the CI/CO equation.

    And it took you EIGHT pages to respond.
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