Please Help, I am TOTALLY confused! Calorie Deficit
diaryofaskinnygirl
Posts: 146
Hi there,
I went to my dietician today to see how I was doing. She told me that my weight and body fat was stable, and that right now, what I was taking in is equalling what I am expending.
Here's the thing. I am eating at a deficit.
She said because the "balance" is off in my diet, that is why I am not losing weight.
She told me that the balance of carbs/fat/protein needs to be 50/30/20, and that because I am not eating a lot of fruits and vegetables, even though I am eating at a deficit, I will not lose weight.
She also told me that I eat too much sugar and that is hindering my weight loss.
Now I am TOTALLY confused. I don't have a clue what to do, I seem to always be doing it wrong. It's so frustrating that even though I am exercising and eating at a deficit, I still amn't losing weight because the "balance" is off.
According to MFP, a calorie deficit is most important for weight loss, so why are my dietician and body saying otherwise?
I went to my dietician today to see how I was doing. She told me that my weight and body fat was stable, and that right now, what I was taking in is equalling what I am expending.
Here's the thing. I am eating at a deficit.
She said because the "balance" is off in my diet, that is why I am not losing weight.
She told me that the balance of carbs/fat/protein needs to be 50/30/20, and that because I am not eating a lot of fruits and vegetables, even though I am eating at a deficit, I will not lose weight.
She also told me that I eat too much sugar and that is hindering my weight loss.
Now I am TOTALLY confused. I don't have a clue what to do, I seem to always be doing it wrong. It's so frustrating that even though I am exercising and eating at a deficit, I still amn't losing weight because the "balance" is off.
According to MFP, a calorie deficit is most important for weight loss, so why are my dietician and body saying otherwise?
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Replies
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b-b-b-b-bull...'crap'.
I've done a lot of 'dieting' in my life... its easier than fixing your ****ty eating habits don't ya know? I have lost weight (>25 lbs) eating:
100% pure protein & fat
100% pure carbs
and nothing but hard candy.
If you can literally eat pure sugar or nothing but protein or fat and lose weight it kinda disproves the 50/30/20 theory. Have you recalculated your tdee? How many calories are you eating daily? How much of a deficit? Remember a pound of weight is 3500 calories. How frequently are you hitting 3500 calories? Every 3rd day? Once a week? Once every two? three? five? How long have you been stuck?
Let me explain it using myself as an example:
300lbs, 69inches, 36 years assuming a 1700 Calorie diet per day, sedentary rate 2737/day: 2737-1700=1037 cal/day or 7259/wk or 2.074 lbs/wk
200lbs, 69inches, 36 years assuming a 1700 Calorie diet per day, sedentary rate 2193/day: 2193-1700= 493 cal/day or 3451/wk or 0.986 lbs/wk
150lbs, 69inches, 36 years assuming a 1700 Calorie diet per day, sedentary rate 1920/day: 1920-1700= 220 cal/day or 1540/wk or 0.44 lbs/wk0 -
b-b-b-b-bull...'crap'.
I've done a lot of 'dieting' in my life... its easier than fixing your ****ty eating habits don't ya know? I have lost weight (>25 lbs) eating:
100% pure protein & fat
100% pure carbs
and nothing but hard candy.
If you can literally eat pure sugar or nothing but protein or fat and lose weight it kinda disproves the 50/30/20 theory. Have you recalculated your tdee? How many calories are you eating daily? How much of a deficit? Remember a pound of weight is 3500 calories. How frequently are you hitting 3500 calories? Every 3rd day? Once a week? Once every two? three? five?
That's what I thought was the case, but according to my dietician, it's not about the amount of calories, but the type of food.
I usually eat between 1300-1500 calories a day. According to Katch Mc Ardle my TDEE is 18500 -
Not sure where you are from and what 'dietician' means there. What are her qualifications?0
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Not sure where you are from and what 'dietician' means there. What are her qualifications?
As a dietician she has a degree in Human Nutrition & Dietetics0 -
Listen to your dietician - what you eat matters. The quality of the fuel you put into your body matters. Follow her advice, try balancing your macros for a month, try it. The proof is in just giving it a shot. I didn't believe it either, until I tried it. There are a lot of different ways a body can look at a certain weight and when the clothes come off, the toned and lean and strong physiques are not usually an accident. Choose your own path but personally, I would rather be fit and toned than simply "thin" - there are some very flabby thin people out there and that's where the diet and exercise comes in beyond simply losing pounds.
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I'm also confused. My BMR and TDEE are between 2700-2800 respectively. My MFP calorie limit each day is 1310. I'm consuming around 1400 calories instead which consists of lean meats, veggies, fruits, and replacement shakes that are organic and/or raw. I train with a personal trainer 3 nights a week for thirty minutes and walk or bike all other days for 30 mins. I have been doing this for two weeks. Does this seem like a good balance? The more I read the more lost I am!!!0
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I think what the dietician is trying to get across is that even though a calorie deficit is needed for weight loss, some foods burn off quicker than others. The sugars in fruits and veg burn off much quicker than the sugars in a doughnut for example, even if you eat the same calorie value of them. Complex carbs take longer for the body to convert to fat, so are better for you than simple carbs...0
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Listen to your dietician - what you eat matters. The quality of the fuel you put into your body matters. Follow her advice, try balancing your macros for a month, try it. The proof is in just giving it a shot. I didn't believe it either, until I tried it. There are a lot of different ways a body can look at a certain weight and when the clothes come off, the toned and lean and strong physiques are not usually an accident. Choose your own path but personally, I would rather be fit and toned than simply "thin" - there are some very flabby thin people out there and that's where the diet and exercise comes in beyond simply losing pounds.
I am going to try, I am just desperate to lose the weight once and for all.
My macros are usually around 50/25/25 so why would 50/30/20 make such a huge difference?0 -
Listen to your dietician - what you eat matters. The quality of the fuel you put into your body matters. Follow her advice, try balancing your macros for a month, try it. The proof is in just giving it a shot. I didn't believe it either, until I tried it. There are a lot of different ways a body can look at a certain weight and when the clothes come off, the toned and lean and strong physiques are not usually an accident. Choose your own path but personally, I would rather be fit and toned than simply "thin" - there are some very flabby thin people out there and that's where the diet and exercise comes in beyond simply losing pounds.
^^Listen to miss Susieoj!! Shes right on point
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I think what the dietician is trying to get across is that even though a calorie deficit is needed for weight loss, some foods burn off quicker than others. The sugars in fruits and veg burn off much quicker than the sugars in a doughnut for example, even if you eat the same calorie value of them. Complex carbs take longer for the body to convert to fat, so are better for you than simple carbs...
Yes I do understand that but that would imply that I would still lose weight at a deficit no matter what?0 -
Get a new dietician. Type of food can affect water retention (high sodium, for example) and some foods take more energy to process than they have in the first place (like celery). But to lose weight, you need to take in fewer calories than you expend. Now, some foods will affect what your body burns to make up that deficit (low protein? muscle goes more, lowering metabolism and TDEE!), but if you're maintaining for an extended period, and you're also not seeing a difference in the inches, more likely you're eating a maintenance amount for your weight and metabolism.That's what I thought was the case, but according to my dietician, it's not about the amount of calories, but the type of food.0 -
Has anyone looked at her pics maybe she isn't loosing because she is at a healthy weight and her body is resisting.0
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I'm also confused. My BMR and TDEE are between 2700-2800 respectively. My MFP calorie limit each day is 1310. I'm consuming around 1400 calories instead which consists of lean meats, veggies, fruits, and replacement shakes that are organic and/or raw. I train with a personal trainer 3 nights a week for thirty minutes and walk or bike all other days for 30 mins. I have been doing this for two weeks. Does this seem like a good balance? The more I read the more lost I am!!!
First off, you BMR and TDEE should be significantly different and not that close together. TDEE for even a sedentary desk-job worker is 20% above BMR, and that's before doing any added exercise. Are you sure you calculated your numbers correctly?
Second, if your TDEE is 2800 and you're eating 1400, that's probably too great of a difference and you may be putting your body into "starvation mode" and lowering your metabolism (and BMR and TDEE) in the process.
My suggestion, and I have no professional training on this, would be to recalculate your TDEE (it'll be different, remember, on exercise days vs rest days, either average them, or go with rest day numbers and eat back your calories on exercise days) and try setting your goal at about 80% of that (which should be just about what your BMR is). Try that for a couple of weeks and see if it doesn't work better for you.0 -
Hi,
It's simply not true that all calories are equal. Your body burns calories in the process of digestions. Sugar, white bread, white rice and other very processed carbohydrates take little effort to digest, so you do not burn off many calories digesting these food.
On the other had, vegetables and whole fruit (not juice) take more calories to digest as do whole grains like brown rice, wild rice, barley, whole oats, quinoa, wild rice, etc. However some vegetables will need more calories to digest than others: thus for the purposes of burning calories, kale is better than ice berg lettuce; sweet potatoes are better than white potatoes.
If you look on line you can find a food glycemic index (GI): you want to emphasize LOW GI foods. Generally the low foods will take more calories to digest. Also low GI food will not raise your insulin level rapidly as to HIGH GI foods. A rapid rise in insulin levels is detrimental to losing weight, and of course generally just bad for your health.
So to sum up: go for low GI foods in order to burn more calories in digestion and keep you insulin levels from spiking. Guaranteed: if you get off the carbos and replace with vegies and protein you will lose weight.0 -
How honest is your dietician?
Is she actually saying that she believes you when you say you are eating at a 400-500 calorie per day deficit, but that this won't work because you need to reduce sugar or is she really bad at confrontation and doesn't actually believe your numbers so is saying cut down on candy as it seems like a good idea given your particular macro's.
Assuming this has been a consistent and long term lack of weight loss, then if what you were saying was correct this would make you a special snowflake who is somehow beating biology as your body isn't functioning the way any normal persons does. This seems unlikely.
Normal advice would be, if you have 400 cals deficit you could be overestimating TDEE and underestimating food intake and thereby cancelling out your deficit through miscalculation. How accurate do you think you are and what adjustments have you made to try to counter your lack of weight loss. You may be right on the numbers with your calculators but they can only be worked on averages and everyone is different. Real time adjustments are often needed in order to get to what works for you.
I think however that throwing out the calories in calories out theory and going for just better macro's may be a little pre-emptive at this stage. Better macro's can't be a bad thing though so maybe try adjusting them a little and playing with your calorie count too. See if that works!!0 -
That's what I thought was the case, but according to my dietician, it's not about the amount of calories, but the type of food.
I usually eat between 1300-1500 calories a day. According to Katch Mc Ardle my TDEE is 1850
How long have you been stuck? and regardless of that a 5% difference in your macro nutrient levels from the "optimal" 50/30/20 is NOT going to make your weight stick. Humans would never have been able to survive this long if our balance of macro nutrients was THAT sensitive.
I would seriously consider a second opinion from another dietician.
Your BMR at 2700 and TDEE at 2800... is likely not right, if you don't mind me asking what is your weight, age, and height?0 -
Lol and I am listening to mrs. Alloggio! And she and her husband are right! Come jump on the bandwagon lol eliteonlinefitness is helping me so much with figuring out how to make my food work for me, no bull... I can't believe how much more my diet makes sense now that I've started reading about the balancing macros0
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Get a new dietician. Type of food can affect water retention (high sodium, for example) and some foods take more energy to process than they have in the first place (like celery). But to lose weight, you need to take in fewer calories than you expend. Now, some foods will affect what your body burns to make up that deficit (low protein? muscle goes more, lowering metabolism and TDEE!), but if you're maintaining for an extended period, and you're also not seeing a difference in the inches, more likely you're eating a maintenance amount for your weight and metabolism.That's what I thought was the case, but according to my dietician, it's not about the amount of calories, but the type of food.
Hmm yes I understand that completely, and I used to agree, but I just don't understand why I'm not losing weight then! I'm definitely not eating at maintenance...0 -
Has anyone looked at her pics maybe she isn't loosing because she is at a healthy weight and her body is resisting.
I am not overweight but I still have a bit of fat that I could lose0 -
Has anyone looked at her pics maybe she isn't loosing because she is at a healthy weight and her body is resisting.
I was going to say exactly this....
I think maybe where your dietician is going is body composition...which it does matter what you put in your body. Strictly fat loss is law of thermodynamics and that's just straight up science. If she doesn't believe in that, then she sucks. But really, I think she's just trying to get you to focus on body comp.
Eat more nutrient dense foods...tiny deficit of TDEE...do some resistance work and moderate cardio.0 -
How honest is your dietician?
Is she actually saying that she believes you when you say you are eating at a 400-500 calorie per day deficit, but that this won't work because you need to reduce sugar or is she really bad at confrontation and doesn't actually believe your numbers so is saying cut down on candy as it seems like a good idea given your particular macro's.
Assuming this has been a consistent and long term lack of weight loss, then if what you were saying was correct this would make you a special snowflake who is somehow beating biology as your body isn't functioning the way any normal persons does. This seems unlikely.
Normal advice would be, if you have 400 cals deficit you could be overestimating TDEE and underestimating food intake and thereby cancelling out your deficit through miscalculation. How accurate do you think you are and what adjustments have you made to try to counter your lack of weight loss. You may be right on the numbers with your calculators but they can only be worked on averages and everyone is different. Real time adjustments are often needed in order to get to what works for you.
I think however that throwing out the calories in calories out theory and going for just better macro's may be a little pre-emptive at this stage. Better macro's can't be a bad thing though so maybe try adjusting them a little and playing with your calorie count too. See if that works!!
I don't know why she would lie about the calories not being important. She knows that I am a strict calorie counter and she is trying to get me to actually stop being so regimented with counting and weighing everything.
It's not that I eat candy, but she thinks that the cereals I eat are too sugary, and I use maple syrup and golden syrup in my porridge and things like that. She thinks that the sugar is unnecessary.0 -
Has anyone looked at her pics maybe she isn't loosing because she is at a healthy weight and her body is resisting.
I was going to say exactly this....
I think maybe where your dietician is going is body composition...which it does matter what you put in your body. Strictly fat loss is law of thermodynamics and that's just straight up science. If she doesn't believe in that, then she sucks. But really, I think she's just trying to get you to focus on body comp.
Eat more nutrient dense foods...tiny deficit of TDEE...do some resistance work and moderate cardio.
Yes this is true, she is more concerned with Body Fat rather than weight. She calculated my body fat as 20%, using the electronic machine that sends electric signals through your body. I'm not sure how accurate that is.0 -
You need to fuel your body in a way it can relate...
I can eat 100 calories in sugar and not operate well, or I can eat 100 calories of protein and use it as fuel.
If you are already close to normal weight now it's going to get harder. Your body is saying "please stop - I'm already at a healthy size." Small macro changes won't be a big deal either. You've done fine up until now with the 50/25/25 ratio.0 -
Has anyone looked at her pics maybe she isn't loosing because she is at a healthy weight and her body is resisting.
I was going to say exactly this....
I think maybe where your dietician is going is body composition...which it does matter what you put in your body. Strictly fat loss is law of thermodynamics and that's just straight up science. If she doesn't believe in that, then she sucks. But really, I think she's just trying to get you to focus on body comp.
Eat more nutrient dense foods...tiny deficit of TDEE...do some resistance work and moderate cardio.
^^ This. The last few pounds really are the most difficult so it can take a while. Also, make sure your logging everything accurately. I usually set my calorie goal a little bit lower than what I actually aim for to try and catch the margin of error.0 -
I agree with this one. my BMR is 1205 and my TDEE at sedentary is 1436. There's an issue here, perhaps it's the definitions that are confusing you?I'm also confused. My BMR and TDEE are between 2700-2800 respectively. My MFP calorie limit each day is 1310. I'm consuming around 1400 calories instead which consists of lean meats, veggies, fruits, and replacement shakes that are organic and/or raw. I train with a personal trainer 3 nights a week for thirty minutes and walk or bike all other days for 30 mins. I have been doing this for two weeks. Does this seem like a good balance? The more I read the more lost I am!!!
First off, you BMR and TDEE should be significantly different and not that close together. TDEE for even a sedentary desk-job worker is 20% above BMR, and that's before doing any added exercise. Are you sure you calculated your numbers correctly?
Second, if your TDEE is 2800 and you're eating 1400, that's probably too great of a difference and you may be putting your body into "starvation mode" and lowering your metabolism (and BMR and TDEE) in the process.
My suggestion, and I have no professional training on this, would be to recalculate your TDEE (it'll be different, remember, on exercise days vs rest days, either average them, or go with rest day numbers and eat back your calories on exercise days) and try setting your goal at about 80% of that (which should be just about what your BMR is). Try that for a couple of weeks and see if it doesn't work better for you.0 -
I'm also confused. My BMR and TDEE are between 2700-2800 respectively.
This doesn't sound right, where did you get those numbers?0 -
I'm also confused. My BMR and TDEE are between 2700-2800 respectively. My MFP calorie limit each day is 1310. I'm consuming around 1400 calories instead which consists of lean meats, veggies, fruits, and replacement shakes that are organic and/or raw. I train with a personal trainer 3 nights a week for thirty minutes and walk or bike all other days for 30 mins. I have been doing this for two weeks. Does this seem like a good balance? The more I read the more lost I am!!!
Um .... no
You basal metabolic rate is if you stayed in bed all day .... your total daily expenditure is your activity level PLUS exercise.
Unless you stay in bed all day (as your activity level) and use (I dunno) sit up and read as your exercise (I'm sure truning pages burns a few calories) .....your TDEE is certainly more than 100 calories higher than your BMR
MFP does "math" ..... you put in "I want to lose X pounds per week" .... and MFP gives you some number that is at least 1200. MFP asks that you add exercise back in & eat those calories as well.
It's not what you eat to lose weight (an all Twinkie diet would work) ..... however, your body composition ..... fat to muscle .... that's what you eat (AND losing weight at a reasonable pace). Fast weight loss results in more muscle loss.0 -
TYPO: My BMR is 1845. My TDEE is 2911. My calorie suggestion by MFP is 1310. My activity level is moderate. 5 days a week for 30 mins, three days circuit training with a trainer, 2 days walking or biking moderately for 30 mins.0
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All I read was the first post because I'm sure you got....
1. Your Dietician is a quack.
2. You can eat all Twinkies and lose weight if you are at a deficit.
I'm not sure I would agree with either of those. But it is better in the long run to get fruits and vegetables into your plan. They provide needed micronutrients that make weight loss easier.
That said, you look to be at a healthy weight, You are going to have to resort to extremely good nutrition and exercise to "fool" your body into letting go of extra fat.
You may be where you need to be. Don't stress it so much.0 -
I would suggest that at 20% body fat, age 19, you are in the healthy range and stressing way too much.
http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/library/blbodyfatcharts.htm0
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