MFP Liars?

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  • WhiteRabbit1313
    WhiteRabbit1313 Posts: 1,091 Member
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    "(By the way doesn't anyelse else think the caloric estimates in some of the cardio here to be WAAAY high... - you tell me if you think moderate cycling burns a lot more than a slow jog...)"

    ^^YES!!!^^ I am sedentary to moderately active, so I don't even track exercise, because it would be setting myself up for failure, imo. You also can't tell me that anyone burns 600 calories doing 1.5 hours of housework. I mean, you'd have to be vigorously scrubbing the crap out of your tile grout and dancing zumba around your vacuum, right?!?!
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
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    Question:

    Is it possible to lose >1 lb a day WITHOUT massive exercise and starvation or chemical enhancement?- or are there just a few liars here?

    From what I understand give or take a little, you need to create a defecit of 3500 calories to lose a pound. So unless you are maintaining a daily caloric burn of >3500 calories - which if you have a normal - i.e. non-physically demanding job and don't do cardio all day everyday, seems virtually impossible. BESIDES that burn, you also need to maintain a daily caloric intake of 0. Or any combination i.e. - 4500 burn and 1000 calories in. This seems like a long term recipe for disaster.

    Obviously I know the first week or so you can drop a massive amount as your body sheds retained water, but that is a short term burst. I also understand the heavier you start the faster you can lose - as your base metabolic rate will be that much higher. But still.

    Someone tell me I'm wrong. I want to believe people can do this safely (i.e. no chemical enchancements) and are not lying, but I do feel like if they are lying its hurting others who may not have all the base knowledge to understand and feel frustrated with their "only 1-2 lbs" a week loss - which is actually great and a very healthy pace to lose weight at.

    Anyway, rant mode off.



    (By the way doesn't anyelse else think the caloric estimates in some of the cardio here to be WAAAY high... - you tell me if you think moderate cycling burns a lot more than a slow jog...)
    Why are you do worried about what other people are doing or claim? I take people at face value if they're lying the only person they're fooling is themselves.
  • baldmitch
    baldmitch Posts: 90 Member
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    Here's a scenario of what's happening to me:

    I started exercising 3 months ago and did nothing but gain weight. If I replaced a meal with a salad, I still gained weight. If I "lost" a pound while I slept, I'd gain 3 before the next bedtime. we're talking just cardio walking mostly, but added some freeweight, too.

    The first issue was gaining muscle mass while losing a lot less fat than I was gaining in muscle.

    The second issue was high sodium diet, helping me retain water.

    A third issue, minor really, is walking instead of running (the body rewards efficiency). I can't run for very long, so it's a reality I'm at peace with.

    A fourth issue was eating like a bird when I could have been eating lots of the right kinds of metabo-fantastic foods. I was slowing my metabolism.

    So, now that I've cut way back on sodium, am eating a healthy amount of healthy foods, and maintaining all those good exercise gains, if I start losing 1-2 lbs *a day* for a week or so, I wouldn't be surprised. It's the body just catching up to a lot of hard work already "paid for".

    I probably won't know, because I stopped weighing myself everyday. I was developing an obsession and decided to hide the battery of my digital scale, my wife giving it to me once a week.
  • MzManiak
    MzManiak Posts: 1,361 Member
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    Could just be that those people record their weight everyday. You don't see the weight go up because MFP doesn't announce gains.... you only see that the next day they show a "loss".
  • AnnetteM3Nissim
    AnnetteM3Nissim Posts: 2
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    You are exactly correct:smile:
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    If I'm really stressed and can't eat, I easily drop a pound a day. But if I eat normally, no.
  • AnnetteM3Nissim
    AnnetteM3Nissim Posts: 2
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    You are exactly correct:smile:
  • IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym
    IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym Posts: 5,573 Member
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    if its not you and/or you're not banging them, does it really matter? Do you. Work hard. Eat right. Get results.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
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    For the very obese who are used to eating 5000 calories or more a day, a 3500 calorie a day restriction is mathematically possible and might be possible in a hospital setting.
  • lynn1982
    lynn1982 Posts: 1,439 Member
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    These people are probably not losing a pound of fat per day. My weight fluctuates based on various factors, including what I have eaten, time of the month, etc. Sometimes I will log a 2 pound weight GAIN, which does not show up on my news feed. This weight gain is not fat, but instead is water retention, etc. The next day I might be back down those 2 pounds and will log the LOSS. This shows up on my news feed, but it is not an additional loss to my previous losses. I'm not lying and it's perfectly healthy, but I also did not lose 2 pounds of fat in one day, just like I did not gain 2 pounds of fat in one day. Make sense?

    Ultimately though, worry about yourself. Not others.
  • c_tap77
    c_tap77 Posts: 189 Member
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    I weigh every day but only log once a week to avoid all of these drastic fluctuations in weight. Just as an example, Here's my Friday-Saturday weight shifts:

    Friday AM 195.7 lbs
    Friday PM 197.1 lbs
    Saturday AM 194.0 lbs
    Saturday PM 196.2 lbs

    But my average weightloss per week has been a total of 1.7 lbs.

    Now if I had logged both Friday AM and Saturday PM it would look like I had lost nearly 2lbs in a day--which is not the case. For my weekly weigh-in when I check in, I always weigh myself at the same time (after I workout before I jump in the shower) and it has given me a pretty accurate count.

    Honestly I don't think people on MFP are "lying" per se. I just think a lot of people log as soon as they see a loss of any kind and don't log any of the other gains they see. So to the rest of us it may look like they lost a few pounds in a day...Just a thought.
  • vim_n_vigor
    vim_n_vigor Posts: 4,089 Member
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    The larger the person starting out, the more weight they can lose daily when starting. It is a much smaller percentage of their total weight than say, someone who weighs 140 lbs. It can happen, not to all, or even most.

    I get that but it's the 1-2 lbs a day AVERAGE for an extended period - not the initial burst I am talking about. Take me for example - I lost like 16 lbs in 2 weeks. Since then I have lost 1-2 lbs a week (not a day). I still have a ton (read 70-80 lbs for ulimate goal) to lose. I am eating in the 500-1000 calorie a day deficit range (compare to approximated caloric use daily) meaning 3500-7000 calories a week deficit which equates exactly to my weight loss. Assuming the approximation for some people maybe off slightly - this could result in losses of 0-3 lbs a week instead. It does not however, make it 7-10 lbs a week no matter how "fast your metabolism" is and how much you have to lose.

    There are some people on here with 100, 200 or more to lose. I would expect that they can keep up the higher weight loss longer. Like I said, it is a much smaller percentage of their total body weight.
  • BobcatGirl110
    BobcatGirl110 Posts: 364 Member
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    I think weight fluctuation is normal from day to day based on what you eat and drink...so a 3lb loss or gain in one day isn't "real" but part of the learning process as we go through the weight less journey. Be consistent in your diet and exercise and you will win the battle in the long run....I have much concern for "quick losses" but know that I personally needed to learn how to eat right and exercise so I gotta do "my thing" to be successful....and this is a pretty individual process so who know what does or does not work for each person. I will suggest that the point of MFP friends is to have people on your list/wall that inspire and make you feel supported so if you have people who make you feel concerned/negative/or you question their honesty then find some other friends...it's not personal....it's just finding the people who work best with you and for you :)
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    Could just be that those people record their weight everyday. You don't see the weight go up because MFP doesn't announce gains.... you only see that the next day they show a "loss".

    This.
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,473 Member
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    anything is possible
    but you know this.
  • rose313
    rose313 Posts: 1,146 Member
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    Yes, the cardio calorie estimates are way too high. I don't even count exercise calories anymore, I just set my goal to TDEE and eat under that. I think it's hardly possible that someone can lose a pound a day for an extended period of time. If they're lying, they're only cheating themselves.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    (By the way doesn't anyelse else think the caloric estimates in some of the cardio here to be WAAAY high... - you tell me if you think moderate cycling burns a lot more than a slow jog...)

    Depends entirely on definition of "moderately" and "slow". Especially since "moderate" is a unit of effort while "slow" is a unit of speed.

    I wish MFP allowed for entering distances instead of the vague speed-bucket choices, but I get why they do it this way.
  • es513
    es513 Posts: 51 Member
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    My weight is coming off at about 1lb or a little less a day. Why? Probably because I have more than 60lbs to lose and I switched from a very fat greasy diet to a an extremely healthy diet practically overnight. Also, I went from being COMPLETELY inactive, to waking up at 6am everyday to work out.

    At one point or another you're just going to have to stop worrying about everyone else and focus on only yourself :)

    I also use a hrm and weigh my meals to record accurately.
  • lumpy_spaceprincess
    lumpy_spaceprincess Posts: 52 Member
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    It may be possible, but weight fluctuates daily, so I personally wouldn't weigh myself every day and definitely wouldn't log those results. I weigh myself once a week, on the same day and at the same time. I can weigh myself, eat breakfast and be 2lb heavier!
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    I don't know if it's been mentioned, but yeah.

    I lose 4-5 lbs a month... All of them within 10 days. So I'll sometimes lose 2 lbs in one day, or 3 lbs in 3 days or something. From what I've read, fat cells fill with water, and they all pretty much deplete at once, and that's when you lose weight, but the fat itself has been burned sometimes within the last couple weeks (for me).

    Heck I don't know how it works, but that's how it's been working with me for like 6 months now.

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