It's NOT always as simple as a deficit

So this topic has been bothering me for a very long time.. and I know its not that simple and here is why.
Time and intesnity are not include.

Everybody here say eat less, eat less and make it seem so simple, but they are clearing forgetting about other parts. Time.
Here is what I beleive is an example.. Now we are not going to talk about somebody who is 600 lbs. Weight will just melt off when he eats 1000 calories a day.

But when somebody else who needs to loose 10lbs, weight just dosn't melt off.
Lets say I I start to eat at 1200 calories and I don't see weight fall off. My next thing would be to drop the calories to 1000. But I can't because everybody here says its a no no. so that means I have to in crease my burn, my exercise..

Lets talk about that. I do not know how to increase my intensity, so I have to now, in crease the time. I work out.
Well I work 8hrs a day and I sleep for 8 hours, there goes 16hrs. Now also spend 4 hrs with my son. so that just leaves me with 4hrs left in the day.. Well I still need to help around the house which includes ( cooking, cleaning, attempting to fix things etc) Now there goes 2 hrs. so Now I have 2 hours left to work out. Maybe its enough to burn off 1000 calories ( HRM) or maybe its not. If its not. Where the hell is somebody supposed to get the extra time from?
I am not going to give up time from working (Job, house) ; I am not going to take time away from my child, although he is 4 so I could attempt to work out when he is taking a bath.
The only option left to leave out is sleep. Now at this time, and weather, season, there is no way, I am able to get up an an hour early to work out. but I could stay up. and how much longer do I stay up, and loose sleep. do I choose to get 7 or 6hrs of sleep? or even 5?
Weekends are great. But it was meant as a chatch up day. Catching up with family. and house hold responsibility. maybe I could squeeze in 3 hrs of a work out.. but does that really work? to work out and more calories only on the weekend and not durring the week?

Figuring out how to create the right deficit might take time. But it doesn't mean that CICO is not simple. You just have[bold] to figure out the in and the out of the equation that works FOR YOU.[/bold]

Oh and FYI, I work, have a family (husband and son), a lift, a house to clean, over 30 family members and I find time to exercise and not deprive anybody of anything including myself...esp sleep cause Im a big ole *kitten* without my sleep.

So not too sure where your scenario comes from but it's not necessary to workout for hours to lose weight...eat at a deficet log accurately

and those are the facts regardless of any special snowflake that decides to disagree.

Oh and FYI, I work, have a family (husband and son), a lift, a house to clean, over 30 family members and I find time to exercise and not deprive anybody of anything including myself...esp sleep cause Im a big ole *kitten* without my sleep.

So not too sure where your scenario comes from but it's not necessary to workout for hours to lose weight...eat at a deficet log accurately

and those are the facts regardless of any special snowflake that decides to disagree.

Hey thats' great, your the master of your OWN domain, you wanna cookie or something?
Doesn't help anybdoy who needs the addional help..

I just wanted to post a note of support, encouragement, and motivation for those who are eating at a deficit and aren't seeing results. I did that for a long time with no weight loss.

For me, it really isn't as simple as calories in vs. calories out. That means it may not be that simple for you either.

But you CAN find what does work (for me, it means I need to make sure that the calories I do eat include more vegetables and less carbs/processed foods) and then you won't feel so discouraged.

Find what works for YOU instead of beating yourself up when what works for "everyone else" doesn't work. When you find that groove, it's a great feeling.

I'm not arguing against the tracking method, I know it works. I am saying it is not the only method and is not the method I want to use long term. I am also saying there is evidence to suggest that the human body is equipped with the ability to maintain a healthy weight without artificial control methods.

Calories count but you don't have to count calories. I don't think anyone would be idiotic enough to suggest that you must count calories to achieve a calorie deficit, surplus or maintenance state just that it is a rather good method of doing so.

Of course the body has the ability to maintain a healthy weight or lose weight without artificial controls or even conscious effort. Literally millions of people around the world do that. Our body has this natural ability just as it has the ability to perform many things on an autonomous level. You don't need to tell your heart to beat, your blood to flow or your eyes to see.

Your body actually does not want to routinely over eat or deal with the consequences of doing so. Your body does not wish to carry excess fat which poses a threat to its survival. Your body does not wish to keep losing and gaining significant amounts of weight which is a stressful process. Your body craves homeostasis.

The problem is we over ride what our bodies want routinely when it comes to eating. We eat more than we need for lots of reason. We eat to medicate our selves. We eat because we are happy, lonely, bored, out of pure habit, to share an experience, to shut off that critical voice in our heads saying "you are not good enough." We eat for pure pleasure. We live in an environment where access to cheap, incredibly tasty calories is abundant.

So, what to do? Count calories? Yes, you could do that and be very successful.

You could also try and reconnect with your body's natural ability to regulate weight if you have over ridden it in the past using other methods like intermittent fasting, intuitive eating, mindful eating or the like. Through conscious mastery you work towards unconscious mastery.

It can be done. It does take some work though...

Of course the body has the ability to maintain a healthy weight or lose weight without artificial controls or even conscious effort. Literally millions of people around the world do that. Our body has this natural ability just as it has the ability to perform many things on an autonomous level. You don't need to tell your heart to beat, your blood to flow or your eyes to see.

Your body actually does not want to routinely over eat or deal with the consequences of doing so. Your body does not wish to carry excess fat which poses a threat to its survival. Your body does not wish to keep losing and gaining significant amounts of weight which is a stressful process. Your body craves homeostasis.

But please don't suggest that my body (sic - we're talking about brain really, aren't we) doesn't "want" to eat.

But when somebody else who needs to loose 10lbs, weight just dosn't melt off.
Lets say I I start to eat at 1200 calories and I don't see weight fall off. My next thing would be to drop the calories to 1000. But I can't because everybody here says its a no no. so that means I have to in crease my burn, my exercise..

When you only have 10lbs to lose, the weight isn't going to "melt off" no matter what you do. For many people it takes months of eating at a small deficit. Unfortunately, when you only have 10lbs to lose, you need to have lots of patience while seeing very slow results. You could of course try to lower your calories to the point where you're under-eating, but that invites a whole host of issues, not the least of which are that the last 5 pounds are going to be even more difficult.