Quick way to get the weight going down!!

As a Type 2 diabetic I am one of those hormonal special snowflakes, however I still believe it is a calories in vs calories out. I take medication to make my body more sensitive to insulin (behave like a more normal body) and I play with my macros to keep my blood sugar under control. By keeping my blood sugar under control I help my body behave more like a 'normal' body.

However, it still comes down to calories in vs calories out. I track my daily calories in and calories out and calculate the deficit. Weekly I figure out how many pounds that adds up to. I then compare the 'predicted' weekly loss to the actual weekly loss, and guess what, most weeks they are pretty close. I have good data going back to January. Cumulatively MFP predicted a 42 lb loss based on the daily deficits. The actual loss has been 44.8 lbs. I also use my deficits to calculate my TDEE, comes out very close to the TDEE as predicted by the various formulas.

I were to continue I taking the same medication and macro ratios but eat more than my maintenance level, I would gain weight.

If you have a hormonal/metabolic issue, you need to work with a doctor to get the right medications to control that. Also look into macro combinations that might help your condition. However ultimately the calorie deficit is what makes you lose weight.

I wholeheartedly believe a calorie deficiency is the true method to healthy weight loss. There are people with all of the above health issues plus more in my social circle. Therefore, I truly understand their battle with weight loss. Yes, it is a challenge and I don’t think anyone is implying otherwise or implying the right combination of food along with the deficiency isn’t important. Nonetheless, they are still losing weight because they are eating at a calorie deficiency despite their medication. Yes, it took several trial and error sessions to achieve the correct balance of medication and diet, especially for my godmother who is taking 13 different medications. They just had to find a deficiency that worked for them. This is the reason MFP allow users to change the recommendations for macronutrients and micronutrients because some people will require different means to achieve the same goal.

True, true. But, from what I've seen, the deficit argument isn't one where no deficit is important or necessary to some extent. It's more along the lines that a deficit may not necessarily equal weight loss depending on other factors, or affect weight loss considerably differently. Because if it was just about a deficit, then macros wouldn't matter and they do matter to a lot of people, for very good reason.

That essentially the straightforward CICO calculations require certain assumptions, and when those assumptions are no longer true, the balace of the equation shifts or there are extra factors the equation does not account for -- like when you see dramatically different weight loss for insulin sensitive and insulin resistant women based on different macros of diets that are calorically equivalent.

And the CICO purists will not acknowledge this or at least most of them don't seem to. Or they extrapolate into extreme, irrelevant arguments like "oh so you can create mass on a calorie deficit?" It's absurd.

Even people who don’t have health problems have to achieve their deficiency different ways. For example, I don’t have any health problems but I need to drink water to maximize my weight loss efforts. I have experimented with this some many times so I know this is the way for me. The scale barely move if I don’t drink enough water. Other posters don’t need to drink water the way I do and they are losing just fine. It all boils down to the method that is healthy and works for the individual.

The balance of equation absolutely will shift when medical complications are involved but the underlying calorie deficiency still needs to exist. My godmother is limited to 105gm of carbs a day because of her insulin issue. Sometimes, she has to do less if her asthma is acting up really bad and her steroids have to be increased. On any given day, I eat twice that amount and both of us are losing weight. Our macros are way different. Usually, she eats more protein than me. Each person has to take stock in their own health and pursue a healthy plan that is best for them. This is the reason people should always consult with their doctors before starting any weight management plan. Yes, your primary doctor may be limited in weight loss knowledge but he or she could refer you to the proper nutritionist and dietitian who specialize in people in your situation. There isn’t a one size fit all weight management plan anywhere.

Oh, I absolutely agree with you. I'm not saying that deficit isn't necessary or isn't helpful in some ways. But how that is achieved varies greatly for different people to actually result in weight loss or maximize weight loss. And, for some people, they can be in a deficit and still not lose due to their own issues, like your grandmother with her insulin. Creating a deficit will not just be enough on its own, if you don't also restrict carbs. I know that as well as I have insulin resistance.

Some will say that macros make no difference -- it's all about calories in-calories out. And that's simply not the truth for a lot of people, and for good reason.

As a Type 2 diabetic I am one of those hormonal special snowflakes, however I still believe it is a calories in vs calories out. I take medication to make my body more sensitive to insulin (behave like a more normal body) and I play with my macros to keep my blood sugar under control. By keeping my blood sugar under control I help my body behave more like a 'normal' body.

However, it still comes down to calories in vs calories out. I track my daily calories in and calories out and calculate the deficit. Weekly I figure out how many pounds that adds up to. I then compare the 'predicted' weekly loss to the actual weekly loss, and guess what, most weeks they are pretty close. I have good data going back to January. Cumulatively MFP predicted a 42 lb loss based on the daily deficits. The actual loss has been 44.8 lbs. I also use my deficits to calculate my TDEE, comes out very close to the TDEE as predicted by the various formulas.

I were to continue I taking the same medication and macro ratios but eat more than my maintenance level, I would gain weight.

If you have a hormonal/metabolic issue, you need to work with a doctor to get the right medications to control that. Also look into macro combinations that might help your condition. However ultimately the calorie deficit is what makes you lose weight.

Right, but if you didn't have those medications, would the same deficit be creating the same results? Likely not.

And that's the issue I have with the CICO purists -- because if you do have certain issues, creating a deficit is not going to work in the same way, if at all, as it would for a person without those issues. Depending on the issue, medication may be required or simply an adjustment of macros.

So, personally, I wish people would say something more like that. CICO is great and if you're really confident in your calorie tracking and energy expenditure, and still not seeing the results you expect (at least in the general ballpark) then you may want to see a doctor because something is up. Then figure it out from there...

But too many here just say mean things to them -- that they're delusional about their calorie counting, they're lying, they're wrong, they're "special snowflakes", etc. And, that's just not helpful. In fact, it could be really hurtful because some will just try to create a bigger deficit (like I did) rather than finding out the true underlying issues that's impacting their weight loss and could be really injuring themselves as a result.

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You need more than just a calorie deficit, otherwise I would weigh about 10 grams by now.

WHAT you eat is more important. I actually found that I stalled when cutting calories too much, then lost again when I upped my calories to a smaller deficit.

Cut out carbs, especially over processed crap, watch your protein and don't have too much of it based on your activity level and eat plenty of good fats (from meat and dairy mainly) to see your weight come off.

You could also be retaining water due to dehydration so drink plenty of water!

It may work for you, because you are in a deficit but carbs do not need to be dropped to very low levels to lose weight. Processed food does not need to be eliminated. I have absolutely no problem eating a bagel every morning and ice cream every night along with plenty of other types of carbs daily and dropping weight just like plenty of other people do. If you want to cut carbs to lower levels then fine but it's not necessary. Caloric deficit is necessary.

And once again someone states calories in calories out is what it's about and then people come in crying about thyroid and diabetes issues. People constantly keep saying if you have no medical conditions that need to be addressed first that calories in calories out is what is important and the rebuttal is "well its fine if it works for you but if someone has diabetes, hypothyroidism it's different". People keep saying people with medical conditions have other obstacles and the other side says, yea but what about the people with medical conditions. This argument is getting old already. Arguing in circles for no damn reason.

Look if you have medical conditions, get them addressed then start eating at a deficit. Till then stop complaining about how you are different because of your medical condition. Go get it addressed and cut out the pity party.

To the person that said that if she eats below tdee and it's not clean and gains weight but has to eat clean and under 1000 to lose weight. Please work at it harder because your statements make no sense. Just full of excuses.

If you don't like what I said that's fine. I'm not here to be your friend or hold your hand. Keep looking for people in life to show you pity and tell you you're special if that's what you need. But in the end, eat less food.

It's so sad that people can't understand the difference between pity, compassion and logic.

The medical condition argument isn't about pity. It's about information and understanding how the body works. People that already know they have a medical condition aren't the people that the advice is aimed at. It's the people that have a medical condition but don't know it yet -- the UNDIAGNOSED people.

Because there are reasons that a deficit doesn't work well, or at all, for some people. And telling those people, "hey, there may be a reason for it, go talk to your doctor" is helpful advice. Telling them that they're just looking for pity and or to be coddled is not. And it's also WRONG.

That's the issue a lot of people have with this malarky you and others on this site push with your black-and-white approach.

What you are advocating is for everyone who can't lose weight to do is run out and have all sorts of medical test done to rule out health problems. But if these people how many actually put in the real effort to lose weight? Actually record everything? Don't talk free weekend or days and blow deficits? Actually eat below tdee? Maybe someone should encourage these people to try that first then see about medical conditions instead of the other way around. Yes let's all get tests done and abuse our health care system that is already being abused by so many people out there. And who pays the bill? People like me, people who work hard or have 2 jobs like me and pay high taxes.

You're worried about all the undiagnosed. I'm worried about all the lazy people who give half effort through life then complain why they can't succeed. You may think me saying people want to be coddled is wrong, I disagree. People need to stop feeling sorry for themselves.

The only arguments you ever have on here are on this topic and it gets old. You could maybe share your experiences with others on how you hit your weight goal after being on this site for 4 years and dealing with medical issues instead of just arguing with the masses about calories in calories out.

No, I'm not. In fact, I've never advocated that. I've been a big proponent of using a food scale and careful calorie tracking. I think that's essential and if someone isn't doing it, then they need to do that first to be sure of their calories. I'm also a big advocate of tracking exercise calories or those armbands that help with that, though I realize the CO part of the equation is much harder to determine.

What I'm opposed to is this bs circular reasoning that if you're not losing then you're not in a deficit. Because that's what some people like you say directly to people, even after they've given considerable detail on how precise and accurate they're attempting to be with their measurements. And the comments quickly devolve into some incredibly disrespectful, sometimes downright nasty comments about how they're lazy, they're delusional, they want pity, etc. And, that's just not true. There are legitimate reasons why they're not losing as expected and it's not all that rare.

So, to sum up, since you have difficulty deducing this on your own, I'm advocating for:
(1) Careful calorie tracking (food scale!)
(2) Careful calorie expenditure calculations (to the extent possible)
(3) If results aren't coming with 1 and 2, then go talk to doctor or investigate other reasons (i.e. do NOT start calling such people lazy, looking for pity, wanting to be coddled, liars, crazy, delusional, etc.)

Not that hard, right?

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why do you insist on ending all your posts with the basic premise that you are smarter then everyone else, and we are all too stupid to understand what it is you are trying to say??? It is so predictable that I can pretty much know what your response is before you even comment.

I don't know why you will not admit that even for people with medical conditions that they need to have a calorie deficit to lose weight? I even went so far as to post a study on the topic, and someone with diabetes commented that after being diagnosed, and put on medicine, that they still needed a calorie deficit to lose weight. So at the end of the day - for everyone - it boils down to calories in vs calories out.

Yes, some people have a medical condition ..yes, some people have a harder time calculating deficit level etc, etc..but at the end oft the davit is still about being in a deficit. Do you not want to admit that because you will have to admit to being wrong???

Man, you struggle. I never stated that a deficit wasn't necessary, but merely that people can be in a deficit and not lose weight. So saying that if you're not losing weight = not in an deficit isn't necessary true. You can be in a caloric deficit and not lose weight or lose at a dramatically slower rate than expected -- that doesn't mean that your deficit is not calculated correctly necessarily (it could, but there can also be other factors that affect that).

Do you need a deficit to lose weight? Generally, yes. Can you be in a deficit and not lose weight? Yes, if you have an underlying condition that affects that -- like insulin resistance. You want direct associations in both directions and it doesn't work that way. You keep trying to twist or misrepresent my assertions into arguments that I never made so you can faux argue against them. That too is soooo predictable.

There are plenty of smart people on this site. You, on the other hand, struggle with some very basic issues. And since you're such a jerk so often, I have no problem responding to your ignorant arrogance with condescension.

Oh, by the way, how has your search into my false accusations about my education turn out? Have you managed to find anything where I said anything other than having a bachelors in integrative biology and am a lawyer (i.e have a JD)? Oh, no, not yet....ready to eat your words and apologize?

What I'm opposed to is this bs circular reasoning that if you're not losing then you're not in a deficit. Because that's what some people like you say directly to people, even after they've given considerable detail on how precise and accurate they're attempting to be with their measurements.

But... it's an irrefutable scientific fact that if you're not losing then you're not in a deficit. You could be accurate as possible in your logging and precise to a degree that would seem obsessive to the most detail-oriented scientist, but that doesn't change the fact that the calories-out side of the equation and the outcome on the scale are telling you you're not in a deficit.

I'm a pretty big chick, and I train most days of the week. My TDEE "should be" higher than it is. But I have clinical depression, so my TDEE is not higher than it is... It's a sad fact, but if I want to lose weight, I have to drop my calories lower than what every calculator says I "should be" eating. And that is a true fact whether I eyeball my portions or whether I whip out my pocket food scale everywhere I go and pick my food apart ingredient by ingredient to log it (which I have done).

It doesn't mean CICO is wrong. It just means that, given the CI and the results on the scale, the CO term is lower than expected. That doesn't negate the fundamental underlying scientific truth.

You need more than just a calorie deficit, otherwise I would weigh about 10 grams by now.

WHAT you eat is more important. I actually found that I stalled when cutting calories too much, then lost again when I upped my calories to a smaller deficit.

Cut out carbs, especially over processed crap, watch your protein and don't have too much of it based on your activity level and eat plenty of good fats (from meat and dairy mainly) to see your weight come off.

You could also be retaining water due to dehydration so drink plenty of water!

It may work for you, because you are in a deficit but carbs do not need to be dropped to very low levels to lose weight. Processed food does not need to be eliminated. I have absolutely no problem eating a bagel every morning and ice cream every night along with plenty of other types of carbs daily and dropping weight just like plenty of other people do. If you want to cut carbs to lower levels then fine but it's not necessary. Caloric deficit is necessary.

And once again someone states calories in calories out is what it's about and then people come in crying about thyroid and diabetes issues. People constantly keep saying if you have no medical conditions that need to be addressed first that calories in calories out is what is important and the rebuttal is "well its fine if it works for you but if someone has diabetes, hypothyroidism it's different". People keep saying people with medical conditions have other obstacles and the other side says, yea but what about the people with medical conditions. This argument is getting old already. Arguing in circles for no damn reason.

Look if you have medical conditions, get them addressed then start eating at a deficit. Till then stop complaining about how you are different because of your medical condition. Go get it addressed and cut out the pity party.

To the person that said that if she eats below tdee and it's not clean and gains weight but has to eat clean and under 1000 to lose weight. Please work at it harder because your statements make no sense. Just full of excuses.

If you don't like what I said that's fine. I'm not here to be your friend or hold your hand. Keep looking for people in life to show you pity and tell you you're special if that's what you need. But in the end, eat less food.

It's so sad that people can't understand the difference between pity, compassion and logic.

The medical condition argument isn't about pity. It's about information and understanding how the body works. People that already know they have a medical condition aren't the people that the advice is aimed at. It's the people that have a medical condition but don't know it yet -- the UNDIAGNOSED people.

Because there are reasons that a deficit doesn't work well, or at all, for some people. And telling those people, "hey, there may be a reason for it, go talk to your doctor" is helpful advice. Telling them that they're just looking for pity and or to be coddled is not. And it's also WRONG.

That's the issue a lot of people have with this malarky you and others on this site push with your black-and-white approach.

What you are advocating is for everyone who can't lose weight to do is run out and have all sorts of medical test done to rule out health problems. But if these people how many actually put in the real effort to lose weight? Actually record everything? Don't talk free weekend or days and blow deficits? Actually eat below tdee? Maybe someone should encourage these people to try that first then see about medical conditions instead of the other way around. Yes let's all get tests done and abuse our health care system that is already being abused by so many people out there. And who pays the bill? People like me, people who work hard or have 2 jobs like me and pay high taxes.

You're worried about all the undiagnosed. I'm worried about all the lazy people who give half effort through life then complain why they can't succeed. You may think me saying people want to be coddled is wrong, I disagree. People need to stop feeling sorry for themselves.

The only arguments you ever have on here are on this topic and it gets old. You could maybe share your experiences with others on how you hit your weight goal after being on this site for 4 years and dealing with medical issues instead of just arguing with the masses about calories in calories out.

No, I'm not. In fact, I've never advocated that. I've been a big proponent of using a food scale and careful calorie tracking. I think that's essential and if someone isn't doing it, then they need to do that first to be sure of their calories. I'm also a big advocate of tracking exercise calories or those armbands that help with that, though I realize the CO part of the equation is much harder to determine.

What I'm opposed to is this bs circular reasoning that if you're not losing then you're not in a deficit. Because that's what some people like you say directly to people, even after they've given considerable detail on how precise and accurate they're attempting to be with their measurements. And the comments quickly devolve into some incredibly disrespectful, sometimes downright nasty comments about how they're lazy, they're delusional, they want pity, etc. And, that's just not true. There are legitimate reasons why they're not losing as expected and it's not all that rare.

So, to sum up, since you have difficulty deducing this on your own, I'm advocating for:
(1) Careful calorie tracking (food scale!)
(2) Careful calorie expenditure calculations (to the extent possible)
(3) If results aren't coming with 1 and 2, then go talk to doctor or investigate other reasons (i.e. do NOT start calling such people lazy, looking for pity, wanting to be coddled, liars, crazy, delusional, etc.)

Not that hard, right?

The comical part I see here is I may criticize someone's work ethic or motivation but you constantly try to discredit people by saying they aren't intelligent, how they can't read or comprehend this or that. You also like to mention what your level of education is, like that's supposed to give you more credibility. It doesn't. Don't assume that just because I have a shirtless picture up or that I don't have the same characteristic that you have, that I'm not intelligence or I'm some "meathead". I'd be more than happy to actually debate all this health and fitness stuff with anyone, all day, but what I won't do is argue with someone making the same argument over and over and trying to resort to insults due to not being able to control their emotions.

Now, like I said before, which you ignored, you've been here since 2009 and obviously have the knowledge to dealing with weight loss while having a medical condition in the way so tell everyone how you did it.
Tell everyone how you went got diagnosed and then how you ate and what kind of exercises you did to achieve your goal.
Tell everyone how long it took you to reach your goal and at what rate the weight came off.
Share with us all what you calculated your TDEE was and what your daily caloric intake was.
Share with everyone all the things that made "you" succeed that they can apply to themselves.

I ask you because you have that medical factor you preach about so often so people should learn from your experience. In turn I would be more than happy to write pages and pages of stuff that has helped me to address those that don't deal with your issues.

Also, not true. I judge people's intelligence based upon the content of their posts, arguments and demeanor. Smart guys can have 8-pack abs and beautiful women can be nuclear physicists.

When you say stupid things, can't follow basic arguments and then make irrelevant assertions, I think either (1) you're intentionally trolling or (2) you're not that bright.

It's very impressive that you noticed that I signed up in 2009. Perhaps if you'd followed more of my other posts, you'd also know that I didn't do much at all back then and only became active on the site a few months ago -- probably Jan, but I'd have to check to be sure.

I share my experience as it's relevant. And, part of my experience was being told by people exactly like you how I was wrong about my deficit/calculations, that I must be crazy, delusional, ,etc., and so instead of pushing ahead down the medical path, I just kept trying harder -- restricted more calories and exercised more. Still, very little results. Sadly, I'd resigned myself to that was just how it was going to be for a while. I'd seen a couple docs in preceding years as I suspected thyroid issues in particular, but had no real luck in speaking with someone with true expertise. And I didn't push more probably, in part, because I didn't want to think something was wrong with me or beyond my control and will power. That was very foolish.

Then, I trained for and ran a half marathon -- and still didn't lose weight -- while eating quite well. It was my fiance that pushed me to check things out more because something obviously wasn't right. As he said, "unless you're eating a whole box of oreos in the closet in secret, this makes no sense." Then, I started educating myself more -- read about how common thyroid issues were and sought out a specialist. 2 endos later and I finally had someone that put the pieces together and did the right tests (5th doctor overall). I also found out I had insulin resistance -- I didn't even suspect that at the time. And I came to find how incredibly not uncommon both those disorders were -- they both are far more prevalent than 1%. Shoot, I was shocked to find out how many had diabetes or prediabetes. I got the proper treatment and adjusted my macros, and the weight came off like a totally "normal" person -- per the deficit equation.

So, that's where my medical condition rant versus the deficit comes from. Because it was the path I walked. And had I continued to listen to people like you and ndj tell me that I was simply wrong/crazy/delusional/lazy/etc. and had to eat less and move more, I probably would have made things considerably worse as I was already eating/exercising at over 700 cal daily deficit.

When I found out how incredibly not uncommon these issues were, I started speaking out on it pretty darn vocally. I just don't know why people like you and ndj are so threatened by it. It doesn't negate your general premise of the caloric deficit. It just puts a significant caveat into it. What's the problem with that?

Also, I mentioned my education ONCE in one thread in response to a very specific attack. Then, others kept the conversation going, mostly in ridicule or mockery, but those that had respectful questions or comments, I responded to. People like you and ndj keep bringing it up -- not me.

What I'm opposed to is this bs circular reasoning that if you're not losing then you're not in a deficit. Because that's what some people like you say directly to people, even after they've given considerable detail on how precise and accurate they're attempting to be with their measurements.

But... it's an irrefutable scientific fact that if you're not losing then you're not in a deficit. You could be accurate as possible in your logging and precise to a degree that would seem obsessive to the most detail-oriented scientist, but that doesn't change the fact that the calories-out side of the equation and the outcome on the scale are telling you you're not in a deficit.

I'm a pretty big chick, and I train most days of the week. My TDEE "should be" higher than it is. But I have clinical depression, so my TDEE is not higher than it is... It's a sad fact, but if I want to lose weight, I have to drop my calories lower than what every calculator says I "should be" eating. And that is a true fact whether I eyeball my portions or whether I whip out my pocket food scale everywhere I go and pick my food apart ingredient by ingredient to log it (which I have done).

It doesn't mean CICO is wrong. It just means that, given the CI and the results on the scale, the CO term is lower than expected. That doesn't negate the fundamental underlying scientific truth.

I don't agree that it's irrefutable. For the equation to work, certain assumptions must be true -- like a certain efficiency in glucose metabolism. You'll find people with insulin resistance will not lose weight on a modest deficit (sometimes considerable deficit) if a large part of their calories comes from carbs, especially high glycemic carbs -- because it causes an exaggerated insulin response that ultimately leads to greater fat storage than you'd see in a normal person. So, to lose, they need to BOTH restrict overall calories as well as carbs to keep their insulin levels in check. Depending on the severity of insulin resistance, those numbers will shift as to what needs to be what -- but the macros of what they eat is really important, and possibly just as if not more than overall caloric value.

They've done studies showing just this -- I discussed one previously. Where 4 groups of women were put on calorically equivalent diets (i.e. same calculated deficit). 2 groups were insulin sensitive and 2 were insulin resistant. With the insulin sensitive women, one group lost nearly twice as much weight with carbs at 60%, fats 20% and protein 20%. With the insulin resistant women, it was the exact opposite. The group that lost nearly twice as much had 40% carbs, 40% fat, 20% protein. But all four groups had calorically equal diets. If it was all about just pure caloric deficit, then the results should have been similar across all groups. But, they weren't. That says to me that there is something else going on with weight loss than mere caloric value (though all diets were in a deficit -- so it doesn't dispute the whole deficit is necessary thing, which I agree with as a general rule -- just how that deficit is achieved can have drastically different weight loss results).

Or a less fun example is cancer cells. They attack the body in a different way than normal somatic cells. The metabolism is not greatly shifted, but weight loss can happen at rapid rates in certain stages of metastasis. They don't understand the mechanism fully, but there has been some research into it as a potential path for fighting cancer (if they can figure out how to starve the cancer cells).

That's why when there are medical conditions present, the usual rules go out the window until you can bring the person back into "normal" parameters -- whether it's insulin resistance, thyroid, adrenal issues, etc. So, if someone isn't losing like a "normal" person and doing all the hard work (i.e. counting calories correctly, exercising, etc.), then is seems much more logical that something may be medically off with them that's throwing off the equation and results.

I have hypothyroidism and it sucks horribly. I was on medication but it was causing me to gain even more so I stopped taking it because the doc refused to work with me and meds. So I started eating 1400 calories a day about a month ago, and trying to drink water(which i am having a rough time doing)I don't drink much of anything. I go to the gym twice a day for a total of 3 hours. I have only lost eight pounds and now I am at a stand still. So I do believe I will be finding me a new doc that can work with the dosage I need now that I have a healthy routine. Good luck!

MFP has a Hypothyroidism and Hyperthyroidism group: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/770-hypothyroidism-and-hyperthyroidism

People really need to stop telling everyone it's a simple deficit. Yes, for a lot of people, this works; however, there is no need to make people feel stupid or like they must be doing something wrong just because a deficit isn't working for them. It IS more complicated for some people than it is for others. I would weigh a LOT less if a deficit worked for me, but when I eat at TDEE - 15/20%, I get nowhere.

Are you weighing your food? If you're decently healthy and have no conditions (Diabetes, PCOS, Insulin Resistance, etc.) that would restrict your weight loss, you may be eating more than you think you are. I personally used to eat less than I thought I was, and then wonder why I was constantly hungry and binging at night. I once passed out thinking I'd eaten around 9 oz of chicken all day, when really I'd only had around 2-3. A LOT of people are the opposite, though, so make sure you're counting your calories correctly.

As for the deficit, if it's not working for you, you're not alone. Certain conditions may prevent a deficit from being the only diet-change necessary. I personally have PCOS and have to net significantly under my calorie goal in order to lose weight. I also try to stick to a high-fat, mod-protein, low-carb (and by low, I mean around 30g per meal, not 30g per day) diet. Sometimes, when there are conditions such as these, Macros matter A LOT. PCOS comes with insulin resistance, so carbs and sugars are not my friends.

Good luck losing! Just remember that everyone's body is different, and it's a process figuring out what works for you. Not everyone responds so quickly to a caloric deficit.

Yes! Spot on.