Can your body mistake calories?

You have some REALLY weird questions....I'm not even sure I understand this one. :ohwell:

Sometimes when you are getting gradual results and you've been doing all the right things, you start to think if math is cheating you. Is it possible for you to eat 2000 calories but because of your metabolism, your body thinks its 3000 calories and acts accordingly? I saw somewhere on youtube where some guy said if you've been on an extreme diet before, your body takes in more calories than you give it. So you give it 2000 but your body thinks it's 3000. Is there any truth to that? Are some people ever just not meant to lose weight because their bodies are programmed in a way to burn less than they actually do and take in more than they actually eat? Yesterday someone said that if you walk 35 miles, you might not even lose a pound. That's an example of your body cheating you with math.

No. Just... no.

Your body stores calories? So isn't that the same thing?

Storing calories is the process commonly referred to as getting fat lol. The whole point of a calorie deficit is to force your body to run partially on internal calories rather than those it gets from outside. Thus burning your fat.

You're A. Eating more than you Think or B. Overestimating how much you need.

For example you think you need 2000 calories a day to lose a pound a week but really you need 1500. So you think the math is cheating you, but really you're just not obeying the math.

Sometimes when you are getting gradual results and you've been doing all the right things, you start to think if math is cheating you. Is it possible for you to eat 2000 calories but because of your metabolism, your body thinks its 3000 calories and acts accordingly? I saw somewhere on youtube where some guy said if you've been on an extreme diet before, your body takes in more calories than you give it. So you give it 2000 but your body thinks it's 3000.

This is physically impossible.
If the ingested food has 2000 calories, your body cannot make that be 3000 calories.

Only the reverse can be true - ie the ingested food has 2000 calories but your body only gets 1000 from it - eg if you have an absorption problem like Crohn's disease.
Obviously this would make it hard to put on weight, not to lose it.

other possible things
* you are incorrectly counting the food as having 2000 calories when in fact it has more (because of incorrect measuring, not including condiments etc)
* you have set your goal incorrectly - eg you need to net less than 1500 to lose weight but you have miscalculated your need as 2000.

I think a lot of people are reading way too much into that "walk 35 miles" thing.

The only thing I can possibly figure about any of this stuff is the possibility of water retention and the negative affects of that on the number you read on the scale (note: I'm talking specifically about the scale, not about fat gain or muscle gain). It's physically impossible for the body to take in more calories than you consume. We don't photosynthesize

I don't think so. I've never heard of your theory before.

Yes op!

Just last week my body mistook calories for a shampoo commercial.

Before you knew it, every time I ate something with calories in it, my hair was silky smooth and I was compelled to constantly do that hair flip thing.

I hope this answers your question. :flowerforyou:

What that guy meant was that your metabolisim has slowed down. It should be obvious that its not possible to take in more calories than exisst. A calorie is pretty much a solid object, though sometimes people do not measure them accurately. And more often than not people do not count them accurately.

Its true that you could walk 35 miles and not lose a pound if you ate enough calories to provide all the energy you needed for hte walk. But i don't htink that's the issue here.

If you really are doing all the right things and still not losing weight you could have a metabolic disoder. You can get your fasting blood glucose measured and this will tell you whether you've got a metabolisim problem. If you haven't got htis then its just a case of you not understanding the ins and outs of calories properly.

So here's what you should check:
age
height
curent weight
Do you weigh your food with a scale or measure it accurately wtih cups and spoons _these latter should level measurements not heaped spoons.
Do you log absolutely everything you consume? milk coffees, tsps of sugar, glass of this drink or that drink, theodd chocolate and so on.
Do you try to calculate your exercise calories. If so then stop doing that. Just go with basic generalisations of sedentary, light exercis and so on according to the defintioins given by the calculator you are using.
Is your calorie deficit moderate or severe. It should be less than 500 calories. eg if you energy output is 2500, then your calorie intake should be 2000 or more. If your energy output is 1600, your calorie intake should be1200 or more becuase its not recommended you eat less than 1200 unless you are really short. Personally i prefer a calorie deficit of around 200.
How often do you weigh yourself. I'd suggest daily or weekly. But if doing it daily then you have to be aware of the factors that affect water retention such as salt intake, inflammation from a lot of exercise, menstrual cycle and accpet that this will cause daily fluctuations that should not upset you. Constipation is another factor.
What time of day do you weigh? Just do it in the morning after a pee wiht no clothes on is best. Adn before you drink or eat anything.


All that said, gradual results are good. Dramatic results are generally not sustainable.