Daily Exercise + Under Daily Calories = No Weight Loss!

I know they say you can't use hunger as a guide, but "just under satisfied" for me would mean a very slow rate of weight loss. I have to experience some hunger for the scales to move. And with all that exercise do you feel like there might be some body recomposition going on?

DanielNotDan -

I can relate. That's for sure. You need easy. Try this first.
Take everything you know and just apply these three things for two weeks and see what happens:

1) Drink tons of water. Increase to at least 1 gal. per day. There is a reason this is a foundation in EVERY eating plan I've ever read. Easy to do, and it works. Cools off your body and causes you to have to expend energy to heat up. Vital to all body functions. Deals with retention problems. Aids in digestion. Only drawback is I have to go to the bathroom more often (at first anyway).

2) Weigh your proteins. Don't freak out about the other macros so much. Here's why: You probably don't use enough oil to warrant weighing that. Use a tsp measurement. Stick with eyeballing your veggies, but log those in. It's pretty easy. Prep your proteins ahead of time. Cook chicken, beef, pork, whatever, all your main proteins on the weekends. Weigh them on a scale and cut them into 1oz cuts. You'll be able to do this pretty quickly. Then set them in baggies for each day or meal. You can't eat any proteins that you don't make at home (except HB Eggs).

3) Get a Heart Rate Monitor and get a more accurate estimate of your calorie output. You may find that you're not burning as much as the pre-loaded estimates say. You say you're pretty athletic. That may mean that you're not getting the VO2 exchange that the models are based on. You may not be able to measure...but your workouts may not be producing the work you think you are. That doesn't mean you're not working hard. Get a HRM and make sure you are. I'd even measure your HR for a few 24 hr cycles and recalculate your TDEE. Then, reset your intake (correctly measured) to get a deficit against that (not some BRM number that you got from a generic computer model).

RNGRZulu wrote: »

Get a HRM and make sure you are. I'd even measure your HR for a few 24 hr cycles and recalculate your TDEE.

This is TERRIBLE advice.

HRMs are not designed to give anything resembling accurate numbers for that purpose. You WILL end up with a huge over-estimate.

DanielNotDan wrote: »

goldthistime wrote: »

...with all that exercise do you feel like there might be some body recomposition going on?

I'm 100% certain my composition has changed, so yes. But I'd forego that (i.e., I WILL forgo that) to be lighter. I'm eating too damn much, that MUST be it.

Thanks for your input!

Those darn scales! Think about what you just said. You would rather weigh less than have put on muscle and lost fat but stayed the same weight? Meaning you wish you hadn't put on muscle? You should be delighted you have put on muscle!

Those scales have messed with my head too. To the point that I have abandoned my efforts in frustration at times. Walked away from it all. And promptly got a little fatter.

If you are 100% certain that you have put on muscle and lost fat, I would say to stay the course. Or at the very least, make only tiny changes. But I'm biased perhaps. My motto is "Learning to lose weight s-l-o-w-l-y". Because I want it gone f-o-r-e-v-e-r.

fallencherubim wrote: »

Hi, the same problem has happened to me too a few months back, I was tracking all my food intake but still gaining weight. Now I may not be as informed as all of you, but just recently I went back to the gym and it's being 3 weeks now and I've lost 8 pounds. I'm a biology student and recently we touched this topic in class, when eating certain kinds of foods we need to not only check the calories it has, but also the percent of Fat. We need calories to have energy during the day but consuming food with a lot of fat will make your body store it as Fat and burning Fat while burning calories is hard!! Plus eating a lot of sugar gives you energy and then the rest transforms into fat. Keeping this in mind has helped me tremendously, I try to eat the calories that I need daily but ones with fewer fats. I know not everybody is the same, but just wanted to share my experience.

I'm not sure that you understood that correctly, or maybe it was just touched on too briefly. Dietary fat does not make it harder for you to lose weight or burn fat.

KT022 wrote: »

Just me (?) - But I notice a lot that if I don't eat ENOUGH calories (my output often ending up at 5-600 calories burned a day) I don't lose weight. My body freaks out and I gain weight. This has happened to me a lot in the past and I have successfully last weight last year eating around 2100 cals a day, a 5km walk and 50minute resistance session. I wasn't using MFP at that point, but it sure worked. Now I'm trying to do it by myself and I think I am eating too few calories again. It's just something that you might need to look into!

So your body defies the laws of physics?

Elise4270 wrote: »

Just BTW to all the calorie is a calorie is a calorie bs- macros. If I can change those and lose, what's your explanation there? Loads of research out there on this...

You'll have to restate that question to get an answer since I'm not sure really what you're asking.

A possible answer is that it's a satiety issue. You feel more satisfied, which leads to better adherence to your calorie goal. Macros to an extent should be based on your personal preference. Eat what keeps you satiated and helps you reach your goals (although you should aim to get sufficient protein and fat).

It ISN'T Calorie Deficit only, since 1000 calories of Doritos doesn't equal 1000 calories of Chicken/broccoli/quinoa...but I don't know WHAT ratios are right for weight loss nor how to achieve them.

They are not equal in their ability to keep us full. So, if we weren't measuring/logging everything and sticking to a daily goal, your comment would be more meaningful. In fact, I would argue that when we are hungry (because we ate Doritos instead of filling foods), we are more likely to cheat. At least I am. Rounded tablespoons, eyeballing half a cup when it's closer to 3/4 a cup, etc.