Why Is My Calorie Counting NOT Working?

mrxracer12
mrxracer12 Posts: 3
edited November 13 in Health and Weight Loss
Hello,

I'm a man, 32 years old and weighing in at 5'11" and weigh 219 pounds. I generally weigh 205 pounds on average (over past 10 years anyway). However, this Thanksgiving and Xmas holiday season I decided that I would just go with the flow and eat what I wanted since every day there's something holiday-ish to eat in my household during that time period and I was tired of resisting. I also decided I would go on a calorie counting diet after to lose any gained weight.

I ended up gaining 14 pounds and for the past 6 weeks I have routinely reduced my calorie intake to 1700 - 2200 per day - that's my acceptable range I gave myself. Let me assure you I have stuck with that for 6 weeks. I have NOT lost weight. I'm still hanging out at 219 pounds.

My question is, how is that even possible? I thought you needed "X" amount of calories to maintain your weight and if you reduce that amount of calories then you will automatically lose weight. Should I be worried about a thyroid or something? It doesn't make any sense. I do not cheat my diet, I've never really had a problem before with gaining weight.

Thanks for your help in advance,
Mr X

Replies

  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    have you been MEASURING your food - EVERY SINGLE THING WITH A FOOD SCALE? exercise helps a LOT too.

    while it COULD be medical (see your doc just in case, esp if issues run in your family), but the vast majority of the time, people are simply eating more than they think (dont forget to weigh the oil you use to cook with, etc)
  • errollmaclean
    errollmaclean Posts: 562 Member
    Are you weighing your food with a food scale?
  • sswanl
    sswanl Posts: 30
    1700-2200 is a large range. It also is right around where your estimated maintenance number of calories is. Calories in =calories out=no weight change. You either need to move your range down (and make it narrower) or exercise a LOT more then you do now.

    Another pitfall is most people underestimate the calories they eat, weight everything, don't just estimate. (Atleast not for several months.)
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    edited February 2015
    Yes, if you eat at a deficit, you will lose weight. Some things to consider:

    1. You may be eating more than you think. Read this and tighten up your logging as best as you can.

    2. You might be eating at your maintenance calorie level. If you're relatively sedentary, this calculator estimates your TDEE at around 2362, though if your body fat % is quite high, your actual TDEE could be lower than that. If you're mostly eating at the upper end of the calorie range you gave (2100-2200), that could well be your maintenance level. Which would seem to be the case if the scale hasn't budged in 6 weeks.

    3. Are you exercising? Try to reduce your base calories to the lower end of your range (1700-1800 max) and then only eat above that if you burn more calories via exercise.

    Lots of people assume it's some sort of medical problem when, in reality, Occam's Razor would indicate that it's much more likely that you're simply eating more or burning less than you think you are (or both).
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,961 Member
    segacs wrote: »
    Yes, if you eat at a deficit, you will lose weight. Some things to consider:

    1. You may be eating more than you think. Read this and tighten up your logging as best as you can.

    2. You might be eating at your maintenance calorie level. If you're relatively sedentary, this calculator estimates your TDEE at around 2362, though if your body fat % is quite high, your actual TDEE could be lower than that. If you're mostly eating at the upper end of the calorie range you gave (2100-2200), that could well be your maintenance level. Which would seem to be the case if the scale hasn't budged in 6 weeks.

    3. Are you exercising? Try to reduce your base calories to the lower end of your range (1700-1800 max) and then only eat above that if you burn more calories via exercise.

    Lots of people assume it's some sort of medical problem when, in reality, Occam's Razor would indicate that it's much more likely that you're simply eating more or burning less than you think you are (or both).

    this
  • mrxracer12
    mrxracer12 Posts: 3
    edited February 2015
    Ok thanks for the replies. I am not actually weighing my food with a scale. I should and will do that and I didn't realize my calorie intake is right around my maintenance allotment. This is all good info. I do work out for about 30 minutes, 2 times per week - It's a high-rep, lower weight training series of exercises with dumbbells.

    Thanks again, very helpful!
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    If you're not weighing with a scale, that's probably the issue right there. Even small inaccuracies -- 50 calories here, 100 calories there -- could easily wipe out your deficit.

    You don't necessarily have to use the food scale for the rest of your life. But, try to use it religiously for a few weeks and you might be surprised at how much you learn about what you thought you were eating vs. what you're actually eating. For instance, when I started weighing the peanut butter I'd put on sandwiches, I realized I'd been underestimating by about 100 calories right there. Little things can make a big difference.

    Weight training, especially high-rep low weight -- won't burn that many calories. Try cutting the reps and lifting heavier; you won't burn many calories that way either, but you'll be more likely to preserve lean body mass and make sure you're losing fat, not muscle.
  • mrxracer12
    mrxracer12 Posts: 3
    Thanks for the input. I'll add more weight to my dumbbells too. It's probably time I increase the weight anyways, been a while.
  • pjs2780
    pjs2780 Posts: 41 Member
    not sure if this is true, but i have heard that women with a BMI > 25 need to work out 7 hours/week (cardio) to lose weight.
  • davis978
    davis978 Posts: 103 Member
    pjs2780 wrote: »
    not sure if this is true, but i have heard that women with a BMI > 25 need to work out 7 hours/week (cardio) to lose weight.

    Not.

  • MarziPanda95
    MarziPanda95 Posts: 1,326 Member
    pjs2780 wrote: »
    not sure if this is true, but i have heard that women with a BMI > 25 need to work out 7 hours/week (cardio) to lose weight.

    Not true. If it were, women who are unable to exercise much (such as the disabled) would not be able to lose weight. Weight loss is down to diet.
  • Emilia777
    Emilia777 Posts: 978 Member
    edited February 2015
    pjs2780 wrote: »
    not sure if this is true, but i have heard that women with a BMI > 25 need to work out 7 hours/week (cardio) to lose weight.

    First of all, OP is a man. Second of all, this sounds like utter nonsense.

    OP, don’t get discouraged. A nice cheap food scale makes a big difference, and I second the heavy lifting advice. I’m a girl and had good results with heavy weights/low rep combo with cardio (cardio AFTER, you want full strength for heavy weights). I would recommend the RIPPETOE routine, you can find it on bodybuilding dot com.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    This content has been removed.
  • oneloopygirl
    oneloopygirl Posts: 151 Member
    MrM27 wrote: »
    OP is losing weight because he's not in a deficit. He's not in a deficit because he's guessing how much he's eating.

    This!!!!

    pjs2780 wrote: »
    not sure if this is true, but i have heard that women with a BMI > 25 need to work out 7 hours/week (cardio) to lose weight.

    This is so not true. Calories in < Calories out is how you lose weight. At a deficit either through eating less or exercise or a combination results in weight loss.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    pjs2780 wrote: »
    not sure if this is true, but i have heard that women with a BMI > 25 need to work out 7 hours/week (cardio) to lose weight.

    No. My BMI is 30, I work out max five hours a week, and I'm losing because of a calorie deficit.
  • Papatoad194
    Papatoad194 Posts: 251 Member
    segacs wrote: »
    Yes, if you eat at a deficit, you will lose weight. Some things to consider:

    1. You may be eating more than you think. Read this and tighten up your logging as best as you can.

    2. You might be eating at your maintenance calorie level. If you're relatively sedentary, this calculator estimates your TDEE at around 2362, though if your body fat % is quite high, your actual TDEE could be lower than that. If you're mostly eating at the upper end of the calorie range you gave (2100-2200), that could well be your maintenance level. Which would seem to be the case if the scale hasn't budged in 6 weeks.

    3. Are you exercising? Try to reduce your base calories to the lower end of your range (1700-1800 max) and then only eat above that if you burn more calories via exercise.

    Lots of people assume it's some sort of medical problem when, in reality, Occam's Razor would indicate that it's much more likely that you're simply eating more or burning less than you think you are (or both).

    Segac makes me smile!
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    Papatoad194 wrote: »
    Segac makes me smile!

    Making people smile makes me smile! :)
  • cerad2
    cerad2 Posts: 70 Member
    callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »
    have you been MEASURING your food - EVERY SINGLE THING WITH A FOOD SCALE? exercise helps a LOT too.

    while it COULD be medical (see your doc just in case, esp if issues run in your family), but the vast majority of the time, people are simply eating more than they think (dont forget to weigh the oil you use to cook with, etc)
    Your forgot to mention that it's also important to use CAPITAL LETTERS when logging.
  • SergeantSausage
    SergeantSausage Posts: 1,673 Member
    edited February 2015
    pjs2780 wrote: »
    not sure if this is true, but i have heard that women with a BMI > 25 need to work out 7 hours/week (cardio) to lose weight.

    I heard purple Martians were invading The White House right now, Bro!

  • nicsflyingcircus
    nicsflyingcircus Posts: 2,862 Member
    edited February 2015
    pjs2780 wrote: »
    not sure if this is true, but i have heard that women with a BMI > 25 need to work out 7 hours/week (cardio) to lose weight.

    False. Wrong. Moronic.

    I do pretty much NO dedicated exercise, though I have increased my general activity levels as my weight has decreased. I have dropped from a BMI of 55.4 to 36.3.

This discussion has been closed.

Categories