If you eat maintenance for goal weight, why can't you lose?
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jennyct10
Posts: 15 Member
If you eat maintenance for goal weight, why can't you lose?
Wondering if anyone had an answer for this. How can you maintain a 180 lb body by eating 1400 calories (between 1200 and 1400). How could you even get there in the first place? I never ate over 2000 cal in my life (ok maybe once or twice a year). All I could think is that it takes no energy to keep fat on the body, so there is no bmr for fat stores (yet it does take more energy to move - like carrying a large package all day).
Wondering if anyone had an answer for this. How can you maintain a 180 lb body by eating 1400 calories (between 1200 and 1400). How could you even get there in the first place? I never ate over 2000 cal in my life (ok maybe once or twice a year). All I could think is that it takes no energy to keep fat on the body, so there is no bmr for fat stores (yet it does take more energy to move - like carrying a large package all day).
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Replies
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You were probably eating more than you think.0
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You cannot maintain a 180 lb body on 1400 (assuming no untreated medical conditions). Eating more than 2000 calories is quite easy--I'm sure if you try to log on vacation/when you have company/at someone's house you will see that you did it more than once or twice a year. If you have simply been maintaining, not gaining, it may be that you were only off by a couple of hundred calories most days. This is why logging and weighing are important.
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Have you tried weighing your food and logging precisely for a couple of weeks? That's the only way to know how many calories daily you're eating.
I am not saying you have to weight and log in order to lose, people have managed to do it before MFP... I am saying though that without weighing and logging every byte using accurate (i.e. USDA) entries in the database, you cannot possibly know for sure how many calories you are eating.
If you've done all that, then I would look for a medical condition.0 -
Get bloodwork checked at doctor's office. hypothyroidism would do it. been there, hated that.0
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I try to create food, not use the one in the search because I found some are grossly inaccurate, and if I had a scale I would weigh everything to make sure its proper portion, also check if you have a thyroid problem, or diabetes, or any sort of underlying medical issue. Also maybe your maintenance is wrong, I would not recommend lowering it since I'm not a doctor, but I try to check my BMR on numerous calculators, and go with the one that feels right.0
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The answer is in your private food diary.0
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I agree with others. You're likely mislogging your intake unless you have a serious medical issue. At 145 pounds, I net around 1800 calories to maintain, often eating over 2000 total.0
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So I've been tracking for one month this year, and last year for over 12 months (I lost 3 lbs in 12 months). I know how to weigh food, I've studied chemistry and math in college. Why would I underestimate if I go through the trouble to do this? When I stopped logging last year, I immediately gained 10 lbs in 6 months... which is probably about 190 calories extra a day. I am older, so there's less muscle and my hormones are probably whacked, but if you believe in CICO - which science backs up... there's something wrong.
I am going to try and change my macros (which basic science disputes) and see if anything changes. I think things are much more complicated than simple energy deficit.0 -
So I've been tracking for one month this year, and last year for over 12 months (I lost 3 lbs in 12 months). I know how to weigh food, I've studied chemistry and math in college. Why would I underestimate if I go through the trouble to do this? When I stopped logging last year, I immediately gained 10 lbs in 6 months... which is probably about 190 calories extra a day. I am older, so there's less muscle and my hormones are probably whacked, but if you believe in CICO - which science backs up... there's something wrong.
I am going to try and change my macros (which basic science disputes) and see if anything changes. I think things are much more complicated than simple energy deficit.
We have research showing that even registered dieticians (people who know an awful lot about diet and food) also underreport their calorie intake when tracking carefully. It stands to reason that most people do this.
If you would like detailed feedback please set your diary to public/open.0 -
You stopped tracking and gained weight?
That's not particularly surprising. Since you then don't know what you were consuming (and an extra 190 Cals per day isn't a whole lot), I'd think that 10 lbs in 6 months actually wasn't bad.
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Thats annoying to read that. I do eat 1350 calories a day for months and my weight will not move. I track my food carefully. I weight everything. When I'm not sure, I make sure to overestimate. I eat healthy. I travel by bike. I had my thyroïd tested and everything is normal.
But I don't loose weight, so everyone who lose weight think that I am not doing things correctly. ...
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So I've been tracking for one month this year, and last year for over 12 months (I lost 3 lbs in 12 months). I know how to weigh food, I've studied chemistry and math in college. Why would I underestimate if I go through the trouble to do this? When I stopped logging last year, I immediately gained 10 lbs in 6 months... which is probably about 190 calories extra a day. I am older, so there's less muscle and my hormones are probably whacked, but if you believe in CICO - which science backs up... there's something wrong.
I am going to try and change my macros (which basic science disputes) and see if anything changes. I think things are much more complicated than simple energy deficit.
First, no one is saying you underestimated intentionally. For whatever reason, it's what most people tend to do, even when they are being careful.
Second, yes... it is more complex that simply cals in/cals out. However, cals in/cals out is the single biggest factor, and should be the starting point for everyone. With so little info about you, we are going to start with the basics and go from there.
Finally, going back to your original post... eating maintenance for goal weight (assuming you're a meaningful amount heavier than your goal) will lead to weight loss assuming a reasonably balanced diet and no relevant medical issues. The question is... how many cals does it take to sustain your body at your goal weight? That can take a lot of trial and error, despite how easy it may seem when using BMR/TDEE calculators. As you eluded to in your follow-up... age, muscle mass, genetics, hormones, etc can all play a role determining that number.
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So I've been tracking for one month this year, and last year for over 12 months (I lost 3 lbs in 12 months). I know how to weigh food, I've studied chemistry and math in college. Why would I underestimate if I go through the trouble to do this? When I stopped logging last year, I immediately gained 10 lbs in 6 months... which is probably about 190 calories extra a day. I am older, so there's less muscle and my hormones are probably whacked, but if you believe in CICO - which science backs up... there's something wrong.
I am going to try and change my macros (which basic science disputes) and see if anything changes. I think things are much more complicated than simple energy deficit.
We have research showing that even registered dieticians (people who know an awful lot about diet and food) also underreport their calorie intake when tracking carefully. It stands to reason that most people do this.
If you would like detailed feedback please set your diary to public/open.
Logical follow up question: If almost everyone screws up tracking, I'm going to assume you mean even people who have a great deal of success, then what should one do to overcome these errors? In other words, if I'm definitely not going to get it right because getting it right is so insane of a task then what do to have success in spite? More cardio? Estimate high on everything I eat? Anything specific at all or just take more time and not do anything different?
I would say that most people probably have some degree of error in their logging.
Whether or not it's problematic really just depends on results. Just for example, when you hear stories about people eating 1200 calories and not losing weight, you tend to find either issues with logging accuracy, issues logging consistency, or the occasional binge that goes unrecorded. And you take these things collectively and see that they're not anywhere near 1200 cal and just eating at maintenance.
I tend to lean towards bringing awareness to this with clients because it's usually a very eye-opening experience for them. Being accepting of this concept followed by taking 1 to 2 weeks to track anything and everything and use the food scale meticulously even if just for the short term usually brings about a combination of weight loss, hunger, and a big lightbulb moment for the client.
The reason I find this valuable is that if you don't do this, you may end up with a scenario where you have someone who believes they're eating 1300 cal and barely losing weight. Then they think there's something metabolically wrong with them and they could lose faith in the process.0 -
So I've been tracking for one month this year, and last year for over 12 months (I lost 3 lbs in 12 months). I know how to weigh food, I've studied chemistry and math in college. Why would I underestimate if I go through the trouble to do this? When I stopped logging last year, I immediately gained 10 lbs in 6 months... which is probably about 190 calories extra a day. I am older, so there's less muscle and my hormones are probably whacked, but if you believe in CICO - which science backs up... there's something wrong.
I am going to try and change my macros (which basic science disputes) and see if anything changes. I think things are much more complicated than simple energy deficit.
We have research showing that even registered dieticians (people who know an awful lot about diet and food) also underreport their calorie intake when tracking carefully. It stands to reason that most people do this.
If you would like detailed feedback please set your diary to public/open.
Logical follow up question: If almost everyone screws up tracking, I'm going to assume you mean even people who have a great deal of success, then what should one do to overcome these errors? In other words, if I'm definitely not going to get it right because getting it right is so insane of a task then what do to have success in spite? More cardio? Estimate high on everything I eat? Anything specific at all or just take more time and not do anything different?
I would say that most people probably have some degree of error in their logging.
Whether or not it's problematic really just depends on results. Just for example, when you hear stories about people eating 1200 calories and not losing weight, you tend to find either issues with logging accuracy, issues logging consistency, or the occasional binge that goes unrecorded. And you take these things collectively and see that they're not anywhere near 1200 cal and just eating at maintenance.
I tend to lean towards bringing awareness to this with clients because it's usually a very eye-opening experience for them. Being accepting of this concept followed by taking 1 to 2 weeks to track anything and everything and use the food scale meticulously even if just for the short term usually brings about a combination of weight loss, hunger, and a big lightbulb moment for the client.
The reason I find this valuable is that if you don't do this, you may end up with a scenario where you have someone who believes they're eating 1300 cal and barely losing weight. Then they think there's something metabolically wrong with them and they could lose faith in the process.
cosign0 -
Are you logging the biking calories? If so, how many calories are you logging and are you then eating those calories?0
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I do not log my biking calories.0
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If what you say is accurate that you've been tracking/logging/weighing with an eagle eye, it could be that you've been under eating for so long that your body has adjusted to a lower metabolic rate. If you do no weight training and only cardio type exercise and you are over 35, you are losing muscle mass naturally as you age, every single year. I am a fitness instructor and I used to be able to eat anything I wanted and maintain because of all the classes but now in middle age (45) I have to log and be focused and I've had to add 2 days of heavy strength training to my already 5 classes (mix of Spin, Pilates, Barre, HIIT). Even with all I move teaching some days the fitbit only logs 6000 steps...because I have a desk job the rest of the time. So no, I can't eat anything I want to as most people assume. You can't out exercise a poor diet in middle age! I can lose .5 lb a week on an avg of 1800 calories a day with the exercise I do.
I would:
a) open your diary
b) go to the doctor (which one should do when you defy science - means something is often up)
c) get your body composition tested (your metabolic rate if you are really stumped...but that's more $$$)
d) add strength training
Good luck.0 -
So I've been tracking for one month this year, and last year for over 12 months (I lost 3 lbs in 12 months). I know how to weigh food, I've studied chemistry and math in college. Why would I underestimate if I go through the trouble to do this? When I stopped logging last year, I immediately gained 10 lbs in 6 months... which is probably about 190 calories extra a day. I am older, so there's less muscle and my hormones are probably whacked, but if you believe in CICO - which science backs up... there's something wrong.
I am going to try and change my macros (which basic science disputes) and see if anything changes. I think things are much more complicated than simple energy deficit.
We have research showing that even registered dieticians (people who know an awful lot about diet and food) also underreport their calorie intake when tracking carefully. It stands to reason that most people do this.
If you would like detailed feedback please set your diary to public/open.
Logical follow up question: If almost everyone screws up tracking, I'm going to assume you mean even people who have a great deal of success, then what should one do to overcome these errors? In other words, if I'm definitely not going to get it right because getting it right is so insane of a task then what do to have success in spite? More cardio? Estimate high on everything I eat? Anything specific at all or just take more time and not do anything different?
I would say that most people probably have some degree of error in their logging.
Whether or not it's problematic really just depends on results. Just for example, when you hear stories about people eating 1200 calories and not losing weight, you tend to find either issues with logging accuracy, issues logging consistency, or the occasional binge that goes unrecorded. And you take these things collectively and see that they're not anywhere near 1200 cal and just eating at maintenance.
I tend to lean towards bringing awareness to this with clients because it's usually a very eye-opening experience for them. Being accepting of this concept followed by taking 1 to 2 weeks to track anything and everything and use the food scale meticulously even if just for the short term usually brings about a combination of weight loss, hunger, and a big lightbulb moment for the client.
The reason I find this valuable is that if you don't do this, you may end up with a scenario where you have someone who believes they're eating 1300 cal and barely losing weight. Then they think there's something metabolically wrong with them and they could lose faith in the process.
I agree with this as well. As someone who was on the other side of the spectrum (thought it was impossible to GAIN weight), once I learned that my perception of what I was actually eating, and how I was actually exercising, was in fact completely wrong, I figured it out to the tune of gaining over 20 lbs in less than 3 months. I too mistakenly thought I was a metabolic unicorn, who found it easier to name a scapegoat for my misunderstanding.0
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