Metabolism, I don't have one.

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andyarceye
andyarceye Posts: 10 Member
in Introduce Yourself
I'll try to be brief to explain.

Age 44
Male
80Kg ( ideal weight should be approx. 67Kg )
BMI 26.73


My BMR is 1726 based on age, height, weight and sex.
My Job is sat at a desk most of the time
My typical weekday daily calorie intake is 1700 - 1800 and weekend day 2000 - 2500 according to label information or myfitness pal database where raw fruit is involved. I eat the exact same food every day Monday to Friday.
My typical exercise is between 800 and 2000 calories burned 5 times a week cycling typically 120 - 150 miles per week.

Using those numbers
12500 - 14000 calories intake per week
12082 BMR per week
4000 - 10000 calories of exercise per week


Total weekly calorie burned 16082 - 22082 including BMR
Total weekly calorie intake 12500 - 14000
So calorie deficit per week 2082 - 9582

Amount of weight GAINED this YEAR 1kg, I weigh in every morning to keep the scales honest.

My calories burned information comes from my Garmin cycle computer and, as I have a power meter, it is based on real work load, not heart rate calculations.
I use three different sites when uploading data, Garmin connect, Strava and Training Peeks, all of them show the same amount of work load in kj as it is a real measurement , but they all translate into different calories burned amounts, which means they are all wrong and can only be used as a guide.

So this leaves some conclusions.

Food calorie information is BS (apparently by law this must be correct so we assume it is)
kJ to calorie conversion is BS (apparently this is proven fact)

The human body is apparently 20% - 25% efficient converting food energy into usable energy leaves huge questions.
My metabolism doesn't exist, or I have the most efficient body in history for creating energy out of nothing.

Do I cheat sometimes and eat things without realizing ?? Not a chance. I am clinical with what I eat.

Perhaps I need to eat more to lose weight, but that is like telling someone who is broke, they need to spend more of the funds they don't have to become rich.

One last strange thing, I never feel hungry, even after a 70 mile bike ride ( 4 hours @ 500 - 700 calories per hour, depending on terrain ) with nothing more than 550 calories of food ( 4 x Kelloggs Nutri-Grain Bars ) during the ride.

That's about it.

Basically I know what I eat, I know what I burn, I know I am in calorie deficit and should be losing weight, but it isn't happening so the basic rule where, if calories out is higher than calories in weight is lost is BS.

Andy

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Replies

  • senecarr
    senecarr Posts: 5,377 Member
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    I'm assuming you're alive to have typed that, so you do have a metabolism.
  • andyarceye
    andyarceye Posts: 10 Member
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    Yep, my current heart rate is 47, so yes I am alive.
  • senecarr
    senecarr Posts: 5,377 Member
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    It's really quite simple, yes, you're off somewhere. You don't know what you burn, and you are not in a calorie deficit, by the very definition that you gained weight over time.
    Registered dietitians when asked for an experiment, screwed up their intake measurements by 25% on average. On the other hand, nobody has ever shown, under lab conditions, the metabolic efficiency you want to claim. Occam's Razor therefore tells me, you've missed measured as the most likely thing, followed by the next most likely thing (it isn't you violated thermodynamics) that you are trolling.
  • Ang108
    Ang108 Posts: 1,711 Member
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    If you had no metabolism, you would not be alive. The rest of your post, well, I don't quite get what you want to accomplish with it.
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
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    dude, you've got to be wrong some where, either in your intake, or your burn. i understand staying stagnant in your weight ( a 1 kilo increase in a year is pretty much stagnant).

    pick up the book Racing Weight, it'll give you some tips. it gave me lots of advice, and dropped 30 pounds after being at the same weight for two years.
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
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    Do you weigh and measure all your food? If not, how do you know exactly how much you're eating?

    You mentioned nutrigrain bars.... I doubt they're the weight they say on the box, just one place you may be over consuming. Eyeballing after a period of eating the same food could also lead to overconsumption....

    Your body could have also adapted to lower calories after being in a deficit for so long. You seriously do that much exercise on so little food?
  • andyarceye
    andyarceye Posts: 10 Member
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    No for sure not trolling, trying to understand why I am a freak of nature, all the numbers I gave for intake and burned calories are true with the information I have from food labels and databases for the raw fruit I eat with regards intake.
    Calories burned is data given to me by Garmin, Strava and Trainingpeaks.
    The human efficiency number I gave is what is typically given on the interweb search human efficiency ( they are not my numbers ).
    There is nothing more I can say what I have given is factual, as much as the information I am given by what are supposed to be reputable sources.
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
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    andyarceye wrote: »
    No for sure not trolling, trying to understand why I am a freak of nature, all the numbers I gave for intake and burned calories are true with the information I have from food labels and databases for the raw fruit I eat with regards intake.
    Calories burned is data given to me by Garmin, Strava and Trainingpeaks.
    The human efficiency number I gave is what is typically given on the interweb search human efficiency ( they are not my numbers ).
    There is nothing more I can say what I have given is factual, as much as the information I am given by what are supposed to be reputable sources.

    So you don't actually know that's your bmr?

    Your computer whatsits would tell you calories burnt, but include your bmr... Right?

    Are you weighing and measuring all your food? Using nutrition info off labels is great, if you're eating the servings they give you info for.
  • andyarceye
    andyarceye Posts: 10 Member
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    livingleanlivingclean wrote: »
    Do you weigh and measure all your food? If not, how do you know exactly how much you're eating?

    You mentioned nutrigrain bars.... I doubt they're the weight they say on the box, just one place you may be over consuming. Eyeballing after a period of eating the same food could also lead to overconsumption....

    Your body could have also adapted to lower calories after being in a deficit for so long. You seriously do that much exercise on so little food?

    Let me answer.

    Nutigrain bars are labelled as 37 grams with 131 Kcal per bar, I agree they could be a few grams over, and that would add up, but they would have to huge amounts over to the point Kelloggs would be be in court for giving illegal information.

    That was my only thought, where my body had become so used to being in deficit, it has become very good at it.

    look at the image of my strava profile and weekly average miles + hours , I'm pretty sure that clears up the exercise question

    7kdbkwx9wu72.png
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
    edited June 2015
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    Well, you didn't mention actually weighing your food, so barring this obviously glaring oversight in what seems an otherwise air-tight case, you might just be a special snowflake, then. <nods> :)
  • andyarceye
    andyarceye Posts: 10 Member
    edited June 2015
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    I have food which is is already weighed, the example I gave was a nitrigrain bar, it has a weight , I can't be far off or there would be law suits.
    I buy a punnet of melons, grapes and such, which clearly show their weight, same applies. Bananas, I purchase by weight, and divide them up for the sake of argument 5 bananas = 1 kg = 200 grams each, I know it could be 205 for one then 195 for another, but the entire weight is 1kg so it's known.

    So no I do not weigh every individual item I eat, but I know what I am eating and how much it weighs.

    So I guess special snowflake I am :) .

    In truth I believe the BMR calculations are too generalized and very inaccurate, so where I was given 1726, in reality, it may actually be 700 or so. Also the calorie burned is calculated based on the amount of kJ of energy required to do the workload I do, the kJ are measured, but the calculation to convert it into calories taking into account human efficiency is so variable it can be incredibly inaccurate.
  • FatFreeFrolicking
    FatFreeFrolicking Posts: 4,252 Member
    edited June 2015
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    If you didn't have a metabolism, you'd be dead.

    Also, I highly doubt you are burning 500-700 calories per hour of bike riding.

    Lastly, if you do not weigh every individual item, no, you do not know how much you are eating or how much it weighs.
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
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    andyarceye wrote: »
    livingleanlivingclean wrote: »
    Do you weigh and measure all your food? If not, how do you know exactly how much you're eating?

    You mentioned nutrigrain bars.... I doubt they're the weight they say on the box, just one place you may be over consuming. Eyeballing after a period of eating the same food could also lead to overconsumption....

    Your body could have also adapted to lower calories after being in a deficit for so long. You seriously do that much exercise on so little food?

    Let me answer.

    Nutigrain bars are labelled as 37 grams with 131 Kcal per bar, I agree they could be a few grams over, and that would add up, but they would have to huge amounts over to the point Kelloggs would be be in court for giving illegal information.

    That was my only thought, where my body had become so used to being in deficit, it has become very good at it.

    look at the image of my strava profile and weekly average miles + hours , I'm pretty sure that clears up the exercise question

    7kdbkwx9wu72.png

    Kellogg wouldn't be going to court - their bar may be 131 cals for 37g. Doesn't mean the bar is actually 37g. If you're relying on label info for packaged food, and eating lots of it without weighing or measuring, then yes there's likely lots of inaccuracies in your info.

    Surely you can use your gadgets to calculate your energy burn constantly.. For whole days and not just periods of exercise? Why not try that
  • Emilia777
    Emilia777 Posts: 978 Member
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    Why don’t you open your food diary? Either calories in or calories out are wrong (or both). It’s as simple as that.
  • andyarceye
    andyarceye Posts: 10 Member
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    Sorry, but the bar clearly gives its weight of 37g.

    My bike computer works on the bike only.
    I can't see how any gadget can tell how many calories someone burns with any kind of accuracy unless it is using a known measured force.
    Unfortunately all the wearable stuff people buy uses heart rate for a base of the calculations, which is useless, two people of equal proportions may have different heart rates so the higher heart rate will show to burn more calories which isn't necessarily true.
  • mathjulz
    mathjulz Posts: 5,514 Member
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    Either CI or CO is wrong ... or both. There's no way around that.

    CI: are you properly weighing everything? You've already stated you aren't. I'm sure you could invest in a food scale (they are only $15-$20 in the US, but I'm sure they aren't super expensive where you are). Weigh everything except liquids, which you can use a measuring cup for (one meant to measure liquids ... it's surprising how much the solid ones can be off for liquids). Even your Nutrigrain Bars. Even a slice of bread (mine usually end up about 10g more than what a serving is listed at). Even your banana ... if nothing else, to make sure you aren't counting the peel as part of the weight. Be neurotic about it for 2 weeks, and see if you really are eating the amount you think you are.

    CO: Even your fancy device to measure your exercise burn is still just an estimate. You and I could cycle the exact same route (workload) and yet our burns would be different - you're more conditioned and you weigh more. We could even control for weight on the workload, but it would still take a different amount of energy for a 80kg male to do that work than a 68 kg female. I really don't know what the calorie burn would be for a 25-30 mile bike ride, but it's very possible that your system is overestimating. Maybe try cutting 500 calories off of that and see if it makes a difference in your weight loss.

    The fact that you've gained 1kg over the last year says that, in reality, you are eating very close to maintenance. So, if you don't want to bother with a food scale, just cut out 500 calories a day from what you are eating now, and you should start losing about a pound a week. (Just remember, it's not linear)
  • andyarceye
    andyarceye Posts: 10 Member
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    Emilia, thanks for the suggestion.
    I used the food diary on here, but as it's the same every day, and I got fed up of it giving me a red screen telling my to eat more, I no longer need to use it.

    The problem isn't what I eat, it is the misinformation given generally about BMR and calorie calculations.
  • Alluminati
    Alluminati Posts: 6,208 Member
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    So, do you weigh and measure your food?
  • Emilia777
    Emilia777 Posts: 978 Member
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    Sorry, I don’t see the standard numbers being off that substantially. If you think that’s the case though, and aren’t open to exploring any inconsistencies in the CICO equation, probably best you go see a doctor and have some testing done.
  • andyarceye
    andyarceye Posts: 10 Member
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    mathjulz.

    I appreciate what you are suggesting, however let me point out.
    You seem to have jumped on weighing food part , I don't way individual items, but I know the weights I eat, I gave an example with the bananas.
    My energy used in kJ is measured, not estimated, if I do a 25 mile ride on 2 different days the results will be different and expected to be different. If however, I do 500kJ of work, I have done 500kJ of work the calorie burn is the same, if someone half my weight does 500kJ of work they also burn the same calories. The measure used by the bike computer is Watts, Watts are Watts regardless of all other variables.


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