Is a 'high' metabolism a myth? Advice please!
laurenhollyjohnston1
Posts: 15 Member
I'm new here so I'm sorry if this post is stupid but I have just started MFP a week or so ago. I am 5'3 and 135lbs and according to the app should be eating 1200kcal per day to lose 1lb per week as someone with a sedendary lifestyle. I tracked for a while before I started trying to lose weight (looking to drop 20lbs) and was averaging around 4000kcal per day! I've always been told that I must have a 'good' metabolism, but is that really a thing? Going down to 1200 seems like an almost impossible drop and I feel as though I am starving. Though I was obviously gaining weight how I was eating before it was around a stone in a year so just over 1lb a month, I just feel like I'm constantly super hungry! I appreciate I'm only a week in so do I just need to suck it up or would it be reasonable to try and adjust something so I can eat more?
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Really? What were you eating that came to 4000 cals?1
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Well if eating 4000 calories a day only gave you a gain of 1 pound, theoretically an extra 3500 calories a month, then cutting just 150 calories a day should reverse that, though it would be slow.
If you can eat more like 3,000 calories a day and still lose at a good clip then good for you.
4,000 X 30 = 120,000
3,000 X 30 = 90,000
So net negative 30,000...you were gaining so knock of 3,500...negative 26,500...so over 7 and half pounds a month if that works out.
ETA: Yes, do eat more. You can try calculating your TDEE and then just knock 20% off that if the 3,000 a day seems too crazy.
https://tdeecalculator.net/1 -
laurenhollyjohnston1 wrote: »I'm new here so I'm sorry if this post is stupid but I have just started MFP a week or so ago. I am 5'3 and 135lbs and according to the app should be eating 1200kcal per day to lose 1lb per week as someone with a sedendary lifestyle. I tracked for a while before I started trying to lose weight (looking to drop 20lbs) and was averaging around 4000kcal per day! I've always been told that I must have a 'good' metabolism, but is that really a thing? Going down to 1200 seems like an almost impossible drop and I feel as though I am starving. Though I was obviously gaining weight how I was eating before it was around a stone in a year so just over 1lb a month, I just feel like I'm constantly super hungry! I appreciate I'm only a week in so do I just need to suck it up or would it be reasonable to try and adjust something so I can eat more?
You either weren't eating that much, not eating that much consistently, or you were living a very active lifestyle. I am also 5'4 and when i was at my heaviest weight of 136 i was probably eating 2500+ a day.
And to answer your question... there's not insane crazy metabolism like you're explaining unless you have something like graves disease or another disorder. And you would know.0 -
Purely absolute rubbish. An example of a day would be 2 links 2 bacon 2 potato scone and 2 hash browns with 2 slices of toast and butter for breakfast with a can of coke, a large mcdonalds chicken selects meal for lunch, with a large coke and a takeaway for dinner (say for instance salt and chilli chips, chicken balls and spring rolls) and maybe another litre of full fat fizzy juice. Along with snacks so probably 3 pieces of fruit, a bar of chocolate or 2 and 2 packets of crisps. Thats on an average day. We were in the process of moving house and didnt have a cooker for a while, thats why I started eating that way, but just became a habit!1
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With only 20 pounds to lose, set your weekly weight loss goal to 0.5 pound per week and enjoy those extra calories.
Also change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings so we can help with any logging issues. What's the time period during which you were eating 4,000 calories per day?
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laurenhollyjohnston1 wrote: »Purely absolute rubbish. An example of a day would be 2 links 2 bacon 2 potato scone and 2 hash browns with 2 slices of toast and butter for breakfast with a can of coke, a large mcdonalds chicken selects meal for lunch, with a large coke and a takeaway for dinner (say for instance salt and chilli chips, chicken balls and spring rolls) and maybe another litre of full fat fizzy juice. Along with snacks so probably 3 pieces of fruit, a bar of chocolate or 2 and 2 packets of crisps. Thats on an average day. We were in the process of moving house and didnt have a cooker for a while, thats why I started eating that way, but just became a habit!
ahuh, and how long were you eating that way for?0 -
I would advise against a huge deficit. 1200 calories is pretty low...why not start with something like 1750 calories a day and see how your body reacts to that. Eat at a certain level for a couple weeks and weigh yourself. If you're losing too fast, up your calories, if you're losing too slow reduce them.1
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Its really easy to eat that 4000 calories a day if you're eating junk! I've probably ate like that since May of 2015?3
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I would advise against a huge deficit. 1200 calories is pretty low...why not start with something like 1750 calories a day and see how your body reacts to that. Eat at a certain level for a couple weeks and weigh yourself. If you're losing too fast, up your calories, if you're losing too slow reduce them.
^^THIS!0 -
I'm on 1500 a day so by comparison doesn't sound too drastic. But if you're on 4K then you will feel starved. Cut calories slowly try 500/day and go from there2
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laurenhollyjohnston1 wrote: »Its really easy to eat that 4000 calories a day if you're eating junk! I've probably ate like that since May of 2015?
If you eat large quantities of any food high in carbs, fats or sugars, it's very easy for the calories to mount.
The deficit you choose depends on how quickly you want to lose weight. As you are reluctant to go down to 1200, try something higher. The key is to track your food, monitor you weight, and make adjustments. You can't be passive about it and expect an online calculator to tell you what to do. Bear in mind that losing weight usually involves some hunger.1 -
If you were really eating 4000/day (I admit I suspect you are overestimating) and gaining 1 lb/month, then your TDEE is around 3875, and in theory you could eat 2875 and lose 2 lb/week.
I'd try one of two things:
(1) eat 2000 calories for a few weeks (maybe 4) and see what your results are. If you are losing huge amounts, increase calories based on your TDEE estimated based on those results to aim for no more than 1 lb/week.
(2) start cutting down gradually or if you have changed your diet eat to satisfy your hunger but make sure to log carefully. You will likely eat less and also be able to get a baseline.
There's certainly no need to eat 1200.5 -
rainbowbow wrote: »laurenhollyjohnston1 wrote: »Purely absolute rubbish. An example of a day would be 2 links 2 bacon 2 potato scone and 2 hash browns with 2 slices of toast and butter for breakfast with a can of coke, a large mcdonalds chicken selects meal for lunch, with a large coke and a takeaway for dinner (say for instance salt and chilli chips, chicken balls and spring rolls) and maybe another litre of full fat fizzy juice. Along with snacks so probably 3 pieces of fruit, a bar of chocolate or 2 and 2 packets of crisps. Thats on an average day. We were in the process of moving house and didnt have a cooker for a while, thats why I started eating that way, but just became a habit!
ahuh, and how long were you eating that way for?
That's how normal people eat use to eat waay more than that (besides mickey ds I don't eat them) til I got my biometrics done a couple years back then I had to slow down
How about letting dialogue continue without trying to insert arguments where there are none?
She's not directing anything at you nor is she being confrontational. There's no reason for all the "you're wrong, look at me" stuff.2 -
You're probably overestimating the calories you were eating. Either that or there's some kind of diminishing return when you eat too much and at some point calories stop counting (which I don't believe, lol. Would be nice though).
I get it though. When I checked the math and it said that I was eating 2400 calories to maintain my 210 pounds, I couldn't believe it either... I was sure that I was eating way more than that. But I only remember the bad days.. I'm sure there were days I wasn't eating that much, or I would have been 300 pounds, not 213. But it's still VERY odd.
But I agree that it's very odd. I basically used MFP set on 1 pound a week when I started then switched to TDEE-20% and lost faster than I should have, so I'm guessing that I did have a good metabolism. Emphasis on 'did' because now that I'm maintaining, using the same calculator, I'm maintaining 100 calories UNDER what I should.
So my advice - just use a TDEE calculator and use a 20% deficit.2 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »If you were really eating 4000/day (I admit I suspect you are overestimating) and gaining 1 lb/month, then your TDEE is around 3875, and in theory you could eat 2875 and lose 2 lb/week.
I'd try one of two things:
(1) eat 2000 calories for a few weeks (maybe 4) and see what your results are. If you are losing huge amounts, increase calories based on your TDEE estimated based on those results to aim for no more than 1 lb/week.
(2) start cutting down gradually or if you have changed your diet eat to satisfy your hunger but make sure to log carefully. You will likely eat less and also be able to get a baseline.
There's certainly no need to eat 1200.
Sounds like a sensible approach to me.
Just for reference, I'm 5' 3" and have a desk job. Seriously, I was about as sedentary as you can get. I lost from 142lbs to 117lbs at a rate of 1lb/wk and ate 1500 cals most of the time. Eventually, I did need to drop to 1300 cals in order to keep the rate of loss at 0.5lb/wk.
There should not be any need to drop to 1200 cals.1 -
I think everyone has a different metabolic rate depending on age, gender, activity level, disease process. Work on the things you can control, like activity, diet, taking any prescribed meds correctly, not smoking, seeing your doctor.....0
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laurenhollyjohnston1 wrote: »Its really easy to eat that 4000 calories a day if you're eating junk! I've probably ate like that since May of 2015?
And you gained weight on this diet? Lost weight? Stayed the same? If all of this is true then just dropping a few extra things here and there will fix your problem.
It is a good idea to track for at least a few months to get a real picture of what you're eating calorie wise so you're not just guessing.0 -
OP, if you were really eating 4000 cals every day and only weigh 135, then you don't have to drop all the way down to 1200. Is sedentary accurate?
Someone mentioned this up thread - I would start with 2000 cals, do this for 3-4 weeks and see what happens. If you start losing weight, then stay with those calories. If you don't, then reduce a little more until you find the right spot.
Also keep in mind you are already at a healthy weight, so half a lb per week is a more realistic goal. When you are already light, it is slow going getting lighter in a healthy manner.0 -
What matters is results over time not where you may fall within generic estimates.
If you were barely gaining weight on 4,000 cals per day then personally I don't see any reason why you can't begin at around 3,250 cals per day and see how you go for a month.
If you are losing weight too quickly then up cals or if there is little to no weight loss then reduce cals.
It makes more sense to eat the highest amount you can while still losing at a reasonable rate than going to the lowest level possible which leaves you cranky and nowhere to go if weight loss begins to stall.0 -
You look pretty young so I'd say even if you were somewhat active but had a higher metabolism, you could eat a lot and still not pack on weight. In high school, I weight 128 pounds and I ate whatever I wanted and as much as I wanted and never gained weight. It wasn't until I turned 30 that I started putting on the pounds. It was like someone turned off the fat burning switch in my body. I didn't get heavy, but I did see my weight increase. Add 30 years and I'm still not heavy. I'm 53, 5'8 and weight 171. I would like to lose about 6 more pounds but the weight is stubbornly hanging on. So to answer your question, I believe in a high metabolism.2
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Idk, My mom was 103-115 lbs at 5'6 for mostly all her life and she ate like a TRUCK, hardly much activity and she never really went past this range of weight. Of course now that shes nearing 50, shes put on some weight, I've tracked her calories though and she eats way more than she should be able to for mat cals yet she stays the same weight.
MFP says 2100 is my mat levels, when its closer to 2500.
I would slowly take away calories, going from 4k to 1200 would be super hard and could lead to binging.1 -
Everyone's metabolism is different. The OP's metabolism will probably change over time as she ages. But for now, I would try to accurately track what you are eating now (by weight, in grams, and by the MFP entries that are verified), then subtract 500 kcal a day off of that number and start with that. IIFYM.com's calculator is also a good start, it'll allow you to adjust based on your level of daily energy expenditure and by how much you exercise each week. You may find that you can indeed eat 3500 calories a day and lose weight, that'll only work to a point though, then you'll have to adjust because your metabolism will also adjust over time.3
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Spliner1969 wrote: »Everyone's metabolism is different. The OP's metabolism will probably change over time as she ages. But for now, I would try to accurately track what you are eating now (by weight, in grams, and by the MFP entries that are verified), then subtract 500 kcal a day off of that number and start with that. IIFYM.com's calculator is also a good start, it'll allow you to adjust based on your level of daily energy expenditure and by how much you exercise each week. You may find that you can indeed eat 3500 calories a day and lose weight, that'll only work to a point though, then you'll have to adjust because your metabolism will also adjust over time.
Agreed. Track accurately. I highly doubt you're really eating 4000 calories.jammer1963 wrote: »You look pretty young so I'd say even if you were somewhat active but had a higher metabolism, you could eat a lot and still not pack on weight. In high school, I weight 128 pounds and I ate whatever I wanted and as much as I wanted and never gained weight. It wasn't until I turned 30 that I started putting on the pounds. It was like someone turned off the fat burning switch in my body. I didn't get heavy, but I did see my weight increase. Add 30 years and I'm still not heavy. I'm 53, 5'8 and weight 171. I would like to lose about 6 more pounds but the weight is stubbornly hanging on. So to answer your question, I believe in a high metabolism.
It definitely creeps up as you get older. I never really changed my diet once I moved to the US, and I maintained at 200 pounds for years. Then I hit 30 and it started creeping up. At 33 and 213 pounds I realized that I had to stop it and that's when I decided to do something about it.0 -
May be bcz OP's body fat % is low combined with acitivity level (for sedentary i still cant fathom) which is keeping metabolism higher. I am not sure just putting a thought!0
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It's true in the sense that there are variations from person to person, but most of it will be based on muscle mass and activity level. How active were/are you? The people I know with "high metabolisms" never seem to sit down and exercise frequently. They also often don't eat as much as everyone thinks.
Carefully track (weigh everything) your calorie intake over time and see. The numbers spit out on MFP and elsewhere are just estimates. You have to spend time determining your own TDEE.0 -
I am thin, have always been thin, and have always felt like I am eating a lot, BUT what I read, and what seems to be true, is that skinny people will eat a whole pizza, sure, or take five of the cookies or eat the whole piece of cake, but then maybe nothing the rest of the day, or will go out to dinner at restaurant but then realize they haven't eaten breakfast or lunch...that the calories sort of adjust themselves through appetite. I've been tracking for awhile to see what I am eating, have not logged some of the stuff (alcoholic drinks, fruit and veg, some feast days) but enough to get a trend and it does look like I don't really eat THAT much.
Even so, I come from a line of thin women who eat, and my brothers and sisters are like that too. It would seem there has to be a genetic component to weight. So yeah I think "a high metabolism" is a thing.
My weight has come up some as I got older but that has been intentional, due to heavier exercise to build muscle, as my goal is to be not so skinny as an older person. I was 125lb at 21 years old and was 125lb at 45, after four kids, that isn't behavior so much as just genetics. Intentional building has got me to 136, considered healthier for 5'9", and ideally I'd like to cut now a little, 2-5 lb but am more focused on athletic goals.
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So if you know you've been eating 4,000 and you know you were gaining about a pound per month...then you don't really need this calculator...you already know the math...just customize your calorie targets to be what you think they should be based on the math.0
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laurenhollyjohnston1 wrote: »Purely absolute rubbish. An example of a day would be 2 links 2 bacon 2 potato scone and 2 hash browns with 2 slices of toast and butter for breakfast with a can of coke, a large mcdonalds chicken selects meal for lunch, with a large coke and a takeaway for dinner (say for instance salt and chilli chips, chicken balls and spring rolls) and maybe another litre of full fat fizzy juice. Along with snacks so probably 3 pieces of fruit, a bar of chocolate or 2 and 2 packets of crisps. Thats on an average day. We were in the process of moving house and didnt have a cooker for a while, thats why I started eating that way, but just became a habit!
You've had 2 takeaway meals every single day for a year? And all the other stuff.0 -
I doubt you were eating 4000 calories every day. It's a well documented phenomenon that obese people (or people who are feeling they are eating too little) tend to have calorie amnesia where they eat and forget much of what they ate and feel movement is labored so they also overestimate their activity level, leading them to think they have a slow metabolism. Naturally thin people (or people who are feeling they are eating too much), on the other hand, tend to have a "not eating" amnesia, where they only remember their heavy days and don't notice how much they are actually moving.
Faster metabolisms do exist, but I very very highly doubt it that you have double the metabolism of someone your size. There would be a difference of about 20% calories at either extreme of the bell curve, so even as an extreme outlier your sedentary maintenance would not be higher than 2200-2300 tops.0 -
Yeah.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/00365513.2010.491125?journalCode=iclb20
People claiming high metabolism think they're eating more and vice versa, but their actual calorie burns aren't that different.
I'm still looking for the one where they checked through a bunch of studies where RMR was measured and found the highest out of 6000 people was for guys at 3200 kcal and for women at 2500.0
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