How important is daily calorie intake?
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Hey guys ...
Based on the calculations I should be eating no less than 1200 cals daily ... however I started eating clean 4 weeks ago and I can't seem to hit this number ... I'm also burning 500-900 cals daily 5/6 days a week with biking, running, lifting...
My issue is that I'm not really seeing the scale move...
... my body does look smaller and I also fitting into smaller sizes but the scale won't budge ... if anything it looks like I'm gaining weight....
Is anyone having similar issues? If so what have you done and what had helped? ...
Thanks so much!
Just a question, if your clothes are looser, and your body does look smaller, and the scale won't budge, how does it look like you are gaining weight? Also don't cut things out of your diet, just because somebody told you they are dirty foods or whatever the kids are saying these days, if it is driving you nuts to not have these foods in your diet, add them back in, but just make sure you keep an accurate log of what you are eating.
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When are people going to stop thinking that starvation mode is an actual thing and that you won't lose weight if you don't eat enough? You could eat 0 calories a day and burn off 600 and you would still lose weight (and probably pass out after a couple days but lose weight anyways). If you're not losing weight, then you're eating too many calories. Oh and you said that you're not eating pasta, rice and things like that. Is that just a preference or are you doing it because you think you won't lose weight if you do? The only thing that matters for losing weight is calories (other things matter for health, and satiation). it's possible that you could have been retaining water from the increase in exercise but if your exercise routine has been constant for 4 weeks it's probably not water retention. If you continue to not lose weight, maybe go to the doctor to get any health problem cleared. 8
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Weighing your food doesn't matter, only MFPers who want to eat way too much think it does.
If your body is smaller but the scale hasn't gone down, you probably have lost fat and are retaining water and some time soon it will all flush out. Just keep it up.0 -
Hey guys ...
Based on the calculations I should be eating no less than 1200 cals daily ... however I started eating clean 4 weeks ago and I can't seem to hit this number ... I'm also burning 500-900 cals daily 5/6 days a week with biking, running, lifting...
My issue is that I'm not really seeing the scale move... ... my body does look smaller and I also fitting into smaller sizes but the scale won't budge ... if anything it looks like I'm gaining weight....
Is anyone having similar issues? If so what have you done and what had helped? ...
Thanks so much!
Huh?
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seekingdaintiness wrote: »Weighing your food doesn't matter, only MFPers who want to eat way too much think it does.
If your body is smaller but the scale hasn't gone down, you probably have lost fat and are retaining water and some time soon it will all flush out. Just keep it up.
Huh.. well I've lost 16 pounds in about 1 month by weighing all my food and not going over 1800 calories everyday, am I eating too much? lol5 -
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seekingdaintiness wrote: »Weighing your food doesn't matter, only MFPers who want to eat way too much think it does.
I read on a daily basis. Mostly trash and brain numbing articles on how to be more...anything. I read about the joke that is our election. I read about people crashing while hunting pokemon or falling off cliffs. I have even read about stupid criminals. The point of my banter is I read a lot of stupid stuff, YET the above comment is still the most absurd thing I have ever read....in my life.
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Try not eating back your activity calories and make sure you are drinking 2-3L of water daily. Check your sodium levels. Do this for 3 weeks (BAN your scale until your 3 weeks are up). Take mental notes on how your energy level is.
Activity trackers are often incorrect. If you burn more than you consume you will loose weight. No one defies physics.0 -
seekingdaintiness wrote: »Weighing your food doesn't matter, only MFPers who want to eat way too much think it does.
If your body is smaller but the scale hasn't gone down, you probably have lost fat and are retaining water and some time soon it will all flush out. Just keep it up.
Not sure why you use MFP but to bash the users for using a food scale. A food scale is a smart investment for future success and weighing your food teaches you portion size. You won't need to measure your food for very long because you get good at eyeballing. How do you approach portion control?6 -
Hey guys ...
Based on the calculations I should be eating no less than 1200 cals daily ... however I started eating clean 4 weeks ago and I can't seem to hit this number ... I'm also burning 500-900 cals daily 5/6 days a week with biking, running, lifting...
My issue is that I'm not really seeing the scale move... ... my body does look smaller and I also fitting into smaller sizes but the scale won't budge ... if anything it looks like I'm gaining weight....
Is anyone having similar issues? If so what have you done and what had helped? ...
Thanks so much!
Bottom line: you are eating more than you think. Otherwise, you would be losing weight. You don't gain weight eating too little food, you gain it eating too much.
Eating clean is preference only and has nothing to do with weight loss.
What are your stats? How much are you trying to lose?
Do you weight all your food and log everything you eat? Do you eat those exercise calories back? If so, what type of exercise, and where do you get the calorie burns from?2 -
mayoosh_primrose wrote: »Your body has probably gone into starvation mode because of the reduced calorie intake, which then makes weight loss very difficult.
This is "the body's natural response to long-term calorie restriction. It involves a reduction in the amount of calories your body burns, which can slow down weight loss."
So try to increase your calorie intake to 1200 or so and see what happens good luck!
Nope. It's a myth. In order to be in starvation mode, you have to be emaciated and have lost a certain amount of body fat and muscle.2 -
So what am I doing wrong then? I'm eating very healthy lean protein (chicken breast and tilapia) lots of fresh veggies and fruit only for breakfast... also working out a lot...
Food type has nothing to do with weight loss.
Are you eating your exercise calories back? Where do you get the burns from?1 -
seekingdaintiness wrote: »Weighing your food doesn't matter, only MFPers who want to eat way too much think it does.
If your body is smaller but the scale hasn't gone down, you probably have lost fat and are retaining water and some time soon it will all flush out. Just keep it up.
interesting...esp since my Type 1 diabetic brother weighs his food...always has.
To the OP I agree with most of the good points here....to sum them up
Use a food scale
CI or CO is off or both....see the flow chart
No way you could be doing that much activity on so few calories and not losing scale weight
Or are you losing just not fast enough
no starvation mode it's a myth
activity trackers in general are fine for most people
if you are smaller why does scale weight matter5 -
seekingdaintiness wrote: »(1) Weighing your food doesn't matter, (2) only MFPers who want to eat way too much think it does.
If your body is smaller but the scale hasn't gone down, you probably have lost fat and are retaining water and some time soon it will all flush out. Just keep it up.
Really? (1) it does if you want accuracy, and (2) that's a silly, sweeping generalization.
The bottom line is the OP does not really know how much she is eating.
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Hey guys ...
Based on the calculations I should be eating no less than 1200 cals daily ... however I started eating clean 4 weeks ago and I can't seem to hit this number ... I'm also burning 500-900 cals daily 5/6 days a week with biking, running, lifting...
My issue is that I'm not really seeing the scale move... ... my body does look smaller and I also fitting into smaller sizes but the scale won't budge ... if anything it looks like I'm gaining weight....
Is anyone having similar issues? If so what have you done and what had helped? ...
Thanks so much!
You have much to learn, and that's fine. We all started somewhere.
What does "clean eating" mean for you? I ask not to start the old MFP clean food fight (there's no good definition for it) but to get a sense of what you're eating and more importantly what you're restricting from your diet.
Are you saying that you're struggling to keep your calories consumed above 1200? Can you expand on this please? How many calories do you typically eat? What prevents you from eating more?2 -
It's possible you aren't doing anything wrong. I have full months where the scale doesn't budge, then suddenly I'll be down 4 lbs one morning. Give it time, 4 weeks isn't that long. What I would do if I needed to see the scale more more, faster is I would up my cardio a bit....maybe replace one of your lifting sessions with a full on cardio session.1
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If weighing food results in eating at a deficit, how is it a tool for those who want to eat too much? That makes no sense. It especially makes no sense when someone who thinks they are eating at a deficit but isn't losing is told to weigh their food and be careful about the database options chosen. (On that note, OP, it might be helpful to open your diary and have people give you logging tips -- there could be no problem, but often new people have trouble navigating the database, which has lots of wrong entries).
Now, I admit that for me the benefit of weighing was that I was able to increase calories -- I'd been losing without problem, started MFP, logged my food (and eventually broke out my old food scale, which I used to use for baking, as I found weighing much easier than estimating) and saw I was eating around 900, which was crazy, even though I wasn't that active yet, and would not have been sustainable over time, and I increased calories and continued to lose at 2+ lb/week. Now, I suppose it you have a messed up relationship with food you could interpret using the logging and food scale to encourage oneself to increase calories from 900 to 1250 (soon 1250 net) as using it to "eat too much," who knows. But IMO considering that less extreme (still 1000 calorie) deficit "eating too much" is, well, quite odd and disturbing. There's no prize for eating as little as possible, and it's not actually healthy to do that.1 -
seekingdaintiness wrote: »Weighing your food doesn't matter, only MFPers who want to eat way too much think it does.
.
Wow inaccurate, sweeping and really Rude5 -
seekingdaintiness wrote: »Weighing your food doesn't matter, only MFPers who want to eat way too much think it does.
If your body is smaller but the scale hasn't gone down, you probably have lost fat and are retaining water and some time soon it will all flush out. Just keep it up.
If you're not weighing your food, how do you *know* if you're eating too much/too little/just right?
You seem to suggest that not weighing food leads to eating less. I honestly can't get my mind around that, and the current obesity epidemic suggest millions of others can't either.4 -
upromisejcd wrote: »You are losing fat and gaining muscle. Don't distress. Focus on how you feel and look, rather than the movement of the scale.
If OP is truly eating 1200 (gross) calories.....she's not gaining lean muscle mass. Losing lean muscle mass would be much more likely.
OP - Take a look at the flow chart above. Water weight is likely with sore muscles. Weighing food is critical when you get closer to goal. Your deficit just isn't that big anymore.
When you are close to goal a tape measure is a great tool. "Looking" like you body has gotten smaller vs. "my body HAS gotten smaller"....this is motivation.1
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