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Is it the same for everyone ?

2

Replies

  • Wheelhouse15
    Wheelhouse15 Posts: 5,575 Member
    BarbieAS wrote: »
    It's definitely not the same for everyone. There are going to be some general concepts that will be mostly true for most people ("foods with a high fiber/water content will fill you up faster" "protein and fiber help you feel full for longer" "eating a large amount of starch/sugar on its own will leave you feeling hungrier sooner"), but there's more to it than that. Physiologically, yes, people are quite similar. But, as a few people have said or alluded to, there's a huge psychological component to satiety, plus people's hormonal responses to food can vary widely.

    Once you eat the food, did your body produce the proper type and amount of hormones in response? Did your brain and other organs accept, interpret, and respond to the hormones in the proper way? Did you eat a sufficient amount/type of foods and nutrients but still feel unsatisfied because your meal lacked a food you enjoy the taste of? Is there an issue in your life that drives you to continue to eat even after you physically feel full?

    Side note re: CICO - I am a legit, honest-to-god, special snowflake who for YEARS did everything correctly on the logging side, followed my Fitbit, and religiously ate at a calorie goal that, per MFP, should have allowed me to lose 1-2lbs per week, and yet lost basically nothing. Medical testing eventually revealed that my body simply burns ~25-30% fewer calories per day than what would be expected for someone with my stats and activity level - my metabolism is more comparable to someone 11 inches shorter and 65 years older than I am - such that what I thought was a 500-1000/day deficit was really closer to maintenance (which, honestly, I knew already based on the math, but I resisted believing it until a knowledgeable doctor put numbers in front of me). CICO is still true for me, just as it is for everyone else on this planet. It just took me a little more work to nail down the "CO" side - now that I have, I'm finally having slow but steady success by simply eating fewer calories than what I now know I'm actually burning each day.

    Nice post as it shows that CICO can be more complex for some because the CO side can vary more for some, which is why many of us always advocate doing a systematic reduction of calories to see how your body is reacting. I think you are statistically a true 1 in a million with that much lower of a metabolism than the mean.
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,324 Member
    always a blame game. Just read a post where a girl was thanking people for telling her to up her calories that she was only eating 1100 calories a day and not losing after her initial 10 pound loss. now if CICO worked..she would have continued to lose. But she didn't.. because her body and metabolism where off.

    There is more to it than CICO.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    always a blame game. Just read a post where a girl was thanking people for telling her to up her calories that she was only eating 1100 calories a day and not losing after her initial 10 pound loss. now if CICO worked..she would have continued to lose. But she didn't.. because her body and metabolism where off.

    There is more to it than CICO.

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/you-are-not-different.html/
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    healthy491 wrote: »
    So we can all agree that CI<CO leads to weight loss for everyone, which is awesome. BUT when it comes to certain facts ( or myths ? idk ) like sugar being addictive , vegetables are fulfilling etc.. are they the same for everyone ? I am asking this because when I was eating chicken , vegetables etc and no sugar , I used to feel extremely hungry and sad and end up eating more and more. Now I basically eat chocolate and sweet stuff during the day and some proteins at night and I feel happy and full while still staying under my calorie goal.

    I think it's all about satiation to be able to stick to the calorie deficit. When I tried to lose weight eating low fat and no sugar I did not lose weight because I was so hungry I ended up eating more calories than I realized. However, some people do fine on low fat or low sugar diets. It all comes down to what works for the individual as to maintaining a calorie deficit.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    RoxieDawn wrote: »
    Maybe going back to chocolate and sweet stuff and smaller amounts of protein is more mental. Meaning perhaps there is a psychological factor there that you are feeling more satisfied with the things you are enjoying and really hated eating chicken, veggies and no sugar.

    "we can all agree that CI<CO leads to weight loss for everyone" .. YES

    Heck yeah. I feel better when I include my ice cream, cookies and homemade bread pudding in my calorie goals. It's absolute.........

    33895853-heaven-cloud-word-with-design-on-blue-sky-background-Stock-Photo.jpg


  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    edited October 2016
    There is a lot of personal preference in eating patterns. Some people cannot control themselves when it comes to eating sweets and others can. These are also factors that can change over time or under different circumstances. That's why many of us suggest people ditch eating plans or restrictive diets to discover eating patterns that will work for them long term.

    I got help for my eating disorder, and it was years after that I finally believed that I could control myself around sweets, potato chips anything else that was a snack. It took a lot of hard work, but it worked. :)
    It depends. Is the person still logging accurately? How much weight have they lost up to that point and how rapidly? Are they exercising? Could it be water weight due to workouts, stress, hormones, or other changes? Are they drinking adequate water, getting appropriate vitamins, hitting appropriate macros, and watching electrolyte balance?

    There are times where someone needs a diet break after losing weight consistently for many months. Overall it's typically a hormonal issue at that point whether it's psychological or physiological. It still falls within calories in compared to calories out because hormonal changes caused by dieting reduce the calories out portion.

    Yep.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    edited October 2016
    always a blame game. Just read a post where a girl was thanking people for telling her to up her calories that she was only eating 1100 calories a day and not losing after her initial 10 pound loss. now if CICO worked..she would have continued to lose. But she didn't.. because her body and metabolism where off.

    There is more to it than CICO.

    Well, no.....there's not.

    There are certainly factors that come into play but the actual mechanics of weight loss comes down to eating less calories than you burn overall.
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    SLLRunner wrote: »
    There is a lot of personal preference in eating patterns. Some people cannot control themselves when it comes to eating sweets and others can. These are also factors that can change over time or under different circumstances. That's why many of us suggest people ditch eating plans or restrictive diets to discover eating patterns that will work for them long term.

    I got help for my eating disorder, and it was years after that I finally believed that I could control myself around sweets, potato chips anything else that was a snack. It took a lot of hard work, but it worked. :)

    I more meant that part as an initial reaction. I have written about my low impulse control around Swiss Cake Rolls many times. Lots of work over the last six years and I don't have that impulsive reaction to them anymore. In the beginning there are many people who cannot control themselves due to various psychological reasons. I agree that if that's something they can't work past then they should seek help.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    usmcmp wrote: »
    SLLRunner wrote: »
    There is a lot of personal preference in eating patterns. Some people cannot control themselves when it comes to eating sweets and others can. These are also factors that can change over time or under different circumstances. That's why many of us suggest people ditch eating plans or restrictive diets to discover eating patterns that will work for them long term.

    I got help for my eating disorder, and it was years after that I finally believed that I could control myself around sweets, potato chips anything else that was a snack. It took a lot of hard work, but it worked. :)

    I more meant that part as an initial reaction. I have written about my low impulse control around Swiss Cake Rolls many times. Lots of work over the last six years and I don't have that impulsive reaction to them anymore. In the beginning there are many people who cannot control themselves due to various psychological reasons. I agree that if that's something they can't work past then they should seek help.

    Yes, I got that. I like that you use the term "impulse control."
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    healthy491 wrote: »
    So we can all agree that CI<CO leads to weight loss for everyone, which is awesome. BUT when it comes to certain facts ( or myths ? idk ) like sugar being addictive , vegetables are fulfilling etc.. are they the same for everyone ? I am asking this because when I was eating chicken , vegetables etc and no sugar , I used to feel extremely hungry and sad and end up eating more and more. Now I basically eat chocolate and sweet stuff during the day and some proteins at night and I feel happy and full while still staying under my calorie goal.

    I agree that it all comes down to CI<CO but I think it is often oversimplified and assumed to be a static number. I find CO to be affected not just by activity level but by sleep, medication, health (insulin resistance, autoimmune issues or even a flu) and choice of food. Those factors can change my CO by several hundred calories. Sometimes that's a good thing and sometimes it's not.

    Those factors also affect CI. A double whammy. If I get sick, unhealthy or tired, I am more likely to eat more food than I need in a subconscious search for more energy.

    This is just me. I realize that others do not find this to be true, so no, I don't think it is the same for everybody.

    And your example of chocoltae and sweet stuff? I may be happy while I eat it but it will lead to eating more, feeling unenergetic and being less active, affect my health, possibly decrease CO due to foods choices... Not a good food choice for me.

    Other factors do not negate CICO, though. :)
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    edited October 2016
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    healthy491 wrote: »
    So we can all agree that CI<CO leads to weight loss for everyone, which is awesome. BUT when it comes to certain facts ( or myths ? idk ) like sugar being addictive , vegetables are fulfilling etc.. are they the same for everyone ? I am asking this because when I was eating chicken , vegetables etc and no sugar , I used to feel extremely hungry and sad and end up eating more and more. Now I basically eat chocolate and sweet stuff during the day and some proteins at night and I feel happy and full while still staying under my calorie goal.

    I agree that it all comes down to CI<CO but I think it is often oversimplified and assumed to be a static number. I find CO to be affected not just by activity level but by sleep, medication, health (insulin resistance, autoimmune issues or even a flu) and choice of food. Those factors can change my CO by several hundred calories. Sometimes that's a good thing and sometimes it's not.

    Those factors also affect CI. A double whammy. If I get sick, unhealthy or tired, I am more likely to eat more food than I need in a subconscious search for more energy.

    This is just me. I realize that others do not find this to be true, so no, I don't think it is the same for everybody.

    And your example of chocoltae and sweet stuff? I may be happy while I eat it but it will lead to eating more, feeling unenergetic and being less active, affect my health, possibly decrease CO due to foods choices... Not a good food choice for me.

    You're talking about factors that influence CICO here. They don't in any way change its validity.

    I don't think anyone assumes it to be a static number except for people who don't understand what it means.

    I know. I didn't say CICO was not valid. I think it is often over simplified.

    I think many assume it is static number. People often complain about stalls or weight loss slowing or weight fluctuations.
  • karl317
    karl317 Posts: 87 Member
    healthy491 wrote: »
    So we can all agree that CI<CO leads to weight loss for everyone, which is awesome. BUT when it comes to certain facts ( or myths ? idk ) like sugar being addictive , vegetables are fulfilling etc.. are they the same for everyone ? I am asking this because when I was eating chicken , vegetables etc and no sugar , I used to feel extremely hungry and sad and end up eating more and more. Now I basically eat chocolate and sweet stuff during the day and some proteins at night and I feel happy and full while still staying under my calorie goal.

    What's the criteria for calling CICO a success? What's the criteria for failure?

    You can find study after study that proves a calorie deficit results in weight loss - so clearly there is some truth to the "first law of thermodynamics", which seemingly everyone has suddenly become an expert.

    You can also take a look around at all the people you run into each and every day and see pretty clearly that the problem isn't as simple as "Calories In/Calories Out", since it is FAILING for the majority of people. Every year that goes by, the simple "Calories In/Calories Out" equation fails more and more, yet people still want to boil this problem down into the simplest of terms and place the blame squarely on a person's own will power or lack of enthusiasm for exercise.

    I mean, sure, you can do that - just blame the person, because hey - that's EASY!

    But you aren't going to solve the obesity epidemic this way :)

  • karl317
    karl317 Posts: 87 Member

    You aren't going to solve the obesity epidemic by perpetuating people's false beliefs that they must be a special snowflake which is what's preventing them from losing weight.

    Bottom line? If they aren't losing, they're eating in excess of what their body can burn off.

    I don't think anyone disputes that - but if the problem were that simple then we'd all be a healthy weight. But we aren't, and the problem is just not as simple as people make it out to be.

    I'm not saying people should start chiming in with the "me too's" and make excuses for why they're fat. I'm simply saying that the problem has been oversimplified to the point where society has apparently chosen to simply persecute individuals for their failure to maintain a healthy weight, when clearly there is more than just an individual force at play.

    If you want to believe that "CICO is the way", go ahead - but you're going to see that basic concept fail people repeatedly for various reasons - reasons that will undoubtedly be oversimplified to it being a "personal failing", which I think is an incorrect approach.