Calories In Calories Out CICO

KazPorter62
KazPorter62 Posts: 5 Member
edited November 24 in Introduce Yourself
Hi guys. I am 56 yrs old, 5' 2". My weight is 9s. 3llbs. Most of my adult life I have watched what I eat. Before my 50's I found it easy to lose weight. Normally happy at 8s 10lbs. Not now

Replies

  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    That's terse. Are you seeking to lose 7 lb?

    If so, please realize that your activity is more likely the culprit in your present difficulty at losing weight. The basic reality of calorie I/O is the same now as it was in your youth. I'm 55 and losing weight now is much easier than it was in my youth because in my youth (extending to age 38) I didn't try.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,451 Member
    Yeah, I don't really understand your post either.

    Six or seven pounds isn't that difficult. Age is irrelevant, really. I lost all my weight at age 54. It's just a matter of taking control of food and knowing how much you are eating.
  • KazPorter62
    KazPorter62 Posts: 5 Member
    Yes I am wanting to lose 7 lb. Sorry for my confusing ramble.. I was trying to show that I know which foods to eat and which ones to avoid as I have always watched my weight. I have always kept a check on calories per day. At the moment MFP suggests that I eat 1200 per day. When I stick the this I do not lose weight. I also keep an eye on micronutrients. I only seem to lose the pounds when I drop to 1000 per day but I find I am hungry. Is this correct? Also I can't get my head around the fact that if you exercise and enter it into MFP it gives you your deficit calories, surely you don't want to eat the calories you have just worked off?
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    KazPorter62 wrote: »
    Yes I am wanting to lose 7 lb. Sorry for my confusing ramble.. I was trying to show that I know which foods to eat and which ones to avoid as I have always watched my weight. I have always kept a check on calories per day. At the moment MFP suggests that I eat 1200 per day. When I stick the this I do not lose weight. I also keep an eye on micronutrients. I only seem to lose the pounds when I drop to 1000 per day but I find I am hungry. Is this correct? Also I can't get my head around the fact that if you exercise and enter it into MFP it gives you your deficit calories, surely you don't want to eat the calories you have just worked off?

    Far more likely you are eating more than you think.
    That's not a reflection on you or an accusation - just far and away the most common issue when people state they aren't losing on very, very low calories. It can be simply from picking bad entries from the database.

    Making your food diary public would help.

    Yes you are supposed to eat back exercise calories as they aren't accounted for in your daily (non-exercise day) goal. That's to keep the deficit at the amount you selected. You move more, you get to eat more but the deficit stays the same.

    There's loads of information in the sticky threads pinned to the top of the forums.
  • Go_Deskercise
    Go_Deskercise Posts: 1,630 Member
    Unless you are avoiding certain foods due to medical reasons or food allergy, there is no need to eliminate certain foods you enjoy from your life
  • KazPorter62
    KazPorter62 Posts: 5 Member
    Thanks sijomial. I do record everything, and I agree with you though - I have advised other people that they must be eating more than they think. I will make my diary public and double check the selected items from the database. Thanks for your positive and informative reply. I can't r ember it being this complicated when I was young
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    There are no foods to eat or avoid, focus your attention of correct (honest&accurate) logging instead. You'd have to be below 5 feet and bedridden to not lose on 1200 calories. What you may not know, is that those 7 pounds are going to come off so slowly that you won't see your loss clearly on your scale from week to week; a 0.5 pound (fat) loss can easily be masked by a 1.5 pound (water weight) fluctuation.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,451 Member
    KazPorter62 wrote: »
    Yes I am wanting to lose 7 lb. Sorry for my confusing ramble.. I was trying to show that I know which foods to eat and which ones to avoid as I have always watched my weight. I have always kept a check on calories per day. At the moment MFP suggests that I eat 1200 per day. When I stick the this I do not lose weight. I also keep an eye on micronutrients. I only seem to lose the pounds when I drop to 1000 per day but I find I am hungry. Is this correct? Also I can't get my head around the fact that if you exercise and enter it into MFP it gives you your deficit calories, surely you don't want to eat the calories you have just worked off?

    If you open your food page...how long have you been doing 1000-1200? Are you tracking everything?

    Yes, eat more on exercise days. I agree with you reading the sticky posts in "Getting Started." Here is the link:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300331/most-helpful-posts-getting-started-must-reads#latest
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    KazPorter62 wrote: »
    Yes I am wanting to lose 7 lb. Sorry for my confusing ramble.. I was trying to show that I know which foods to eat and which ones to avoid as I have always watched my weight. I have always kept a check on calories per day. At the moment MFP suggests that I eat 1200 per day. When I stick the this I do not lose weight. I also keep an eye on micronutrients. I only seem to lose the pounds when I drop to 1000 per day but I find I am hungry. Is this correct? Also I can't get my head around the fact that if you exercise and enter it into MFP it gives you your deficit calories, surely you don't want to eat the calories you have just worked off?

    You are on the petite side, and you are close to goal. Expected weekly weight loss for you is going to be REALLY slow......1/2 pound a week. 1/2 pound a week can be very hard to see with natural water fluctuations, from sodium, sore muscles and even bathroom trips.

    Because you are close to goal you need to be super accurate with food logging. You should be able to lose weight at 1200 net calories. Weigh solids & semi-solids with a digital food scale. Measure liquid in a measuring cup.

    You don't need to drop to 1,000 calories.....this is more for very petite, elderly AND sedentary women. You likely need to tighten up on logging and double check database entries here (plenty are wrong).

    Eating back exercise calories is expected with this website because exercise was not factored in. Even if you do zero exercise you lose weight. Adding in exercise increases the deficit. This may sound like a good idea, but large deficits make it harder for your body to support existing lean muscle mass. Do you want a lower body fat %?

    If you used a TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) calculator and factored in exercise, you would get a calorie goal higher than 1200. It all comes out the same.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    KazPorter62 wrote: »
    Thanks sijomial. I do record everything, and I agree with you though - I have advised other people that they must be eating more than they think. I will make my diary public and double check the selected items from the database. Thanks for your positive and informative reply. I can't r ember it being this complicated when I was young

    I found it much easier than the pre-internet age!
    Mostly it's just learning and using the tools correctly plus adherence and a bit common sense of course.

    Food labelling and an app like this felt so much more precise and flexible than the old fashioned exclusion diets which were really sledge hammers to crack a nut.
  • KazPorter62
    KazPorter62 Posts: 5 Member
    WOW... Thanks for the support. I have taken on board all the brilliant advice and I will be tracking more accurately from now on. Thanks for the explanation on the exercise calories too. It didn't know about TDEE until today. Everything I eat will be recorded.

    Thanks for the virtual kick... (honestly). My head is in the right place feeling positive. I'm cladding tomorrow as Day 1 of the way forward.

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