Has anybody lost weight by just setting one goal: eating less calories then you burn?
mjcongleton
Posts: 9 Member
I'm on day 39 of what I'm calling the "worlds slowest diet" I only have one goal: To eat less calories then I burn each day. I've reached my goal 39 days in a row now.
My TDEE is about 1870 so I try to eat around that number, sometimes forcing food into my system so I'm not too low. But on days when I want a bit more, or know I have something going on for a certain meal I'll just plan to make sure I stay under my total calories burned for the day.
By doing this I'm finding that I'm eating better overall, and even on a 'binge' day I'm still net negative 100 calories or so. The process gives me an opportunity to practice better habits while still making my goal on days I eat poorly or eat too much.
Anybody have success taking this less rigid approach? I am losing weight, albeit a bit slowly.
My TDEE is about 1870 so I try to eat around that number, sometimes forcing food into my system so I'm not too low. But on days when I want a bit more, or know I have something going on for a certain meal I'll just plan to make sure I stay under my total calories burned for the day.
By doing this I'm finding that I'm eating better overall, and even on a 'binge' day I'm still net negative 100 calories or so. The process gives me an opportunity to practice better habits while still making my goal on days I eat poorly or eat too much.
Anybody have success taking this less rigid approach? I am losing weight, albeit a bit slowly.
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Replies
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Sounds good to me, maintaining your weight loss will be easy for you.3
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Everyone has "their" gosl, i chose to slowly lose weight it works for me.
Patience ....big word when dieting
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mjcongleton wrote: »I'm on day 39 of what I'm calling the "worlds slowest diet" I only have one goal: To eat less calories then I burn each day. I've reached my goal 39 days in a row now.
My TDEE is about 1870 so I try to eat around that number, sometimes forcing food into my system so I'm not too low. But on days when I want a bit more, or know I have something going on for a certain meal I'll just plan to make sure I stay under my total calories burned for the day.
By doing this I'm finding that I'm eating better overall, and even on a 'binge' day I'm still net negative 100 calories or so. The process gives me an opportunity to practice better habits while still making my goal on days I eat poorly or eat too much.
Anybody have success taking this less rigid approach? I am losing weight, albeit a bit slowly.
Hell yeah, that was my whole plan, and how I lost 80lbs and reached my goal weight. Now I've kept it off 2 years 7 months by staying AT my maintenance calorie limit.
All the rest about "diet" is personal preference.
As you get closer to goal, accuracy in logging takes a very important part, and the longer you've been in a deficit, the more important it is to have maintenance breaks, but you've got the most important part spot on.4 -
Yup! Along the way I started paying more attention to protein and iron, and keeping desserts to 200 calories, but that's been experimentation to find out what's the easiest way to stick to it.2
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Has anybody lost weight by just setting one goal: eating less calories then you burn?
Isn't that the essence of everyone's approach?20 -
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The only thing I don't agree with is the forcing food part. It is fine to eat a little bit less sometimes9
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So far I'm down about 200lbs by just eating less. Over time I've developed healthier eating habits, but never felt deprived because I never gave up any foods. Much less stressful.3
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Pretty much yes. That's how my weight loss has progressed.
I have my overall goals, but my true goals are to be in deficit. Most days I make it, occasionally I'm a little bit over, but week on week I'm always at a deficit, even if it is only 200kcals for the week. And the weight is slowly coming off. Some weeks significantly less than others, but it's coming off.3 -
Right.
However, if weightloss does occur with any of those diets, it is because a calorie deficit has taken place.
For me, simply counting calories is the easiest and most flexible way to go.
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mjcongleton wrote: »I'm on day 39 of what I'm calling the "worlds slowest diet" I only have one goal: To eat less calories then I burn each day. I've reached my goal 39 days in a row now.
My TDEE is about 1870 so I try to eat around that number, sometimes forcing food into my system so I'm not too low. But on days when I want a bit more, or know I have something going on for a certain meal I'll just plan to make sure I stay under my total calories burned for the day.
By doing this I'm finding that I'm eating better overall, and even on a 'binge' day I'm still net negative 100 calories or so. The process gives me an opportunity to practice better habits while still making my goal on days I eat poorly or eat too much.
Anybody have success taking this less rigid approach? I am losing weight, albeit a bit slowly.
I am with @Machka9 here. Isn't that the essence of what we are doing here? To eat less calories CI < then I burn each day CO?
I don't see how that approach is LESS rigid than balancing the CI CO equation over a week for example. I would think thinking about it on a weekly basis rather than daily would be LESS rigid not more.
But I wouldn't force feed myself if I wasn't hungry.5 -
Runaroundafieldx2 wrote: »The only thing I don't agree with is the forcing food part. It is fine to eat a little bit less sometimes
I agree with you! I often see people on these forums talking about forcing themselves to eat more if they are under their goal and I dont get it. I mean yes you should aim for your calorie goal but if you happen to be under it, why not see that as a bonus? I do it all the time and it also allows me to eat more on other days where I do happen to be hungrier6 -
When I stopped drinking soda only, I lost about 15lbs, and I hadn’t made any other changes to my diet. I wasn’t even counting calories back then.2
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Yes, that is exactly what I did. Just day after day of making sure I was in a caloric deficit. Not magic, not glamorous but it works! It’s definitely slow but in the long run it’s the best way, in my opinion. I’m down 43 pounds since January.1
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When I stopped drinking soda only, I lost about 15lbs, and I hadn’t made any other changes to my diet. I wasn’t even counting calories back then.
That was a big part of when I lost weight in my 20s. The look how many calories I’m consuming with soda and iced tea. I also stopped eating fast food and brought lunch.
It came back over the time but I had to really log and hop on the stationary bike because I can’t move around at work.
I shudder to think how worse I be if I still drank full cal soda and Snapple all the time.
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Pretty much yes. That's how my weight loss has progressed.
I have my overall goals, but my true goals are to be in deficit. Most days I make it, occasionally I'm a little bit over, but week on week I'm always at a deficit, even if it is only 200kcals for the week. And the weight is slowly coming off. Some weeks significantly less than others, but it's coming off.
Exactly this! ^0 -
Runaroundafieldx2 wrote: »The only thing I don't agree with is the forcing food part. It is fine to eat a little bit less sometimes
I agree with you! I often see people on these forums talking about forcing themselves to eat more if they are under their goal and I dont get it. I mean yes you should aim for your calorie goal but if you happen to be under it, why not see that as a bonus? I do it all the time and it also allows me to eat more on other days where I do happen to be hungrier
I agree with this- the annoying part though is that MFP won't let you log a day that they consider is "too low" and then it won't count towards my overall weekly totals (which is how I track). Is there a way around this?0 -
Runaroundafieldx2 wrote: »The only thing I don't agree with is the forcing food part. It is fine to eat a little bit less sometimes
I agree with you! I often see people on these forums talking about forcing themselves to eat more if they are under their goal and I dont get it. I mean yes you should aim for your calorie goal but if you happen to be under it, why not see that as a bonus? I do it all the time and it also allows me to eat more on other days where I do happen to be hungrier
I agree with this- the annoying part though is that MFP won't let you log a day that they consider is "too low" and then it won't count towards my overall weekly totals (which is how I track). Is there a way around this?
it logs it, it just doesn't do a notification on your feed.3 -
TavistockToad wrote: »Runaroundafieldx2 wrote: »The only thing I don't agree with is the forcing food part. It is fine to eat a little bit less sometimes
I agree with you! I often see people on these forums talking about forcing themselves to eat more if they are under their goal and I dont get it. I mean yes you should aim for your calorie goal but if you happen to be under it, why not see that as a bonus? I do it all the time and it also allows me to eat more on other days where I do happen to be hungrier
I agree with this- the annoying part though is that MFP won't let you log a day that they consider is "too low" and then it won't count towards my overall weekly totals (which is how I track). Is there a way around this?
it logs it, it just doesn't do a notification on your feed.
Yay! Didn't realize this- Thanks!0 -
Has anybody lost weight by just setting one goal: eating less calories then you burn?
Isn't that the essence of everyone's approach?
But most people don't realize that. They think hitting their macros, eating clean, avoiding junk, etc etc is an essential part of the plan. I took the OP to be another, "can you really eat whatever you want or do you have to do a specific diet" post.
OP, I started just counting calories while trying to eat a generally balanced diet, but I didn't cut out anything. Over time I found that I was often low on protein and fiber, and on those days I was obviously hungrier. So I started watching calories, protein, and fiber. Because I'm fairly small and didn't have much weight to lose, I aimed for a 250 cal deficit but often ended up more like a 150 cal deficit, so I lost around 1-2 lbs per month. Super slow but I'm naturally patient and it meant I didn't have to eat a "diet" that I would ditch when I got to goal weight.
If you become more comfortable and confident, you may be able to get to a point where you can aim for another 100 cals lower and not worry about days of not eating enough to stay consistent. But if you've found a plan that keeps you in control and you can stick with it for the long haul, that's awesome. Good luck!4 -
arcadiasailor wrote: »When I stopped drinking soda only, I lost about 15lbs, and I hadn’t made any other changes to my diet. I wasn’t even counting calories back then.
That was a big part of when I lost weight in my 20s. The look how many calories I’m consuming with soda and iced tea. I also stopped eating fast food and brought lunch.
It came back over the time but I had to really log and hop on the stationary bike because I can’t move around at work.
I shudder to think how worse I be if I still drank full cal soda and Snapple all the time.
Right, it’s shocking how much that drink can add. Water please ☺️1
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