Weight loss problems
eoklin
Posts: 6 Member
I’ve tried almost every diet possible, intermittent fasting, I tried being vegan, keto, but nothing working. I used to have 1,500 calls a day but now I’ve lowered that and I’ve seen no changes. I barely eat and junk food, I don’t know what to do please HELP!!!!
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Replies
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Do you use a food scale to weigh your food?4
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Unfortunately I don’t have one, so no I don’t.1
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The secret lies in weighing every single thing. Then you can see your daily calorie intake.3
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I recommend what I am doing it works for me it should work for you too. If you have experience doing intermittent fasting try to extend it a 36-48 hour fasting-once a week- combined with intermittent fasting for the rest of the week. So for example from Tuesday to Sunday skip your breakfast your first meal at 4pm last meal at 8pm, monday fasting, break your fast on Tuesday at 4pm with a decent meal. When you do eat stick to a strict keto diet, no bread, pasta, rice, potato. You need to minimise your carbo intake, eat lots of fat, protein, veggies, this should lower your insulin level hence stop your craving for food and kickstart fat burning. I suggest dark chocolate for emergencies, 70-85 % and apples. Fasting is tough, you can make it easier by having decaf cafe couple of times during with lots of cream preferably double cream in it. This will put fat in your body and fill you. Also during fasting drink lots of water and at least twice two cups of water with apple cider, this will bring down your insulin level your hunger will go down. Forget counting calories, irrelevant, focus on what you eat. My advice in a nutshell, this might not work for everyone it works for me and my partner should work for you too. Good luck.0
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Like other posters may have alluded, it’s a maths game!! Get a scale, embrace the counting. You actually realise how much extra you have been consuming - an eye opener!
Unless there’s a medical condition stalling your process, if you put less in the weight will/has to come off.
But the process has to be sustainable otherwise you won’t stick at it.
Once you get results, you are well on your way!
Peace3 -
Probably not a very popular opinion on this site but IMHO calorie counting is a waste of time one can do it if there is nothing better to do but adjusting diet to a fixed number of calorie intake will only lead to frustration long term. You decrease your daily calories you will lose some weight-sounds great- but your body will also adjust your metabolism will slow down as well, chances are you not only regain what you lost but will put on extra. This 'math' that my body burns x calories a day therefore I have to go below x calories a day intake is wrong. Your body doesn't care about math as you have probably already seen it.0
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If your body didn’t care about the maths, your body wouldn’t gain the weight/fat. Saying that, there are many options to fat loss.. counting cals is one that can be consistently followed and lead to pretty fast results.8
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Probably not a very popular opinion on this site but IMHO calorie counting is a waste of time one can do it if there is nothing better to do but adjusting diet to a fixed number of calorie intake will only lead to frustration long term. You decrease your daily calories you will lose some weight-sounds great- but your body will also adjust your metabolism will slow down as well, chances are you not only regain what you lost but will put on extra. This 'math' that my body burns x calories a day therefore I have to go below x calories a day intake is wrong. Your body doesn't care about math as you have probably already seen it.
Your body absolutely counts calories thru energy usage. Immediate needs are supplied from food sources when possible and from reserves (in the form of muscle glycogen, liver glycogen and fat cells) when needed. The only thing that determines whether or not there is a net reduction of the fat reserves is whether or not there is enough energy coming in from food to supply the energy requirements. If there is enough, then your weight stays the same. If there is more food than energy requirements, you gain weight. If there is more energy demand than you take in, you lose weight. So make no mistake, your body is counting calories and doing the math every single day.6 -
Probably not a very popular opinion on this site but IMHO calorie counting is a waste of time one can do it if there is nothing better to do but adjusting diet to a fixed number of calorie intake will only lead to frustration long term. You decrease your daily calories you will lose some weight-sounds great- but your body will also adjust your metabolism will slow down as well, chances are you not only regain what you lost but will put on extra. This 'math' that my body burns x calories a day therefore I have to go below x calories a day intake is wrong. Your body doesn't care about math as you have probably already seen it.
I lost 40+ pounds counting calories in 2015 and have been counting to maintain since then. At what point will my metabolism slow down?9 -
No disrespect to bubus but I think his opinion lies in tatters! You actually raise a valid point however, when does the counting end? Slightly distrust myself to stop and if I do, weigh in weekly and have an alarm bell weight. I have predominantly been in a deficit for over a year and my body is now struggling with it to be honest.
I digress, the counting and deficit is taxing but it works.6 -
Ehh no hard feelings, I only wrote my experiences on the subject. The fact is for me a 49 year old male counting calories never really worked, and I did try. Then I stopped counting 6 months ago started to focus on the quality of my food instead of how many calories I ate and bumm 60 lbs gone. So I guess what doesn't work for me might well work for others, age could be a factor here too. No further argument from me on the subject, peace:)))No disrespect to bubus but I think his opinion lies in tatters! You actually raise a valid point however, when does the counting end? Slightly distrust myself to stop and if I do, weigh in weekly and have an alarm bell weight. I have predominantly been in a deficit for over a year and my body is now struggling with it to be honest.
I digress, the counting and deficit is taxing but it works.
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Absolutely no argument and no offence intended. Anybody starting out on weight loss ultimately has to make their own informed choices! Well done on the 60lbs btw. Take care3
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I recommend what I am doing it works for me it should work for you too. If you have experience doing intermittent fasting try to extend it a 36-48 hour fasting-once a week- combined with intermittent fasting for the rest of the week.
Oh my!
I 'fast' three days a week, limiting my intake to 600 calories and while I am used to it now and cope quite well as I have a routine I cannot imagine doing it on consecutive days.
I cope fasting today because tomorrow I know I can eat well.
Each to their own I guess, what works for you, but.... wow..... tough!1 -
I’ve tried almost every diet possible, intermittent fasting, I tried being vegan, keto, but nothing working. I used to have 1,500 calls a day but now I’ve lowered that and I’ve seen no changes. I barely eat and junk food, I don’t know what to do please HELP!!!!
I'm with the rest of the crew (well, most of them) saying that improving the accuracy of your counting is worth a try.
It sounds like you've tried a bunch of tricksy diets, and that's really not essential . . . those methods work for some people (even absent accurate calorie counting) if they somehow result in people being satisfied while eating fewer calories. You may well find that you can lose weight eating foods you enjoy (even some so-called "junk food"), at a reasonable calorie level, without a named diet, and with a much lower level of drama and angst.
Consider:
1. Getting a food scale, and using it. A good one can be had for around the price of fancy pizza.
2. Eating foods you like, at a sensible calorie level. Consider using this approach:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10636388/free-customized-personal-weight-loss-eating-plan-not-spam-or-mlm/p1
3. Don't try to lose weight super fast, especially at first. If you have at least 20 pounds to lose (or more) maybe start with a pound a week goal. You can adjust from there. Any meaningful amount of weight loss is realistically going to take many weeks, months, possibly even years . . . even at a fast rate. The problem with a fast rate is that the odds of failing out of it (for a variety of reasons) become really high. Often, slow loss is a faster practical route to goal than fast loss (with intermittent oopsies and regains).
4. Then, just be persistent and consistent. Yeah, I know that's boring. But it can work.
Best wishes!5 -
Ehh no hard feelings, I only wrote my experiences on the subject. The fact is for me a 49 year old male counting calories never really worked, and I did try. Then I stopped counting 6 months ago started to focus on the quality of my food instead of how many calories I ate and bumm 60 lbs gone. So I guess what doesn't work for me might well work for others, age could be a factor here too. No further argument from me on the subject, peace:)))No disrespect to bubus but I think his opinion lies in tatters! You actually raise a valid point however, when does the counting end? Slightly distrust myself to stop and if I do, weigh in weekly and have an alarm bell weight. I have predominantly been in a deficit for over a year and my body is now struggling with it to be honest.
I digress, the counting and deficit is taxing but it works.
Weeelllll . . .
For me as a 59-year-old hypothyroid obese woman, calorie counting worked great. In less than a year, I was at a healthy weight, without even changing my exercise or activity level.
I got fat then obese eating mostly high quality foods (I've been vegetarian for 46+ years, for example, eating all the whole grain lotsa veggies kind of stuff). I ate pretty much the same foods while losing, just different portions and proportions, at a proper calorie level, and boom, 50+ pounds gone. Now I eat the same foods in maintenance, and have been at a healthy weight for around 5 years. And my "metabolism" is ridiculously good, calorie-needs-wise, not supressed in any meaningful way.
I kinda think different things work for different people, depending on starting point, personality/outlook/psychology, and more. I'm pretty sure age isn't universally a factor (I'll be 65 next week).
I'm not trying to talk YOU into calorie counting, but OP is on a calorie counting focused site, so is probably going to get mostly calorie counting advice. And many of us think (based on experience) that it *can* work (for some). I'm pretty sure what you do *wouldn't* work for me, and happily it wasn't necessary to jump through those hoops (it would be hoop jumping for me, in a way it isn't for you).
(I'd note that OP reports having tried both fasting and keto, strategies you recommend, without success. I 100% agree that those work great for some people, evidently including you and your partner (which is great), but it's not the first place I'd go with an OP who's already been there. OTOH, we've established that OP has perhaps been calorie-approximating, not actually calorie-counting accurately. Some people do fine with a loose counting strategy, i.e., not stressing about accuracy, or even rough approximation, but that doesn't seem to have worked. So those of us suggesting accurate counting are at least suggesting something OP seems not to have tried? 🙂)
I'm sincerely glad you found out what works for you, and I think it's fine for you to tell people what you did, and why it worked for you: That's great, and useful. That "calorie counting is a waste of time one can do it if there is nothing better to do but adjusting diet to a fixed number of calorie intake will only lead to frustration long term"? You're right, that won't sit well with those of us who've been very successful long term doing exactly that.
I think you got a bunch of disagrees just for the insulin hypothesis, but discussion on another thread is going into why some folks here disagree with you on that, so no point in delving into it duplicatively here, I'm thinking.
Underscoring: I think your personal experience is valuable for (relative) beginners, so I hope you keep offering it. But for your approach to be right for you and others, it isn't vital that other people's different approaches be universally wrong nor necessarily true that those other approaches won't work for some of the beginners, too. Diversity of logical options is good, IMO.7 -
OP a food scale can be purchased for sub $20 at any Walmart or target.
You tried a bunch of fad diets that actually all work the same: eating in a deficit. The problem is, you weren’t eating in a deficit because you don’t have a food scale to properly track what you eat.
Get a food scale. Weigh what you normally consider one portion. It will be eye opening, I promise!4 -
I didn’t start losing weight until I stopped associating a time line to my goal.
This allowed me to try different options to see what worked well for my body. It helped me develop healthy habits and avoid burn out.
I started by purchasing a food scale. Cost me $25 on Amazon. Then I started to eat the same types of foods every day. I found that meal prepping didn’t work for me because I wasn’t excited about the food I had prepped and I felt I was getting bored easily. What did help was pre-entering food into my diary for the week. That way each day I could see how many extra calories I had for something like chocolate or that I really enjoyed eating.
I also realized that I needed more calories than MFP was suggesting to feel satisfied and to avoid binges. So I increased my physical activity in order to give myself a cup a little more wiggle room with food. I don’t know how accurate the exercise calories are on MFP so I try not to eat back all of my exercise calories.
I also started paying attention to my macros. I found on days that I met my protein goals I had more energy and was feeling more satisfied. This really helped me stick to my plan and avoid burnout. I would say don’t try any diet unless you think it’s sustainable for you for long periods of time.
I would adjust your settings to lose .5 or 1 pound per week.
Try that for a few weeks along with accurate logging and then see if you want to increase.
I really think a food scale is the best investment.7 -
Maggiesanvicto wrote: »I didn’t start losing weight until I stopped associating a time line to my goal.
I think that is where some people go wrong, the "I want to lose 35 pounds by Christmas" method.
In my humble opinion it should stop at "I want to lose 35 pounds" and then it takes as long as it takes without the unnecessary self imposed pressure that can lead to an over-restriction and binging cycle that can even lead to weight gain.
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@bubus05Probably not a very popular opinion on this site but IMHO calorie counting is a waste of time one can do it if there is nothing better to do but adjusting diet to a fixed number of calorie intake will only lead to frustration long term. You decrease your daily calories you will lose some weight-sounds great- but your body will also adjust your metabolism will slow down as well, chances are you not only regain what you lost but will put on extra. This 'math' that my body burns x calories a day therefore I have to go below x calories a day intake is wrong. Your body doesn't care about math as you have probably already seen it.
You would get far less push back and disagrees if you presented your experience as simply your experience rather than a rather sweeping and highly inaccurate statement. Your experience is valid but your conclusions as to why are badly flawed.
"adjusting diet to a fixed number of calorie intake will only lead to frustration long term"
I decided to calorie count but definitely didn't choose to eat to the same goal every day - that's a choice not a requirement of calorie counting, many people eat to a weekly goal to make their diet fit their lifestyle. My daily intake was massively different day by day.
"You decrease your daily calories you will lose some weight-sounds great- but your body will also adjust your metabolism will slow down as well"
I lost all the weight I wanted to and it was great as I'd been overweight for 20 years.
Yes I did get some minor adaptive thermogenesis but that corrected itself in the first few months of maintenance. Metabolism is constantly adjusting itself, it's just a collection of chemical processes.
I now eat far more than I ever did when I was chubby as both my exercise and activity level are far higher.
"chances are you not only regain what you lost but will put on extra"
All diets including calorie counting, fasting and low carbing have very poor success rates and I would hazard a guess that people who deliberately make the process harder fail more than people who actively set out to make the process as easy as possible.
Personally I've maintained at my chosen weight for almost 7 years.
"This 'math' that my body burns x calories a day therefore I have to go below x calories a day intake is wrong."
Nope - it's the underlying and fundamental reason that people either maintain, gain or lose weight. You, me and everybody else can't create energy out of nowhere. That some people manipulate their energy/calorie balance by indirect means doesn't change the facts behind weight loss. You cut calories by fasting and severely limiting some foods. That 'X' can't be precisely nailed down to a single number and than number changes daily is an irrelevance - you simply don't need that level of accuracy to be successful.
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💯 I would get close to the event I was trying to lose weight for and realize I only had two weeks and would never make my goal.... so I would just give up....stop tracking and tell myself I’ll try again after Christmas/vacation/party etc.
uote="freda78;c-45489980"]Maggiesanvicto wrote: »I didn’t start losing weight until I stopped associating a time line to my goal.
I think that is where some people go wrong, the "I want to lose 35 pounds by Christmas" method.
In my humble opinion it should stop at "I want to lose 35 pounds" and then it takes as long as it takes without the unnecessary self imposed pressure that can lead to an over-restriction and binging cycle that can even lead to weight gain.
[/quote]
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The reason why IMHO calorie deficit in itself does not work is because the body will react to different types of foods differently. Say my fixed calorie intake a day is 1520, so now I eat 1520 calories worth of chocolate cake, despite the calorie deficit the results will be disastrous. Extreme example I get it but it does highlight the problem.
@bubus05Probably not a very popular opinion on this site but IMHO calorie counting is a waste of time one can do it if there is nothing better to do but adjusting diet to a fixed number of calorie intake will only lead to frustration long term. You decrease your daily calories you will lose some weight-sounds great- but your body will also adjust your metabolism will slow down as well, chances are you not only regain what you lost but will put on extra. This 'math' that my body burns x calories a day therefore I have to go below x calories a day intake is wrong. Your body doesn't care about math as you have probably already seen it.
You would get far less push back and disagrees if you presented your experience as simply your experience rather than a rather sweeping and highly inaccurate statement. Your experience is valid but your conclusions as to why are badly flawed.
"adjusting diet to a fixed number of calorie intake will only lead to frustration long term"
I decided to calorie count but definitely didn't choose to eat to the same goal every day - that's a choice not a requirement of calorie counting, many people eat to a weekly goal to make their diet fit their lifestyle. My daily intake was massively different day by day.
"You decrease your daily calories you will lose some weight-sounds great- but your body will also adjust your metabolism will slow down as well"
I lost all the weight I wanted to and it was great as I'd been overweight for 20 years.
Yes I did get some minor adaptive thermogenesis but that corrected itself in the first few months of maintenance. Metabolism is constantly adjusting itself, it's just a collection of chemical processes.
I now eat far more than I ever did when I was chubby as both my exercise and activity level are far higher.
"chances are you not only regain what you lost but will put on extra"
All diets including calorie counting, fasting and low carbing have very poor success rates and I would hazard a guess that people who deliberately make the process harder fail more than people who actively set out to make the process as easy as possible.
Personally I've maintained at my chosen weight for almost 7 years.
"This 'math' that my body burns x calories a day therefore I have to go below x calories a day intake is wrong."
Nope - it's the underlying and fundamental reason that people either maintain, gain or lose weight. You, me and everybody else can't create energy out of nowhere. That some people manipulate their energy/calorie balance by indirect means doesn't change the facts behind weight loss. You cut calories by fasting and severely limiting some foods. That 'X' can't be precisely nailed down to a single number and than number changes daily is an irrelevance - you simply don't need that level of accuracy to be successful.
Oppose that to a low carb healthy food and again IMHO and no offence to anyone it doesn't really matter that much how many calories one will consume, your body will or should tell you stop eating.
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The reason why IMHO calorie deficit in itself does not work is because the body will react to different types of foods differently. Say my fixed calorie intake a day is 1520, so now I eat 1520 calories worth of chocolate cake, despite the calorie deficit the results will be disastrous. Extreme example I get it but it does highlight the problem.
@bubus05Probably not a very popular opinion on this site but IMHO calorie counting is a waste of time one can do it if there is nothing better to do but adjusting diet to a fixed number of calorie intake will only lead to frustration long term. You decrease your daily calories you will lose some weight-sounds great- but your body will also adjust your metabolism will slow down as well, chances are you not only regain what you lost but will put on extra. This 'math' that my body burns x calories a day therefore I have to go below x calories a day intake is wrong. Your body doesn't care about math as you have probably already seen it.
You would get far less push back and disagrees if you presented your experience as simply your experience rather than a rather sweeping and highly inaccurate statement. Your experience is valid but your conclusions as to why are badly flawed.
"adjusting diet to a fixed number of calorie intake will only lead to frustration long term"
I decided to calorie count but definitely didn't choose to eat to the same goal every day - that's a choice not a requirement of calorie counting, many people eat to a weekly goal to make their diet fit their lifestyle. My daily intake was massively different day by day.
"You decrease your daily calories you will lose some weight-sounds great- but your body will also adjust your metabolism will slow down as well"
I lost all the weight I wanted to and it was great as I'd been overweight for 20 years.
Yes I did get some minor adaptive thermogenesis but that corrected itself in the first few months of maintenance. Metabolism is constantly adjusting itself, it's just a collection of chemical processes.
I now eat far more than I ever did when I was chubby as both my exercise and activity level are far higher.
"chances are you not only regain what you lost but will put on extra"
All diets including calorie counting, fasting and low carbing have very poor success rates and I would hazard a guess that people who deliberately make the process harder fail more than people who actively set out to make the process as easy as possible.
Personally I've maintained at my chosen weight for almost 7 years.
"This 'math' that my body burns x calories a day therefore I have to go below x calories a day intake is wrong."
Nope - it's the underlying and fundamental reason that people either maintain, gain or lose weight. You, me and everybody else can't create energy out of nowhere. That some people manipulate their energy/calorie balance by indirect means doesn't change the facts behind weight loss. You cut calories by fasting and severely limiting some foods. That 'X' can't be precisely nailed down to a single number and than number changes daily is an irrelevance - you simply don't need that level of accuracy to be successful.
Oppose that to a low carb healthy food and again IMHO and no offence to anyone it doesn't really matter that much how many calories one will consume, your body will or should tell you stop eating.
Could you please link me to studies that say "the body will react to different types of food differently"? Same calories-just different macros. I'd be interested. Thank you.5 -
Well I can't think of any TBH but "the body will react to different types of food differently" is that really such a controversial statement? An example five pints of beer or six boiled eggs will roughly be the same calories, you will feel differently. Unless you are a pro in pubs:}snowflake954 wrote: »
The reason why IMHO calorie deficit in itself does not work is because the body will react to different types of foods differently. Say my fixed calorie intake a day is 1520, so now I eat 1520 calories worth of chocolate cake, despite the calorie deficit the results will be disastrous. Extreme example I get it but it does highlight the problem.
@bubus05Probably not a very popular opinion on this site but IMHO calorie counting is a waste of time one can do it if there is nothing better to do but adjusting diet to a fixed number of calorie intake will only lead to frustration long term. You decrease your daily calories you will lose some weight-sounds great- but your body will also adjust your metabolism will slow down as well, chances are you not only regain what you lost but will put on extra. This 'math' that my body burns x calories a day therefore I have to go below x calories a day intake is wrong. Your body doesn't care about math as you have probably already seen it.
You would get far less push back and disagrees if you presented your experience as simply your experience rather than a rather sweeping and highly inaccurate statement. Your experience is valid but your conclusions as to why are badly flawed.
"adjusting diet to a fixed number of calorie intake will only lead to frustration long term"
I decided to calorie count but definitely didn't choose to eat to the same goal every day - that's a choice not a requirement of calorie counting, many people eat to a weekly goal to make their diet fit their lifestyle. My daily intake was massively different day by day.
"You decrease your daily calories you will lose some weight-sounds great- but your body will also adjust your metabolism will slow down as well"
I lost all the weight I wanted to and it was great as I'd been overweight for 20 years.
Yes I did get some minor adaptive thermogenesis but that corrected itself in the first few months of maintenance. Metabolism is constantly adjusting itself, it's just a collection of chemical processes.
I now eat far more than I ever did when I was chubby as both my exercise and activity level are far higher.
"chances are you not only regain what you lost but will put on extra"
All diets including calorie counting, fasting and low carbing have very poor success rates and I would hazard a guess that people who deliberately make the process harder fail more than people who actively set out to make the process as easy as possible.
Personally I've maintained at my chosen weight for almost 7 years.
"This 'math' that my body burns x calories a day therefore I have to go below x calories a day intake is wrong."
Nope - it's the underlying and fundamental reason that people either maintain, gain or lose weight. You, me and everybody else can't create energy out of nowhere. That some people manipulate their energy/calorie balance by indirect means doesn't change the facts behind weight loss. You cut calories by fasting and severely limiting some foods. That 'X' can't be precisely nailed down to a single number and than number changes daily is an irrelevance - you simply don't need that level of accuracy to be successful.
Oppose that to a low carb healthy food and again IMHO and no offence to anyone it doesn't really matter that much how many calories one will consume, your body will or should tell you stop eating.
Could you please link me to studies that say "the body will react to different types of food differently"? Same calories-just different macros. I'd be interested. Thank you.0 -
The reason why IMHO calorie deficit in itself does not work is because the body will react to different types of foods differently. Say my fixed calorie intake a day is 1520, so now I eat 1520 calories worth of chocolate cake, despite the calorie deficit the results will be disastrous. Extreme example I get it but it does highlight the problem.
@bubus05Probably not a very popular opinion on this site but IMHO calorie counting is a waste of time one can do it if there is nothing better to do but adjusting diet to a fixed number of calorie intake will only lead to frustration long term. You decrease your daily calories you will lose some weight-sounds great- but your body will also adjust your metabolism will slow down as well, chances are you not only regain what you lost but will put on extra. This 'math' that my body burns x calories a day therefore I have to go below x calories a day intake is wrong. Your body doesn't care about math as you have probably already seen it.
You would get far less push back and disagrees if you presented your experience as simply your experience rather than a rather sweeping and highly inaccurate statement. Your experience is valid but your conclusions as to why are badly flawed.
"adjusting diet to a fixed number of calorie intake will only lead to frustration long term"
I decided to calorie count but definitely didn't choose to eat to the same goal every day - that's a choice not a requirement of calorie counting, many people eat to a weekly goal to make their diet fit their lifestyle. My daily intake was massively different day by day.
"You decrease your daily calories you will lose some weight-sounds great- but your body will also adjust your metabolism will slow down as well"
I lost all the weight I wanted to and it was great as I'd been overweight for 20 years.
Yes I did get some minor adaptive thermogenesis but that corrected itself in the first few months of maintenance. Metabolism is constantly adjusting itself, it's just a collection of chemical processes.
I now eat far more than I ever did when I was chubby as both my exercise and activity level are far higher.
"chances are you not only regain what you lost but will put on extra"
All diets including calorie counting, fasting and low carbing have very poor success rates and I would hazard a guess that people who deliberately make the process harder fail more than people who actively set out to make the process as easy as possible.
Personally I've maintained at my chosen weight for almost 7 years.
"This 'math' that my body burns x calories a day therefore I have to go below x calories a day intake is wrong."
Nope - it's the underlying and fundamental reason that people either maintain, gain or lose weight. You, me and everybody else can't create energy out of nowhere. That some people manipulate their energy/calorie balance by indirect means doesn't change the facts behind weight loss. You cut calories by fasting and severely limiting some foods. That 'X' can't be precisely nailed down to a single number and than number changes daily is an irrelevance - you simply don't need that level of accuracy to be successful.
Oppose that to a low carb healthy food and again IMHO and no offence to anyone it doesn't really matter that much how many calories one will consume, your body will or should tell you stop eating.
How about high carb healthy foods and diets?
The Blue Zones are hard to reconcile with regarding carbs as being intrinsically unhealthy or leading to unhealthy diets and lifestyle.
How does your body "reacting" to different foods change the basic fact you can't extract more calories from different foods than are in those foods? Less energy extracted is possible due to malabsorption issues but not more.
Good luck with your feelings based approach but you are being IMHO rather disengenous as you have far more restrictions in place than I do - setting huge food restrictions and fasting periods really isn't anything like intuitive eating or listening to your body.6 -
The reason why IMHO calorie deficit in itself does not work is because the body will react to different types of foods differently. Say my fixed calorie intake a day is 1520, so now I eat 1520 calories worth of chocolate cake, despite the calorie deficit the results will be disastrous. Extreme example I get it but it does highlight the problem.
@bubus05Probably not a very popular opinion on this site but IMHO calorie counting is a waste of time one can do it if there is nothing better to do but adjusting diet to a fixed number of calorie intake will only lead to frustration long term. You decrease your daily calories you will lose some weight-sounds great- but your body will also adjust your metabolism will slow down as well, chances are you not only regain what you lost but will put on extra. This 'math' that my body burns x calories a day therefore I have to go below x calories a day intake is wrong. Your body doesn't care about math as you have probably already seen it.
You would get far less push back and disagrees if you presented your experience as simply your experience rather than a rather sweeping and highly inaccurate statement. Your experience is valid but your conclusions as to why are badly flawed.
"adjusting diet to a fixed number of calorie intake will only lead to frustration long term"
I decided to calorie count but definitely didn't choose to eat to the same goal every day - that's a choice not a requirement of calorie counting, many people eat to a weekly goal to make their diet fit their lifestyle. My daily intake was massively different day by day.
"You decrease your daily calories you will lose some weight-sounds great- but your body will also adjust your metabolism will slow down as well"
I lost all the weight I wanted to and it was great as I'd been overweight for 20 years.
Yes I did get some minor adaptive thermogenesis but that corrected itself in the first few months of maintenance. Metabolism is constantly adjusting itself, it's just a collection of chemical processes.
I now eat far more than I ever did when I was chubby as both my exercise and activity level are far higher.
"chances are you not only regain what you lost but will put on extra"
All diets including calorie counting, fasting and low carbing have very poor success rates and I would hazard a guess that people who deliberately make the process harder fail more than people who actively set out to make the process as easy as possible.
Personally I've maintained at my chosen weight for almost 7 years.
"This 'math' that my body burns x calories a day therefore I have to go below x calories a day intake is wrong."
Nope - it's the underlying and fundamental reason that people either maintain, gain or lose weight. You, me and everybody else can't create energy out of nowhere. That some people manipulate their energy/calorie balance by indirect means doesn't change the facts behind weight loss. You cut calories by fasting and severely limiting some foods. That 'X' can't be precisely nailed down to a single number and than number changes daily is an irrelevance - you simply don't need that level of accuracy to be successful.
Oppose that to a low carb healthy food and again IMHO and no offence to anyone it doesn't really matter that much how many calories one will consume, your body will or should tell you stop eating.
How about high carb healthy foods and diets?
The Blue Zones are hard to reconcile with regarding carbs as being intrinsically unhealthy or leading to unhealthy diets and lifestyle.
How does your body "reacting" to different foods change the basic fact you can't extract more calories from different foods than are in those foods? Less energy extracted is possible due to malabsorption issues but not more.
Good luck with your feelings based approach but you are being IMHO rather disengenous as you have far more restrictions in place than I do - setting huge food restrictions and fasting periods really isn't anything like intuitive eating or listening to your body.
I would argue me having more restrictions since I dont count calories, if I feel like eating I eat as much as I please. The beauty of combining a keto diet with fasting/intermittent fasting is that there are days when I have hardly any restrictions at all, I do cheat at times, except off course when I fast. Just today i have had cheesecake, the keto type to be fair. Low carb diet or high carb diet, each to their own... what works works.0 -
Well I can't think of any TBH but "the body will react to different types of food differently" is that really such a controversial statement? An example five pints of beer or six boiled eggs will roughly be the same calories, you will feel differently. Unless you are a pro in pubs:}snowflake954 wrote: »
The reason why IMHO calorie deficit in itself does not work is because the body will react to different types of foods differently. Say my fixed calorie intake a day is 1520, so now I eat 1520 calories worth of chocolate cake, despite the calorie deficit the results will be disastrous. Extreme example I get it but it does highlight the problem.
@bubus05Probably not a very popular opinion on this site but IMHO calorie counting is a waste of time one can do it if there is nothing better to do but adjusting diet to a fixed number of calorie intake will only lead to frustration long term. You decrease your daily calories you will lose some weight-sounds great- but your body will also adjust your metabolism will slow down as well, chances are you not only regain what you lost but will put on extra. This 'math' that my body burns x calories a day therefore I have to go below x calories a day intake is wrong. Your body doesn't care about math as you have probably already seen it.
You would get far less push back and disagrees if you presented your experience as simply your experience rather than a rather sweeping and highly inaccurate statement. Your experience is valid but your conclusions as to why are badly flawed.
"adjusting diet to a fixed number of calorie intake will only lead to frustration long term"
I decided to calorie count but definitely didn't choose to eat to the same goal every day - that's a choice not a requirement of calorie counting, many people eat to a weekly goal to make their diet fit their lifestyle. My daily intake was massively different day by day.
"You decrease your daily calories you will lose some weight-sounds great- but your body will also adjust your metabolism will slow down as well"
I lost all the weight I wanted to and it was great as I'd been overweight for 20 years.
Yes I did get some minor adaptive thermogenesis but that corrected itself in the first few months of maintenance. Metabolism is constantly adjusting itself, it's just a collection of chemical processes.
I now eat far more than I ever did when I was chubby as both my exercise and activity level are far higher.
"chances are you not only regain what you lost but will put on extra"
All diets including calorie counting, fasting and low carbing have very poor success rates and I would hazard a guess that people who deliberately make the process harder fail more than people who actively set out to make the process as easy as possible.
Personally I've maintained at my chosen weight for almost 7 years.
"This 'math' that my body burns x calories a day therefore I have to go below x calories a day intake is wrong."
Nope - it's the underlying and fundamental reason that people either maintain, gain or lose weight. You, me and everybody else can't create energy out of nowhere. That some people manipulate their energy/calorie balance by indirect means doesn't change the facts behind weight loss. You cut calories by fasting and severely limiting some foods. That 'X' can't be precisely nailed down to a single number and than number changes daily is an irrelevance - you simply don't need that level of accuracy to be successful.
Oppose that to a low carb healthy food and again IMHO and no offence to anyone it doesn't really matter that much how many calories one will consume, your body will or should tell you stop eating.
Could you please link me to studies that say "the body will react to different types of food differently"? Same calories-just different macros. I'd be interested. Thank you.
How about 6 boiled eggs verses a plate of pasta and tomato sauce w Parmigiano? Eggs around 462 cals and pasta the same.3 -
Maggiesanvicto wrote: »I didn’t start losing weight until I stopped associating a time line to my goal.
This allowed me to try different options to see what worked well for my body. It helped me develop healthy habits and avoid burn out.
I started by purchasing a food scale. Cost me $25 on Amazon. Then I started to eat the same types of foods every day. I found that meal prepping didn’t work for me because I wasn’t excited about the food I had prepped and I felt I was getting bored easily. What did help was pre-entering food into my diary for the week. That way each day I could see how many extra calories I had for something like chocolate or that I really enjoyed eating.
I also realized that I needed more calories than MFP was suggesting to feel satisfied and to avoid binges. So I increased my physical activity in order to give myself a cup a little more wiggle room with food. I don’t know how accurate the exercise calories are on MFP so I try not to eat back all of my exercise calories.
I also started paying attention to my macros. I found on days that I met my protein goals I had more energy and was feeling more satisfied. This really helped me stick to my plan and avoid burnout. I would say don’t try any diet unless you think it’s sustainable for you for long periods of time.
I would adjust your settings to lose .5 or 1 pound per week.
Try that for a few weeks along with accurate logging and then see if you want to increase.
I really think a food scale is the best investment.
You've got wisdom, Maggie. Great post. Many thrive on weight loss challenges but they're not for me.
@XLNC1981 You're right. The body tracks everything even if we don't.3 -
The reason why IMHO calorie deficit in itself does not work is because the body will react to different types of foods differently. Say my fixed calorie intake a day is 1520, so now I eat 1520 calories worth of chocolate cake, despite the calorie deficit the results will be disastrous. Extreme example I get it but it does highlight the problem.
@bubus05Probably not a very popular opinion on this site but IMHO calorie counting is a waste of time one can do it if there is nothing better to do but adjusting diet to a fixed number of calorie intake will only lead to frustration long term. You decrease your daily calories you will lose some weight-sounds great- but your body will also adjust your metabolism will slow down as well, chances are you not only regain what you lost but will put on extra. This 'math' that my body burns x calories a day therefore I have to go below x calories a day intake is wrong. Your body doesn't care about math as you have probably already seen it.
You would get far less push back and disagrees if you presented your experience as simply your experience rather than a rather sweeping and highly inaccurate statement. Your experience is valid but your conclusions as to why are badly flawed.
"adjusting diet to a fixed number of calorie intake will only lead to frustration long term"
I decided to calorie count but definitely didn't choose to eat to the same goal every day - that's a choice not a requirement of calorie counting, many people eat to a weekly goal to make their diet fit their lifestyle. My daily intake was massively different day by day.
"You decrease your daily calories you will lose some weight-sounds great- but your body will also adjust your metabolism will slow down as well"
I lost all the weight I wanted to and it was great as I'd been overweight for 20 years.
Yes I did get some minor adaptive thermogenesis but that corrected itself in the first few months of maintenance. Metabolism is constantly adjusting itself, it's just a collection of chemical processes.
I now eat far more than I ever did when I was chubby as both my exercise and activity level are far higher.
"chances are you not only regain what you lost but will put on extra"
All diets including calorie counting, fasting and low carbing have very poor success rates and I would hazard a guess that people who deliberately make the process harder fail more than people who actively set out to make the process as easy as possible.
Personally I've maintained at my chosen weight for almost 7 years.
"This 'math' that my body burns x calories a day therefore I have to go below x calories a day intake is wrong."
Nope - it's the underlying and fundamental reason that people either maintain, gain or lose weight. You, me and everybody else can't create energy out of nowhere. That some people manipulate their energy/calorie balance by indirect means doesn't change the facts behind weight loss. You cut calories by fasting and severely limiting some foods. That 'X' can't be precisely nailed down to a single number and than number changes daily is an irrelevance - you simply don't need that level of accuracy to be successful.
Oppose that to a low carb healthy food and again IMHO and no offence to anyone it doesn't really matter that much how many calories one will consume, your body will or should tell you stop eating.
For weight loss purposes, a calorie is a calorie. Yes, you will probably feel tired, irritable and cranky if you eat 1300 calories of cupcakes a day. However, you can still lose weight as long as 1300 is a deficit for you. It’s an unhealthy and unwise way to go about losing weight and while your body will “react” differently is only true in the sense I just mentioned (lack of energy, possible migraines, etc), it won’t stop you from losing weight. Your body won’t hold onto those calories BECAUSE you got them from a cupcake.
Again, I definitely do not think that’s a good idea, but to say that you won’t lose weight if you eat certain foods over others or if you eat carbs you would lose less or not at all doesn’t make sense.
I also noticed you failed to link even one single reputable source to back your claim.
There is no single “right” way to lose weight and keep it off. If there was, that’s the method we would all universally use. If you have had success not counting calories and eating low carb, congratulations. To say that counting calories doesn’t work though, is simply false. To say that your body will store carbs if you eat them, is again false.
CICO is what matters for weight loss. You ONLY lost weight because you ate in a deficit. If you were able to do that without weighing and measuring your foods, kudos. Most of us can’t (and shouldn’t) attempt to replicate that. Without my trusty food scale I would eat WAY more than a single serving and not know it.4 -
Dogmom1978 wrote: »
The reason why IMHO calorie deficit in itself does not work is because the body will react to different types of foods differently. Say my fixed calorie intake a day is 1520, so now I eat 1520 calories worth of chocolate cake, despite the calorie deficit the results will be disastrous. Extreme example I get it but it does highlight the problem.
@bubus05Probably not a very popular opinion on this site but IMHO calorie counting is a waste of time one can do it if there is nothing better to do but adjusting diet to a fixed number of calorie intake will only lead to frustration long term. You decrease your daily calories you will lose some weight-sounds great- but your body will also adjust your metabolism will slow down as well, chances are you not only regain what you lost but will put on extra. This 'math' that my body burns x calories a day therefore I have to go below x calories a day intake is wrong. Your body doesn't care about math as you have probably already seen it.
You would get far less push back and disagrees if you presented your experience as simply your experience rather than a rather sweeping and highly inaccurate statement. Your experience is valid but your conclusions as to why are badly flawed.
"adjusting diet to a fixed number of calorie intake will only lead to frustration long term"
I decided to calorie count but definitely didn't choose to eat to the same goal every day - that's a choice not a requirement of calorie counting, many people eat to a weekly goal to make their diet fit their lifestyle. My daily intake was massively different day by day.
"You decrease your daily calories you will lose some weight-sounds great- but your body will also adjust your metabolism will slow down as well"
I lost all the weight I wanted to and it was great as I'd been overweight for 20 years.
Yes I did get some minor adaptive thermogenesis but that corrected itself in the first few months of maintenance. Metabolism is constantly adjusting itself, it's just a collection of chemical processes.
I now eat far more than I ever did when I was chubby as both my exercise and activity level are far higher.
"chances are you not only regain what you lost but will put on extra"
All diets including calorie counting, fasting and low carbing have very poor success rates and I would hazard a guess that people who deliberately make the process harder fail more than people who actively set out to make the process as easy as possible.
Personally I've maintained at my chosen weight for almost 7 years.
"This 'math' that my body burns x calories a day therefore I have to go below x calories a day intake is wrong."
Nope - it's the underlying and fundamental reason that people either maintain, gain or lose weight. You, me and everybody else can't create energy out of nowhere. That some people manipulate their energy/calorie balance by indirect means doesn't change the facts behind weight loss. You cut calories by fasting and severely limiting some foods. That 'X' can't be precisely nailed down to a single number and than number changes daily is an irrelevance - you simply don't need that level of accuracy to be successful.
Oppose that to a low carb healthy food and again IMHO and no offence to anyone it doesn't really matter that much how many calories one will consume, your body will or should tell you stop eating.
For weight loss purposes, a calorie is a calorie. Yes, you will probably feel tired, irritable and cranky if you eat 1300 calories of cupcakes a day. However, you can still lose weight as long as 1300 is a deficit for you. It’s an unhealthy and unwise way to go about losing weight and while your body will “react” differently is only true in the sense I just mentioned (lack of energy, possible migraines, etc), it won’t stop you from losing weight. Your body won’t hold onto those calories BECAUSE you got them from a cupcake.
Again, I definitely do not think that’s a good idea, but to say that you won’t lose weight if you eat certain foods over others or if you eat carbs you would lose less or not at all doesn’t make sense.
I also noticed you failed to link even one single reputable source to back your claim.
There is no single “right” way to lose weight and keep it off. If there was, that’s the method we would all universally use. If you have had success not counting calories and eating low carb, congratulations. To say that counting calories doesn’t work though, is simply false. To say that your body will store carbs if you eat them, is again false.
CICO is what matters for weight loss. You ONLY lost weight because you ate in a deficit. If you were able to do that without weighing and measuring your foods, kudos. Most of us can’t (and shouldn’t) attempt to replicate that. Without my trusty food scale I would eat WAY more than a single serving and not know it.
I am not denying that on a fixed low calorie diet with calorie deficit one will lose weight-regardless of what one eats-. The question is whether it's sustainable. If it leads to malnourishment it can't be good and I am not saying that a healthy high carb diet-even if I disagree with it- is necessarily a bad thing otherwise millions vegans would starve to death.
I agree there is no universally right approach, what works for me might not work for you, all I am saying is that counting the calories in itself is not the right approach to losing weight.
Here is a link that seems credible...https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5639963/0 -
Dogmom1978 wrote: »
The reason why IMHO calorie deficit in itself does not work is because the body will react to different types of foods differently. Say my fixed calorie intake a day is 1520, so now I eat 1520 calories worth of chocolate cake, despite the calorie deficit the results will be disastrous. Extreme example I get it but it does highlight the problem.
@bubus05Probably not a very popular opinion on this site but IMHO calorie counting is a waste of time one can do it if there is nothing better to do but adjusting diet to a fixed number of calorie intake will only lead to frustration long term. You decrease your daily calories you will lose some weight-sounds great- but your body will also adjust your metabolism will slow down as well, chances are you not only regain what you lost but will put on extra. This 'math' that my body burns x calories a day therefore I have to go below x calories a day intake is wrong. Your body doesn't care about math as you have probably already seen it.
You would get far less push back and disagrees if you presented your experience as simply your experience rather than a rather sweeping and highly inaccurate statement. Your experience is valid but your conclusions as to why are badly flawed.
"adjusting diet to a fixed number of calorie intake will only lead to frustration long term"
I decided to calorie count but definitely didn't choose to eat to the same goal every day - that's a choice not a requirement of calorie counting, many people eat to a weekly goal to make their diet fit their lifestyle. My daily intake was massively different day by day.
"You decrease your daily calories you will lose some weight-sounds great- but your body will also adjust your metabolism will slow down as well"
I lost all the weight I wanted to and it was great as I'd been overweight for 20 years.
Yes I did get some minor adaptive thermogenesis but that corrected itself in the first few months of maintenance. Metabolism is constantly adjusting itself, it's just a collection of chemical processes.
I now eat far more than I ever did when I was chubby as both my exercise and activity level are far higher.
"chances are you not only regain what you lost but will put on extra"
All diets including calorie counting, fasting and low carbing have very poor success rates and I would hazard a guess that people who deliberately make the process harder fail more than people who actively set out to make the process as easy as possible.
Personally I've maintained at my chosen weight for almost 7 years.
"This 'math' that my body burns x calories a day therefore I have to go below x calories a day intake is wrong."
Nope - it's the underlying and fundamental reason that people either maintain, gain or lose weight. You, me and everybody else can't create energy out of nowhere. That some people manipulate their energy/calorie balance by indirect means doesn't change the facts behind weight loss. You cut calories by fasting and severely limiting some foods. That 'X' can't be precisely nailed down to a single number and than number changes daily is an irrelevance - you simply don't need that level of accuracy to be successful.
Oppose that to a low carb healthy food and again IMHO and no offence to anyone it doesn't really matter that much how many calories one will consume, your body will or should tell you stop eating.
For weight loss purposes, a calorie is a calorie. Yes, you will probably feel tired, irritable and cranky if you eat 1300 calories of cupcakes a day. However, you can still lose weight as long as 1300 is a deficit for you. It’s an unhealthy and unwise way to go about losing weight and while your body will “react” differently is only true in the sense I just mentioned (lack of energy, possible migraines, etc), it won’t stop you from losing weight. Your body won’t hold onto those calories BECAUSE you got them from a cupcake.
Again, I definitely do not think that’s a good idea, but to say that you won’t lose weight if you eat certain foods over others or if you eat carbs you would lose less or not at all doesn’t make sense.
I also noticed you failed to link even one single reputable source to back your claim.
There is no single “right” way to lose weight and keep it off. If there was, that’s the method we would all universally use. If you have had success not counting calories and eating low carb, congratulations. To say that counting calories doesn’t work though, is simply false. To say that your body will store carbs if you eat them, is again false.
CICO is what matters for weight loss. You ONLY lost weight because you ate in a deficit. If you were able to do that without weighing and measuring your foods, kudos. Most of us can’t (and shouldn’t) attempt to replicate that. Without my trusty food scale I would eat WAY more than a single serving and not know it.
I am not denying that on a fixed low calorie diet with calorie deficit one will lose weight-regardless of what one eats-. The question is whether it's sustainable. If it leads to malnourishment it can't be good and I am not saying that a healthy high carb diet-even if I disagree with it- is necessarily a bad thing otherwise millions vegans would starve to death.
I agree there is no universally right approach, what works for me might not work for you, all I am saying is that counting the calories in itself is not the right approach to losing weight.
Here is a link that seems credible...https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5639963/
But counting the calories by itself is *exactly* what a bunch of people here did, to lose weight.
For me, same foods, same exercise, just counted and put in proper cumulative CI < CO balance, to lose. Then CI = CO (on average) to maintain.
Nutrition is important for health, energy level, and body composition, sure. And screwing those up hinders weight management in the long run . . . by reducing CO. It's dynamic.
Counting calories is one of multiple potential right ways to lose weight. My method doesn't need to be wrong (for me and others), for yours to be right (for you and others).
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