Does the calorie deficit work?
Replies
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nicolewalter16 wrote: »@tinkerbellang83 I guess I just don't find it too limiting. I am usually around 1300-1400 calories intake since it gives me around 300-800 calories for exercise from My fitbit steps usually 10,000 -14,000 per day) but I don't like to use it all. Just enough to get by
I started out on 1200 calories, plus eating all exercise. I wasn't trying to lose super fast (I was around your size, in my case 183 pounds at 5'5"), but I'm old (59 at the time) and don't get the steps you do (often, I'm under 3000-4000).
I felt great, not hungry . . . until suddenly I hit a wall. I got weak and fatigued. It took several weeks to get back to normal strength and energy, even though I corrected quickly. No one needs that. I didn't have a job (retired) or a family depending on me, so the consequences for me were not as negative as they would be for most other people, but it still was not good. I'd hate to see that happen to anyone else.
It turns out that MFP significantly *under*estimates my calorie needs. This is quite rare, but it can happen. Most people have the "too low" thing happen just by trying to lose unsustainably fast, but either way, the same results can happen.nicolewalter16 wrote: »@tinkerbellang83 thanks for the clarification. I'm nervous I am going to sabotage myself on accident.
I fully plan to switch over to a new goal of 1 or 1.5 lbs per week loss if I feel limited and am looking forward to switching over to the maintain weight goal when I get to my goal.
I have such a hard time know what "obese" even means the BMI charts seem so tough. My goal is 150 lbs. That is the smallest I would have ever been. But I would still be "overweight" according to BMI. However 145 lbs would be "normal" on BMI.
You don't have to set a final goal weight now. You can just put in 150 for now, and adjust later as you get closer to that, if you decide you want to be a little heavier or lighter. (MFP doesn't use the goal weight in estimating your calorie needs. It just uses that information in your profile to give you motivational messages about how you've "lost X of Y pounds!!" and things like that.)
I adjusted my goal weight several times, as I got closer to the previous values. It's not unusual for people to do that, especially people who've long been overweight, and don't know how they'll look/feel lighter, as an adult of their current age. (I'm in year 5+ of maintaining my healthy weight now, 125 pounds this morning. Who woulda thought?! 😉😆)nicolewalter16 wrote: »@yirara
I am 29, I will turn 30 in August. I am 5'4" and currently sitting at 189, my goal is to reach 150 (even though I will still be considered oberweight, I'm trying to be realistic). All of those facts hard for me to admit.
I know I need to be patient (never a strong suit of mine) but I am staying at 189 on the scale for a week seems like I am probably doing something wrong. If my calories in are correct and my out are correct I should be losing consistently. I have thought and re-thought how I am measuring but I am using a food scale and measuring as accurately as I feel I can.
I have seen other sources say that my fitness pal often over calculates how many calories you should get back for exercise so it is best not to use those calories.
Your explanation of calories as I lose weight seems to only support that I should keep my calorie goal at the lowest 1200 especially since I may be making errors in measuring or my fit bit as I hear might be over counting my exercise.
As mentioned above, it's important to realize that MFP and even fitness trackers may not only OVERestimate calorie needs or exercise calorie numbers, but it's also possible for them to UNDERestimate them (though it's unlikely the MFP exercise database will give an overestimate).
Extra-slow weight loss (if the estimates are too high) can be frustrating, for sure. But ultra-fast weight loss (from keeping calories too low) can be a health risk, let alone cause less severe but bad things like hair loss (which usually waits several weeks after the too-low calories start, to show up - by which time it's too late to completely stop it).
I don't have a Fitbit, I have a Garmin, also a good brand that provides very accurate estimates for others. Because I'm some kind of calorie-burn weirdo 🤷♀️, my Garmin also underestimates my calorie burn . . . by 25-30%! This is very rare, but it can happen.
Because the fitness trackers work off statistics and averages to *estimate* calorie burn - they don't measure it - they're close for the overwhelming majority of people. But they can be off a little (high or low) for a few people, and way off for a very rare few. Until you have several weeks of weight loss experience to compare with your device, assuming it's overestimating may not be the safest bet, health-wise. If I ate the number of calories my very good tracker suggests to maintain my weight, I'd be losing something over a pound a week - which would be a really bad idea at my current weight.
You may be wondering why I bolded one phrase in your post I quoted at the top. I wanted to leave that until I'd mentioned some of the info above.
Here's my feeling: The goal in life should not be "to get by", it should be to *thrive*.
I believe that it's possible for us to train our bodies to get by on fewer than ideal calories, by convincing them (via under-eating) that we're in a time of famine, and that they have to conserve to get along. "Conserve" means things that affect energy level (we may be draggy, fatigued, burn fewer calories in daily life); that affect appearance (hair thinning, lackluster complexion, lack of vivacity); and that affect health (less robust immune function, poor sleep quality, among others).
Please, don't think of "getting by". Think of *thriving*, as best you can, alongside achieving a sensibly moderate, sustainable, healthy weight loss rate.
I'm cheering for you!9 -
nicolewalter16 wrote: »@Lietchi I have found I can't be 100 % accurate with some recipes because I can weigh all the ingridents that go in and what goes on my plate but it won't be absolute. For example I like making Stir-Fried veggies I cna measure all the different veggies but when I portion out the 6 servings or what have you I can't gurantee each plate has the exact amount of each veggie. So it is more of an average.
Y'know what? In one recipe, on one night, you'll get fewer of the veggies, more of the meat. On aother night, you'll get more of the veggies, less of the meat. Over time, those overs and unders average out. It's fine to trust the recipes you carefully measure and weigh.
They're small differences (numbers-wise) in the first place, and part of a bigger picture where all of this is estimates (one apple is sweeter than the next, so more calories by a few, right? 😉).
It's good to be accurate (weigh ingredients, input those recipes, weigh your serving), but it's also totally fine to let the overs & unders average out, over time (body doesn't reset at midnight!). Structuring your process so that you stress about making sure you're under on every bit of intake, and over on every bit of calorie expenditure . . . it's not helpful, either to weight loss (via low energy from undereating, plus the misleading stress-related water weight) or to mental health.
Be accurate, but no need to be tense or stressed or compulsive about it. Sometimes I see people here say they've stopped lots of their social life, because they can't be exactly exact in knowing calories when other people cook the food. Becoming a diet hermit is not a good way to go through life. Neither is obsessing about calorie differences that are trivial as compared with (say) a 500 calorie daily deficit for weight loss.
Hang in there!3 -
nicolewalter16 wrote: »@Lietchi I have found I can't be 100 % accurate with some recipes because I can weigh all the ingridents that go in and what goes on my plate but it won't be absolute. For example I like making Stir-Fried veggies I cna measure all the different veggies but when I portion out the 6 servings or what have you I can't gurantee each plate has the exact amount of each veggie. So it is more of an average.
Measure the entire recipe in grams when complete. Put the weight in grams as your number of servings. Each time you take some, just weigh what you take. IE 200 grams would be 200 servings. Voila.
Or, if you’re cooking just for you, it doesn’t matter much if each serving is exact because once you eat all of it, it will all have been accounted for in your diary. (More true if you’re eating it in the same week or so).
How do you recommend weighing dishes? My scales are the small, "typical" kitchen scales and I don't know how I would measure a full 3/4 portion meal on there? Especially if it has multiple components?
Do you have any tips?0 -
nicolewalter16 wrote: »@Lietchi I have found I can't be 100 % accurate with some recipes because I can weigh all the ingridents that go in and what goes on my plate but it won't be absolute. For example I like making Stir-Fried veggies I cna measure all the different veggies but when I portion out the 6 servings or what have you I can't gurantee each plate has the exact amount of each veggie. So it is more of an average.
Measure the entire recipe in grams when complete. Put the weight in grams as your number of servings. Each time you take some, just weigh what you take. IE 200 grams would be 200 servings. Voila.
Or, if you’re cooking just for you, it doesn’t matter much if each serving is exact because once you eat all of it, it will all have been accounted for in your diary. (More true if you’re eating it in the same week or so).
How do you recommend weighing dishes? My scales are the small, "typical" kitchen scales and I don't know how I would measure a full 3/4 portion meal on there? Especially if it has multiple components?
Do you have any tips?
My scale is pretty small too I think, just a dinky little $10 thing I bought years ago. I put a big bowl on the scale, tare, and then dump in the final product. I’ve been known to bend over at eye level with the counter to try to see what the scale says.
Alternatively, you can write down the weight of the bowl, add in all the ingredients, tare, then take the whole thing off. Subtract the weight of the bowl from the negative number shown on the scale and you have the weight of the recipe. Sounds like a pain but takes like 30 seconds in reality.
If your scale can’t handle a large weight, personally I would just buy another scale if it’s economically feasible for you. Again, mine was around $10 on Amazon, nothing special, but does the trick. If that’s not an option, then just estimate number of servings and log accordingly. Accuracy is only important as it relates to helping you succeed, it’s not an achievement in and of itself. 🤷🏻♀️ Do the best with what you got!5 -
nicolewalter16 wrote: »@Lietchi I have found I can't be 100 % accurate with some recipes because I can weigh all the ingridents that go in and what goes on my plate but it won't be absolute. For example I like making Stir-Fried veggies I cna measure all the different veggies but when I portion out the 6 servings or what have you I can't gurantee each plate has the exact amount of each veggie. So it is more of an average.
Y'know what? In one recipe, on one night, you'll get fewer of the veggies, more of the meat. On aother night, you'll get more of the veggies, less of the meat. Over time, those overs and unders average out. It's fine to trust the recipes you carefully measure and weigh.
They're small differences (numbers-wise) in the first place, and part of a bigger picture where all of this is estimates (one apple is sweeter than the next, so more calories by a few, right? 😉).
It's good to be accurate (weigh ingredients, input those recipes, weigh your serving), but it's also totally fine to let the overs & unders average out, over time (body doesn't reset at midnight!). Structuring your process so that you stress about making sure you're under on every bit of intake, and over on every bit of calorie expenditure . . . it's not helpful, either to weight loss (via low energy from undereating, plus the misleading stress-related water weight) or to mental health.
Be accurate, but no need to be tense or stressed or compulsive about it. Sometimes I see people here say they've stopped lots of their social life, because they can't be exactly exact in knowing calories when other people cook the food. Becoming a diet hermit is not a good way to go through life. Neither is obsessing about calorie differences that are trivial as compared with (say) a 500 calorie daily deficit for weight loss.
Hang in there!
I can share my experience here, which matches the advice above.
Basically, I try to be as exact as reasonably possible while cooking (weighing dry ingredients, using database entries I feel confident in, not eyeballing things like oil, etc). Then when it's time to eat, I divide the meal into equal portions. I don't weigh the final version, I don't worry about one serving having a bit more tofu or potato than the other. Since I'm usually eating my own food, I know it will balance out. Even the stuff I'm sharing with other people, I know over a period of time it's going to balance out (one night I get 40 more calories from potatoes than the other serving has, but a week from now I'm probably going to have 40 calories less).
This has worked for me since 2015. If my weight suddenly began behaving in an unexpected way, I might adjust my strategy, but my experience has shown me that in the context of my lifestyle, portioning out my FINAL serving by weight isn't necessary. That said, I know other people have found it helpful. I'm not discounting their experience, just adding mine.
@AnnPT77 I knew I couldn't be the only person who has been eating a lackluster orange or melon and thought to myself that it couldn't have as many calories as the outstanding version I had the week before!
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janejellyroll wrote: »nicolewalter16 wrote: »@Lietchi I have found I can't be 100 % accurate with some recipes because I can weigh all the ingridents that go in and what goes on my plate but it won't be absolute. For example I like making Stir-Fried veggies I cna measure all the different veggies but when I portion out the 6 servings or what have you I can't gurantee each plate has the exact amount of each veggie. So it is more of an average.
Y'know what? In one recipe, on one night, you'll get fewer of the veggies, more of the meat. On aother night, you'll get more of the veggies, less of the meat. Over time, those overs and unders average out. It's fine to trust the recipes you carefully measure and weigh.
They're small differences (numbers-wise) in the first place, and part of a bigger picture where all of this is estimates (one apple is sweeter than the next, so more calories by a few, right? 😉).
It's good to be accurate (weigh ingredients, input those recipes, weigh your serving), but it's also totally fine to let the overs & unders average out, over time (body doesn't reset at midnight!). Structuring your process so that you stress about making sure you're under on every bit of intake, and over on every bit of calorie expenditure . . . it's not helpful, either to weight loss (via low energy from undereating, plus the misleading stress-related water weight) or to mental health.
Be accurate, but no need to be tense or stressed or compulsive about it. Sometimes I see people here say they've stopped lots of their social life, because they can't be exactly exact in knowing calories when other people cook the food. Becoming a diet hermit is not a good way to go through life. Neither is obsessing about calorie differences that are trivial as compared with (say) a 500 calorie daily deficit for weight loss.
Hang in there!
I can share my experience here, which matches the advice above.
Basically, I try to be as exact as reasonably possible while cooking (weighing dry ingredients, using database entries I feel confident in, not eyeballing things like oil, etc). Then when it's time to eat, I divide the meal into equal portions. I don't weigh the final version, I don't worry about one serving having a bit more tofu or potato than the other. Since I'm usually eating my own food, I know it will balance out. Even the stuff I'm sharing with other people, I know over a period of time it's going to balance out (one night I get 40 more calories from potatoes than the other serving has, but a week from now I'm probably going to have 40 calories less).
This has worked for me since 2015. If my weight suddenly began behaving in an unexpected way, I might adjust my strategy, but my experience has shown me that in the context of my lifestyle, portioning out my FINAL serving by weight isn't necessary. That said, I know other people have found it helpful. I'm not discounting their experience, just adding mine.
@AnnPT77 I knew I couldn't be the only person who has been eating a lackluster orange or melon and thought to myself that it couldn't have as many calories as the outstanding version I had the week before!
Just want to add that this is often what I do as well. I make a hearty soup and estimate the servings bc it’s just too cumbersome to weigh the final product. When I make desserts or heavier/more calorie dense dishes (or ones I know I’m likely to overeat) I do weigh out the final product. FWIW I only track half the time at this point anyway, but have used these techniques in the past or when I find myself being too lax with my diet.1 -
janejellyroll wrote: »nicolewalter16 wrote: »@Lietchi I have found I can't be 100 % accurate with some recipes because I can weigh all the ingridents that go in and what goes on my plate but it won't be absolute. For example I like making Stir-Fried veggies I cna measure all the different veggies but when I portion out the 6 servings or what have you I can't gurantee each plate has the exact amount of each veggie. So it is more of an average.
Y'know what? In one recipe, on one night, you'll get fewer of the veggies, more of the meat. On aother night, you'll get more of the veggies, less of the meat. Over time, those overs and unders average out. It's fine to trust the recipes you carefully measure and weigh.
They're small differences (numbers-wise) in the first place, and part of a bigger picture where all of this is estimates (one apple is sweeter than the next, so more calories by a few, right? 😉).
It's good to be accurate (weigh ingredients, input those recipes, weigh your serving), but it's also totally fine to let the overs & unders average out, over time (body doesn't reset at midnight!). Structuring your process so that you stress about making sure you're under on every bit of intake, and over on every bit of calorie expenditure . . . it's not helpful, either to weight loss (via low energy from undereating, plus the misleading stress-related water weight) or to mental health.
Be accurate, but no need to be tense or stressed or compulsive about it. Sometimes I see people here say they've stopped lots of their social life, because they can't be exactly exact in knowing calories when other people cook the food. Becoming a diet hermit is not a good way to go through life. Neither is obsessing about calorie differences that are trivial as compared with (say) a 500 calorie daily deficit for weight loss.
Hang in there!
I can share my experience here, which matches the advice above.
Basically, I try to be as exact as reasonably possible while cooking (weighing dry ingredients, using database entries I feel confident in, not eyeballing things like oil, etc). Then when it's time to eat, I divide the meal into equal portions. I don't weigh the final version, I don't worry about one serving having a bit more tofu or potato than the other. Since I'm usually eating my own food, I know it will balance out. Even the stuff I'm sharing with other people, I know over a period of time it's going to balance out (one night I get 40 more calories from potatoes than the other serving has, but a week from now I'm probably going to have 40 calories less).
This has worked for me since 2015. If my weight suddenly began behaving in an unexpected way, I might adjust my strategy, but my experience has shown me that in the context of my lifestyle, portioning out my FINAL serving by weight isn't necessary. That said, I know other people have found it helpful. I'm not discounting their experience, just adding mine.
It's really going to depend on the individual context. I share 99% percent of my (cooked) meals with my BF and equal portions really are not an option for us (either he would be 'starving' or I would be overeating). So I definitely need to weigh the total dish as well as my own portions. I would really like a simpler method, but for me it's just not a viable option 🙂1 -
nicolewalter16 wrote: »@Lietchi I have found I can't be 100 % accurate with some recipes because I can weigh all the ingridents that go in and what goes on my plate but it won't be absolute. For example I like making Stir-Fried veggies I cna measure all the different veggies but when I portion out the 6 servings or what have you I can't gurantee each plate has the exact amount of each veggie. So it is more of an average.
Measure the entire recipe in grams when complete. Put the weight in grams as your number of servings. Each time you take some, just weigh what you take. IE 200 grams would be 200 servings. Voila.
Or, if you’re cooking just for you, it doesn’t matter much if each serving is exact because once you eat all of it, it will all have been accounted for in your diary. (More true if you’re eating it in the same week or so).
How do you recommend weighing dishes? My scales are the small, "typical" kitchen scales and I don't know how I would measure a full 3/4 portion meal on there? Especially if it has multiple components?
Do you have any tips?
My scale is pretty small too I think, just a dinky little $10 thing I bought years ago. I put a big bowl on the scale, tare, and then dump in the final product. I’ve been known to bend over at eye level with the counter to try to see what the scale says.
Alternatively, you can write down the weight of the bowl, add in all the ingredients, tare, then take the whole thing off. Subtract the weight of the bowl from the negative number shown on the scale and you have the weight of the recipe. Sounds like a pain but takes like 30 seconds in reality.
If your scale can’t handle a large weight, personally I would just buy another scale if it’s economically feasible for you. Again, mine was around $10 on Amazon, nothing special, but does the trick. If that’s not an option, then just estimate number of servings and log accordingly. Accuracy is only important as it relates to helping you succeed, it’s not an achievement in and of itself. 🤷🏻♀️ Do the best with what you got!
I've also seen some people here say they weighed their most commonly used pans & baking dishes, then taped a list of those weights inside a cupboard door near the scale for reference. (I don't do that, because I live alone and my cooking approaches don't require it, but I'd do it if I were cooking for a family.)
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janejellyroll wrote: »nicolewalter16 wrote: »@Lietchi I have found I can't be 100 % accurate with some recipes because I can weigh all the ingridents that go in and what goes on my plate but it won't be absolute. For example I like making Stir-Fried veggies I cna measure all the different veggies but when I portion out the 6 servings or what have you I can't gurantee each plate has the exact amount of each veggie. So it is more of an average.
Y'know what? In one recipe, on one night, you'll get fewer of the veggies, more of the meat. On aother night, you'll get more of the veggies, less of the meat. Over time, those overs and unders average out. It's fine to trust the recipes you carefully measure and weigh.
They're small differences (numbers-wise) in the first place, and part of a bigger picture where all of this is estimates (one apple is sweeter than the next, so more calories by a few, right? 😉).
It's good to be accurate (weigh ingredients, input those recipes, weigh your serving), but it's also totally fine to let the overs & unders average out, over time (body doesn't reset at midnight!). Structuring your process so that you stress about making sure you're under on every bit of intake, and over on every bit of calorie expenditure . . . it's not helpful, either to weight loss (via low energy from undereating, plus the misleading stress-related water weight) or to mental health.
Be accurate, but no need to be tense or stressed or compulsive about it. Sometimes I see people here say they've stopped lots of their social life, because they can't be exactly exact in knowing calories when other people cook the food. Becoming a diet hermit is not a good way to go through life. Neither is obsessing about calorie differences that are trivial as compared with (say) a 500 calorie daily deficit for weight loss.
Hang in there!
I can share my experience here, which matches the advice above.
Basically, I try to be as exact as reasonably possible while cooking (weighing dry ingredients, using database entries I feel confident in, not eyeballing things like oil, etc). Then when it's time to eat, I divide the meal into equal portions. I don't weigh the final version, I don't worry about one serving having a bit more tofu or potato than the other. Since I'm usually eating my own food, I know it will balance out. Even the stuff I'm sharing with other people, I know over a period of time it's going to balance out (one night I get 40 more calories from potatoes than the other serving has, but a week from now I'm probably going to have 40 calories less).
This has worked for me since 2015. If my weight suddenly began behaving in an unexpected way, I might adjust my strategy, but my experience has shown me that in the context of my lifestyle, portioning out my FINAL serving by weight isn't necessary. That said, I know other people have found it helpful. I'm not discounting their experience, just adding mine.
@AnnPT77 I knew I couldn't be the only person who has been eating a lackluster orange or melon and thought to myself that it couldn't have as many calories as the outstanding version I had the week before!
Just want to add that this is often what I do as well. I make a hearty soup and estimate the servings bc it’s just too cumbersome to weigh the final product. When I make desserts or heavier/more calorie dense dishes (or ones I know I’m likely to overeat) I do weigh out the final product. FWIW I only track half the time at this point anyway, but have used these techniques in the past or when I find myself being too lax with my diet.
This is a great point -- you can use different options to reflect the calorie density of dishes. I should have mentioned when I make stuff like hummus or guacamole or desserts, I often do weigh them out because it's easier than eyeballing and there is a larger margin for error.2 -
janejellyroll wrote: »nicolewalter16 wrote: »@Lietchi I have found I can't be 100 % accurate with some recipes because I can weigh all the ingridents that go in and what goes on my plate but it won't be absolute. For example I like making Stir-Fried veggies I cna measure all the different veggies but when I portion out the 6 servings or what have you I can't gurantee each plate has the exact amount of each veggie. So it is more of an average.
Y'know what? In one recipe, on one night, you'll get fewer of the veggies, more of the meat. On aother night, you'll get more of the veggies, less of the meat. Over time, those overs and unders average out. It's fine to trust the recipes you carefully measure and weigh.
They're small differences (numbers-wise) in the first place, and part of a bigger picture where all of this is estimates (one apple is sweeter than the next, so more calories by a few, right? 😉).
It's good to be accurate (weigh ingredients, input those recipes, weigh your serving), but it's also totally fine to let the overs & unders average out, over time (body doesn't reset at midnight!). Structuring your process so that you stress about making sure you're under on every bit of intake, and over on every bit of calorie expenditure . . . it's not helpful, either to weight loss (via low energy from undereating, plus the misleading stress-related water weight) or to mental health.
Be accurate, but no need to be tense or stressed or compulsive about it. Sometimes I see people here say they've stopped lots of their social life, because they can't be exactly exact in knowing calories when other people cook the food. Becoming a diet hermit is not a good way to go through life. Neither is obsessing about calorie differences that are trivial as compared with (say) a 500 calorie daily deficit for weight loss.
Hang in there!
I can share my experience here, which matches the advice above.
Basically, I try to be as exact as reasonably possible while cooking (weighing dry ingredients, using database entries I feel confident in, not eyeballing things like oil, etc). Then when it's time to eat, I divide the meal into equal portions. I don't weigh the final version, I don't worry about one serving having a bit more tofu or potato than the other. Since I'm usually eating my own food, I know it will balance out. Even the stuff I'm sharing with other people, I know over a period of time it's going to balance out (one night I get 40 more calories from potatoes than the other serving has, but a week from now I'm probably going to have 40 calories less).
This has worked for me since 2015. If my weight suddenly began behaving in an unexpected way, I might adjust my strategy, but my experience has shown me that in the context of my lifestyle, portioning out my FINAL serving by weight isn't necessary. That said, I know other people have found it helpful. I'm not discounting their experience, just adding mine.
It's really going to depend on the individual context. I share 99% percent of my (cooked) meals with my BF and equal portions really are not an option for us (either he would be 'starving' or I would be overeating). So I definitely need to weigh the total dish as well as my own portions. I would really like a simpler method, but for me it's just not a viable option 🙂
Oh, yeah -- I didn't mean that people SHOULDN'T use other methods if it works better for them or there isn't a way to really do equal portions. I realize we're all in different situations.
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Calorie budgeting is similar to other sorts of budgeting.
Let's say my income is $2000 monthly but I am overextended and spend $2500 monthly. Meaning I go into debt by $500 per month. In order to "Lose" that debt, I need to increase my income and/or decrease my spending. Perhaps I make some changes, and now instead of spending $2500 monthly, I'm only spending $1500 monthly and over time, I pay off my debt.
Weight loss is the same way. I became overweight because I was eating more than my body needed, so my body stored the extra. And then to reverse the process, one needs to eat less than is needed: to create a deficit.
But the human body is not efficient. Water weight fluctuates, as others have explained. You may temporarily retain a few pounds of extra water due to hormones, muscle fatigue, stress or a number of other things. BUT if you are eating at a deficit, then OVER TIME the fat will go down and your body weight will decrease. Back to the banking example: think back a few years before everyone used debit cards. Was there ever a scenario where you wrote a check but knew it would be a few days before it 'cleared' your bank? The human body kind of works like a checking account in the 80's or 90's. There are transactions coming & going, and they don't always clear IMMEDIATELY.nicolewalter16 wrote: »I was just informed by a family member who was a bikini body builder and is now a nurse that my using my fitness pal would not work "in the long run" because not all calories are the same and being in a calorie deficit won't matter unless you eat 6 times a day to increase metabolism. And told me that increasing metabolism is basically the only way to lose weight of keep weight off.
This happened to happen during a hard day in my " suck period" I have been using my fitness pal for about a month and have got a plateau. I am trying to be patient but this hit very hard for me.
Anyone know if she is right, if not why (got any good insights or sources, I like to be reassured with facts)
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I think of calories like money. It's all in the bottom line. Like a bank account, money (calories from food) comes in from multiple sources and reasons and money goes ( calories burned) out for different reasons in a specific amount. Weight loss is like your bank account, calories in, calories burned. I hope my bank account is not in a deficit but my calorie balance stays in a deficit.1
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(self snippity long post)
As mentioned above, it's important to realize that MFP and even fitness trackers may not only OVERestimate calorie needs or exercise calorie numbers, but it's also possible for them to UNDERestimate them (though it's unlikely the MFP exercise database will give an overestimate).
(more snippity)
Too late to edit, but I made a material error there that I want to correct: In the bolded, I should have (and meant to) type that the MFP exercise data base is unlikely to UNDERestimate exercise calories. It varies from entry to entry, but will tend to be high, IMO, for many things. It may not be unusably high - as some exercise machines or estimates on exercise videos can be - but it's more likely to be high than low.0 -
I think people misunderstand the concept of eating little and often 'increasing your metabolism'. It isn't like an engine that you rev up by eating - all it is is that, your metabolism (or the energy you expend) is made up of many things, one of which is the energy used to digest your food. In theory eating more often increases the amount of energy your body expends digesting, but the effect is so small as to be negligible. For example, meat takes longer to digest than vegetables, so would that not increase your metabolism? But vegetarians aren't all struggling with their weight.0
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I think people misunderstand the concept of eating little and often 'increasing your metabolism'. It isn't like an engine that you rev up by eating - all it is is that, your metabolism (or the energy you expend) is made up of many things, one of which is the energy used to digest your food. In theory eating more often increases the amount of energy your body expends digesting, but the effect is so small as to be negligible. For example, meat takes longer to digest than vegetables, so would that not increase your metabolism? But vegetarians aren't all struggling with their weight.
To expand on this thought... whether you eat the calories in 1-2 meals or 6 meals composed of the same sorts of food, the TEF (thermic effect of food - the calories burned actually digesting the food) would still amount to the same value or very nearly so, so there is no net increase in TEF by splitting the food into smaller meals and eating more often.3 -
It has probably been mentioned but ovulation and periods can mask weight loss or seem younaren't losing. Hugs I havr been there it is hard when negative sillies get you down. Also not everyone wants to live the bikini competion lifestyle. From what I have seen it can be brutal and a lot of times unhealthy. Being skinny doesn't always equal healthy.
Lord Jesus bless 💙4 -
snowflake954 wrote: »I'd suggest you take your measurements weekly or monthly and when the scale doesn't move you can pull out that tape measure and physically see your loss. Your mind will play tricks on you as you move along.
This is good advice, at least for people like me. For some reason the scale has been stuck fluctuating around the same 5 lbs for a few months; it's getting really annoying. But, in November I couldn't even button my "goal pants", last week I could button them and they were almost comfortable. But, in those months were the holidays, plus I took up running...then my knee told me I wasn't taking up running so I took up spinning. So, even though the scale isn't really moving much, there are obviously some changes happening.
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She is very, very wrong.
The most successful coaches of elite bodybuilders (bikini or otherwise) would also agree that she is wrong.
Just because her coach didn't make her count calories and did have her eat 6 meals a day does NOT mean that counting calories doesn't work or that only eating 6 meals a day will.
It seems she followed her coach's plan without knowing why she was doing what she was doing.6 -
I have a good friend who is a competitive bikini bodybuilder (whatever the correct term is)
while its not a physique I would want for myself, I DO ADMIRE the dedication it takes to GET that physique. That *kitten* don't come easy LOL
Her trainer has her on a strict schedule, not only for meal timing but CALORIES.1 -
nicolewalter16 wrote: »@Lietchi I have found I can't be 100 % accurate with some recipes because I can weigh all the ingridents that go in and what goes on my plate but it won't be absolute. For example I like making Stir-Fried veggies I cna measure all the different veggies but when I portion out the 6 servings or what have you I can't gurantee each plate has the exact amount of each veggie. So it is more of an average.
Measure the entire recipe in grams when complete. Put the weight in grams as your number of servings. Each time you take some, just weigh what you take. IE 200 grams would be 200 servings. Voila.
Or, if you’re cooking just for you, it doesn’t matter much if each serving is exact because once you eat all of it, it will all have been accounted for in your diary. (More true if you’re eating it in the same week or so).callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »exactly. just make sure you measure each ingredient in the same unit (all grams, for example). If you look at my diary you see my lunch was 130 servings of chicken salad. it was 130 grams.
I'm making an apple pie later and you'll see that at the end of the day 150 servings of pie. (or whatever I dish up)
Learn how to use that recipe builder to maximize the accuracy! It helps tremendously.
I use the "weight = servings" method as well. My OH is a foot taller than me so a serving for him is not a serving for me, lol.
I have the weights of all my common pots, pans, and bakeware written down; some memorized.
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