Weight loss
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Jayj180894
Posts: 286 Member
I've had a break from calories restriction due to being unwell. I still logged everything. For the last 3 weeks I've been averaging 2000 to 2800 calories a day according to my fitbit. Some days maybe 1500 other others maybe up to 3000 calories. Ive jogged around 4x in the last 4 weeks. Some days doing less than 5000 steps other maybe around 15000. However, I've stayed the same weight for the last 4 weeks and now I'm getting back on track I've lost 2lbs? I thought I would of gained a little bit of weight? Why am I staying the same or losing eating so many calories?
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Replies
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Its not uncommon, especially if you became more active or gave your body a diet break. People tend to increase NEAT (calories burned through daily activities) a lot when they increase calories.
Given most women i know maintain around 2100-2500 calories, your numbers don't seem too far off from a standard maintenance level.
And the 2 lbs is probably from sodium, carb reduction or just less waste production from less food.6 -
When I started logging calories in March I had a calorie allowance of 1,200. I'm quite active, run 4 times a week and do rebounding workouts.
I lost around 7 lbs and after a while the calorie intake was not sustainable to be able to fully recover from my exercise routine. I then increased my calorie intake to 1,600 which resulted in losing a few more pounds.
This doesn't make much sense - eating more and still losing/maintaining, but as @psuLemon has stated above - when we increase our calorie intake, we often increase our deficit through exercise. I was averaging at least 500 calories burned a day through exercise and often burned 1,000 calories+ when doing long runs over 10 miles etc. Therefore, I was able to eat more of the foods I enjoy and lose/maintain weight.4 -
Quite simply: on average you matched your calorie intake with your body's calorie requirements.2
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Okay I understand I may be burning more but 2800 is a lot and I'm sure I'm eaten more! I always eat my calories back all of them! Yet I see people advising people only eat 25 to 50% of them. I really don't feel like I'm exercising that much lol!1
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Jayj180894 wrote: »Okay I understand I may be burning more but 2800 is a lot and I'm sure I'm eaten more! I always eat my calories back all of them! Yet I see people advising people only eat 25 to 50% of them. I really don't feel like I'm exercising that much lol!
Yeah, the problem is that often only half of the correct advice is given:
Eat back 50% to start and then check your weight trend and adjust (upwards or downwards) accordingly.
I've always eaten back 100% too and lost at the intended rate (slightly quicker even).3 -
I've always eaten 100% (and more) during weight loss.
When I'm in weight loss mode I also make all my own meals and log every bite using my digital food scale.
The other thing is that weight often doesn't show on the scale immediately, it's more about the long-term trend in calories and exercise that makes the difference. Consider your experience a refeed, which is a good thing for a body when it's been in a calorie deficit for some time.
The ever-favorite refeed thread: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p13 -
I eat back 40-120%, depending on the activity. But I have years of data to work with and have a pretty good idea which activity burns how many calories. For me, running and strength training are pretty much spot on using my watch. Cycling is a bit underestimated. Walking waaaaay overestimated. My watch doesn't do inline skating, thus no idea. I have a multiplier for it thought that I use.2
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Jayj180894 wrote: »Okay I understand I may be burning more but 2800 is a lot and I'm sure I'm eaten more! I always eat my calories back all of them! Yet I see people advising people only eat 25 to 50% of them. I really don't feel like I'm exercising that much lol!
I'm female, 35 and my maintenance is currently 2700-3000. More like 2500 when I'm a bit less busy but averaging 2800 i.e. some days you might eat more and others less, like you said in your OP -"Some days maybe 1500 other others maybe up to 3000 calories" - isn't that wild and the results speak for themselves really.4 -
And yeah I always eat back my exercise calories otherwise I feel like crap.1
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Jayj180894 wrote: »Yet I see people advising people only eat 25 to 50% of them.
Just think that advice through.....
Is it really because they think exercise calories are over-stated by x4 or x2 ?
(That would seem to be improbable! TBH if their estmates are so far off they must be using spectacularly bad methods and would do better to change their methodology.)
Or is it because their food logging is inaccurate and they are adjusting the wrong estimate?
Remember that food logging inaccuracy has a bigger impact on people's overall balance than exercise yet it's often exercise that gets blamed.
Or is it because they don't understand that the difference between gross and net calorie exercise estimates isn't a percentage at all?
Or maybe they are using exercise to boost their rate of weight loss?
Or maybe they are just poor at mathematics!
PS - as for your original question you need to keep in mind weight changes are not just fat and/or calorie related. It's quite common that when people remove a stressor (diet/deficit, exercise, illness....) they have a water weight drop.5 -
In addition to what everyone said above, there could be hormonal water fluctuations going on. I always "lose" a few pounds after I ovulate and during my period.3
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Thanks for all the information guys! I find very interesting on how the body work in relation to diet and exercise. It's nice to get a good understanding1
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If you are tracking better, why not lose weight?
I lose weight at 2400 calories so It depends on your activity level, weight and height1
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