Calorie deficit not working

Can't Lose Weight - Dr. Julie Coffey might be worth a read, @Username06 .

Thanks for explaining what TDEE stands for. 🙂

True on both counts!

@soupyspoon , If you ate 2000 calories a day, all of it cake, you'd probably feel ill.

OP has probably long gone.

They're not equal if measured in a lab. For the average human body, you tweak and trial and error your way to finding the calorie balance and there isnt much more than that.

You might get hungry on 2000k worth of cake all day. You wont get hungry on 2000k of protein/veg. But if your requirements are 1600, either way, you're going to put on weight.

Its denial to want to believe otherwise.

@soupyspoon , not all calories are equal. There is more to it than cutting calories.

Im not the one that doesnt get it

You eat more than you need you put on weight
You eat what you need, you stay the same
You eat less than you need, you lose weight

That is how the body functions.

You can wrap it up in any language you want, you can say you eat badly, well, healthily, fasting, SW, WW, HBD, cambridge diet, Newcastle diet, eat what you want diet, no diet, eating to put on weight diet

Either way, you are eating either more, or less or the same calories as you require to put on, lose or stay the same, depending on what you want.

You dont need to physically count them for that to happen. Its happening. Right now inside your body.

I think I’ve explained it quite clearly, but I’m beginning to think you’re never going to get it.

You're not saying anything different. You clearly eat your maintenance calories. Assuming you are not gaining or losing

What are you arguing about?

What do you mean another solution. You are eating the calories you need, no more, no less. That is the solution

But evidently for many people (on these threads) the ‘maintenance’ calories is simply too low to be sustainable. They’re hungry and miserable. They then fall off the wagon and put the weight back on and more.
Why do you think so many people lose and regain the same weight over and over again?

The trap of 'Calorie counting', 'My diet starts tomorrow' or 'I musn't eat this' etc is miserable and leads to a sense of deprivation. Having a healthy relationship with food IMO is more likely to free you to not making food, or the lack of it, a focus.

But crucially, you don’t have to focus on reducing calories. I have no idea idea how many calories I eat in a day - probably quite a lot. But then I guess my body has also learnt to burn quite a lot, which means I can eat what I want to eat without worrying about measuring the milk in my bloody tea.

People can try it or not try it, I don’t mind 🤷‍♀️

I agree, but everything that you mention above are still ways to equalise calories in v calories out. It is just a different mindset. You've just highlighted ways to increase your calorie expenditure and reduce your calorie intake.

There is.

• Build more muscle so you burn calories more efficiently and increase your TDEE
• Eat whole foods, high in protein and fat, low in carbs
• Eat filling, proper meals of the above so you don’t need to snack
• Balance your blood sugar and hormones so your metabolism works well
• Replace stress-inducing activity like jogging and HIIT with daily, consistent resistance training and Pilates

I’m mid-40s, peri-menopausal, have had 3DC and I’m the same weight and dress size (6) I’ve always been, toned, have a flat stomach, am never hungry and can eat what I want without particularly thinking about it. I love food and never go without.

So yes, there absolutely is another solution. It’s just that people don’t want to hear it.

Because they eat more than they need.

The reality is, for most of us maintenance calories are quite low, particularly once you get older.

There isnt any other solution.

But evidently for many people (on these threads) the ‘maintenance’ calories is simply too low to be sustainable. They’re hungry and miserable. They then fall off the wagon and put the weight back on and more.

Why do you think so many people lose and regain the same weight over and over again?

Who said anything about a low calorie intake? You have to eat less than you expend to lose weight, theres no ifs or buts about it.

You could eat a little bit less than you expend and lose weight very slowly, you could eat quite a lot less than you expend and lose weight faster.

Once you have lost the weight you then need to eat at a maintenance level. If you dont sustain this, whether by counting the calories or not (or pretending they dont exist) you'll put on weight (or lose it obviously if you eat too little)

Are your muscles sore? I always gain a few pounds when I restart exercise after a hiatus. It’s just water weight.

You don't need to be in a calories deficit sustainably.

You're in a calorie deficit whilst losing weight, when you reach your optimum or target weight, you eat your maintenance calories, or an average of your maintenance calories.

If you want a static weight you have to commit to the life style change and have a rough idea of what you're consuming in terms of calories day to day. If you don't, you tend to over consume ergo weight goes back on.

It's a lifestyle you adopt and is 100% sustainable if committed to, just like anything else.

An extreme example but if you stop smoking to reduce the risk of getting lung cancer and 0 cigarettes is the optimum number, but you choose to have a cheeky one every now and again, you're not committed to the digits, your risk of cancer increases. The principles are identical and read across.

Did you read my post?

Scientifically it might work. But in reality it rarely ‘works’.

Yes, it might work at first. My point is it doesn’t ‘work’ long term, because it’s not sustainable to keep eating such low calorie intake. As a long-term way of eating it’s a pile of bollocks.

And you only have to see all the yo-yo dieters on these threads to prove that I’m right.

A calorie deficit works. Whether you count them or not.

The only way to lose weight is to consume less than you expend.

You cant eat more than you expend and lose weight. You cant eat the same as what you expend and lose weight.

Quite. I think part of the problem is that people think they're eating about 2000 calories a day, when they're actually eating far more.

Um. I hate to break it to you, but most people don’t want to constantly have to diet. And many of us eat three meals a day, are 5’4” AND don’t calorie count 😱

It’s called a healthy, sustainable way of life. No apps required.

when you’re short and can’t eat 3 meals a day without gaining
Why can't you?

It does work as you loose weight. No diet means you never gain weight again. I am content being a yo-yo dieter, when you’re short and can’t eat 3 meals a day without gaining it’s just life. When my clothes feel tight, I know I can loose half a stone in 5-6wks. I’ll probably keep it off in the summer, and gain in winter. But counting calories does reduce weight if in enough deficit. No-one is saying it’s forever unless you count daily and keep at maintenance level.