Fit bit calorie deficit not losing weight

[nancybotwinbloom]

From 1st January I have decided to follow a vegetarian diet.

I'm eating lots of fresh veg, small amount of fruit and I'm not eating meat replacements a lot. Maybe once every three days. I'm not even eating bread. I've had three slices of dry toast in 12 days.

I'm not eating dairy except cheese and even that is reduced fat halloumi or feta.

I've been in a 1000 calorie deficit everyday by walking in the fat burn zone for an hour and a half every day. I'm racking up 20k steps as a minimum. The walks are 70 -90 percent in the fat burning zone.

I've had one day where I was over a 1000 calorie deficit (I was in a 500 deficit not 1000).

I'm drinking between 2 and 3 litres of water a day.

I've lost half a kilogram.

I am gutted.

I'm 41.

Is it my age?
What am I doing wrong?

I’m not sure the type of exercise the op is doing at the weight she is not is likely to be turning fat into muscle in a significant way that’s going to be preventing weight loss on the scales.

I never lose for a couple of weeks at least when I’ve started a new healthy eating kick. I’d keep going and see what happens.

@PurpleDaisies

I’m not sure the type of exercise the op is doing at the weight she is not is likely to be turning fat into muscle in a significant way that’s going to be preventing weight loss on the scales.

I never lose for a couple of weeks at least when I’ve started a new healthy eating kick. I’d keep going and see what happens.

YY Purple Daisy, most people will struggle to gain any significant muscle mass through low impact cardio like walking, jogging, swimming, cycling alone. Most people need to do specific strength based training to 'tone up', and sadly middle aged women (I can say this as one of them!) tend to struggle to gain muscle full stop and have to work harder at it than say young men in their 20s. That's not to say people shouldn't exercise if they want to get healthier and lose weight, of course walking has loads of physical and mental health benefits so it's a great thing to do, just it won't suddenly cause an average person to become lithe, whippet thin and iron-muscled within a few weeks

It's far more likely that OP's stalled weight loss/weight gain is caused by a combination of a change in diet leading to constipation or bloat, simple too many calories for rapid/sustained weight loss and/or simply not having given it enough time to really make a difference...

@SwedishK

It could also be that you are toning up. Muscles weigh more than fat after all. If you can I would add some muscle building exercises too as that will burn more fat throughout the day, even if you are just sitting down. Perhaps keep up with your diet and you walks and add three or four 1 hour weight lifting and toning classes per week. Should do wonders. Also, make sure you eat regularly. At least every 3 hours. Otherwise your metabolism slows down.

Lots of this is crap. Sorry.

The rate at which we are able to gain muscle is nothing like as high as the rate at which we lose fat when we're deliberately losing weight. So, even if you're gaining muscle as fast as you possibly can, you will still lose weight overall, because the fat you are losing during recomposition will weigh more than the muscle you are gaining.

Metabolism does not slow down when you don't eat for 3 hours. Where on earth have you got that from? Metabolism doesn't even really change for the first 48 hours of a fast. The human body isn't designed to eat every 3 hours.

I’m 6 stone overweight and my Fitbit says I burn around 4k calories a day if I do around 25-20k steps. I’m eating around 12-1400 and losing about 1-2lbs per week which I’m happy with. I’ve got a long way to go. I take the calories burned according my Fitbit with a pinch of salt. If I ate 2000 per day I would be gaining weight, despite Fitbit claiming I’d be 2k in deficit per day.

www.healthline.com/nutrition/intermittent-fasting-metabolism#TOC_TITLE_HDR_2

Short fasts boost metabolism.

Yep, it's the high calories full of carby vegetables. As a woman of 40, you need to drastically reduce your calories and eat low carb to get decent results. I'd swap some of the walking for HIIT with weights too. It'll change your body (burn the fat, increase your muscle).

I'm in my 50s and at the top end of my 'normal' BMI. To lose weight, I have to eat 800-1000 low carb calories per day and train three times a week. Very different to when I was in my twenties and thirties.

Well, we are only 12 days into the new year - it takes a few weeks for it to work. I find it helps me to concentrate on maintaining a healthy diet and lifestyle long-term, rather than focussing on the exact number on the scales. Could you put the scales away for two weeks, try to reduce calorie intake to under 1800 every day, and wait two weeks before weighing yourself again?

Just seen the screen shot. Reduce down to 1700 calories and avoid spiking your insulin by eating too many carbs (otherwise, you'll be ravenous).

Hop over onto the low carb board for tips and encouragement.

[quote nancybotwinbloom]@Eckhart

I've been enjoying it to be honest. I'm
Listening to audio books and stuff so I'm looking forward to getting out and seeing what happens in the books.

Also, it's a bit of alone time which I desperately need during lock down.

I do think I will keep it up because I feel
Refreshed when I get home.

It does feel like hard work and I ache when I get home but it's a good ache.
I feel like I've achieved something.

I am determined to maintain this.

I've set myself 100 day challenge to rework my diet and lifestyle as I want to live longer and feel better. If I'm not losing the weight I need to change more about my diet. I've scheduled calendar reminders every ten days to remind me I'm 10, 20, 30 days in.

I'd gotten into a terrible rut of crap
Food and too much wine in October, November and part of December.

I feel much better after starting this, mentally and even if not lighter on the scales my bloating has gone and my waist is making a tiny appearance again.

I'm lowering my calories now as of today and I will weigh myself again on 20th and see where I am. [/quote]
Hi OP,

You need to have a deficit of 7000cals to lose 1kg in weight.

Normal guidance is to try be in a 500cal deficit a day to lose 0.5kg a week.

You should reassess every week and if you aren't losing weight you need to reduce your calorie intake.

Also as a woman your weight will naturally fluctuate every month in line with your cycle. You can expect to weigh more the week before and during your period, so in these weeks it may appear that your weightless has stalled.

Advice to women should be to monitor progress on a monthly basis, eg. Compare day 1 of your cycle in Jan to day 1 of your cycle in Feb to get an accurate view on weightloss.

Keep at it, as they say "You don't gain weight overnight so done expect to lose weight overnight"

@Wester

You need to have a deficit of 7000cals to lose 1kg in weight

This really isn't how it works. 1kg of fat may contain 7000kcals, but the body is doing so many other things with its kcals than looking after its fat storage. The body can take in a lot less calories than normal and maintain its weight by using the calorie deficit to cut back on other things than fat storage. It's why people on diets get sluggish, can't concentrate, feel depressed, get dry skin etc etc etc, and then get dispirited because their weight isn't changing.

It's like a car being able to cut the lights and stop the 'electric windows' service and the 'windscreen wiper' service so that it doesn't run out of petrol. Burning fat is one of the very last things the body wants to do, because fat storage is a safety mechanism for the body.

It is still how it works. The body needs to be in deficit by that amount . The amount in deficit is amount in less amount out

The body tries to avoid deficit by trying to reduce the amount out, making you sit on the sofa in a stupor

But it's still the achieved deficit that matters

If you eat 7000kcals less, you won't lose 7000kcal in fat. If that was the case, everybody's diets would be working, wouldn't they? Every body will deal with the deficit differently. Some will mostly shed fat, some will mostly maintain the fat and 'cut other services'.

The balance of macros makes a big difference too. Insulin release forces fat storage, so if you are eating things that encourage insulin release, you'll be one of the people whose body veers more towards maintaining fat and cutting other services. Most 'healthy diets', including the 'eatwell plate' encourage people towards a more fat-storage styled diet. It's fine if you start at a healthy weight, because maintaining the fat you have is what you want. It doesn't work for dieters, more often than not.

It’s such a weird thing to get your head around because somehow it’s all been made to sound so easy

Cut calories, lose weight

Because there is a grain of truth in it, people accept it and intuitively it makes sense

The reality is...it matters what those calories are made up of and when you eat them

It's thermodynamics though. Your body can't maintain weight if you burn more energy than you consume. It might not be straightforward and linear but it works that way eventually.

My fitbit has been very accurate at calculating my calorie needs, tbh. I've checked it over the years in a few ways (other heart rate monitor, weighing & calc'g all food at start of day, etc).

I distrust my ability to calculate what went into my mouth far hugely, though. It's much easier to under-estimate the calories past lips.

If OP has been doing this programme since 1 Jan.
11 full days elapsed.
1/2 kg = just over 1 lb, call it 4000 kcal.
400 kcal/deficit/day = would fit pretty well.
OP implied 500 kcal deficit/day was what happened most days.
error margin 400 to 500 is not hard to get wrong when counting what goes past lips.

I think the fitbit calc is probably fine.

I'm late 40s, 5'4" tall and lost 2st without cutting out carbs. I do weight training and walking. You don't need to go to extremes. There's a lot of bollocks on these threads. I used to believe a lot of it.

If you eat 7000kcals less, you won't lose 7000kcal in fat. If that was the case, everybody's diets would be working, wouldn't they?

I think the reason most people's diets don't work is that people don't actually follow them. Whether that be by under estimating calories in food, not weighing food/wrong portion sizes, not following diet on weekends, not counting alcohol, or just plain not sticking to it.

Same as how condoms don't protect you if you buy them but leave them in the drawer!

@wowfudge

I'm late 40s, 5'4" tall and lost 2st without cutting out carbs. I do weight training and walking. You don't need to go to extremes. There's a lot of bollocks on these threads. I used to believe a lot of it.

I agree. I can't live without carbs and sugar! But I guess different people find different things that work for them and ultimately I believe that the best diet is the one you can stick to.

@nancybotwinbloom - it was Food Unwrapped's Healthy Hacks on channel 4. I wasn't diligently watching but I found the bit about how alcohol is burnt interesting. Some of it is ridiculous e.g. the experiment about eating chewing gum!

@2021vision thank you I'm going to watch it

Dont weigh yourself daily. It's not accurate as you could weigh the one day you are retaining fluid due to hormones or salt intake or the day you need the toilet etc..weigh every morning the take the weekly average and you will start to see a trend of it going down and each week will hit a lower weight.

I have a calorie limit of 1800kcals, OP.

I’ve been losing steadily, about a pound a week, and have lost a stone since September.

Any lower than that isn’t sustainable for me. I like my food and get very grumpy on less.

I’m 8lbs away from my target weight. It just takes time. This way I know I’m not going to get to my target and then fall face down into a barrel of crisps as usual.

Keep going with the exercise - focus on health and strength.

Good luck!

Don't add on calories for exercise! It's a false sense of security.

I've lost 5lb since Jan 1st by aiming for 1300 calories a day. (5ft 8, was 11st). That will slow way down soon and I'll need to exercise AND stick to 1300 to lose anything at all. It's shite isn't it.

@FlyNow

If you eat 7000kcals less, you won't lose 7000kcal in fat. If that was the case, everybody's diets would be working, wouldn't they?

I think the reason most people's diets don't work is that people don't actually follow them. Whether that be by under estimating calories in food, not weighing food/wrong portion sizes, not following diet on weekends, not counting alcohol, or just plain not sticking to it.

Same as how condoms don't protect you if you buy them but leave them in the drawer!

Yes, that's what they like us to believe. That most people are idiots who don't know how to count, or liars. Have a look at the studies. Many who claim to be following diets aren't sticking to them. But many who do stick to them still fail. Do you really think there'd be that many clever, driven, high ranking people who were overweight if it was as simple as 'eat less calories, be less fat'? I mean, that's true, but it's much more nuanced than it's made out to be, and no other outcomes of 'less calories' are made plain. Like 'Eat less calories, suddenly have really greasy hair and skin', or 'eat less calories, get depressed'. These things do happen.

Fat storage/loss is one function of calorie excess/deficit. There are many others, which are never mentioned when we are instructed to 'eat less and move more'.

@IDontMindMarmite

It's thermodynamics though. Your body can't maintain weight if you burn more energy than you consume. It might not be straightforward and linear but it works that way eventually.

It's not that simple, unless all your body is doing is storing or losing fat. Doesn't your body do other stuff? If that stuff isn't fueled by calories, what is it fueled by?