Why doesn’t this calories in-calories out equation work for me?

[PinkVelvett]

If I eat 1500 calories a day, I lose weight.

If I eat 1800 calories a day and also increase my activity such that I burn 300 more calories through exercise each day… I stay the same or put weight on!

Why?!

I'm the same. I can be very active or very lazy won't make a difference to weight I have to cut food to loose weight. But being active help with boredom eating and energy levels so I don't crave the carbs and sugar as much. Even so I can't have more than healthy lunch or dinner and a snack/kid size meal or I won't loose weight. Probably maximum 1000 calories in food. I get the rest from milk in my tea which I drink constantly

Bodies are clever and if you do hard exercise they will automatically dial down your general movements the rest of the day to save the energy back. It’s subconscious, and out of your control.

Why not free yourself and stop weighing yourself and stop counting calories? Go by how your clothes feel and how toned you look.

Wrong. How many calories are burned by exercise is far more personalised. Weight loss really is about fewer calories in than calories out. Exercise is about health and fitness, not weight loss. That said, if you build muscle you'll burn more calories when you're doing nothing than a person with less developed muscles.

There is now research that your body generally always uses the same amount of calories. So if you spend 300 calories exercising, your body will save them elsewhere so you burn the same. Exercise still has value - this study said inflammation uses calories and doing more exercise therefore means your body can expend less on inflammation which is a good thing. Also good for bones etc. Upping exercise can lead to weight loss initially but generally it evens out as your body calibrates. There are tribes who do hard physical activity all day long and yet researchers have found their calorie requirements are the same though they initially expected their calorie needs to be about 7000k. If you google you’ll find the research.

Exercise doesnt actually do much for weightloss. It shapes your body to look slimmer and more toned, but the weight on the scale wont change. If you build any muscles you will even gain weight while wearing a size less on clothes.

There's lots of research nowadays which disproves both the calorie deficit basic premise (as not all calories are burned equally, in fact some in almonds for an example don't get burned at all due to the high fibre content) and also that exercise makes you lose weight. I am tired right now (from my own trip to the gym, it's good for you even if it's not as good at helping most people lose weight as we once thought) but I'm slowly reading one of Tim Spector's more up to date books on the topic which sites all the science. Will link to it.

Basic message though, do what works for you and if that's calorie counting then go for it, eat more plants and fibre and exercise because it is good for you especially future older you!

the-diet-mythTim Spector book.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Gotta love the internet

I've found going to the gym helps me lose weight. However, I have a suspicion that this is because it gets me out of the house in the evenings, not home with the children in bed and the temptation to reach for the chocolate!!

That, my friends, is what the diet industry and medics don't seem to get!!

I'm back on keto from Monday and I actually can't wait! Been off it whilst training for a run but goodness I need to lose these carbs!!

Became calories in calories out isn't a thing. It's a much more complex hormonal system. Read Why we get fat and what to do about it by Gary Taubes

I really recommend the Nutracheck app. It’s U.K. based, brilliant database. If anything isn’t quite right you can update the nutritional info. I know everyone recommends MFP but I do love Nutracheck!

I hear what you’re all saying about the exercise not being 300 cal, it’s disappointing as it means all our trackers are wrong! And to the PP - yes I am measuring active energy so energy burned on top of what I would have burned over that hour anyway.

This.

Also look up Dr Jason Fung - The Obesity Code on Spotify. He explains it.

Its impossible to know exactly how many calories you burn. Tracking with a watch/app is just an estimate as everyone uses energy differently

Yes your trackers are indeed wrong. They are literally guessing. The only way to really measure what you're burning is in a lab with a mask thing on your face that manages the energy expelled through your breath.

All those calculators online that tell you how many calories you're burning a day - guessing.

Someone who has been very fat and has lost weight will be burning far fewer calories that someone who hasnt for example.

I read 70% of calories go to maintaining body temperature. I do not know if working out in the cold helps

Because you’re over counting exercise or under counting calories or both.

100% this.

Our bodies are actually remarkably efficient when it comes to exercise. We have to do a lot, lot more than we are led to believe for it to make a noticeable difference in terms of weight loss. I have always found that MFP and similar vastly over estimate the amount of calories consumed by exercise.
I'm like you OP and the only thing I can do to lose weight is calorie restriction. I've always been fit anyway and do a lot of exercise- it doesn't make me slim without watching what I eat as well.