Calories in vs calories out is just not working !

[noseriouslyguys]

Yes I know the principle is correct- I get it. But explain this to me then…

I’ve been weighing every bite I eat or drink for two months - PLUS exercising 5 times a week and I am not losing on the scale.

I have lost weight since the start of the year, without exercising at first, but now the scale is just standing still.

I create a deficit of 1000 calories a day and nada.

the scale teases me, it will say a certain low weight- then I get back on it and it says 2kg more the next day and it will show me that 2 kg more for another two weeks.

I have lost weight already by the way, without exercising since the start of the year- slowly. Maybe a kg a month- some months 2. I thought I would really tighten up my eating and track absolutely everything plus add in exercise. At first I thought it’s normal, water retention- but not after 2 months surely ?

I have gone to the gym a couple of times but mainly playing tennis. For 1-2 hours a day, 5 days a week. Sometimes 4. So it can’t be muscle gain from tennis.

anyway, I am not giving up- but it just makes no sense ?

I do agree with calories in vs calories out, but I have to drop down so extremely low- I mean 800 or so, to lose weight.

I currently eat between 1.200 and 1.500 a day ( max ).

The idea that weight loss can slow down is not hugely controversial. Of course OP might not be tracking everything but she said that she was .

If you're suggesting the solution is to stay in a calorie deficit, large or small, for a really long time, if you have a lot to lose, that's pretty miserable. Nothing wrong with a break.

I don't think people talking about their situation is the same as them saying I'm a medical marvel 🤔 It's just learning from different ideas?

I'd love to know if your relationship with food is healthy? If it was you'd be seeing that other people, all over the world, have their own relationship to food. And, perhaps, you'd be sharing what has worked, or not worked, for you, and letting people have their own point of view.

Yes it’s not something that plagues anorexics either.

on a serious note, I’m so surprised how many people genuinely seem to beleive this. What do people think is fuelling their bodies.

so tdee is 2500,
you consume 1500
Biologically the 1000 extra cals you dint consume but do burn comes from burning fat or muscle.
so your body loses weight, as you burn the fat or muscle to make up the 1000 you burned but didn’t consume enough to fuel, that muscle or fat is no longer there, you burned it to make up your defecit. So your body weighs less.
if your body doesn’t weigh less, then you didn’t burn the fat or muscle to fuel your body.
so what fuelled the 1000 cal defecit. the only other thing it can be is air.
or you didn’t have a defecit.
its one or the other,

I don't think this is even close to correct. I have a garmin and even when I ran 15km the other day it says my active+resting cals were 2538 that day, today I ran 9km and so far am at 1910cals, that includes 2 dog walks in there as well.

OP how do you feel on days you skip breakfast except for a white coffee and skip lunch too and only have chicken, potatoes/rice and veg for dinner? That’s probably around 600 cals? That feels really low.

I don’t think exercise is a good weight loss tool and lots of fitness experts talk about this. Ben Carpenter and Holly Active on IG being two examples. It’s so easy to overestimate how much energy exercise burns off and easy to eat back all those cals, especially if working out makes you hungry.

For weight loss, focus on diet and then bring exercise back once you’re at a good weight. It’s much easier to stick to a deficit when you’re not exhausted from having done eg a 10k or a hiit class.

I feel ok mostly. Sometimes I do get headaches of course or I just feel really nauseous. I don’t really feel lightheaded.

Working out doesn’t make me hungrier now because I’m on weight loss injections.

i did lose weight initially without exercise, but I don’t want to be completely flabby with loose skin etc. so I thought I needed to add exercise in. I am doing a lot and walking a lot.

If you're new to exercising then fat conversion to muscle will put on weight.

You need to take measurements of waist etc... to see real progress.

Oh you need to really go sone for that to happen and not be in a defecit,

No one's body converts fat to muscle

IME I'd say you're too inconsistent. I wouldn't lose with with a 300 cal variation. You also mention days where you eat under 1200 - your body probably doesn't know what the gell is going on and when you're going to wat next and cling on to fat.

Only my experience, we're all different, but earing too little always made me cling on to weight or gain if I went over.

Calorie counting is not a precise science, if you are not losing weight eat less. It is very difficult to lose weight with exercise, but it is good for you.

I’m definitely inconsistent. No day is the same. It just really depends on how hungry I’m feeling or how busy I am. If I drop the kids at school and go straight to exercise and then have another appointment, I just won’t eat. Or I’ll grab a kefir drink or something ( which I always track ). Whereas if I have a slower day, I might eat more. I really base it on how hungry I feel. Today I was not that hungry, even though I moved a lot.

How could you be creating a deficit if 1000 calories a day, most women need to eat no more than 1500 cake a day to maintain so if you are creating a deficit of 1000 you would be living on 500cals?

Lol sorry super tired. By "conversion" I was speaking metaphorically and I meant fat replaced by muscle. E.g. exercise will reduce the number of fat cells but will also build muscle. Muscle cells are more dense hence its normal to experience an increase in mass.

Your cals must be extremely low to be in such a large deficit which is likely counter productive. In January I started working with a trainer on nutrition and lost a stone and got really lean and she had me eating way more than I ever thought was possible at my size. I’m 5’1”, now 7st 10lb and maintenance cals are 1750 with a solid split between protein, carbs and fat. Prior to this when I was a stone heavier I was trying to under eat and was just a bit “fluffy” all over. My initial fat loss cals were about 1650 so still not extreme. I’ve got a desk job but do a lot of CrossFit which burns the cals (but also needs the fuel).

You don’t give your age? I’m afraid I could lose weight easily in my 20/30’s but once peri/menopause hit things changed. I don’t believe in the calories in/calories out paradigm. We aren’t cars where you can calculate miles per gallon, but are complex biological organisms with differing muscle mass and metabolic function. I had to resort to mounjaro in the end, but even now I have lost/maintained my weight for a long period of time, I can basically only eat one main meal a day, small healthy snacks the rest of the day, and have to limit carbs considerably. I cannot eat more than 1400 cals a day and hope to maintain. The apple and online calculators are fine, but really do not factor individual differences such as being menopausal.

It is possible in a defecit but barely and takes extreme effort. It’s not she’s building muscle and losing fat, and doing it at the rate of a pound of two a week cmon.

I’ve done a deficit of 1,000 a day (with 1kg a week loss). Stick to 1,200 cals. Increase exercise so burning 2,200 - likely means gym trip plus 5km run and over 15k steps.

Muscle gain is very very slow, even in women who are lifting heavy and eating adequate protein. Even gaining 3 kg of muscle over a year would be good going. It’s also unlikely in a deficit.

Possible but most people working don’t have that much time in a day to dedicate to that much exercise unless you were almost fully focused on it and had no work

For me it is definitely a v slow metabolism - at 1200 cals (and no chance of over eating or accidentally eating more calories as I specifically chose portioned food) and 12 hours of exercise a week was a 1 lb per month loss - like op i only lose when super.low.-.eg shake diet so definitely 80p cals - less exercise as you aren't supposed to exercise to the same level on such low calories - however my weight loss at that level was only 1-2.lb per week - more like someone with a "normal" metabolism loses on a much more (eg 1200 cal) generous diet.

The only benefit is in an apocalypse i guess I won't need as much to survive 😂

Ignore the exercise and eat only 1500. It will work. Dont assume you know what you’ve burned just what you know is less than your basal rate.

Is this sort of rudeness a misguided attempt to shock her in a helpful way, or is it just being nasty?

op i haven' read every post because I slightly zone out with talk of insulin etc etc. But I just wanted to say I have had friends who struggled like this and the only thing that has worked for them is very low carb. It's not sustainable forever but helped them get to a weight then switch to maintenance. For them a calorie of carb was different from a calorie of protein. I notice you are having rice and potatoes which they couldn't have when actively losing.

Are you getting enough sleep?

try eating more 1200 is extremely low, it may shock you metabolism in to working more effectively. I am no expert but I was doing similar to you I have increased cals (being mindful of protein etc) and lost 2 kg within a week.