Is it really true that if you don’t eat enough you won’t lose weight?

[RedCandyApple]

I just don’t buy this, surely if you have a calorie deficit you will lose weight? How can not eating enough stop you from losing weight? Isn’t it suppose to be the opposite? If you are burning more calories than you consume then you would lose weight? I am obese, don’t want to say how much I weigh as I’m so embarrassed but I am a dress size 20, I’ve started calorie controlled diet on 10th of jan, but I’ve barely lose anything, last week I lost nothing at all! Not even a lb, I have cut out all takeaway, fizzy drinks, sweets, chocolate yet the scales are barely moving. People always say when you are obese you lose weight at quicker rate and the weight just falls off so I have to admit I was expecting quite big losses each week but how can I barely be losing anything, when I’ve cut everything out and have drastically changed what I’m eating? I am absolutely not in denial about how much I am eating I count everything. I don’t use oil, butter, I don’t drink tea or coffee so no hidden milk or sugar I don’t drink alcohol. I am eating 1200/1300 cals a day, what is going on?

That’s what is confusing me even if I was eating over which I don’t think I am my TDEE is considerably higher than 1200 it’s above 1500 even so I would have to be considerably over eating more than what I’m adding and I’m not. Just to clarify I’m not eating ready meals I mean chicken like birds eye chicken chargrills don’t know if that’s classed as a ready meal but I don’t mean microwave meals.

Ah in that case they might even sneak some sugar into those so maybe add a teaspoon!!

You need around a 500 calorie deficit a day to loose a pound a week (this may be wrong, I cant quite remember). The bigger you are the more hard your body works so you can eat more than someone who was at the top end of a healthy weight and only wanted to drop a stone.

When you are on less calories than you need to be it's not that you won't shed pounds, it's because it's unsustainable and you will end up binging.

Personally if I was you I'd up my calories to 1800 or even 2000, do 10k steps a day and work put 3x a week with weights. Fill up with fibre and protein. Doesn't mean you have to cook in the morning. Eat fruit and fibre, grab a banana ect. You don't want to dramatically drop pounds, it won't stay off.

@RedCandyApple

Just to add it surely doesn’t matter what I’m eating whether it’s cooked from scratch or not as long as it’s within the limit? I’m not eating McDonald’s or chocolate etc

Literally everything everyone has said says it DOES matter. Get some scales, weigh your food, cook. Read that book. Or stay fat forever.

@RedCandyApple

That’s what is confusing me even if I was eating over which I don’t think I am my TDEE is considerably higher than 1200 it’s above 1500 even so I would have to be considerably over eating more than what I’m adding and I’m not. Just to clarify I’m not eating ready meals I mean chicken like birds eye chicken chargrills don’t know if that’s classed as a ready meal but I don’t mean microwave meals.

Why are you eating this shit rather than plain chicken?? I don't get it. Read the ingredients.

Chicken Breast (75%), Water, Rapeseed Oil, Fortified Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Starch (Maize, Wheat), Palm Oil, Salt, Rice Flour, Dried Onion, Natural Flavourings, Sugar, Yeast, Natural Emulsifier (Soya Lecithin)#, Milk Protein, Smoke Flavouring, Herbs, Black Pepper, # Lecithin is used to bind our glazes together. It is a natural material found in many traditional food ingredients

No I don’t agree that it does matter what you are eating,
People lose weight on slim fast diets, where they are only drinking shakes and slimming world where it’s all pasta and potatoes and syn bars or whatever they are called, as much as I would love to cook from scratch I don’t always have that time.

If you have a calorie deficit you will lose weight no matter what you are eating

I lost 2.5 stone without really trying last year, by focussing on my health.

I followed a coached 90 day programme, cutting out refined sugars, processed foods, stimulants like caffeine and eating more seasonally with the focus on good quality protein and non-starchy vegetables. No calorie counting, no enforced exercise. I cooked from scratch.

I lost a further half stone after the programme and have kept it off by not reintroducing those things as a regular part of my diet. Blood tests show improvements in iron levels (I’m vegetarian), reduced inflammation, lower bad cholesterol. It’s different to every diet plan I’ve done before (this is truly a way of life now).

If I could do that whilst working on the NHS during a pandemic, you should be able to do it now. It just needs prep.

Chicken chargrills are heavily processed. As others have said, you need to ditch the packets as a starter for 10.

@RedCandyApple

No I don’t agree that it does matter what you are eating, People lose weight on slim fast diets, where they are only drinking shakes and slimming world where it’s all pasta and potatoes and syn bars or whatever they are called, as much as I would love to cook from scratch I don’t always have that time.

And they all put it straight back on.

@RedCandyApple

If you have a calorie deficit you will lose weight no matter what you are eating

Only if you don’t believe in science.

@RedCandyApple

No I don’t agree that it does matter what you are eating, People lose weight on slim fast diets, where they are only drinking shakes and slimming world where it’s all pasta and potatoes and syn bars or whatever they are called, as much as I would love to cook from scratch I don’t always have that time.

Rarely does it work long term.

And they probably aren’t healthy with it.

You could eat 1200 calories of pure sugar and still lose weight, yes your health would be rubbish but people are missing the point.

And another thing, why are any of those ingredients 'shit'? Honestly I can guarantee there isn't one credible source to back that statement up.

Quality of food does not dictate weight loss, it is the calorie deficit that does, no need to over complicate.

Yes keep your macros in check for health, muscle retention when in deficit (or growth if this is your goal) etc

Well I will just stay fat then as the only diets I can easily follow are calorie controlled diets.

When you say you're not losing do you mean not a thing. Not even 1 lb? I often think people are super unrealistic about what they can lose. All the hype around losing 7lbs a week or 1stone in a fortnight. A really good, steady weight loss of 1lb a week is good. It will take longer but is still progress. I lost 50lbs in about 6 months.

The amount of pseudo science rubbish spouted on every 'diet' thread on Mumsnet is honestly surreal, I can also guarantee all these people spouting the 'advice' have no professional experience working in the area eithe and are not well placed to be advising beyond their anecdata.

It'll be 'if you can't pronounce the ingredients in the list you shouldn't eat it' next.

@HeyBlaby

You could eat 1200 calories of pure sugar and still lose weight, yes your health would be rubbish but people are missing the point.

And another thing, why are any of those ingredients 'shit'? Honestly I can guarantee there isn't one credible source to back that statement up.

Quality of food does not dictate weight loss, it is the calorie deficit that does, no need to over complicate.

Yes keep your macros in check for health, muscle retention when in deficit (or growth if this is your goal) etc

Highly processed oil and sugar mainly. But it makes the chicken processed - unnecessary when you can just buy a whole chicken

Try slimming world , I tried everything and it's the only thing that works . I'm 9.7 stone now .

When you eat sugary food, it gets stored as glycogen in your muscles, along with an equal weight of water. So if you eat more sugar/starch on a given day the scales will show it the next day because the water weight is there. Plus anything in your digestive system.

Weight is a really poor measure. My best friend weighs the same as she did on her wedding day, but is 2 dress sizes smaller. Because her muscle and bone density has been improved by eating human food and not processed crap (that your body reacts to differently).

Are you on any medication? Because alot of medication can cause weight gain. Just a thought x

@RedCandyApple

If you have a calorie deficit you will lose weight no matter what you are eating

Yes. You will. The more low calorie choices you make the more likely you are to acheive the calorie deficit as you won't be as hungry.

Eating to lose weight is all about calorie deficit. Best way is to increase steps so you can afford more calories and still be in deficit. Also drink plenty water as it helps with the hunger too.

Eating to lose weight can involve a healthy or unhealthy diet. Balance is best.

People don't succeed because they are extremely low calorie for a few days then lose the plot and binge so over the week they are not in a calorie deficit. Or they are not tracking properly.

I'm trying to lose weight. I started on 1200 calories and just ended up bloody miserable. I watched some trainer on tiktok and followed his advice. Eat more, move more. Based on his advice I am now eating around 1500 calories a day but aiming to get my calories burnt per day to between 1700 to 2100 (the 2100 days are when I do exercise classes) it's working. In the last 3 weeks I've lost 4lb. Nothing dramatic but I only have a stone to lose to get back into half my wardrobe.
The eating more is so you can actually sustain a long term change. 1200 really is too little.

Quality of food does not dictate weight loss, it is the calorie deficit that does, no need to over complicate.

Quality of food, healthy eating habits, feeling well and being well make any eating plan sustainable. No one is missing the point.

Have a look at the fitness chef on instagram. His posts make a lots of sense
www.instagram.com/p/CZhrQ6ILpPG/?utm_medium=copy_link

@RedCandyApple

If you have a calorie deficit you will lose weight no matter what you are eating

Keeping that weight off depends on developing better habits, though. And your overall health is important. If you're only consuming 1200 calories in a day, it's more important than ever that what you eat is nutrient rich and satisfying.

If you eat low calorie processed food for a couple of months, you may lose a stone or more. You would probably struggle to sustain that for much longer without giving up but after 6 months, you might be slimmer but you would possibly also be anaemic and may find you have poor skin or dull, brittle hair.

Then you go back to eating like you used to because you're not "on a diet" any more and end up as heavy as you started, or heavier.

Dieting only succeeds long term when you train yourself to eat like the thinner person you want to be rather than view it as a temporary fix.

Have you measured yourself? You mentioned a coat was feeling looser than before. Often we show changes in our body composition over the weight on the scales due to a number of factors including water retention from high sodium foods.

I recommend measuring yourself now (if you haven't) and taking fortnightly measurements to compare