If 3500kcal deficit = 1lb weight loss, why doesn't it work?

[Watchkeys]

I'm just curious to know what people think about this. Lots of people on here are sticking to a deficit. It might not be 500kcal per day, but some increment of that would incur some increment of weight loss, if the theory holds. Millions of people are on kcal controlled diets, and mostly, they don't work, especially not long term.

What's going on?

My guess would be that they aren't counting calories correctly. Undercounting is a major problem in people's diet changes imo. I counted, weighted and double checked everything when I was loosing weight & calorie deficit worked. Additionally, I don't think you should factor in calories gained through exercise, just stick to the daily limit every day.

You really think that many people can't count, though?

Calorie counting totally works if done correctly

Calorie deficits absolutely do work, 100%, there is no doubt about it.

The issue is we grossly underestimate the amount of calories we consume. To be sure you are in a calorie deficit you need to weigh and track every, single piece of food you eat. From your main meals to the sweet your kid gives you out of his Haribo.

There's a bit more to it than just calories but if you're not losing ANYTHING you're usually not counting correctly. Guessing weights/ sneaking in treats.

But how do you know, @Throwawayme ? If it worked for you, how do you know if wasn't something different that worked, that was caused by less kcal? For example, perhaps you ate less of a micronutrient, and that was what caused the weight loss, rather than the overall kcal deficit?

Weight loss is calories burnt vs. Calories in - that’s it.

I think a number of things happen. Metabolic rate slows down, you use less energy but probably most important is that you get very hungry.
I don’t think anyone regains weight in forced labour camps or famines where there just isn’t access to enough food.

Problem is, people don't actually realise what a portion size looks like. They guess in everything. You have to weigh and work it out properly to calorie count.

Weigh and measure everything for a bit maybe.

@Irritateandunreasonable

Calorie deficits absolutely do work

That's not what the science says, and not what we see walking around town. It's not what we hear when people talk about their diets not working, and the people whose diets do work largely all didn't do it just by kcal counting.

How do you explain situations where food isn’t readily available as a pp said? Extreme low calories do not permit obesity.

I think we probably all agree that metabolic rate changes, don't we?

But then, how can 3500kcal = 1lb of fat? It doesn't hold up to logic. If we can have different metabolisms, then 1kcal will = a different amount of fat per person.

Nor health.

It is absolutely, exactly what science says.

Weight loss is calories in vs calories out (burnt) there is honestly no two ways about it.

If you’ve been struggling to lose weight and it’s not happening for you, then you are not in a big enough deficit. That may be because you have inaccurately worked out your maintenance calories or because you are not tracking/weighing foods accurately enough.

People search for other answers because they want a different one other than calorie deficit for weight loss but it’s very simple, there is no other answer.

Calorie counting accurately by weighing everything and logging everything worked for the 3&1/2 stone I lost.
Colleagues who moan about not losing weight are fooling themselves about the amount of calories they are eating & drinking judging by what I see them bring for lunch. Portion sizes too big, along with too much alcohol on the weekend, not to mention ‘cheat days’. They keep saying how lucky I am for losing the weight. It’s not luck, it’s consistency.

Our bodies are engines that consume energy.

Our different engines have different levels of efficiency.

On top of that our metabolic rate is not static, it slows down as we eat less.

Most people not only under-estimate the amount of fuel they use, they think they need more fuel than the really do and do not have a large enough deficit.

How do we burn kcal though? It's not simply kcal in = body fat %, is it? Does anybody think that the human body is so simple, and that it couldn't decide to expend less kcal on, say, hormone regulation, so that it could maintain the deficit and maintain its fat, too?

We can be hugely malnourished and also overweight. Many are.

food processing change how calorific food is, and how much we will absorb of those calories.
ie selery sticks, raw have 7calories, but cooked 30.

This is just an ‘average’ like most healthy adults should have a heart rate of 60-100 bpm but some will have over or under and that is healthy for them.

Two women can be 5ft 2 and bother weight 8 stone 2, woman A can have maintenance calories at 1750 and woman B at 1850. This can be dependent on many things a few being hormones, activity level and muscle %. The woman could also have the exact same profiles but still be different.

People need to work out what their personal maintenance calories are and work out their deficit accordingly.

We can be hugely malnourished and also overweight. Many are

And they would be eating poor variety of foods contains poor nutrition.
A deep fried beige diet could cause malnutrition and obesity. You are confusing two issues here.

Calories in / calories out would work if our bodies treated all calories the same. They don’t. Which is why intermittent fasting, keto, etc can help with weight loss and control of Type 2 diabetes. our bodies are more likely to store excess carbs and sugars (converted to glucose) as fat. Our bodies will also increase insulin if the body is expecting an increase in glucose and will therefore also be more likely to store fat.

If the body is unable to extract the glucose before food is digested (complex carbs) or foods that don’t cause a glucose spike (low glycaemic) it won’t have anything extra to store as fat.

Thats a very simple explanation for a very complex process, but there are loads of easy to understand videos on YouTube explaining current thinking around why it’s not just about calories.

Also, as several posters have already mentioned, there is often a massive under estimate of how many calories are in some foods, particularly UPF, and those spare calories are highly likely to get stored as fat.

People don't count correctly. Its easy to forget or underestimate calories or portions. Then overestimate calories burned through exercise. Finally, and from experience, it's so so easy to undo an entire weeks worth of genuine deficit in 1 'bad' day.

I'm convinced calorie counting works. But you have to be in deficit every single day for over 3 months to lose a stone. For overweight or obese people like me, who have mostly got to this point by having issues with food and eating, that's a really difficult task.

Are you agreeing that 3500kcal can't = 1lb of fat? That's my point... I can see lots of people will argue against it, whilst also arguing that metabolism can change per person, and be different for different people.

I don't get the logic. Can anybody explain to me how those 2 things can both be true at once? It looks to me like 'a kcal can be worth different amounts of energy', and 'a kcal is always worth the same amount of fat'.

I agree with all of that. The fact remains though when we are talking about loosing overall body weight it is calorie deficit.

Lifting heavy and eating protein in a surplus will help gain muscle.

However the question here was around overall weight loss, not health and body fat %.

I've lost nearly 7 stone using calorie deficit but I can't shift the last stone with this method.

I'm weighing and tracking everything. Made all the calorie adjustments, plus go to the gym 3 times a week.

I'm on 1500 calories a day and 5ft 9.

It only takes you so far. I'm scared to increase to 2000 incase I gain!!!!