Under Budget

[Atticusfavs327]

It seems like whatever I do I am always under budget according to the fitbit app when I track my food.  I am currently 230  at 19.1% body fat and want to get back to 215 at 13% body fat, where I was before an injury, and it seems I dont eat enough.  Can anyone offer suggestions to my meals?

Breakfast: Shakeology, Banana, Fairlife milk 2 cups

Morning Snack: 1/4 cup Almonds, mini cucumber, 14 baby carrots, 3 pieces of celery

Lunch: 2 cups of baby spinach, 10 cherry tomatoes, 1/4 cup of goat cheese, 1 packet of tuna 

Afternoon snack: Chiobani and granny smith apple

Dinner: Chicken or steak with either Asparagus, brussel sprouts or sweet potato.

Any help would be great, my weight is staying constant since it seems I am always under budget, I usually burn 3800 calories and eat about 1500 calories per day.

Thanks Matt

[Daves_Not_Here]

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@Atticusfavs327 wrote:

... it seems I dont eat enough ...

... my weight is staying constant since it seems I am always under budget ....

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@Atticusfavs327 - I cannot make sense of your situation or what you are saying.  You have a 2,300 daily calorie deficit, but you don't think you are eating enough, but your weight is constant because you are under budget, but you want to lose weight.  Something doesn't add up.  How long has your weight been constant?  If less than a month, then your 4 pound water weight variance is probably masking any changes.

If you need to lose weight, eat less than what you are eating.  Or, if you feel like you aren't eating enough, then eat more. As far as your meal composition, if you are hitting your macro-nutrient targets, then just increase or decrease your portion sizes.

[emili]

@Atticusfavs327 if you are consistently under budget- meaning there is a true caloric deficit, your weight would not be staying the same. you would be losing fat. that is how weight loss is achieved whether you want to lose 15 pounds or 115 pounds. So I think somewhere in your calculation there is a mathematical error. the food items you listed as your daily intake seem to me to be greater than 1500 calories. The shake and milk for breakfast alone are 400 calories... and I would be starving if I drank just about my entire breakfast- but that's me. Maybe double check nutrition facts per serving size and see if all your math is right. I am sure with a few adjustments, you will start to see results.

[Atticusfavs327]

Thanks for the advice.  I read a couple places that if you are consistently under budget by a lot your body holds on to the calories since it does not know when the next meal will come in.  I thought that is what was happening.  I will try to improve the inputs i use on the food calculator on the app.  Thanks!

[rachiti · Accepted solution]

There are MANY reasons your weight is staying the same.  The whole calories in equals calories out is a myth busted a long time ago.

If you're losing fat but gaining muscle, it will still show as a weight increase.  The Aria scale does fine when you're losing fat or building muscle on the lower body but doesn't register well on upper body.

My case - My weight has stayed the same for the last year.  However, both my top and bottom clothing sizes have gone down.  Even my shoe size has gone down a half size because my feet have less fat and more toned muscle on them.  I'm constantly being told how "good" I look or how much weight I've lost.  According to my Fitbit $100+ Aria scale my body fat has gone UP and my weight hasn't budged one bit.  Oh, it also tells me that I'm 2000 calories under deficit 5 out of 7 days per week.  However, my calorie intake is higher than yours by far.  I weigh 240 pounds & consume 2700 calories a day...it says I'm 2000 calories under budget at the end of most days and on target the other two (my days off I always eat a couple hundred calories more and get in fewer steps).  If I based my fitness on my weight and body fat (which has supposedly gone up even though you can tell by looking at me that it's gone down) I should be eating less but if I go by my deficit, I should be eating nearly double what I am eating. 

In other words - trial and error.  If you increase your calories and your clothes start fitting better then you need to keep doing that.  If you increase your workouts and your clothes start fitting better then keep doing that.  If you drop your calories by 200 or 300 per day and start losing weight then try that for a while.

[Dominique]

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@rachiti wrote:

There are MANY reasons your weight is staying the same.  The whole calories in equals calories out is a myth busted a long time ago.

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I agree with the first part of your statement, but beg to differ with the second one: energy balance, calories in vs. calories out, the first law of thermodynamics, whichever way you want to call it, is not a myth.

The problem is with the practical application of calories in vs. calories out. Let’s take estimating calories with an activity tracker (Fitbit): the estimation relies on 1) a standard equation based on age, gender, height and weight  (used to determine your basal metabolic rate), and 2) a clever algorithm that tries to assess your activity based on detected impacts, the movements of your hands, your heart rate etc. There are no settings in your personal profile that would let you tell Fitbit you have a given medical condition (e.g. Hashimoto), were 50 pounds heavier 6 months ago, are taking medicine X or Y, all of which can affect your BMR. As to the algorithm for assessing your activity: wear two Fitbits (like I do, currently Ionic and Alta HR) and you will have different numbers for steps, calories etc. It’s just not exact science. Exact science would be using doubly labeled water, like they do for truly serious studies in metabolic wards. I challenge anyone to produce a single such study showing calories in vs. calories out doesn’t apply.

[rachiti]

I agree that the tracker cannot accurately predict estimated calorie intake to make calories in equal calories out work.  However, it's not the tracker - it's the premise of calories in verses calories out which is flawed.  You even gave an example of one reason why BMR isn't static - Hypothyroidism.  Everything from the amount of gut inflammation a person has (eating highly processed foods) to whether a woman is ovulating can affect how someone's body holds or releases calories.  Their genetic makeup is also a heavy influence on BMR.  Even the calorie content of food is an estimate.  Studies have been done which show calorie variances at restaurants to be 20% or more off the stated values, for example.

For each individual, based on their personal BMR and assuming that they do not have any underlying medical conditions causing variance in their BMR such as undertreated hypothyroidism and that they eat mainly real foods rather than processed foods, then yes...that individual's calorie estimate to maintain weight can be approximately calculated based upon weight verses calories verses exercise over time.  It will remain consistent until something changes in their bodies, physical fitness, or quality of diet.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/health/biggest-loser-weight-loss.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_...

http://healthland.time.com/2013/07/19/news-genes-idd-in-obesity-how-much-of-weight-is-genetic/

[PhillyMomLaughs]

You are right, @Dominique. I just met with my dietician yesterday, and she confirmed the same thing. Weight loss is just math. However, like you said, other factors can impact your calculations. I also learned that I am eating too few calories so that is why I am not losing weight. I thought my minimum was 500 calories, but its 1100 calories. Fascinating, right?

To the original poster, for your first step, just try to record your intake accurately. If you can afford it, get a food scale. And compare your food's Nutritional Facts to the data in Fitbit's database. I found a few errors. Like my rice is 200 calories fewer than Fitbit says. And my oatmeal is 50 calories more than Fitbit says. 

And finally, my dietician said watch your carbohydrates. You only want to eat what you need for your body to function. Extra carbs convert to sugar. So for me, I need to eat between 140 and 158 grams per day. I was eating twice that every day!

If your insurance covers nutritional counsel, I really recommend it.  Good luck.