4 week calorie deficit vs actual weight loss.

[CycleGreig]

first time post. hello all you movitated folks.

i have just finished a 28 day cycle which ended November 19th and i feel happy, but super frustrated.

at the end of 28 days, according to my fitbit

51,215 calorie intake

367,547 steps

309km cycling

85km walking

21km running

151,714 calories burned

I know my numbers arent great my overall calorie deficit was 100,499, which should have translated to 13kg of weight loss. However, I have only lost 3 (three) 

After week 1: 108.5kg

After week 2: 106.5kg

After week 3: 108.5kg

After week 4: 108.5kg

Yes I am happy I've lost weight, but I am totally floored that I gained weight and then maintained.

Also on Sunday I got the flu and have been underactive since then.  This morning I weighted myself and I was 110kg??

please help

[GershonSurge]

Great job keeping a written log and completing the 28 day cycle. Losing 3kg in 28 days is excellent progress. 

Your log shows you burned 5,418 calories a day. This is wildly unrealistic and suggests your Fitbit is overcounting calories burned. Maybe there is something you are doing that is counting steps that aren't steps. It doesn't matter. All you have to do going forward is average 5,418 calories a day according to your Fitbit and you will make good progress. (Assuming the Fitbit is not accurate. None of them are completely accurate. This is on the high side of the errors I've seen and heard about.) Double check the information in your profile. Maybe your weight is too high.

Another approach is to strive for the same average step count and calorie intake you had last cycle.

Your post doesn't appear to match your written table. The post makes it appear you didn't lose weight. At the bottom of your table, you said you lost 3.3 kg, so I went with that.

Keep up the good work!

[Dominique]

I agree with @GershonSurge: highly unlikely you both expended 5418 calories per day in average and ate 1829 at the same time. Quite likely Fitbit overestimated your expenditure and you underestimated your intake.

How tall, heavy and old are you? You could use an online calculator such as this one in order to have a "second opinion" regarding your expenditure. Right off the bat, I would say your average step count (13K) puts your activity level somewhere between moderate and high.

What Fitbit model are you using? If it’s one that features HR monitoring and you’re new to exercise, the higher HR typically seen when fitness is only starting to improve may result in overestimating calories burned. 

[CycleGreig]

hey guys thanks for the feedback.

I did state that I had lost three kilos in the end.

after the first week I went down to 108.5, end of second week I was 106.5 then by the end of third and fourth week i was back up to 108.5

I'm using surge. before this I used a miband (and noom app). I had some high numbers when I was using online calculators for calories burned.

I always give myself a higher number in calories than what I am actually eating, just in case im missing something. 

I'm 40, I weigh 110kg (as of this morning) and I'm 178cm tall.

Dominique, the calculator you sent me, said that I should eat 3170 calories to maintain my weight. I know if I ate 3100 calories for a week I would be as big as a house. I'm sure that last year on christmas, was probably the last time i ate 3000 calories in one day.

[Dominique]

I’m not sure 3000 calories would be that much off, given your size, age and activity level. I’m older than you (55), shorter than you (174cm), lighter than you (66kg) and my step count is a bit higher than yours (15 to 20k). My Fitbit (Surge) says I’m burning about 3000 calories in average. You’re probably burning at least that much, which means you wouldn’t gain much weight if you were eating around 3000.

Your 3.3 kg weight loss in 4 weeks suggests an average calculated daily deficit of 907 calories. This sounds very reasonable and sustainable. Maintain that for 6 months and you’ll be 90.2 kg. Not bad IMO: BMI from 34.7 to 28.5.

[GershonSurge]

@CycleGreig,

Many of us have gone through similar experiences and have had some false starts and relapses.

In my opinion, the most likely miscalculation is calories consumed. I'd start by weighing or measuring everything you eat and logging it on Fitbit. No guesses allowed! (Ok, maybe a few.)

Meanwhile, eliminate any obvious junk foods from your diet as much as possible and replace them with healthy calories.

If you eat fast foods, go to the company's website to get the calories. Fitbit also has many of them in their database. 

If you hate counting calories, at least try it for a month until you can accurately estimate your consumption.

Gershon

[A_Lurker]

I agree with a lot of the post.  I'll highlight a couple of things:

1. Don't guess on your intake.  Underestimating can be just as bad as overestimating.

2. Although you can't trust the numbers burned 100% you have some very scary deficit days.  The 15th shows 7566 calories burned and yet 1318 eaten.  Others may not be as blunt - that's way too much of a gap, especially if you say you are counting high.  Your overall intake is ~ 1/3 of your calories burned.  You are trying to forces your body to run on less than half of what it needs to maintain.  This works for very few people in the long run.

So, lets assume your tracker if off by 15% and a decent cut is 15%.  So, try eating 2/3 of what the tracker says that you burn for a couple of weeks and see how it goes. 

[Dnoyes]

Other Resources:
Dr Jason Fong author of "The Obesity Code" and Co-author of "The Ultimate Guide to Fasting." He has a great website also and utube videos.

Podcasts by Two Keto Dudes ...I like to listen to them while on my five mile walks!

[Dnoyes]

P.S.
I have lost 50 pounds in five months and it seemed to just melt off!! I went on vacation, had birthday celebrations, and still have not gained any but have maintained my weight loss. After the holidays I will go back to the more balanced keto and fasting cycles to lose the last 20 pounds. Then I will ease back into a lighter keto 16 hour intermittent fasting cycle like I am doing now to maintain the goal weight!

[SunsetRunner]

What are you eating? How much sodium are you consuming? It's possible you could be holding on to water weight. You may be losing fat, but it could be covered up with water weight.