Calorie Deficit confusion

[jmccleave2012]

So My caloric intake is significantly below my allowed amount of calories and I am still gaining weight. I don't know what I am doing wrong. Also, I know that there are apps out there that will tell you what you should eat for meals (like macronutrients and amount of calories) - If you can suggest any that would be really helpful !

[Esya]

Depending on the tracker you have it might be overestimating the calories burned. It might just be 10%, but it does add up quickly. If on top of that you underestimate the calories you eat slightly, then you are eating too much to lose weight. You can use this calories calculator to get another input on how much you burn. Make sure to log all your food including small bites, licks and tastes during cooking.

Now remember, the calories burned are an estimation. A pretty good estimation, but still we are human so it might be actually different for you. Using these numbers keep increasing the deficit until you see the scales starting to move. You can experiment with this to see how much a calorie deficit relates to what weight change, but every time you change it do it for like 4 weeks (otherwise you do not know what is happening is due to what change). You can get a free account with trendweight.com. This can help to see the weight change for a certain period you ate a certain amount of calories and as it shows the trend it is easier to filter out the fluctuations.

[rachiti]

Many factors can influence calorie burn.  Calories in = calories out has long been disproven by science.  If you don't have the Aria scale, you might want to invest in that as it helps distinguish muscle from fat - ie. your fat levels could be dropping while your muscle mass is going up at a faster rate if you've made lifestyle changes recently.

Personally, I long ago gave up using the calories in/calories out as a tracking method.  My weight loss happens once a month when my hormone levels are lowest - it's the accumulation of a month's worth of healthy eating and deficit - and it goes down consistently lower each month.  It's just how my body reacts.  You should also - depending on how much you've changed your caloric intake and exercise - consider whether you've dropped too much too fast or if your body is holding onto calories because you've created such a deficit that it's hoarding them.

[jmccleave2012]

I think that it's very possible that my body is hoarding calories but I'm not sure how to fix that

Sent from my iPhone

[EmjayH]

I run my Fitbit through the MyFitnessPal app. Calories burned on that app seem to be closer to my true burn rate for the day and I prefer their food diary

[ThatGreen]

It's very hard to give you concrete advice when you didn't give any details.

I'm very curious how long you've been trying to lose weight, how much weight you gained, what your current deficit is and how you track your calories as these things can be very important.

Regarding macronutrients, it's really up to you what you choose to eat. A calorie deficit is what matters when you're trying to lose weight and macros are mostly just preference. That said, you should never 'put all your eggs in one basket' and rather have a good balance when it comes to macros.

If you work out a lot, you might want to make sure you're getting enough protein to keep your muscles happy (which might also keep you feeling full for longer), if you feel low on energy, you might want to get more good and slow carbs to keep your blood sugar steady. Healthy fat sources are good for your body, so get some of that in there too.

[rachiti]

Are you tracking all of your calories using the app?  Do you weigh and/or otherwise measure your food to increase accuracy?  What is your calorie intake average over the last 30 days?  How many calories do you have it set to "hide" - you can set this up to 1000.  What does it say you should be eating for calories each day?  Do you have any metabolic conditions that you know of that can be affecting your body's processing of calories?  For example, hypothyroidism can affect metabolism & make it more difficult to lose weight.  Finally what does your average food intake include...no fruit and vegetables...lots of processed foods...no carbs etc.  Knowing this information can help us figure out if your most likely undereating or overeating for your body.

[Dominique]

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@rachiti wrote:

Are you tracking all of your calories using the app?  Do you weigh and/or otherwise measure your food to increase accuracy?  What is your calorie intake average over the last 30 days? .

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All good points indeed. OTOH, you wrote in a previous post that "calories in = calories out has long been disproven by science", so I wonder why bother with tracking if calories don’t matter anyway. Well, actually they do, but it’s important to realize both calories in and calories out are estimates, and there can be a sizable margin of error in both.

Your other point that hormonal cycle can cause wide fluctuations in weight is also very true, but it doesn’t invalidate the principle of energy balance.

[jmccleave2012]

I'm using MyFitnessPal to track my calories and its syncing with the Fitbit app. But regardless I'm wondering where I can find what Fitbit is basing my goal caloric intake off of. The reader on the app isn't fun I g me a target number it is just telling me above or below so I'm wondering if there is a way for me to find out what it is.

Sent from my iPhone

[ThatGreen]

If you want to check your calorie count, you can calculate your basal metabolic rate (BMR - what you burn simply by being alive) with this calculator. This is mainly why you wake up with hundreds of calories already burned.

To get your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE), your BMR is multiplied by these common activity factors:

Sedentary: 1.2

Lightly active: 1.375

Moderately active: 1.55

Very active: 1.725

Extremely active: 1.9

Read more on this whole thing here. Note that you can also fall between these categories as they're mostly just a guideline.

Since none of us are the same and metabolic rate can be very different between individuals, it's not a perfect science, but it's a very good guess and an excellent starting point in any case.

Heart rate trackers can also tend overestimate the calories burned by a little bit, while non heart rate trackers can go the opposite way.

Your target number depends on your plan, so take the number you calculated and subtract according to your plan.

Hope this helps

[rachiti · Accepted solution]

Switch to the website to look at exactly how many calories it estimates for you.  It adds calories throughout the day based on your fitness that day.  For this reason, only after midnight will you get the final estimate for the prior day ie. Monday's calorie estimate will be available on tuesday.  On the website, go to Food Log and scroll down.  Food Plan will tell you how many calories you've eaten and how much you should eat as your target.

[rachiti]

Dominique - 

Yes, I did say calories in equals calories out doesn't totally hold water.  However, at no point did I say calories don't count.  They count very much.  The goal is to find out how many calories one's body needs to maintain as long as activity levels are consistent.  For me, I can walk 5-6 miles a day and eat 2,500 calories to maintain...I can also have two or three days off and do the same without any detrimental side effects in terms of weight gain.  If I stopped with my exercise then, yes, I would have to adjust my calories overall.  The whole point in saying that calories in doesn't necessarily equal calories out is the way that it's oftentimes used.  It's so often used as an absolute.  Yet, since each person's metabolism is different and they've proven that different types of foods are processed differently ie. the calorie determinants set decades ago aren't as accurate as they once thought since things like fiber can alter how many calories are absorbed etc., calculating it so exactly while using the same formula for every body only works on paper not in real life.  As for energy balance - yes and no.  Yes, one does have to eat fewer calories than what are burned in order to lose weight.  However, during the course of a month my calorie intake and exercise can be the same the whole way through - but my weight can fluctuate up to 5 pounds or more.  Some of this is hormonal - some of this is metabolic as I have hypothyroidism.  I can also drop 500 calories a day from my diet and see zero change...and in a few instances...raise my calories by 200 or 300 and start losing weight again.  We're talking with a base rate of 2000 calories here not a starvation rate.  This is also why I say there are so many factors and calories in doesn't necessarily equal calories out...it's either that or call me a miracle of science...your choice. 

[Dominique]

Calories in vs. calories doesn’t say that if you have a 500 calories deficit everyday you will lose 0.14 pound (1/7) every single day. We know weight loss usually isn’t linear and can be affected by the sodium and carb content of what you ate the day before, your hormonal cycle (for women) and many other factors. However, weight loss should occur over time, which is why using something like TrendWeight (as suggested earlier in this topic) makes perfect sense. Too often people do something really good on one day (like ate "perfectly", exercized like crazy etc.) and they expect to see a change on the scale right on the next day. Unfortunately, it won’t necessarily work that way.

[A_Lurker]

@jmccleave2012- there's a lot of information missing in your post.  You say you are eating significantly below your target.  Everyone has different interpretations of this and how it can affect you.

Let's assume a 1000 calorie deficit.

Burn: 4000     Target:  3000     Actual: 2000   <-- probably okay

Burn: 2500     Target:  1500     Actual: 500     <-- insane

You haven't filled in a number of things - your current weight, how much you have to lose, what kind of tracker, how much you burn each day, how much you are eating.

In my early stages of weight loss I was the first one.  I would burn 4000 calories without doing much and as long as I ate around 2000 calories I did okay.  If I brought those numbers further apart (say eating only 1700 for the week) my weight loss would stall or even go up.  I'd eat a little more and my weight would drop.

However, this is not saying you should eat more.  Getting a better idea of where you should be eating vs. where you are is the first start.  Try this website:  http://www.fat2fittools.com/tools/bmr/ and put in your information.  If you have a lot to lose pick a goal weight 25 pounds lighter than you are now.  This should give you an idea of what your calorie levels could be.

Right now (using my stats) to lose my next 25 pounds the calculator tells me a moderately active person wanting to be 225 lbs should be eating 2629 calories a day.  This is feels about right (my Fitbit averaged 3300 calories last week).  I'm likely eating slightly under this (when I don't count exactly I tend to round up) and I lost weight last week.  In the end that's what counts.  The site doesn't say how much weight loss it will bring you.  From past experience I'd say a little over a pound a week.