Calories and losing weight

[Lynnemgreen]

Need help re: calories in and out. What do I do calorie wise to lose weight.

i take it I should eat less than I burn off?

hope you know what I mean 

thanks

[Gimpycat]

It's better to focus on the quality of the food you eat and when you eat, and not on calories. If you focus on calories, you could still be eating junk and eating too frequently. This makes you hungry and leads to weight gain.

For detailed information, try The Obesity Code podcast.

https://obesitycodepodcast.com/

[Dominique]

Welcome to the community, @Lynnemgreen!

In order to lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you eat, or eat less than you burn, whichever way you want to put it. Fitbit can help you with this: it estimates calories you burn throughout the day via activity (both format and informal) and the Fitbit app also allows you to log what you  eating and drinking (if your drinks contain calories). Note that both are estimates with a margin of error: just because your Fitbit says you burned 3000 calories today doesn’t necessarily mean it was precisely that, it could just as well be off by 500 calories; likewise, just you may have counted your intake for the day at 2000 calories, when it actually was 2500 calories (because you omitted some items, labels weren’t accurate etc.). If calories out are overestimated by 500 and calories in underestimated by 500, a 1000 deficit could turn into no deficit at all.

I agree with @Gimpycat food quality matters: you can lose weight while eating junk food, but would likely feel hungry all the time (not to speak of long term effects on health). I don’t agree with him regarding timing / meal frequency: whether you eat 2000 calories in one sitting, or two, three or four, will have more or less the same impact at the end of the day. Some people are prone to overeating if they snack a lot: for them, intermittent fasting (fewer, but bigger meals) may be a better approach than frequent, smaller meals.

[Lynnemgreen]

Thank you both,
That’s great, so on the Cals count does it show the cals burnt off or consumed? Because I never seem to meet my target so it goes green as being met?
Thank you
Lynne 😀

Sent from my iPhone

[Lynnemgreen]

Thank you,
I’m eating plenty of homemade veg soup that tastes nice and fruit with an evening meal, but just not sure what the calorie count is, cals in or out or both and I never meet the target to turn the cals to green.
Lynne 😀

Sent from my iPhone

[JimC_99]

The Fitbit phone app has a food database that will look up common foods (fruit, meats, potatoes).  The app has a bar scanner that will log packaged products.  I have used several apps - MyFitnessPal, Lose It and the Fitbit App and find all three useful.  You can set goals and input info to help on the weight loss journey.... 

[SunsetRunner]

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@Lynnemgreen wrote:
I’m eating plenty of homemade veg soup that tastes nice and fruit with an evening meal, but just not sure what the calorie count is, cals in or out or both and I never meet the target to turn the cals to green.

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Hi @Lynnemgreen, I highly recommend that you start measuring what you eat, by weight and/or nutrient labels, and calculate the amount of calories you get from your food to make sure you hit your calorie target. You may then find out that you're eating too much. It can seem tedious at first, but you'll soon get the hang of it and I can gurantee you that the effort is very much worth it! Just don't become fanatical and let it ruin your social life. As long as you get it right most (80-90%) of the time, you'll be fine.

[Lynnemgreen]

Hi,
On average I burn 2500 calls a day, so what calorie intake do you suggest?
Thanks
Lynne 😀

Sent from my iPad

[SunsetRunner]

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@Lynnemgreen wrote:
Hi,
On average I burn 2500 calls a day, so what calorie intake do you suggest?
Thanks
Lynne 😀

Sent from my iPad

---

Hi @Lynnemgreen, It depends on how much bodyfat you want to loose, but if it's significant, I suggest you put yourself in a caloric deficit of 20%, which in your case means a caloric intake of 2000 in average per day. This is assuming that 2500 calories is your BMR + whatever exercise you're doing, which sounds realistic, unless you're very active physically for several hours every day.

Don't worry about if you hit the exact number every day, just adjust as you go along so that the average on a weekly basis is 2000 per day.

Only eat things that you like! This will make it so much easier for you to sustain your adherence to your target in the long term, which it what truly matters. Eat in a way you'd be happy with, forever!

Do a weigh-in every week, and take a photo of yourself every month. Adjust your calorie intake once or twice a month, as needed.

Above all, be patient! Believe in the process and consistency will win the day.

[Lynnemgreen]

Hi,
That’s great.
Thank you for your advise. I’ll give it a go. 😀
Regards
Lynne

Sent from my iPhone

[Gimpycat]

Hi Lynne, calories burned shows total calories burned for the day. Take the
number with a grain of salt and not as absolute truth.

I focus more on active calories and on exercise zone calories, which you'll
find under heart rate. This will give you information beyond your gym
workout. You can burn a surprising number of calories just by moving about
-- non-exercise thermogenesis. I often rebound lightly, walk in place, or
play with the cats while watching a game on TV.

[Lynnemgreen]

Thank you for your advise. I’m still trying to get me head around everything.
Lynne 😀

Sent from my iPad

[bikerhiker]

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@Lynnemgreen wrote:

Need help re: calories in and out. What do I do calorie wise to lose weight.

i take it I should eat less than I burn off?

hope you know what I mean 

thanks

---

One thing comes to my mind that isn't mentioned here yet is "sugar".  Namely, the sugar type and amount that you are consuming. Another thing that comes to my mind is your nutritional intake.  Are you getting in enough natural nutrients, minerals and vitamins?  

But first, let me address sugar.  When we consume food, there is a process for us to eat, digest and then absorb into our blood stream so we have the energy to do the things we like to do.  All of this effort takes energy.  When we consume sugar; especially refined sugar which is in almost all processed and packaged foods, it gets absorb very quickly into the bloodstream and is ready to be used as energy.  When we consume too much sugar, which you easily can, unused glucose gets stored as fat.  When not addressed, the result is weight gain.  Refined sugar is something you need to address first.  You only need 24gram of sugar per day in your diet.  And yet, a can of soft drink exceeds that limit very easily.  Even a bottle of healthy coconut water or those mineral water with artificial flavour can easily exceed that too!  In fact, if you look carefully on most of the so called "HEALTHY FOOD" that is packaged or frozen, there are hidden sugar.  You need to educate yourself to weed out the hidden sugar.  So focus on food education first.

Secondly, healthy food is food that may or may not have naturally occurring sugar, and yet packed with nutrients, minerals and vitamins and are balanced in the carbohydrates, dietary fat and protein (meat or plant based).  It is this balance that makes us feel full when we eat.  In other words, food that supply what our individual body needs will make us full and keep our weight well managed.  The reason why we keep getting hungry is because, when our body does not have the required amount of nutrients, minerals, vitamins, carbs, dietary fat and protein balanced combination for each individual body needs, the body will then seek out those deficiencies by making you eat more until you fulfill those deficiencies.  Which then make you feel full but causes you to overeat!  So the key to this is to focus first on your diet and your body.  What does your body need and what kind of work do you do, which has some relevance to your needs for fuel.  Once you understand your body dynamics is then for you to tailor your food requirement to your body needs for the work required; NOT to follow some fad diet because this is the thing to do today.  The important thing about weight management is if you can keep it for your entire lifespan.  If you can, then you will join those who are healthy and free of many major illnesses for years to come.  In the medical community, we call these people 'Super Agers".

In my case, I changed my lifestyle and my diet is based totally on my body needs for my type of work and my sports and hobbies, which can require quite a bit more consumption of carbs.

Keep in mind that sugar isn't EVIL as some paints it to be.  You just need to know why you need sugar.  If you need sugar to replenish quickly loss calories after a strenuous workout to restore your blood sugar level, then that's okay.  But if you continually need sugar to keep your stress level under control, then perhaps a more healthier approach would be to learn stress management techniques or resolve unproductive relationships in your circle.

Hope this helps.

[smith1223]

You just have to focus and also be determine and i can assure you that you will achive your goal ok

[Garciep]

I guess fitnees training on regular bases i can help..