If you aren't losing at the rate you planned - this may be why

Most of us are consuming more calories than we think. Yup, it's true.

Even when we go by labels and calorie charts, there is this awful thing called net weight and actual weight.

Net weight is the LEAST a product can legally weigh, and that is what the nutritional label is based on. Usually the actual weight is higher. Don't believe me? Weigh an energy bar on a digital food scale and then compare your results to the nutritional labels...most likely, your bar weighed aprox 10g more than it should (which is about 40 extra cal).

I know you are thinking "40 extra calories? Oh come on, who cares." But 40+ extra calories FOR EVERY ITEM YOU EAT adds up. Basically, unless you weigh every crumb you put into your mouth, you can pretty much bet that you are eating 20% more than you think. So if you think you are eating 1200 a day? You are probably eating 1440. 1500? 1800. And so on.

So I have two points here:
1. Most of us are eating more than we think. That may be why you aren't losing as planned, or at all.
annnd...
2. People who claim to be starving themselves with 900 calories a day, aren't. They are really eating 1100.

If you combine this knowledge with how most people also overestimate their caloric burn during exercise...it's a recipe for disaster.

ummm I lost 25 pounds in five months, and thats around a pound a week. I counted calories religiously and I was fine...

After reading this post, don't just automatically drop your calorie intake another 200 calories a day. You may NOT be eating more than you think and may not be eating enough.

I had the exact opposite problem. My food actually weighed LESS than I thought. I would measure out 1 cup of something thinking it was (for instance) 92g. When I actually weighed out 92g of the food, I got 1 1/2 cups of it. I was eating about 100 calories less than I thought.

The OP isn't wrong, but is only pointing out one half of the measuring problem. Point to be taken? It's a good idea to weigh your food if you want an accurate calorie count.

That's great misspriss316 :) Congrats!
What I was basically saying though, is that if your calorie counts were exactly accurate (like weighing everything) you may have dropped even more or at a faster pace (up to 2 lbs a week is considered safe).

And yes skookum, you are correct. Don't just drop your calorie intake because of this post..do your own research, weigh your own food, find out for yourself if what I am saying applies to you or not.

I think you have a very valid point. I rarely read labels, because I do try to eat non processed foods, but since I've started weighing things, included things where the weight is stated on the package, I noticed that too. YIKES!

The food companies are cheating, that's what I think.

I think your point about over eating just a small amount of cals every day adds up over the years, and that's why many people weigh too much. It's like that bloke who put all his topences in jars, and after 40 years found that he had accumulated a million or something.

Thanks for the tip, I never knew that.  I think I am going through this, I calculate calories to a tee everyday, about 1600, but if I'm actually consuming 18-1900 I can see why the scale is barely budging.  Thanks!

maybe it's a giant conspriracy to make us overweight so we depend on the health-care system and thus spend even more money on the government.  that was my conspiracy theory...  ;o)

haha I doubt it juleroo. It's just that if they were under the net weight, then people could sue.

I didn't read all the other comments, but the secret is to actually weight everything you eat, even the pre-package energy bar.  If you're not in a position to weigh something (at a party, in a hurry, etc.), always overestimate. 

 

Hi, there a simple explanation to why the product is overweight. Most companies  use a digital speed scale on the packing line. If a product is underweight it gets blasted with compressed air to knock it off the line for reprocessing. If it is overweight by a percentage set by the company,  it just passes through as the cost to modify the weight and repackage the product is not profitable.

oh my gosh...

this makes me kinda upset, since I really haven't budged from 120 in a while and I've been sticking to 1200-1400 calories. i depended on those food labels! guess I'm definitely getting a scale... :/

this is why I don't eat ANY processed foods, and prepare/cook everything I eat from scratch (except if i eat out, and I expect to go over a little bit) I don't trust labels, i feel like they leave out a lot of information about foods and I don't like not knowing what I'm putting into my body. You are what you eat.

I don't really agree with that. I do always overestimate things that I am not sure about. But, I track all of my deficits all week and figure out what I SHOULD have lost and compare it to what the scale says. I am always higher. In other words, I lose way more a week than what I calculate.

Yup, that is why I overestimate. I eat 1000 a day by labels, but I realize that I'm really getting 1200 - 1250. 

Is the slight over or underweight of a product really a big concern for the average person trying to loose weight? I am sorry but are you not over analyzing the calories of your weight loss?

You can't exactly calculate the number of calories anyways. There are so many variables that can throw the exact calorie calculation off.

That you weigh your food, I can understand and support that fully but to worry between net and actual weight. Come on...

O yeah, the easiest way to blame yourself from not loosing weight is to blame your scale...

I bet many people calculate the difference between net and actual weight and convert this to calories but don't do weight training and/or interval training which makes me wonder....

Patrick - my whole point is that it's *not* a slight difference. 20% is a BIG difference.

Sadly it's not over analzying, it's just being accurate.

Why else would you weigh food besides getting an actual number? Which iis basically what net/actual would mean.

I'm not blaming my scale for not losing weight. I HAVE lost weight. I've achieved my goals. I'm only posting this because throughout my journey, this is what I've discovered.

Do with it as you wish.

Original Post by jenningermany:

I didn't read all the other comments, but the secret is to actually weight everything you eat, even the pre-package energy bar. If you're not in a position to weigh something (at a party, in a hurry, etc.), always overestimate.

I completely agree! I also didn't read every comments but I know that I used measuring cups at first when I started out and I would over estimate everything just to be on the safe side. Then I got my beloved food scale its been pretty smooth and easy since then. Sure there are times you can't weigh everything but when you can and do, it really counts and helps with your intake goal. I've lost 44 pounds since Feb and I owe it all to this site- including all the people who've helped me along the way and my food scale. Sometimes you need to ease up some and have a couple days where you don't weigh everything and just work on making smart choices, thats what I think but its just my opinion

I'm not clear on where we are getting this 20% number.

Uhg, and I thought I was doing so well. Well now I have ammo against all those people who say I'm not eating enough. Boo on them! I'm going back down to 300 kcals.

Original Post by direwolf689:

Uhg, and I thought I was doing so well. Well now I have ammo against all those people who say I'm not eating enough. Boo on them! I'm going back down to 300 kcals.

300 calories is not nearly enough, even with the possibility that you are eating more than you currently think you are. 1200 calories is the minimum for any woman to have a healthy, functioning body--you wouldn't be able to get the number of nutrients you need with any amount lower than that.

If you seriously think starvation diets are the only way to lose weight, you need to talk to someone and find help. You really aren't eating enough and that's why people are telling you this.

"I'm not clear on where we are getting this 20% number."

My own research. Weighing food. Calculating the difference.

"I'm going back down to 300 kcals."
Um, please don't use this post as an excuse to starve. Where did I say that starving yourself is okay? I didn't. Even with 20% more, 300 cal is still only 360. That is starvation no matter how you look at it!