I've calculated my daily calorie intake and what I burn everyday, but resulting weight loss doesn't make sense. Help?
Hi there! I'm pretty new to calorie counting, and while I'm enjoying my new perspective on food and losing weight I'm a little confused.
I joined CC exactly 2 weeks ago and when I plugged my information into the Calorie Target tool it said I should eat 1200 calories daily. I initially thought I would be hungry all the time, but I quickly realized I am having the opposite problem, and I usually eat anywhere from 800-1100 calories a day.
Now, I'm supposedly burning 1807 calories daily making a deficit of anywhere from 700-1000 calories. I started out at 182 lb (I'm 5' 2" & my target weight is 135 lb) and have lost exactly 8 lb over the last 2 weeks. I read in a CC article the other day that roughly 3500 calories = 1 lb of fat, so if you have a daily deficit of 1000 calories you should lose approximately two pounds a week. I thought the maximum deficit I had was 1000 calories every day, meaning I should have lost 2 lb weekly but I've lost 4.
Please don't think I'm complaining about losing the 8 lb because I'm more than thrilled. However, there are little warning bells going off in my head telling me that this simply does not compute. Is it because I started out with the goal of losing 47 lb and I just have that much extra weight to lose? I'm concerned about being successful at losing weight for a while and then hitting a huge plateau, or (and this one really scares me) getting to my target weight and then not being able to maintain and gaining a bunch of weight back.
I hope someone out there has some advice because this is really bothering me. Thanks! --Mary Beth
First of all, please make sure to eat more! 1200 is the absolute MINIMUM you should be eating, and you should up your calorie intake if you are at all active to keep your body from going into starvation mode because it's not getting the calories it needs!
Secondly, a lot of the weight you've lost is most likely water weight. Pretty much everyone loses a lot (according to the scale) their first week of watching what they eat. I know that I lost 6 pounds my first week! So enjoy the fact that you've lost those 8 pounds, and keep right on going (while eating more)!
I'm glad those warning bells are going off, hon. As anam said, some of that may be water weight, but you are losing too fast. I know it's strange that you can lose too fast, but here's why it's a problem:
When you cut calories that much, and lose weight that fast, it's not all fat. Some of it is muscle, too. Trust me, that's the last thing you want, for a couple reasons - for one thing, you end up tired, weaker, and less fit. Additionally, you can wind up what is sometimes called "skinny-fat" - basically, it means even at a low weight, you still look flabby and chubby, because most of that low weight is still fat.
It sounds to me like you're burning considerably more than 1800 calories a day - my guess would be closer to 2400. I know CC tells me that I burn around 1900 calories a day, but I actually eat close to that - and I'm still losing weight quite well :)
So kudos on losing eight pounds! If you want to keep losing, rather than plateau, and if you want to look and feel good when you get to your goal, and if you want to be able to keep it off, instead of rebound once you get there, then I STRONGLY recommend eating more food, and pronto. I would suspect that you could eat at least 1500 calories a day and still lose more than a pound a week. Even better would be to eat 1800-1900 a day, lose about a pound a week, and do some weight lifting to make sure that every ounce of that is fat. Good luck!
Thank you so much to both of you for replying!
Oookay, I've always wondered why people see a more drastic loss at the beginning, and a lot of it being water weight makes sense. I've been drinking a lot more water lately (and only water) which I read will help keep down water retention. Also, little things have changed over the last couple weeks like my hands only VERY rarely swell anymore and I actually have ankles! haha.
I went ahead and upped my calorie target to 1500 a day. I guess I'm burning more calories than I thought. I should probably thank my 2-yr-old :) I'll do my best to reach that every day. I guess I'm having a hard time reaching my goal because I've drastically changed what I'm eating, going from mainly processed and (I'm ashamed to say) fast food to as many raw foods as possible. The problem? It takes a LOT of raw produce to make a dent in 1500 calories. I also eat chicken and a little beef and other things, but even so, 1500 calories' worth of food feels like so much. If anyone has any good snack ideas that are a happy medium calorie-wise (you know, more than a few celery sticks' worth but less than a meal), I'm always open to them!
Thank you again! --Mary Beth
Having kids around will definitely make you burn more calories :D yay!
Since the other two gave some awesome answers I'll reply to your other question. But first, if you continue to lose weight really fast after upping your calorie intake I'd go see a doctor. Better safe than sorry right? But it's probably like the others said, water weight and you burning more than you think.
If you think you need to eat something with a higher calorie content than raw vegetables I'd say make your own granola bars? You can use oatmeal, peanutbutter etc. there are lots of great recipes you can find online. Mine never stayed together as well as a processed commercial one but they were sure fun to eat anyway and easy to take on the go. Also nuts(just be careful about sodium and fat content), beans and legumes. I will forever be a fan of black beans, brown rice, whole wheat tortilla, crushed chili and some hot sauce. That is one of my favorite lunches or dinners :D also try making your own pizza using whole wheat flower for the crust. Go cheeseless if you want to avoid fat(I'm vegan so I eat cheeseless pizza's topped with tons of veggies all the time D-licious!)
I'd add a couple of things. First, unless you've any unusual medical history, etc, I really wouldn't worry about a "surplus" weight loss of 4lb in the first two weeks. It's almost certainly water weight. If that rate of loss carries on, then it's time to reconsider.
Secondly, don't obsess about the 3,500 calorie per pound measure and conclude you've got a problem if your experience doesn't match it exactly. Apparently different people have about a 20% variation in this number - your personal calorie deficit/pound of loss could range from around 3,000 to 4,000.
On top of that, measuring weight loss from week to week is not as easy as it seems - your weight fluctuates naturally depending on what you've eaten or drunk recently, the state of your digestion etc. You can try and allow for this by making sure you weigh at the same time each time and dressing in the same way when you do it. But you can't eliminate the effect entirely. And bathroom scales aren't as accurate as many think.
Also bear in mind that your calculation of your calorie intake and expenditure is not absolutely accurate. It's an indication only. Portion sizes, precise varieties of foods, how hard you actually exercise will all have an impact.
I've been tracking how much I lose against my calorie deficit (calculated using this site) for a while now. It comes out as roughly 5,000 calories/pound... I don't think I've got some crazy metabolism. Much more likely is that it's a combination of me under-recording my calories consumed (probably by not tracking every last item), a bit of metabolic variation and that the site's formulas are over-estimating how many calories I burn when swimming (my exercise of choice). It really doesn't matter. If that's what I need to aim at using the tools I have and my behaviour patterns, that 's what's important.
Keep an eye on it as the weeks go by and adjust how much you're exercising and eating up and down if necessary to maintain a long term average of about the 2lb/week you're aiming for. Don't try and chase it week by week necessarily. You'll just get frustrated and confused. 47lbs is going to take you most of six months at least - there's plenty of time to find a pattern that suits you.
(But don't cut your calories to the bone to lose faster - it'll be difficult to achieve a proper balance of nutrients if you get down to around the 1000 -1200 mark. Up your exercise levels rather than go down that road...)
Original Post by nickl01:
I've been tracking how much I lose against my calorie deficit (calculated using this site) for a while now. It comes out as roughly 5,000 calories/pound... I don't think I've got some crazy metabolism. Much more likely is that it's a combination of me under-recording my calories consumed (probably by not tracking every last item), a bit of metabolic variation and that the site's formulas are over-estimating how many calories I burn when swimming (my exercise of choice). It really doesn't matter. If that's what I need to aim at using the tools I have and my behaviour patterns, that 's what's important.
Hey, out of interest, how did you work that out? I know how much weight I've lost so far, and I put in my calories in and out every day, so I have all the numbers, but I don't know how to figure it out!
Thanks!
You need healthy fats and protein so it's not hard to meet your cal requirements if you are getting enough of those. A handful of nuts for a snack, nut butters, a little olive oil on your salads, etc. Make sure you are getting enough protein too, you may want to increase your meat servings, add some fish, etc. This also help you maintain your muscle mass.
Original Post by marybeth89:
Hi there! I'm pretty new to calorie counting, and while I'm enjoying my new perspective on food and losing weight I'm a little confused.
I joined CC exactly 2 weeks ago and when I plugged my information into the Calorie Target tool it said I should eat 1200 calories daily. I initially thought I would be hungry all the time, but I quickly realized I am having the opposite problem, and I usually eat anywhere from 800-1100 calories a day.
Now, I'm supposedly burning 1807 calories daily making a deficit of anywhere from 700-1000 calories. I started out at 182 lb (I'm 5' 2" & my target weight is 135 lb) and have lost exactly 8 lb over the last 2 weeks. I read in a CC article the other day that roughly 3500 calories = 1 lb of fat, so if you have a daily deficit of 1000 calories you should lose approximately two pounds a week. I thought the maximum deficit I had was 1000 calories every day, meaning I should have lost 2 lb weekly but I've lost 4.
Please don't think I'm complaining about losing the 8 lb because I'm more than thrilled. However, there are little warning bells going off in my head telling me that this simply does not compute. Is it because I started out with the goal of losing 47 lb and I just have that much extra weight to lose? I'm concerned about being successful at losing weight for a while and then hitting a huge plateau, or (and this one really scares me) getting to my target weight and then not being able to maintain and gaining a bunch of weight back.
I hope someone out there has some advice because this is really bothering me. Thanks! --Mary Beth
A lot of it is probably water weight, especially if you ate lots of prepackaged foods or fast food prior to starting to eat healthier. When I first starting eating healthier and exercising I lost something like 6 pounds my first week and then 5 pounds my second week even though my deficit wasn't nearly enough to equal that kind of weight loss.
But is is a bit concerning that you're only eating as little as 800 calories some days. You need to eat a MINIMUM of 1,200 calories every single day. If you don't, you're really setting yourself up to fall off the bandwagon before you reach your goal, slow down your metabolism, and have very, very slow weight loss in the future. You can cook with olive oil, eat some peanut butter, eat nuts, have some cheese, etc. There are lots of ways to reach your recommended calories without feeling too full.
Unfortunately weight loss isn't an exact science, so in the future even if you have a big enough deficit to lose 2 pounds every week, that doesn't always happen. So don't get discouraged in the future if your weight loss slows down, congratulations on starting a healthier lifestyle, and please eat at least 1,200 calories a day!
Original Post by jenni_butler:Hey, out of interest, how did you work that out? I know how much weight I've lost so far, and I put in my calories in and out every day, so I have all the numbers, but I don't know how to figure it out!
Thanks!
I use a spreadsheet, but you can do it on a piece of paper if spreadsheets aren't your thing.
Work out your daily deficit, which is calories out minus calories in. (Sometimes that'll be a surplus, a negative number...)
Add that up for a week, adding deficits and subtracting surpluses. That's your net deficit for the week. Then divide it by how many pounds you lost that week. That's your personal calories per pound number for that week. It'll jump about all over the place when you start, because of the sorts of reasons I mentioned earlier.
A week is probably too short a period, though, because it really skews the result whether you've lost 1, 1.5 or two pounds, which is well within those variations caused by daily changes in your body, etc. So calculate a month's worth at a time, say, and over time you'll probably find that the numbers become reasonably consistent.
If you haven't got detailed weight records, then do it for the whole period since you started. Just make sure the calories in and out cover the same period as the weight loss.
It's not telling you anything magic about your metabolism or about human biology. But what it is doing is providing you with a guide to what sort of deficit to aim at to achieve the loss rate you want, given how you personally are calculating calories in and out.
