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People who give bad diet advice "Eat more to lose" *rant*
I noticed that many people come on CC and ask why they are not losing weight and that could be for many reasons, but really now we all know the main reason someone is not losing weight is because he/she is probably still taking in too many calories for their particular lifestyle, age and metabolism.
What I don't understand is how the flip it is that anyone could advise another dieter to go and INCREASE their calories to lose weight. Even an increase of 100 extra calories a day adds up to 10 extra pounds a year.
This really upsets me because inexperienced dieters will take the advice and then probably not notice right away that they are slowly and steadily gaining weight until a month has passed.
I'm just saying please don't advise people to eat more if they want to lose weight!!
If people want to lose weight they have to EAT FEWER CALORIES!! GET IT?
LESS FOOD = LESS CALORIES= LESS BODY MASS.
Sorry there is no pill, there is no magic time of day to eat or not eat and there is no such thing as eat more and lose weight-- it is stupid to even suggest it! I hope the people advising others to increase their calories get their own bad advice and bad karma back at them.
Reason: Locked because after repeated warnings and OP continues to violate posting guidelines.
I believe it depends on the situations in which it is being suggested. It is a fact that the human body needs a certain amount of calories to function properly, and if it's not getting them, then metabolism slows down. If a person is eating, for example, only 1,000 calories a day, their body is not getting what it needs, it will not burn calories like a fully nourished body would, and getting MORE calories would indeed be the correct advice to give them.
Telling a person who is eating only 1,000 cals a day and complaining about not losing that they need to eat less would be irresponsible and dangerous.
I agree there is no magic pill to weight loss, but there is healthy and unhealthy methods to weight loss. Less calories may mean less weight, but it does not necessarily mean healthy.
And, BTW, you might want to take into consideration other people's experiences. I myself was on a plateau for many weeks, I increased my calorie intake a little bit, and I started losing again.
On edit: I realize it was a rant, but the karma comment was a little childish. In many cases, eating more calories to change/improve metobolism is a valid piece of advice.
i think ppl tend to say this to the individuals who are not eating enough. 900 calories a day is not healthy, nor does it provide all necessary nutrients. in some cases, eating more does boost metabolism, i have noticed this myself. it's not necessarily bad advice, you can eat a little more, still have a calorie deficit, and lose weight. it's only if you go OVER the deficit that you would gain.
i think maybe you have misunderstood the intention of such posts.
I have to tell you that I partially agree with your rant! I say partially because there are instances when people on here are eating less than 1200 calories. In those cases, it is dangerously unhealthy and the advice you mention above hopefully scares them into taking better care of themselves. Also, "plateaus" are a different story, and require patience.
However! I too, like you, am always surprised when somebody complains about not losing weight and all the posters immediately respond by saying "you need to eat more" right away, instead of asking "Are you sure you are logging everything?" "Or, have you tried measuring your portions?"
I mean, most likely the latter two things is the problem here if they are overweight to begin with!
Then it happened. Two weeks ago, I pulled my hamstring. Karate out. Cardio out. I still lifted weights (upper body), but that was it. The week of Thanksgiving (last Monday), I changed my diet. I increased my calorie intake 500-700 calories to a max of 2500 cals/day. I also started watching the percentages: 20% fat, 35% protein, 45% carbs. Here's the kicker. I decided that since it was Thanksgiving week that I would take a break from all workouts and give my body a week to do some healing.
Did you get all of that? I increased my calorie intake 500-700 calories per day and ceased ALL physical activity. Remember what I said . . . never less than 195.
On Monday morning I weighed 191. I lost 4 lbs the week of Thanksgiving, and get this, I haven’t had the urge to binge even once.
You're logic isn't sound, workoutaddict. Eat Fewer Calories does not equal Body Mass, necessarily. If your body was some sort of.. linear engine, maybe, but it's much more complicated than that.
When we suggest people eat more calories, it's because it works. Americans, at least, have an all or nothing attitude when it comes to food. They eat EVERYTHING they want or they barely eat at all. It's very dysfunctional. It's also part of why we continue to fail at dieting.
I know that the very few times I tried my hardest to lose weight, it turned out I was eating too little, not too much. Eating more actually kick-started me off a plateu and helped me start losing weight again.
There's a good point buried in here, mentioned specifically in Comment 3. In general, we tend to jump in with "eat more" instead of "Are you eating too much?" This is because, as I said above, people actually tend to eat too little, not enough. It's a common problem and one I've seen on these boards time and time and time and time and time again. I've been here over a year and a half and have seen that advice WORK.
Eat more, and the Plateau ends. Eat more and you can lose more.
We're not talking about eating more than your maintenance. Most of us aren't doing that. We see the numbers and understand them and know we need to eat less then we burn. That much has made it through our collective consciousness. It's just how MUCH we should eat.
As a long time dieter, it frustrates me to no end to see people saying "I need to lose weight. I need to eat exactly 1200 calories." Well, sure, if you're small and female, you MAY need to eat only 1200 calories to lose weight, but probably you need more than that. Women of average size and weight probably need more. Men definitely need more.
So, rambling aside, the general sense I'm trying to say is.. Eating More Works. It's worked for me. It's worked for others. It works.
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/health/917886 2/detail.html
Women with thyroid conditions (some so mild that they will never even think they have them) will almost certainly not lose weight at 1200 cals but will probably at 1500. One of the typical things I hear all the time on this board is "a calorie is a calorie," something that is consitently disproven in research.
*points to hkellick*
Yeah....what he said.
what are yours workoutaddict?
Original Post by workoutaddict:
... What I don't understand is how the flip it is that anyone could advise another dieter to go and INCREASE their calories to lose weight. Even an increase of 100 extra calories a day adds up to 10 extra pounds a year...
... I hope the people advising others to increase their calories get their own bad advice and bad karma back at them.
Your math is incorrectly applied to the situation at hand. To gain one pound of weight, one needs to eat 3,500 calories MORE than their DAILY MAINTENANCE calories.
If I need 2,200 calories to maintain my current weight, I will not gain 10 pounds a year as long as I eat less than an average of 2,200 calories every day. If I am seeking to lose weight, it is recommended by experts to eat 500 calories fewer each day (1700 in the example) for a 1 pound per week loss, or 750 calories fewer each day (1450) for a 1.5 pound per week loss. It is further recommended by this site not to go below 1200 calories per day for adult women, and to not have more than a 1000-calorie per day deficit without specific approval and monitoring by a licensed physician.
Taking this one step further ... if someone with a BMR of 2200 is eating only 1200 per day and not losing weight, it is clear that her metabolism has slowed down into what is commonly called "starvation mode", and is now storing all of the available calories rather than permitting them to be burned as fuel. In these sorts of situations, it is both common and CORRECT advice to suggest that someone increase their calories 100-200 to (a) get the body out of starvation mode; and (2) to shrink the size of the calorie deficit from (in this case) 1,000 per day to 800 or 900.
Under this scenario, it is IMPOSSIBLE for someone to "gain 10 pounds in a year" by adding in that extra 100 calories per day ... because that person still has a large and significant calorie deficit.
Please note that the CC terms of service expressly prohibits "threatening other members, making inflammatory comments or posts, or using foul language."
=^..^= MOLLY
You have no way of knowing what works for each person and what doesn't. It also sounds like you know very little about the basic laws of energy balance to make such a presumptuous statement.
Weight loss happens when there is a calorie deficit of any kind. Be it diet, diet/exercise, or just exercise. It's very foolish to believe that everybody has to eat the bare minimum to lose weight.
If people are trying to lose weight the RIGHT way; slowly and with balance, they should NOT dip low on their calories. It only makes your metabolism suffer.
There IS a such thing as starvation mode you know. Yes, it's true. You cann't argue with the human anatomy. The body's response to less caloric intake over time is to SLOW DOWN THE METABLOSIM.
Our metabolism is like a furnace. If you keep feeding the fire, it burns HOT and if you don't feed it enough, it dwindles down to a slow smolder, still burning but not nearly as hot as when it's well fed.
Perhaps you should acquire more information before you group everyone together. LESS calories are not the absolute solution. NOBODY has to subsist on just 1200 calories every single day to lose weight, unless they are very short, laying in bed ALL day, not getting any activity otherwise, and/or have an underlying medical condition.
Of course, what should anyone expect from someone that has ADDICT in their handle -- obviously has a "diet mentality" that believes losing weight is black and white; all or nothing.
Everyone should see http://www.mypyramid.gov for healthy guidelines on GRADUAL, slow, HEALTHY weight loss and good food choices for their age, gender, and activity level.
I ate more over thanksgiving and lost a pound. 
So like hk said, your body is not like a linear equation, no matter how much we might wish it were.
Have a look at this old thread by coachdee to see how incorporating a cheat day into your week might actually help you get off your plateau.
I took off 40 pounds two years ago and if I don't keep up with my exercise or watch what I eat, I gain weight: that simple! And to lose more weight I would have to start eating less calories and/or burning more than I take in: simple math!
In my opinion, anyone on this site has an issue with food! Even if I am the skinniest person in the world, I'll always have an issue with my body, weight, food, etc. It's manageable but never goes away!
If people posted their information, it would be so much easier to see what kind of advice to give.
Take myself, I'm 33, female, currently weight ~155 and have for the last few weeks. I'm essentially on a plateau. I'm pretty sure it's because I'm not actually eating enough (plus a bad cold for a week) to lose weight.
The last plateau I was on was ~165 when I was eating 1200-1500 calories per day and exercising from 500-1000 calories per day. I got great advice and dropped 10 lbs in a month after 2 months of no weight loss by increasing my calories up to 1500-1800.
I currently eat 1500-1800 calories a day on average and get 500-1500 calories in exercise a day on average. I'm currently trying to increase my calories to 2000 a day...it's hard to do it in a healthy manner, but I'm starting to do away with the non-fat milk and yogurt which should help and I'm eating nuts pretty regularly. The first step was to start counting again both food and exercise (started yesterday), without hard numbers, it's hard to tell whether or not what your doing is really what you think your doing and whether or not it really is effective.
The reason why I know that I'm not eating enough is:
1. The calorie calculator suggests that I eat 2300 calories per day. However, it's hard to tell with my activity level. If I look at the detail a bit more closely, I can see how many calories I burn on average each day.
Mon: 720 1 hour jui jitsu +432 2 hours slow ballroom dancing = 1152
Tues: 600 1.5 hours aikido + 792 2 hours fast salsa dancing = 1392
Wed: 720 1 hour jui jitsu = 720
Thurs: 600 1.5 hours aikido + 432 2 hours slow ballroom dancing = 1032
Fri: 1080 1.5 hour jui jitsu = 1080
Sat: 800 2 hours aikido+ 432 2 hours slow ballroom dancing = 1232
So I'm burning almost half the calories that I'm eating every day and that's not taking into account the continuous burn for those lovely muscles that I'm getting (for the purposes of my calculations, we'll let that wash out with the breathing time that would normally be calculated for my sedentary existence). My sedentary expenditure is 1800 so I need to eat at least 1800 with all the exercise I'm getting plus a bit. In fact, at 1800 calories per day I often have a deficit of over 1000 calories, no wonder I'm stalled out. The activities are so much fun that I don't want to cut back so I have to eat more.
Thank you for your post as it made me do the math and realize that I really need to be eating 2200 or more calories a day.
I'm talking about women who are eating a healthy 1500 calories a day and not moving their body and then getting on CC wondering why they are not losing. In a case like this it is probably due to them needing to cut an extra 100 calories out not add a 100. And then people go and tell that person "You're not eating enough" When someone is 1500 cals a day and not moving then how much would you think is enough exactly (remember we are not talking about what she needs to maintain, but what she needs to lose). Someone on here gave a woman in the situation I just described the advice to eat an extra 100-200 cals a day. Have you ever heard of anything more moronic?! Don't even think of supporting the notion that she'd need like 1600-1700 to lose weight --yeah right! (Unless of course she is quite obese, in which case she'd lose at 1700 cals a day but hell she'd lose at 1500 cals a day anyway).
Now please don't come here and respond to say something I never said or say something totally ridiculous like "well when someone is eating 900 calories a day then they should increase their calories"...No kidding! BUT THAT'S NOT WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT BUT THANKS FOR PAYING ATTENTION.
Uhh. Yes they would. They DO. Everyday there are posts like that from people who are undereating and not losing a lot of weight.
Nothing productive in this thread..am moving on...
if people are telling you they upped their calories and lost weight, maybe you should pay attention instead of telling them they are wrong. they are obviously speaking from experience.
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