How much weightloss can I expect?

I burn about 400 calories more than I consume on the average day, but can I realistically expect any weight loss?

Yes.  There are about 3600 cals in 1lb of fat.  So if you consume 400 cals fewer than you burn as a steady average you should technically lose 1lb in weight about every 9 days. 

I was talking to my nutrition professor and he told me that there are 3500 calories in a pound so like the person above me said, you should lose a pound about every 8-9 days. But I'm sure if you just eat right and excercise, the pounds will shed for ya :)

Maths is one thing .... reality is a total another story ..

Truely it depends on your body and it's willingness to lose the weight ... i wish math was always the true an honest answer.

I've been dieting for 8 weeks ... the maths says i should have lost at least 8lbs due to my 500cal + deficit per day (which i have been religiously stuck to) ... the reality is just 2lb's .... darn my body .... maths should win out but sadly it doesn't alwasy work that way.

 

Leiela.... How can you say that maths is not the answer?

3500 cals = 1lb of fat. This is proven.

It is not maths that should be questioned it is one or all of the following occuring.

1. Not calculating calories consumed correctly.

2. Not counting calories burned correctly.

3. Body coming out of or still in starvation mode.

4. Water retention.

Think alond money...

You place £10 each week in the bank. You have saved £40, but you may have £42 (due to interest) or £38 (due to a bill going out). That fact that you place 4 x £10 in the bank doesn't equal £40 is not a maths issue on 4 x 10.

:)

Ok,  well you tell my body it should have lost 8lb's + then... because ive been telling it that for weeks and it's no longer listening to me....

Seriously it doens't always work as perfectly as the maths would lead you to believe.

Im almost religous about my calorie counting (almost obbsessive) if its not counted it doens't go into my mouth and i wear a heart rate moniter to exercise and log every calorie burned... i eat per day based on my exercise keeping between 500-600 deficit.

I guess it's technically possible my bodies coming out of starvation mode but after 8weeks of eating at 1,300-1,400 calories you'd assume that it would get the hint im not starving it and i'd lose more than 2lb's.... infact this week i've gained 1lb of that 2lb's back ... but im trying to think positive and for the moment im assuming its water related.

 mode but after 8weeks of eating at 1,300-1,400 calories you'd assume that it would get the hint

I hate to rain on your parade here, but it took 9 months for my body to recover fully from being in starvation mode.

I had been having a deficit of 1500 sun-fri and over indulged to the tune of 4000 on a saturday for 6 years mind!

Leiela. I stuck your stats (age at 25) into the BMI thing.... You are at 21.3. That is a HUGE reason you are not seeing the 8lbs coming off as you would expect... There is most likely little fat to lose, and your body is holding onto anything and everything to keep you healthy.

Sorry on the loose skin though (dieting wouldn't be a great help?).... I do not know what to advise, but I know there are threads on here to assist.

Yeah i only actually need to lose about 8lbs thats the flipping frustrating thing, im a dancer i need a body fat rating of at MOST 18% im currently about 23% ish... and yes i think im about 21.5 BMI ...

Im a healthy wieght which is why my body's resisting losing those last few pounds .... still they need to go if i EVER plan to work again. I've missed out on the last 2 jobs i've applied for based on my flabby composistion.

The last one wouldn't even watch me dance infact the bloke was quite disgusted that i would embarrase myself getting on stage looking the way i currently do ...

Im currently trying to lean up as it where ... but 6lb's of fat definatly needs to come off, i wish it was just loose skin but sadly no it is fat ... but hey at least fat will come off without a visit to the surgeon.

Anyway the point wasn't about "my" body composition, more than the 3,500cal = 1lb rule doens't always work that simply... if it did i would have been my goal wieght WEEKS ago haha.  

 

Leyela, exercise should be the key here. If you gain muscle you will still be heavier but you will look leaner.

Assuming you are of average height and weight (which you are) etc 8lbs should be hardly noticeable. I often here about models etc that they lost 6lbs for this or that role and wonder if anyone could actually tell the difference.

Perhpas try a high protein diet?

 

As for the original question, it doesn't always work like that and the problem is not so much the calorie inteke, which we can more or less estimate but the calorie expenditure. What the exercise machines, pedometers etc tell us is not that accurate and you can't rely on the basal metabolic rate given in tables.

A few years ago I had my BMR measured for a friend who was doing a study in nutrition at university. It was about 300 cal less than what the tables said it should be. The result of yoyo dieting, of course.

So if I relied on the theoretical tables, I would be disappointed.

Weight loss does not go by the book all the time.

I have lost 10kgr in a month with a calorie intake which theorerically would have lost me 4kgr. I don't know how to explain it, but I know it won't continue like that.

S.

 

 

To get lean you may need to be on a bodybuilders diet (and lifting weights).

Leiela,

If you're going through a rigorous regime or exercise and nutrition and the pounds still aren't coming off, get a blood test to check out your thyroid. This turned out to be my problem and trust me, its the greatest thing i discovered in my life.

I was 14 or so and I had been overweight my whole life, not obese or anything like that, but doctor always told me i had weight to lose. I started dieting really young and failed every single time, even on a diet of pure salad I didn't lose a single pound.

Point is, yes the math is lovely and all but sometimes your hormones work against you too. Make sure your hormone levels are in check and you're physically healthy before assuming math will take over.