3500 calorie deficit = 1 lb loss?????

I call shenanigans.  I bought a bodymedia fit armband thing, so I know how many calories I'm burning.  I track EVERYTHING that goes into my mouth, so I know what I'm consuming.  The only thing that DOESN'T seem to know this is my scale.

Just wanted to vent.  Because, seriously, I have REALLY worked out this week and the scale has barely budged.  I'll keep going, though, because as Elina posted, "chop wood, carry water."

I've been told that muscle weighs more than fat.  Maybe you just need some time for your body to adjust.  You might see more dramatic changes if you also look at your measurements rather than just the scale.  Do your clothes fit better?

If all else fails, add 1 more exercise:  smashing the bodymedia fit armband into as many pieces as possible!  (I am only kidding!!)

Suggested book:  Fat Chance by Dr. Robert Lustig

Good luck!  You are still an inspiration to me!!!

 

Nobody who is eating 800 calories a day is building muscle. In order to build significant muscle, you need to eat at a calorie surplus in fact. The big issue with that kind of calorie deficit is to avoid losing too much muscle. That's why we strength train.

 

Yes, chop and carry as advised...

This whole calories in/ calories out thing has always annoyed me to no end.

Yes, it's true how it works, but (as the recent articles about gut bugs have shown) expending calories varies widely from person to person. You and I don't burn calories like "regular people". I do believe there are a few things we can do to change that just a bit, but not much or easily. Now you say you know how many calories you are burning. I would like to gently suggest that you don't. You do know what your device tells you....but....

Annie

Obese and formerly obese people burn less calories during exercise - your device is overreporting the calories you expend.  Read the NYT article "The Fat Trap".  I've summarized it here.

Here's how I've started to look at it:

When we track we are keeping track of estimated calories. No one is going to be 100% on. I also think that posted calories are also estimates and not an exact science. This, of course, is my belief. I have read a few articles that back me up, but I'm not sure of the science behind it. So, take what I say with a grain of salt here.

Next, those FitBit thingies, calorie burn counters are computers and are programmed by what the fitness industry has deemed average. So the computer thing-a-ma-jig may say you've burned X number of calories and for you it might really be X- .2(X). There are many studies that back the theory that obese and formerly obese people burn far fewer calories doing the same exercise as a fit person of normal weight who has never been obese. This fact sucks, but it is my reality.

For a man my size and age and activity level all the charts say I should eat 2300 to 2500 calories per day. HA HA HA! I'd gain on that. I do best at 1500-1800 calories with the occasional blip up to 2000-2200 (but not often). If I eat 2500 calories a day, I'd gain about 1.5 - 2.0 pounds per week.

So vent away. Your body will do as it sees fit. You know you are on the losing path, so don't fret too much. Just want to say I hear you and I get it!

I kept careful track of intake and expenditure during my WLS period.  3500 calories per pound is meaningless (for me anyway) and from what I've been reading it's basically a myth.  in THEORY a pound of fat contains 3500 calories of potential energy, but that isn't the whole story.  Calories are not necessarily equal, for one.  As others have pointed out, estimates of Resting Metabolic Rate can be way off for obese and formerly obese patients, etc. etc.  If you're liver is full of glycogen you'll burn that first- one reason why the surgeons often have people do a low carb diet before surgery is to deplete the liver - thus shrinking it so they have more room for the laproscopic instruments.

The best you can do is track your exercise and your intake and discern the trends over a reasonable (weeks/months) period of time.  Daily fluctuations are virtually meaningless as they can be swamped by hydration level.

The 3500 calorie deficit = 1 lb of loss thing does work for me when I don't adjust for exercise - just assume a sedentary calorie burn, and measure 4-5 weeks at a time. It's never right for a week, I think because fluid fluctuation is too great.

tom

This link might help:  http://www.zoeharcombe.com/the-knowledge/1lb-does-not-equal- 3500-calories/

I meant to post this under THE FAT TRAP post as that's what I was responding to..... I do agree that the 3500 to 1 pound is an estimate. But it's close enough for most people. And ALL this stuff is an estimate. If you can't know exactly how many calories the food has, does it really matter if a pound has 3500 calories or 3555 calories? We do know that's not that far off because most people lose that way in the long run.

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I disagree that 3500 doesn't equal 1 pound.

In the lab, it most certainly does. I'm pretty sure, therefore, that does in our bodies too. The problem isn't that some calories aren't equal. The way the system is set up, a calorie really is a calorie because it is a unit of energy. If it wasn't equal, we'd change how many calories we said a food was until it was equal. (IOW it's kind of equal by definition.)

The issue isn't that some calories are magic calories that don't burn as much energy. The issue is that are metabolism is much more complex than people realize and our daily calorie expenditure is much more flexible than people think. Most of what people report as "proof" that a calorie isn't a calorie is not proof of that but of something else.

Some things to keep in mind:

-Some calories do lower our metabolism. This doesn't mean they aren't a calorie. They still have the same amount of energy. It just means that when you eat certain foods, you burn less calories that day. So your energy expenditure goes down.

-We all have a fidget factor. How much we squirm, tape, stand instead of sit, pace, etc. As our calorie consumption goes up or down, our bodies often adjust that fidget factor in order to maintain our weight. So, if we lower our calories, we fidget less. If we raise our calories, we fidget more. We think "I haven't changed anything, but ...." But we have changed something. We just haven't realized it because what we've changed isn't conscious but subconscious.

-Little things can make a big difference. Let's say you normally have meetings in another building and you normally walk. But you get a tight deadline and you stop walking ot the meetings and start calling in. And maybe you used to go for a walk in the afternoon too but now you are too busy so you stay at your desk. You can easily burn 100 to 200 calories less a day due to something like that and that can add up to a pound a month if you don't change your eating.

Again, this is why I like the BodyMedia FIT because it takes these things into account. It would be better if it also had a heart rate monitor though. And if you could wear it in the water!!