Gaining when should be losing... why aren't my numbers working ?!

[metsudo]

Hi all,

Here's me... 33 year old, 5'11" male weighing a little over 18st :sigh:

I want to get down to the region of 12-13st but I'm having problems getting my head around this whole calorie counting thing.

I signed up at My Fitness Pal as the phone app for checking foods and logging calories seemed pretty useful. So I enter all my details and after playing with the calculators a while I find the following:

The MFP goal calculator suggests that my daily calories burned is 2650 (although on a separate page it suggests my BMR is 2117?)

At 900 calories per day (deficit 1750) I should lose a hypothetical 3.5 lbs per week
At 1200 calories per day (deficit 1450) I should lose a hypothetical 2.9 lbs per week
At 1650 calories per day (deficit 1000) I should lose a hypothetical 2 lbs per week (actually the suggested level)

So... I was originally going to do the Exante Total Solution (600 calories per day) but I wanted to see if I could lose a reasonable amount off my own back first.

After a week at a daily intake of around 1000 calories (and an initial loss) I'm now already starting to put weight back on ! The forum denizens of MFP tell me I'm eating too little, that my body has gone into starvation mode and that has resulted in weight loss stopping and reversing. Now, I'm quite happy to accept this and increase my calories... BUT... the maths they are giving just don't give up.

Let's assume for arguments sake I lie in bed doing nothing all day (I don't by the way!) and take the BMR figure of 2117 from MFP. Now according to the forum peeps my body is in starvation mode and my metabolism has decreased by approx 40% (their words). That would mean that my body would be consuming 60% of 2117 = 1270 calories. I'm taking in approx 1000 calories per day. Surely this means that I still have a 270 calorie deficit and that therefore I should be losing some (albeit very little) weight ?! Of course if we use the daily figure of 2650 calories the site gives that leaves a deficit of 590 calories (2650 * 60% - 1000) !

Can someone please explain what I'm missing here ? Even in starvation mode I shouldn't be putting weight on according to the maths ! I really want to just figure this out and start losing weight, ideally without having to go onto Exante ! The MFP'ers want me to increase my calorie intake... what say you MiniMin'ers ?!

Thanks all in advance !

 

[Caz]

Basically, you're just not eating enough. 1000 calories isn't enough, for a man especially. There is no magic number, guessing that your metabolism has dropped by 40% is, quite frankly, a number plucked out of the air. And to be honest, when you give your body that little it doesn't stick to science and so thinking well I SHOULD have a deficit of 270 a day/1890 a week and so I SHOULD lose at least half a pound a week really means nothing. Yes, if your body was functioning normally then you would be able to presume certain things and make predictions but it's not and so you can't so the maths that you're trying to work out your losses with is basically pointless. Your body is in starvation mode so it is saying f*ck the maths, f*ck what I SHOULD be doing, you're not going to give me enough so I'm going to just hold on to EVERYTHING. It's like, if you and me were in a room and you got a little hungry, you wouldn't start trying to eat my leg would you? No because you know that eventually, some time soon, you'll get something to eat. But what if we were stranded up a mountain and it was life or death? Then you probably would, right? Same with your body, it won't react how it normally would.

I posted a thread about not eating enough here: http://www.minimins.com/calorie-cou...xercise-calories-attempted-answer-why-do.html

So, let's look at you specifically using what I've talked about in that thread. You said you're 33, 5' 11", just over 18 stone... you said your BMR is 2117. So that's if you sat at home doing absolutely nothing, lying in bed, that's what you'd burn, but you're expecting your body to run on less than half of that?! So let's say you live a fairly sedentary lifestyle, that's probably 2540 a day that you burn on average (this is known as your TDEE - Total Daily Energy Expenditure), more if you're more active or exercise much. Because you've been going at only 1000 calories a day, your body's metabolism is stalling and dropping down. It doesn't just drop by 40%, it'll drop to meet what you're giving it so, if you've been doing 1000 calories for a day, that's now around what your metabolism will be. It'll actually be less if you've been exercising as well because that reduces your NET intake.

My boyfriend just finished Exante after losing close to 60lbs on it and so now, even though his BMR is 1900 odd and he's been eating 1400-1600 calories a day, he's gaining weight because his body isn't used to the food and his metabolism has basically gone on standby and that's where you're at as well. So, my advice to you?

Up your calories - don't go more than 1000 below your TDEE, so no less than 1650 if that's what MFP has given you based on your activity level. Some people recommend not going below the BMR of your goal weight, which would be about 1800 for you. Maybe that's something for you to consider, that way your metabolism is set ready for your goal weight so you shouldn't have that gain once you reach it. Chances are you will see a gain when you up your calories but it won't be fat, it'll be water weight, so just stick with it and it'll drop again.
Eat your exercise calories - MFP will already calculate what you need to lose 2lbs a week so any exercise that you do, you should eat those calories back otherwise you're risking lowering your metabolism. Not everyone does this though but personally, I recommend it. I know I lose far better if I do.
Don't look for a quick fix, be realistic - I know it's frustrating trying to lose weight and you want to get it off as quickly as possible but at the end of the day, you didn't put on weight overnight and so you can't expect to lose it overnight. You need to be realistic with your goals. 2lbs a week, on average, is a good loss and more importantly, it's healthy and sustainable
Forget the maths - Forget about the I should lose this much, even if you're losing weight in a healthy and sustainable way, sometimes the scales just don't show you what you think you deserve. It sucks but unfortunately, that's life and you have to push through it.

Hope that helps.