5 ms·

>If you normally eat 3,000 calories/day, and cut it to 2,000 calories/day, you won't necessarily lose weight -- many people's metabolisms will simply slow down

>If you normally eat 3,000 calories/day, and cut it to 2,000 calories/day, you won't necessarily lose weight -- many people's metabolisms will simply slow down equivalently. Kinda, sorta, not really. It's about eating under maintenance. What you "normally eat" is irrelevant; what matters is that you are eating less than you burn and that you're eating quality food. I have been in and around this stuff for decades and I have yet to see a person who counts calories (correctly) and eats the right stuff fail to lose weight. Typically your sort of attitude comes from those who only partially follow a diet and then complain that "nothing works" and "it must be genetic". This is nonsense and you're doing more harm than good if you repeat this to people honestly trying to get healthy.

pwthornton 8y ago
The issue isn't temporary weight loss. Pretty much anyone can have success with that -- it's long term maintenance. Biggest Loser contestants were very good at short-term weight loss. But many completely destroyed their metabolisms, causing them to burn hundreds of calories less than expected. It's very hard for many of them not to gain a lot of weight back because their bodies are burning so few calories. People need to be really careful not to crush their metabolisms when dieting, otherwise all you will do is yo-yo diet, making yourself fatter in the end. Doing a more moderate caloric deficit with heavy weight training is probably your best path forward. It'll take some time, but you won't crush your metabolism.
- EpicEng 8y ago
  No professional would recommend a crash diet for a typical person, so I'm not sure what your point is. You're right; moderate deficit is best, but I don't see anyone recommending anything else and you implied that calorie accounting in general doesn't work, which is nonsense. Also, one big issue yo-yo dieters encounter is that, once they reach their goal, they go back to their old habits. You can eat more once you hit your goal, but you can _never_ go back to your old, unhealthy diet if you want to maintain what you accomplished.

pwthornton 8y ago

The issue isn't temporary weight loss. Pretty much anyone can have success with that -- it's long term maintenance. Biggest Loser contestants were very good at short-term weight loss. But many completely destroyed their metabolisms, causing them to burn hundreds of calories less than expected. It's very hard for many of them not to gain a lot of weight back because their bodies are burning so few calories. People need to be really careful not to crush their metabolisms when dieting, otherwise all you will do is yo-yo diet, making yourself fatter in the end. Doing a more moderate caloric deficit with heavy weight training is probably your best path forward. It'll take some time, but you won't crush your metabolism.

EpicEng 8y ago
No professional would recommend a crash diet for a typical person, so I'm not sure what your point is. You're right; moderate deficit is best, but I don't see anyone recommending anything else and you implied that calorie accounting in general doesn't work, which is nonsense. Also, one big issue yo-yo dieters encounter is that, once they reach their goal, they go back to their old habits. You can eat more once you hit your goal, but you can _never_ go back to your old, unhealthy diet if you want to maintain what you accomplished.