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Speaking as someone on a weight loss journey(Yes, I am losing weight), I would say it's not about calories, but hormones. If you eat more, you will simply burn

by kiba 5y ago

Speaking as someone on a weight loss journey(Yes, I am losing weight), I would say it's not about calories, but hormones. If you eat more, you will simply burn more calories as a result. It's a mistake to think your calories out is a independent variable, rather than a dependent one. Also, your basal metabolism changes in response to exercises, especially long term. Metabolism calculators don't account for this.

vorpalhex 5y ago
TDEE and calorie input explains weight changes within a 10% error margin. > If you eat more, you will simply burn more calories as a result. That statement is false. Calorie burn is a series of factors from activity, metabolism, size, etc. Caloric intake has little direct impact outside of how it affects your weight. > Also, your basal metabolism changes in response to exercises, especially long term. Metabolism calculators don't account for this. The effect is < 10% for base metabolism alone. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16741271/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16741271/
- maxerickson 5y ago
  So all you have to do is accurately calculate/estimate TDEE and calorie inputs? Sounds hard.
  - vorpalhex 5y ago
    It's about 10 mins and reading those large high contrast nutrition labels on your food. If you actually do find that too hard, pay someone for pre-portioned meals or go to a nutrionist.
    - maxerickson 5y ago
      Reading the boxes will establish my TDEE? How does that work? Also, just keeping track of calories is a lot of work. I've done it before, it isn't hard in a mechanical sense, it's hard in the sense that you have to do it all the time, for everything you eat, for quite a while, before you really have a reasonable picture.
      - vorpalhex 5y ago
        You can estimate your TDEE in a few minutes using a tool such as https://tdeecalculator.net/ https://tdeecalculator.net/ And it takes about five mins from your day to track calories. Get a piece of paper, write calorie counts of food you are consuming on it. Stop consuming food when the total exceeds your desired caloric goal ( TDEE - speed of weight loss ). If that is genuinely too hard for you, there are a number of pre-portioned food programs you can get.
        throw0101a 5y ago
        > You can estimate your TDEE in a few minutes using a tool such as https://tdeecalculator.net/ https://tdeecalculator.net/ Or spend some money at a sports clinic to get hooked up to a machine: * https://korr.com/metabolic-test-equipment/ https://korr.com/metabolic-test-equipment/ * https://www.parvo.com/trueone-2400/ https://www.parvo.com/trueone-2400/
  - adrianN 5y ago
    You need very little accuracy in those measurement because you have a very accurate proxies that you can measure. The amount of food you eat and the weight on the scale. When the weight doesn't go down, eat less and move more. The only thing you have to do to be able to do this is tracking the amount of food you eat, for example by keeping a food diary and using a kitchen scale.
- imtringued 5y ago
  As I mentioned in another comment, the desire to consume calories depends on your current hormonal and mental state which are influenced by the food you eat. The centuries old diet for weight loss has always been cutting carbs and eating more fat and protein. How much you actually eat doesn't matter. Tracking calories isn't even necessary because your body will track fat and protein intake on its own.
  - vorpalhex 5y ago
    > the desire to consume calories depends on your current hormonal and mental state which are influenced by the food you eat There are many, many things that influence your mental state including whether you've been through a breakup, have depression, are in a stressful situation or have mild anxiety. Changing your diet may help some of those things but it will not remove them from the equation. If you're stressed, you might still eat all the time even when not hungry. > How much you actually eat doesn't matter. It is literally almost the only thing that matters. > Tracking calories isn't even necessary because your body will track fat and protein intake on its own. Controlling caloric intake, whether by counting or other restrictions, is literally the only way to lose weight. Plenty of people will continue to eat past the point of satiety for no shortage of reasons, or they may be eating food that doesn't make them feel satiated, or they may have medical or mental reasons for not registering the feeling of satiety.
    - kiba 5y ago
      There are many, many things that influence your mental state including whether you've been through a breakup, have depression, are in a stressful situation or have mild anxiety. Changing your diet may help some of those things but it will not remove them from the equation. If you're stressed, you might still eat all the time even when not hungry. Stress influence insulin and glucose level, which affects your fat store. So it's important to destress for hormonal reasons, not just to prevent overeating. There are many, many things that influence your mental state including whether you've been through a breakup, have depression, are in a stressful situation or have mild anxiety. Changing your diet may help some of those things but it will not remove them from the equation. If you're stressed, you might still eat all the time even when not hungry. Caloric restriction and exercising more is clearly not working, despite weight loss. Because what matters is if people can keep the weight off and maintain it.
- kiba 5y ago
  You cited the wrong link WRT basal metabolism and exercise. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4803033/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4803033/ The point is that your basal metabolism changes in response to exercise over time, so it doesn't add as much weight loss as people think. Don't get me wrong, people should exercise for its health effect, but don't expect to lose weight. Dietary change is much easier.

by kiba 5y ago

vorpalhex 5y ago

TDEE and calorie input explains weight changes within a 10% error margin. > If you eat more, you will simply burn more calories as a result. That statement is false. Calorie burn is a series of factors from activity, metabolism, size, etc. Caloric intake has little direct impact outside of how it affects your weight. > Also, your basal metabolism changes in response to exercises, especially long term. Metabolism calculators don't account for this. The effect is < 10% for base metabolism alone. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16741271/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16741271/

maxerickson 5y ago
So all you have to do is accurately calculate/estimate TDEE and calorie inputs? Sounds hard.
- vorpalhex 5y ago
  It's about 10 mins and reading those large high contrast nutrition labels on your food. If you actually do find that too hard, pay someone for pre-portioned meals or go to a nutrionist.
  - maxerickson 5y ago
    Reading the boxes will establish my TDEE? How does that work? Also, just keeping track of calories is a lot of work. I've done it before, it isn't hard in a mechanical sense, it's hard in the sense that you have to do it all the time, for everything you eat, for quite a while, before you really have a reasonable picture.
    - vorpalhex 5y ago
      You can estimate your TDEE in a few minutes using a tool such as https://tdeecalculator.net/ https://tdeecalculator.net/ And it takes about five mins from your day to track calories. Get a piece of paper, write calorie counts of food you are consuming on it. Stop consuming food when the total exceeds your desired caloric goal ( TDEE - speed of weight loss ). If that is genuinely too hard for you, there are a number of pre-portioned food programs you can get.
      - throw0101a 5y ago
        > You can estimate your TDEE in a few minutes using a tool such as https://tdeecalculator.net/ https://tdeecalculator.net/ Or spend some money at a sports clinic to get hooked up to a machine: * https://korr.com/metabolic-test-equipment/ https://korr.com/metabolic-test-equipment/ * https://www.parvo.com/trueone-2400/ https://www.parvo.com/trueone-2400/
- adrianN 5y ago
  You need very little accuracy in those measurement because you have a very accurate proxies that you can measure. The amount of food you eat and the weight on the scale. When the weight doesn't go down, eat less and move more. The only thing you have to do to be able to do this is tracking the amount of food you eat, for example by keeping a food diary and using a kitchen scale.
imtringued 5y ago
As I mentioned in another comment, the desire to consume calories depends on your current hormonal and mental state which are influenced by the food you eat. The centuries old diet for weight loss has always been cutting carbs and eating more fat and protein. How much you actually eat doesn't matter. Tracking calories isn't even necessary because your body will track fat and protein intake on its own.
- vorpalhex 5y ago
  > the desire to consume calories depends on your current hormonal and mental state which are influenced by the food you eat There are many, many things that influence your mental state including whether you've been through a breakup, have depression, are in a stressful situation or have mild anxiety. Changing your diet may help some of those things but it will not remove them from the equation. If you're stressed, you might still eat all the time even when not hungry. > How much you actually eat doesn't matter. It is literally almost the only thing that matters. > Tracking calories isn't even necessary because your body will track fat and protein intake on its own. Controlling caloric intake, whether by counting or other restrictions, is literally the only way to lose weight. Plenty of people will continue to eat past the point of satiety for no shortage of reasons, or they may be eating food that doesn't make them feel satiated, or they may have medical or mental reasons for not registering the feeling of satiety.
  - kiba 5y ago
    There are many, many things that influence your mental state including whether you've been through a breakup, have depression, are in a stressful situation or have mild anxiety. Changing your diet may help some of those things but it will not remove them from the equation. If you're stressed, you might still eat all the time even when not hungry. Stress influence insulin and glucose level, which affects your fat store. So it's important to destress for hormonal reasons, not just to prevent overeating. There are many, many things that influence your mental state including whether you've been through a breakup, have depression, are in a stressful situation or have mild anxiety. Changing your diet may help some of those things but it will not remove them from the equation. If you're stressed, you might still eat all the time even when not hungry. Caloric restriction and exercising more is clearly not working, despite weight loss. Because what matters is if people can keep the weight off and maintain it.
kiba 5y ago
You cited the wrong link WRT basal metabolism and exercise. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4803033/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4803033/ The point is that your basal metabolism changes in response to exercise over time, so it doesn't add as much weight loss as people think. Don't get me wrong, people should exercise for its health effect, but don't expect to lose weight. Dietary change is much easier.