Why is 3,500 calories = 1 lb of fat so hard for many to understand?

[Gathina]

Metal, to answer your earlier question about why I am not answering your "questions": I said before that no matter what I post, opinion, fact, or otherwise, you are going to disagree with me and I can't be bothered with arguing over something petty, so I am not going to waste my energy and answer your questions.

 

Please..stay on the topic..or they will yank the thread and that isn't fair for the people it is helping.

[misty57]

This does not change the fact that 1 pound of human fat contains 3500 calories worth of energy, however.

If what were not true? "Weight loss plateau" is another popular diet myth. The perception/belief that one is stuck at a certain weight "no matter how much I diet" always ends up being the result of 1) person is cheating on their diet and lying to themselves 2) Exercise is building muscle, so that while weight stays the same, body fat is still steadily decreasing.

 

In short, you can't cheat the math. Burn (or don't eat) 500 calories a day less than your body needs, and you WILL lose about a pound of fat a week. That's just a mathematical fact.

 

I don't agree that a weight loss plateau is a myth. If a person is losing weight by cutting back on calorie intake, at some point the body does need less food and may stop losing. Whether that is because they have gained muscle in place of body fat or they have a hormonal imbalance ( thyroid) or have lost muscle as well as fat and have a lower metabolic rate. Maybe they lose inches but not weight. Weight loss isn't so simple for everyone. I have a friend who follows WW and works out several hours a day. She does a boot camp workout that would have me crying ! and yet she has gotten larger ( her arms are huge!!) and she has not lost weight and I have only cut back on calories and done some aerobic and sculpting workouts but continue to lose. I have had a plateau also and honestly was following my plan perfectly. It wasn't until I started eating a little more and varied the calorie intake on a daily basis that I started to lose again.

[MetalPrincess8]

Metal, to answer your earlier question about why I am not answering your "questions": I said before that no matter what I post, opinion, fact, or otherwise, you are going to disagree with me and I can't be bothered with arguing over something petty, so I am not going to waste my energy and answer your questions.

 

You sure do waste your energy mocking me and copying and pasting my posts.

 

Please..stay on the topic..or they will yank the thread and that isn't fair for the people it is helping.

 

Stay on topic? You're the one giving false information...how is that helping anyone? If anything, I'm helping more than you are since your posts are incorrect. We wouldn't want people that need help getting misinformed, now would we?

[SABOT]

Sounds to me like someone needs to get a big spoon, a quart of double dip butter fudge ice cream, and chill out.

 

[Binch]

I don't agree that a weight loss plateau is a myth....I have a friend who follows WW and works out several hours a day. She does a boot camp workout that would have me crying ! and yet she has gotten larger ( her arms are huge!!) and she has not lost weight

I believe that is a perfect example of the point I made earlier. She has gained MUSCLE while simultaneously losing FAT. Her weight on the scale may not be changing due to this, but that does not mean it's a "weightloss plateau". Or to be more precise, it is not a "fatloss plateau", which is what people really mean by that phrase anyway.

 

I think that if people replaced the term "weight" with "fat" when discussing dieting, it would help with these misconceptions, eg. , they "want to lose fat", are "starting a fatloss diet", "need to lose 10 pounds of fat".

[Gathina]

In the end, who cares if the 10 lbs or whatever amount lost is fat, water, or a combination of both. Hey, as long as the clothes fit better I don't really care what it is!:)

 

I believe that is a perfect example of the point I made earlier. She has gained MUSCLE while simultaneously losing FAT. Her weight on the scale may not be changing due to this, but that does not mean it's a "weightloss plateau". Or to be more precise, it is not a "fatloss plateau", which is what people really mean by that phrase anyway.

 

I think that if people replaced the term "weight" with "fat, it would help with these misconceptions, eg. , they "want to lose fat", are starting a "fatloss diet" , need to "lose 10 pounds of fat".

[Gathina]

LOL..any more good weight loss tips??!!:p

 

Sounds to me like someone needs to get a big spoon, a quart of double dip butter fudge ice cream, and chill out.

 

[Binch]

In the end, who cares if the 10 lbs or whatever amount lost is fat, water, or a combination of both.

You're joking, right? If you lose 10 lbs of water, you've accomplished nothing except making yourself dehydrated.:(

 

And...you've set yourself up for major fatgain as well. Many, many dehydrated dieters mistake thirst for hunger...they can feel that their bodies just...want/need something, and they just assume it must be food. So they eat...and overeat. And before you know it, they have even more body fat than before they lost that 10 pounds of water weight.

 

Guess what people inevitably say after this happens to them time after time? Waaaa, diets don't work for me. They just make me fatter!

[debbie1008]

I only want to lose FAT! 8 more lbs of FAT to be exact. I definately don't want to lose muscle mass:rolleyes: .

 

Debbie

[Odoyal Rulez]

I definetly believe in plateaus. However how long they last is up to the person trying to lose wight or change their body composition. Take this for example: I spent months stuck around 270-280. It sucked. I started exercising more...that didnt work. I ate less...that didnt work. I track my food to the gram I KNEW how much i was eating versus how much my body was using. But I guess my body didnt care about my spreadsheets because I wasnt losing weight..or inches. When i stopped caring about calories and switched to macro nutrients and began to eat more that plateau fell away.

 

I lost 10 pounds by eating more and exercising less. So while it is true a pound of fat equals 3500 calories, your body doesnt neccesarily care.

 

Plateuas happen because people stagnate. Something that worked so well for so long all of a sudden stops. Your body is very adapatable and you need to keep it guessing.

 

I also want to add, that losing water weight is not neccesarily a bad thing. I hold onto a ton of water..a freaking ton and feel like crap if i eat too many carbs or forget to take my diuretics, or dont get down my gallon and a half of water a day. Just dont be fooled by losing the water weight and thinking your shedding fat..because its def not.

[debbie1008]

Hey Odoyal Rulez,

 

Can you give me some examples of macro nutrients please? I'm very interested in your statement about what worked for you. Thanks! :)

 

Debbie

 

I definetly believe in plateaus. However how long they last is up to the person trying to lose wight or change their body composition. Take this for example: I spent months stuck around 270-280. It sucked. I started exercising more...that didnt work. I ate less...that didnt work. I track my food to the gram I KNEW how much i was eating versus how much my body was using. But I guess my body didnt care about my spreadsheets because I wasnt losing weight..or inches. When i stopped caring about calories and switched to macro nutrients and began to eat more that plateau fell away.

 

I lost 10 pounds by eating more and exercising less. So while it is true a pound of fat equals 3500 calories, your body doesnt neccesarily care.

 

Plateuas happen because people stagnate. Something that worked so well for so long all of a sudden stops. Your body is very adapatable and you need to keep it guessing.

 

I also want to add, that losing water weight is not neccesarily a bad thing. I hold onto a ton of water..a freaking ton and feel like crap if i eat too many carbs or forget to take my diuretics, or dont get down my gallon and a half of water a day. Just dont be fooled by losing the water weight and thinking your shedding fat..because its def not.

[Odoyal Rulez]

Macronutrients are what make up your food. It consists of protein, carbs and fats.

 

THey are measured in grams. 1 gram of protein = 4 calories. 1 gram of carbs = 4 calories 1 gram of fat = 9 calories.

 

As a weightlifter I know I need about 1.5 to 2 grams of protein for every pound of lean body mass I am. Protein is what builds and repairs muscles. For carbs over time i determined I could keep my carb intake low..but not super low like atkins and stuff. I knew I needed about 60-100 per day to maintain my energy levels, and more if I really wanted to train heavy, since carbs is what your body uses for energy.

 

Fat is also key to losing weight believe it or not. Good fat actually helps you to burn stubborn brown fat (thats what gets stored in your butt and belly) and makes your hair shiny and skin smooth. Since they are higher calories you get a bigger bang for you buck. I tried to get about 60-100 grams of fat in since my carb intake was low my body would use the fat for energy. My fat always came from nuts,eggs, and avacadoes. Pretty much if its poly or mono fat you are good to eat it up...trans fat is a huge no-no.

 

I also want to mention that depending on the day of the week, determined my macronutrient break down. If i was going to be training real hard id want about 250-300 protein 120 carbs and 100 fat. (this translates to 1000 protein calories, 480 carb calories and 900 fat calories) on the days i didnt work out i dropped my carbs and fat but kept my protein high to repair my muscles, since I didnt need all the carbs and fats for energy. So id eat 300 protein 40-60 carbs 60 fat, (translates to 1200 prot cal 200 carb cal 540 fat cal)

 

I always had one day were I ate a ton of food to replenish my body im talking like 300 protein 400 carbs and 100-120 fat. THis was to keep my body from growing stagnant. Since your body digests macro nutrients differently..by changing how many of each I ate daily my body didnt know what to think and my metabolism didnt slow down.

 

As an example this woul dbe my break down:

 

Monday: 250/120/100

Tuesday: 250/60/120

Wednesday 300/400/80

 

and so on.

 

This obviously involves intense planning ahead of time. But i took that time to determine my workout regimen..and i always weight my food to the gram and keep track of absolutely everything i eatr using fitday.com.

 

I highly suggest everyone signing up for fitday they make tracking food so darn easy and then you become accountable for what you eat.

 

Its worth noting that with a little research losing weight becomes easier. Finding out when to eat your carbs (right after working out) and when to eat your fats (right before bed!) seriously helps.

[Binch]

I also want to add, that losing water weight is not neccesarily a bad thing. I hold onto a ton of water..a freaking ton and feel like crap if i eat too many carbs

It is true that eating too many carbs leads to water gain/bloat. In general, the American diet is way too high in carbs, and too low on lean protein and veggies.

 

Re: plateaus...I've never heard of starving people "stalling out on weightloss plateaus" and being unable to lose weight until they ate more. If this were true, we'd have millions of fat Eithiopans waddling around...

[Odoyal Rulez]

oops forgot to add when i counted my carbs i subtracted my fiber from it.. so while i ate 100 carbs...it was really like 140-150 counting the fiber.

 

btw if your not used to eating a ton of fiber..dont go gung ho the first day heh its brutal to your insides.

 

 

edit - the totals i used arent actually what i ate...i eat a ton more..my calorie totals go from 1800 - 4000 in one week depending on the day.

[debbie1008]

Thanks for the excellent explanation, that makes sense to me. I will look up that site you mentioned too!

 

Debbie

 

Macronutrients are what make up your food. It consists of protein, carbs and fats.

 

THey are measured in grams. 1 gram of protein = 4 calories. 1 gram of carbs = 4 calories 1 gram of fat = 9 calories.

 

As a weightlifter I know I need about 1.5 to 2 grams of protein for every pound of lean body mass I am. Protein is what builds and repairs muscles. For carbs over time i determined I could keep my carb intake low..but not super low like atkins and stuff. I knew I needed about 60-100 per day to maintain my energy levels, and more if I really wanted to train heavy, since carbs is what your body uses for energy.

 

Fat is also key to losing weight believe it or not. Good fat actually helps you to burn stubborn brown fat (thats what gets stored in your butt and belly) and makes your hair shiny and skin smooth. Since they are higher calories you get a bigger bang for you buck. I tried to get about 60-100 grams of fat in since my carb intake was low my body would use the fat for energy. My fat always came from nuts,eggs, and avacadoes. Pretty much if its poly or mono fat you are good to eat it up...trans fat is a huge no-no.

 

I also want to mention that depending on the day of the week, determined my macronutrient break down. If i was going to be training real hard id want about 250-300 protein 120 carbs and 100 fat. (this translates to 1000 protein calories, 480 carb calories and 900 fat calories) on the days i didnt work out i dropped my carbs and fat but kept my protein high to repair my muscles, since I didnt need all the carbs and fats for energy. So id eat 300 protein 40-60 carbs 60 fat, (translates to 1200 prot cal 200 carb cal 540 fat cal)

 

I always had one day were I ate a ton of food to replenish my body im talking like 300 protein 400 carbs and 100-120 fat. THis was to keep my body from growing stagnant. Since your body digests macro nutrients differently..by changing how many of each I ate daily my body didnt know what to think and my metabolism didnt slow down.

 

As an example this woul dbe my break down:

 

Monday: 250/120/100

Tuesday: 250/60/120

Wednesday 300/400/80

 

and so on.

 

This obviously involves intense planning ahead of time. But i took that time to determine my workout regimen..and i always weight my food to the gram and keep track of absolutely everything i eatr using fitday.com.

 

I highly suggest everyone signing up for fitday they make tracking food so darn easy and then you become accountable for what you eat.

 

Its worth noting that with a little research losing weight becomes easier. Finding out when to eat your carbs (right after working out) and when to eat your fats (right before bed!) seriously helps.

[debbie1008]

 

Re: plateaus...I've never heard of starving people "stalling out on weightloss plateaus" and being unable to lose weight until they ate more. If this were true, we'd have millions of fat Eithiopans waddling around...

 

That made me giggle!:)

[MetalPrincess8]

In the end, who cares if the 10 lbs or whatever amount lost is fat, water, or a combination of both. Hey, as long as the clothes fit better I don't really care what it is!:)

 

This is exactly what I'm talking about with misinformation...there's such a huge difference between water weight and fat weight, and the process of losing the weight. This is where facts come in handy.

 

You're joking, right? If you lose 10 lbs of water, you've accomplished nothing except making yourself dehydrated.:(

 

And...you've set yourself up for major fatgain as well. Many, many dehydrated dieters mistake thirst for hunger...they can feel that their bodies just...want/need something, and they just assume it must be food. So they eat...and overeat. And before you know it, they have even more body fat than before they lost that 10 pounds of water weight.

 

Really well said. :D

[MetalPrincess8]

Odoyal Rulez: Great info...thanks for sharing. It can really become such a science! :)

[Odoyal Rulez]

Losing weight is like building a house...you cant just show up with hammer and nails (ie diet and exercise) you need to plan ahead, and have you blue prints ready to go.

[bobandkelly]

misty, it sounds like your friend has her body in starvation mode. It won't lose because it is not getting enough fuel to sustain her workouts.

Odoyal has given us something to think about. Becoming more aware of what we are fueling are bodies with.

I know I started losing more when I started eating more. Now I am not talking pigging out but eating healthier. More vegies, protein and making fats count. Olive oil is a healthy fat. But just because it is healthy does not mean you can use huge amounts of it.

It is great that we have places like this that we can come to and share ideas and encouragement.

kelly

[Binch]

misty, it sounds like your friend has her body in starvation mode. It won't lose because it is not getting enough fuel to sustain her workouts.

If only the Ethiopians had known about this...

[Gathina]

No, not joking. I doubt I'd ever become dehydrated, I drink somewhere close to a gallon of water a day. The navy seal trainer I used to work out with told me that one thing they always did was drink a ton of water to stay hydrated and actually keep from retaining water weight. I don't know what the chemistry is behind it, but I tried it and it worked for me. I'd read that before about people thinking they are hungry when indeed they are actually thirsty.

 

Another problem is the amount of garbage that goes into even the so called "low fat" or diet foods...I don't like the healthy choice or frozen weight watcher meals, but I was amazed to read the label and find out how much sodium those little meals have. The dietitain at my hospital tells our patients we need about 2000 mg sodium a day for basic physiological functions and even something like a small can of soup has a ton of sodium in it though it might be low fat. So that doesn't help with water retention either.

 

You're joking, right? If you lose 10 lbs of water, you've accomplished nothing except making yourself dehydrated.:(

 

And...you've set yourself up for major fatgain as well. Many, many dehydrated dieters mistake thirst for hunger...they can feel that their bodies just...want/need something, and they just assume it must be food. So they eat...and overeat. And before you know it, they have even more body fat than before they lost that 10 pounds of water weight.

 

Guess what people inevitably say after this happens to them time after time? Waaaa, diets don't work for me. They just make me fatter!

[Binch]

No, not joking. I doubt I'd ever become dehydrated, I drink somewhere close to a gallon of water a day. The navy seal trainer I used to work out with told me that one thing they always did was drink a ton of water to stay hydrated and actually keep from retaining water weight.

Totally true.

 

Re the joking thing, I said I hoped you were joking about claiming there was "no difference" between losing 10 pounds of water weight vs 10 pounds of body fat.

[bobandkelly]

I don't think Ethiopians are working out several hours a day. She said her friend was doing WW and working out several hours a day. I think (this is only my opinion!) that she is not getting enough to fuel her body that is why she is not losing.

kelly

[Binch]

I don't think Ethiopians are working out several hours a day. She said her friend was doing WW and working out several hours a day. I think (this is only my opinion!) that she is not getting enough to fuel her body that is why she is not losing.

kelly

Right. Scrabbling for survival, fending off lions and rapists, walking 20 miles a day scrounging for food while constantly pregnant, nursing multiple babies and starving is nowhere near as hard as what your friend doing Weight Watchers is having to endure. Poor thing!