T or F: Calories In vs. Calories Out?

[Greeneggs&ham]

I assume most of us are not certified dietitians, but I'm curious to see what others think about this most basic belief regarding weight loss?

I fell off the Atkins band wagon early in the year, and have wandered aimlessly among other eating plans thinking I could continue to lose (or at least maintain) by simply watching what I put into my mouth and what I did to deplete my calorie intake. Although I would go for weeks at a time eating "healthy" foods (whole grains, fruit, lean meats, skim milk, etc) while avoiding things like sugar and refined flour, AND make it a point to exercise 30 minutes to 1 hour per day, 6 days per week, I found that my weight slowly started piling on again. When I returned to writing down what I ate on FitDay, I found that I was consuming anywhere between 1600-2100 calories a day, and burning an estimated 3200-3800 calories based on exercise levels.

Regardless of numbers, the weight came back. Either I am a freak of nature, defying all scientific principles, or the widely held notion of "eat less, exercise more" comes with varying degrees of flaws.

I'm not looking for a physiological dissertation or molecular biology here, but I wouldn't mind some educated opinions (along with a lump or two of sympathy!).

I plan to face the facts (at least as they seem to apply to me), and return to what has been proven to work in the past just as soon as I can deplete the non-Atkins items I have purchased recently that might be used as weapons against me by my wife should I think to toss them out or leave them to collect dust in the pantry...

[mitzimarie]

T or F: Calories In vs. Calories Out? - FALSE

I have had the exact same experience as you have, Eric. (in more ways than one ... sending good vibes that you are able to hop back on the Atkins wagon soon )

[msanjelpie]

When someone weighs 125 eats healthy, and exercises their weight tends to stay the same... add 100 lbs to that and possible insulin resistance and you have a recipe for weight gain... it may be that until you get down to a normal (not obese) weight, you won't be able to eat the way you see other people eat and maintain, let alone lose...

Burning an estimated 3200-3800 calories a day takes a lot of exercise. Where are you getting this figure from? Running a marathon burns about that much...

[liv]

I am not providing any explanations either but my experiences have confirmed the same thing you saw Eric. For moths and months I exercised very hard kept calories under control and in theory I should have lost weight. Did not happen. That calorie in and calorie out model is not sound in my opinion. The body in not a thermodynamic machine.

[Greeneggs&ham]

Originally Posted by msanjelpie

Burning an estimated 3200-3800 calories a day takes a lot of exercise. Where are you getting this figure from? Running a marathon burns about that much...

LOL! That would be a lot by exercise alone, wouldn't it?

Actually, I'm going by FitDay's calculation that a 250-pound male with a desk job has a BMR of around 3000 calories PLUS the exercise burn of 200-800 calories. Seems like a lot of calories burned in a day, but I recall that while on Atkins, I could eat around 2800 calories a day and still lose weight. I can't say the same when I follow a USRDA-based diet.

[cindy30]

My personal experience is that when you deny your body, it will change. I have lost weight on atkins and on low calorie just as fast. It is hard work either way. I ate 1500 calories per day and burned 800 at the gym doing 1 hour of cardio and 30 min of strength training, I lost 15 lbs the first month, then about 1-2 lbs per week on average after that. On atkins the same, during my first time on induction I lost 8 lbs. But after induction I lost an average of 1 lb a week keeping excercise the same. The only difference is that I hit plateaus (sp) more on atkins. I am a fan of atkins because you can eat more