I don't eat particularly healthy, and I don't exercise much, yet I'm perpetually borderline underweight.
Why does the math not matter for me, while the next person watches every calorie, goes on long walks, and yet struggles to lose any weight?
Why does the math not matter for me, while the next person watches every calorie, goes on long walks, and yet struggles to lose any weight?
So, I’m fat. All my life I’ve been yoyo-ing in terms of weight. Sometimes methodically sometimes by the ear.
A few years back, I went from 130kg to 85kg methodically. Calorie counting, watching macros, targeted exercises, all the good stuff.
What I found out was, if I didn’t diet and just logged my calories, I was consuming 4000 sometimes even 5000 calories per day easily. And it didn’t feel like I was eating much.
Full English for breakfast, that’s about 1k right there. One or two lates, another 300-400 calories. Maybe pair that with a little pastry, another 300 on top of that. Lunch, burger and fries, big coke to drink, toss in another k. After work a couple of pins with the lads, another 300-400. Get back, have dinner, maybe snack something while falling asleep to Netflix, another 1k easy. Don’t get me started on getting pissed with 7-8 pints and then devouring 3 big macs like it’s nothing.
I also found out I’m burning far more calories then I was expecting for my sedentary lifestyle. Just the walk to work, climbing some stairs, moving around the office, going to lunch, doing some house chores put me in close to 1k burned. Without feeling like I was making any effort.
In my case, 4k input with 1k output still yields 3k which is 1k over what I should have.
It is very possible in your case your input is 3k, your output 1k so your staying exactly as you are.
Count your calories, wear a apple watch and you’ll find out precisely.
Likewise the person who struggles to lose weight with diet and exercise is very likely eating more than they think they're eating (or opting for healthy options that aren't actually healthy, like salad covered in 600 calories of ranch dressing)
I used to eat at a salad bar every day for years. I got to observe what all kinds of people put into a “salad”.
My salads: spinach, romaine, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, chick peas, mushrooms, balsamic vinegar (no oil).
Obese people’s salad: Four hard boiled eggs, ham, three leaves of lettuce, shredded cheese, a cup of ranch dressing.
Not even half a can of soda off and you gain five pounds a year, or fifty in a decade. The math matters, but does does the calibration and the ability to accurately estimate consumption. Even a tiny error amount means long-term weight gain. It's pretty easy to be glib about it.
A fidgeter, someone who wiggles, bounces their feet, etc., can burn perhaps three hundred extra calories per day. You can also see how that adds up.
The tiny increments matter little against time.
I've counted calories closely before and it's not black magic at work, I just don't eat enough. It feels like I eat a lot (probably because it's mostly food I cook myself and not calorie dense fast food) and I feel full, but the calories don't lie.
I'm guessing it's the reverse for people struggling to lose weight. I feel full and comfortable 200 calories below the daily recommended amount, and they likely feel that same way 200 calories above. I easily fall underweight if I stop paying attention to my diet, and they likely become overweight when they do the same and listen to their body.
Also don't think that because you are not getting fat that your body is in a healthy state. You can be really skinny yet get insulin resistance, as I did.
Because it is about the amount you eat and not about eating healthy (whatever that means anyway).
Fat people eat a lot and often don’t know how much.