# Calorie Deficit...how much is too much?



## Nickers2002 (Nov 25, 2009)

Ok, so....I need help 

I got a new step counter for Christmas (yay!) but according to what I do during the day on average I am burning about 1800 calories just from walking. Not including lifting/other duties. I take in an average of 1000-1100 calories a day and me eating that much is a challenge.

According to the "calorie calculators" I should be eating 2400 calories a day to maintain my weight, 1900 for fat loss and 1600 for extreme fat loss. Obviously I'm no where near that and it'll get worse when the weather improves and I can ride again.

I assume this large deficit is why I've gained a few pounds because I'm probably back in starvation mode - an ongoing problem I have. So how do you do it? How do you eat enough to lose weight when you have trouble eating enough period??? I also have GERD so I get full quickly and stay full - that doesn't help ><


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## Red Gate Farm (Aug 28, 2011)

This is odd. Have you checked with your doctor?


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

trouble eating enough? 
you can't eat much, so must push yourself to eat? are you even overweight?

if you have GERD, are you addressing that? I mean, are you taking any medication, or making any other changes to reduce that?

I can have episodes of GERD if I take too many antiinflammatory drugs. even aspirin will trigger it. if so, I must immediataly start on a course of omeprazole. if I allow it to really get bad, it's very hard to get it to settle down. if it gets bad, I must take a double dose of Nexium for a couple of weeks to go back to normal, then stop taking it (it's bad for your gut).

if you are increasing your exersize level, you will be adding muscles tissue, which is heavier than fat, so you can gain pounds on the scale.


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## 4horses (Nov 26, 2012)

Ignore the calorie counter. If I ate as much as recommended by those calorie counters I would be a blimp! What about the food pyramid that recommends seven bread/ grain servings? There is no way I could eat that much!

I've gained 30 lbs in the last year and I only eat between 1500 and 2000 calories a day. Right now my goal is to eat about 1500 calories as I want to drop ten pounds. And my weight has not budged.

I have gastrointestinal issues as well. I read a study that the bacteria in your gi tract influence weight gain and obesity. It certainly must be true as my gi problems were so bad I could live on 600 to 800 calories and my weight hardly dropped.

I've also heard of people with stomach paralysis who were obese. How can a person be obese if they can't tolerate most foods? If they can barely eat anything?

I have chronic fatigue syndrome as well. I think there is something wrong with my body's ability to break down fat and turn it into energy. I don't recover from exercise the way a normal person would and I need at least 9 to 12 hours of sleep. You tell the doctors that and they think you are being lazy or are depressed.

I do have partial paralysis of the stomach which a study has linked to chronic fatigue.... and both are theoretically linked to mitochondrial disorders. 

But all testing comes back normal and half the doctors don't even know what mitochondrial disorders are...

I've also read some theories on cytokine induced sickness behavior. Basically when you are sick ( or your immune system is not working properly) your body releases cytokines which tell your brain you are sick and need rest. Sometimes I think my immune system is doing that every day.

I know I can survive off of much less food then most people, and even when exercising, I just don't need to eat as much. 

I can consume enough calories, my body can store it as fat, but I just can't seem to break it down and turn it into energy. Hence the fatigue, muscle pain, and exercise intolerance. 

I think some people can live off of fewer calories than others due to their changes in their metabolism. I know low thyroid levels cause weight gain issues. You could probably starve someone with hypothyroidism and they would still stay overweight! From the perspective of survival of the fittest, these issues probably would help you survive periods of starvation. Not so helpful in modern day life.

It might not be a bad idea to get some blood work done.


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## 4horses (Nov 26, 2012)

Is it possible the weight gain you've noticed is related to abdominal bloating? Take a tape measure around the middle of your abdomen and check first thing in the morning and at night. 

I can gain an inch or two in bloating when my stomach acts up! Sometimes I look pregnant as the bloating gets so bad. This is very common in gastrointestinal issues. Plus the increased abdominal pressure from the bloating can cause reflux. It is like squeezing the bottom of a water bottle, the water has no where to go but up!

Have you had a gastric emptying scan? A breath test for small intestinal bacterial overgrowth? You may want to start there. Bacterial overgrowth is very common when you take acid inhibitors.


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## beau159 (Oct 4, 2010)

Nickers2002 said:


> I take in an average of 1000-1100 calories a day and me eating that much is a challenge.



But WHAT are you eating?

If you are having 2 double cheeseburgers from McDonalds each day (which would put you at about 1,000 calories for the day), no, you probably aren't going to lose any weight. 

So it makes a BIG difference on what those 1,000 calories are comprised of. 

Maybe if you can post what a typical day would be for you, that will give us some direction. 

80% of the battle of losing weight is about WHAT you eat ..... not so much of the amount you eat



Nickers2002 said:


> According to the "calorie calculators" I should be eating 2400 calories a day to maintain my weight, 1900 for fat loss and 1600 for extreme fat loss. Obviously I'm no where near that and it'll get worse when the weather improves and I can ride again.


Remember that the calorie counters are just an estimate. It's not an exact science. 

Also, what are YOU figuring for your "exercise level"? Are you currently doing regular exercise? (You didn't say .... except for the normal walking you would do during the day anyway.) If so, what are you doing?

Exercise makes up the other 20% of losing weight.


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

There is a website where you can look up nutrient values of foods. It also tells if a particular food is anti-inflammatory. It might be worth working out a diet of strictly anti-inflammatory foods. It also tells glycemic index.


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## greentree (Feb 27, 2013)

I have been trying to lose 40 pounds for the last 12 YEARS!! I lost it before.....WHY could I no longer?? According to my BodyBugg, I should have been losing 3 pounds EVERY DAY! I took the print out to my doctor, 8 years ago. She said it HAD to be my thyroid...nope. 

In November, 2014, I took the advice of a doctor on PBS, and cut all of the wheat and sugar out of my diet.....the weight started falling OFF. I have lost 1 pound per week since. I DID NOT add any exercise, I Eat when I am hungry, but I am no longer a slave to the cravings that wheat caused. 

AMAZING....


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## PrivatePilot (Dec 7, 2009)

beau159 said:


> If you are having 2 double cheeseburgers from McDonalds each day (which would put you at about 1,000 calories for the day), no, you probably aren't going to lose any weight.
> 
> So it makes a BIG difference on what those 1,000 calories are comprised of.


Huh?

*Calories are calories*. A 1000 calorie cheeseburger is no different than a 1000 calorie drink from Starbucks. It's still 1000 calories in the end.

OP, I think part of your problem is that your calculations for calories burned "from just walking" are hopelessly optimistic. 1800 calories from just walking? As someone who lost a bunch of weight a few years ago I know that to burn 1800 calories from just walking you'd have to be doing it at a brisk pace for many *HOURS* per day - probably 4 to 6 hours, honestly. _Non stop_. When I first started my weight loss quest my first stage was walking 5 kilometers (around 3 miles) every single night at a brisk pace (or as brisk as I could do at that point) which took me close to an hour in the beginning, and using a heart rate monitor to accurately convert that to calories burned... that was only a few hundred calories - around 400 or so IIRC.

If you have a smartphone invest in a bluetooth chest-strap heart rate monitor and download a well regarded app in order to track your workouts - you may be very surprised at how much effort goes into a surprisingly low calorie burn. When starting out most people _wildly overestimate_ how many calories they're burning during fitness or everyday activities.


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## greentree (Feb 27, 2013)

Calories Are NOT calories. If your endocrine system is constantly being hammered by blood sugar spikes, it has set up it's resistance, and until it is reset, you will continue to not lose weight.


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## PrivatePilot (Dec 7, 2009)

Ummm. Yes they are. A calorie is a standard thermodynamic unit. 

I suggest you look it up. 

Don't confuse how your body treats or processes different foods for calories somehow being different from one another. 

100 cal of beef fat is no different than 100 cal of apple slices - yes, your body will process one differently than the other, and there's no question one is healthier than the other, but they are still 100 cal each. 

Suggesting otherwise falls into the "what weighs more, 1 pound of feathers or 1 pound of lead?" argument. It's still 1 pound.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Mulefeather (Feb 22, 2014)

A calorie is a calorie, but macros do matter. What you consume in a given day’s intake is going to make a difference in how your body processes energy. 

For instance, I eat a low-carbohydrate plan. I stay at around 5% carbs, 40% protein, and 55% fat for my daily diet. I eat about 1700 calories a day. I do not consume grains or sugar. This plan has helped me lose 80 lbs. I’m still chipping away at my weight these days, but having a much better time of it when I stick to this plan. My biggest issue is not what I am eating but how much – I am definitely a food addict who is triggered by stressful events. 

Try watching the documentary “Fat Head” by Tom Naughton. The gentleman tried the experiment of eating an all-fast-food diet, but he kept a strict watch over his macros and calories– how much fat/protein/carbs he eats, and he manages to lose weight in the 30 days he is eating this way. He also does a very good job of illustrating what a blood sugar spike does to your ability to absorb nutrients, and why eating low-fat and high carbohydrate makes it harder to lose weight. 

Put it this way- at this point, I weigh about 335 lbs. To equate to 1800 calories burned, I’d have to walk at about 2.5 MPH for almost 5 hours straight.


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## greentree (Feb 27, 2013)

A calorie is a calorie in measurement, yes, but if you are still spiking your bloodsugar repeatedly, your body does not process the calories the same. 

I can eat 900 calories per day. I burn a lot of calories in a day, according to BodyBugg and FitBit. I get the recommended 30 minutes of moderate exercise in the first 45 minutes of my day, according to BodyBugg and FitBit. If many of those calories include carbohydrates, I PUT on weight. If Very few of those calories are carbohydrates, I can eat 2500 to 2800 calories per day, and LOSE weight. 

In a lab, a calorie is a unit of measurement, but in many bodies (mostly women), a calorie's source makes a big difference.

Life would be much simpler for those of us with weight problems if calories in- calories out= weight loss!


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

Greentree, how do you like your FitBit? I've read a lot of complaints about all models which turned me away. Which model? Thanks


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

Nickers - I'm confused
Are you trying to lose weight, maintain your weight or gain weight?


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## PrivatePilot (Dec 7, 2009)

greentree said:


> A calorie is a calorie in measurement, yes, but if you are still spiking your bloodsugar repeatedly, your body does not process the calories the same.


On that we can agree, but I just took issue with the suggestion that someone a calorie from one food is somehow different than the calories from a different food. How your body _processes_ each calorie, or it's effects are something different. :wink:


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