I have a question about estimating dietary calorie intake. I believe I am measuring my food accurately (digital scale, mostly single ingredient foods, myfitness pal etc). I have recently been trying to lose the “Covid-19” by restricting my calories to 1600 kcal / day. I’ve been at this for 5 weeks. The diet, combined with 30 minutes of daily LISS and 2-3 sessions of weights per week has resulted in an average weekly weight loss of 2.4lbs. Overall, I’m totally happy with that, and feel that I can keep it up for a few more weeks without too much suffering.
However, when I look at the bodyweight planner like the one from the National Institute of Diabetes, they indicate 1600 daily calories should be driving about 3.5 lbs of weight loss per week. I believe you have also indicated to other folks who assume they are eating low calories (like 1500-1600 for a 215 lb male in his thirties) that they are probably not in fact eating that little. Granted, these posters are often also reporting stagnant bodyweights and I am seeing substantial losses.
Would your best guess be that I am in fact, eating more than 1600 per day, or is it entirely plausible that I am eating close to 1600, and bodyweight planners are just estimates that I am pretty damn close to anyway.
Why is it so hard to measure calories accurately in your opinion? I would love to know the biggest errors people make. For instance, I have always measured cooked meat rather than raw until seeing you call that a large source of measurement error.
I think both cases are equally likely, as it tends to take a much longer time to fully realize the weight loss potential of a given energy intake (months-years).
I think that it’s fairly easy to measure intake in a precise manner, but the accuracy requires meticulous use of a scale, USDA food database, measuring condiments, gum, etc. for days to weeks on end. Most people are probably off by a hundred Cals or more when they’re measuring things, which is manageable provided it’s consistent.
Could you kindly elaborate on this comment, as I am not sure I understand what you mean?
I think both cases are equally likely, as it tends to take a much longer time to fully realize the weight loss potential of a given energy intake (months-years).
I’ve been in a weight loss phase and counting calories for 11 weeks now (started at 89kg; 186cm; now at about 81kg):
First 5 weeks: 1550 - 1600 Kcal; 0.8 kg / week avg loss
Next 2 weeks: 1800 Kcal; still 0.85 kg / week avg loss
Next 2 weeks: 2000 Kcal; still 0.85 kg / week avg loss
Previous week: 2200 Kcal; 0.3 kg / week loss
The day I started the diet I also started training again (beginner template, and now Powerbuilding I).
I’ve been tracking my weight by averaging over the week as recommended and have been measuring everything I eat as accurately as possible (scale, raw or cooked/raw ratio), with only 2 small cheat meals during the entire 11 weeks.
Interesting to me that I was only losing 0.8 kg / week at 1600 Kcal. Could that be because of some kind of initial recomp phase due to training and therefore maybe putting on some muscle as well?