Why am I still overweight even though I consume 1000 fewer calories daily?

[dancibutterfly]

Hello everyone

I am a 19-year-old male weighing 120 kilograms. I work as a programmer and have very little physical activity during the day. However, I have been on a diet for a while now, consuming 1500 calories daily instead of the 2500 calories my body needs. But I'm not losing any weight at all. Could the issue be with my metabolism? Could it be related to my job? Can I change this trend by walking for 1 hour at a moderate pace every day?

 

[dongphong19]

@dancibutterfly You’re eating more than 1500 calories.

 

[littlechu]

@dongphong19 ...or drinking... nobody counts the drinks.

 

[dongphong19]

@littlechu regardless of how he gets his calories, he should be losing weight unless he’s a 40 kg woman if he’s only getting 1500 a day

 

[littlechu]

@dongphong19 True, but we are talking about the fact that he is tracking his intake incorrectly. And one very common way people mis-count intake is by not tracking the calories in liquids they ingest.

 

[dongphong19]

@littlechu i don’t disagree with you, but there’s multiple ways people commonly miscount. Caloric drinks is one, underestimating portion size too and also estimating calories instead of weighing and counting their actual food (or drinks as you mention)

 

[littlechu]

@dongphong19 I absolutely agree with you; you covered the eating part in your original comment.

 

[dancibutterfly]

@dongphong19

h yourself every morning or at least multiple times a week, track your calories ACCURATELY. Wait two weeks

I count drinks and also i use a calorie calculator application that save everything i eat and counts calories from that

 

[1simpleman]

@dancibutterfly Ask a close coworker/friend to review what you imput. It's very easy to overview some items while thinking you counted everything.

Weigh EVERYTHING, don't guess. Air and water excluded. Salt, sauces and sodas should be accounted for.

If your account is correct, it might be your app. Either you enter approximate food items because the app doesn't have exactly what you consume, and it accumulates giving you a false count. Either the app is just bad at counting. Which one is it ?

 

[miles44]

@dancibutterfly Weigh yourself every morning or at least multiple times a week, track your calories ACCURATELY. Wait two weeks.

 

[blazewater]

@dancibutterfly It’s clear that you’re not truly eating 1500, less food would automatically drop weight, id cross check your numbers and food again, condiments oils nuts etc all add up very fast just saying

 

[howru]

@dancibutterfly How long have you been sticking to the 1500?

 

[dancibutterfly]

@howru

How long have you been sticking to the 1500?

About 1 mo

 

[yosoy]

@dancibutterfly If your TDEE is 2500, cut down to 2000-1900.

What I think is happening is that you don't really track that well, maybe you just do it in your head and guesstimate most of it.

Won't work, you'll go super off track. Maybe you eat a couple snacks here and there, tiny ones and you don't really think about it. During a meeting, you grab a chocolate, you put creamer in your milk, you use too much butter or oil when eating.

Other than that, it takes time - how long have you been dieting?

In nicely paced cuts, slow and steady about 1-2kg a month is pretty good.

 

[dancibutterfly]

@yosoy Its 1 month. I use a calorie calculator app that counts calories by my food input. I think its my metabolism problem. I sit for 8-10 hours daily while working or reading book

 

[radicalmonk]

@dancibutterfly Stop using some calculator app and use the backs of packaging, weigh your food then count again. Also count your drinks and ALL the snacking you may or may not do. Avoid things that cause water retention like excessive amounts of salt, sweeteners etc. (google this)

 

[r0cker91]

@dancibutterfly I am someone who lost 55 lbs and am still chipping at my long term fat loss goal. My job requires lots of standing but not much movement outside of that. Everyone has a BMR and every little movement you make also burns cals, based on your weight and age, 1500 is such a severe deficit and if performed properly, you should be losing a few pounds a week, realistically. Although, you should tone it down a bit and eat 1,900 cals to start. And cut from there as needed, because once your body stops responding to the 1,500 deficit, you will need to play rehab with you metabolism and get it adjusted to maintenance again before digging deeper on a deficit. Anything lower than 1,500 a day is not healthy. A calculator app is not a reliable form of tracking either. You need a food scale and you need to read the labels of the foods you are consuming. To simplify it, all that really matters right now is calories in and calories out. Worrying about macros can be overwhelming for beginners and the calorie deficit alone is enough to produce results. Don't overthink reading the label, is what I am saying. You should utilize it though and be concious of 2 things: 1. KILOCALORIES, as that is 1,000 calories per 1 kilocalorie and 2. Unless the nutrition label says 0 calories, EVERYTHING you consume down to the condiments, drinks and oils you use have calories and when not tracked or thought out, those add up QUICKLY. Nonetheless, movement is important, i think you should incorporate it. But when ppl say for weight loss it's 70% diet and 30% movement, it's no exaggeration. In terms of weight loss, calories in vs calories out and tracking it correctly packs a way heavier punch than training. Hope this helps!

 

[r0cker91]

@dancibutterfly If you start weighing food and reading nutrition labels, beyond just an app for a few weeks and are still not seeing results, you should follow up with a medical professional as you highly likely have a medical issue and that will need to get resolved before CICO does anything for you.

 

[sistasali]

@dancibutterfly Do you weigh your food? It’s very easy to underestimate your calorie intake because at your intake you should be losing like 2lbs a week. Do you have “cheat days”? Please watch Secret Eaters on YouTube because it shows how easily/frequently people underestimate their caloric intake

 

[stayler]

@dancibutterfly Did you go from 2500 down to 1500 after 2500 had been maintaining your weight? If so, for how long? What’s a while? Walking will help but it sounds like you’re not counting accurately