If you aren't losing: sobering fact about how much weight loss maintainers eat

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oolala53
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If you aren't losing: sobering fact about how much weight loss maintainers eat

Post by oolala53 » Wed Feb 26, 2020 12:15 am

I know No S isn't supposed to be about calories, but it cannot ignore the laws of physics. If you lose weight, you will need less food to sustain you than if you had never lost weight, or you will need more activity, or both. The National Weight Loss Registry (people who have maintained a loss of 30 lbs. or more for a year or more, I think) shows that the average man eats about 1,700 calories a day and the average woman about 1,400, and they on average expend about 400 calories a day in exercise! These are some pretty determined people!

Now, some ratios of macronutrients or programs or timed eating do seem to allow some people to eat more, but it's usually not more than a 200-300 hundred calories for the average person. It's pretty easy to get to that amount eating dense food. And yes, there are exceptions. (Do you think you will be one of the exceptions? The odds are against it!)

Eventually, your plates are going to have to have about the amount of food eaten by a person who weighs what you would like to weigh minus a few servings of dense food on average a day.

Of course, these are averages, but still. If you are staying faithful to No S and not losing, and you don't want to be a slave to a calorie counter, you may want to look on the net and see if you can see some images of a day's worth of food that fits these amounts and start trying to make your plates look like them.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

There is no S better than Vanilla No S (mods now as a senior citizen)

LifeisaBlessing
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Re: If you aren't losing: sobering fact about how much weight loss maintainers eat

Post by LifeisaBlessing » Wed Feb 26, 2020 12:13 pm

Very practical and great advice oolala--thank you! :)

In keeping with the spirit of your post, here are some pictorial examples of a plate's worth of food with different calorie counts:

How much can a plate hold?

Can you spot the difference between these two plates of food?

Of interest to note is that all of these examples are plates of "healthy" food--no "junk" food in sight. Portions do indeed count!
I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.
~Jimmy Dean

The second you overcomplicate it is the second it becomes the thing for which it is a corrective.
~El Fug, on the NoS Diet

oolala53
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Location: San Diego, CA USA

Re: If you aren't losing: sobering fact about how much weight loss maintainers eat

Post by oolala53 » Thu Mar 05, 2020 3:32 pm

They sure do. LOVE those pics, LAB. (I'm at the point now where a plate with no green on it for lunch or dinner is hardly a meal.) I guessed right about the second link. Fewer veggies, more calories. My plates look loaded these days.

I hope that information doesn't completely demoralize people. A person doesn't have to plunge down to those amounts fast, IF she is willing to forgo weight loss itself for awhile more while she simply gets used to less dense food.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

There is no S better than Vanilla No S (mods now as a senior citizen)

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Sammybunny711
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Re: If you aren't losing: sobering fact about how much weight loss maintainers eat

Post by Sammybunny711 » Mon Mar 09, 2020 1:56 am

Maintenance honestly terrifies me but I have quite a ways to go before I get there. I'd like to lose 55-65 pounds, but this is a very good point to think about. It will take less food to sustain a smaller body. Food for thought.
Height: 5'4"
Highest weight: 210.4
Current Weight: 197.3
Goal Weight: 125-135


*^..^711

oolala53
Posts: 10059
Joined: Mon Oct 06, 2008 1:46 am
Location: San Diego, CA USA

Re: If you aren't losing: sobering fact about how much weight loss maintainers eat

Post by oolala53 » Tue Apr 07, 2020 4:22 pm

I never had an outright weight loss goal, and never did anything specific to actually lose, so I never feared I couldn't keep off what I lost. I was VERY interested in determining what was moderate eating for me and adjusting for that over time led to 40 lbs. off and maintained. (Actually I weigh less now, but from other mods for other reasons.)

BTW, also not to discourage but to be real: a woman I know on another site, a bit shorter than I am, much more consistently active than I am, who has maintained a sizable loss for years, averages about 1300 calories a day- for health reasons, she tracks her food- and is still in the low obese range. There is definitely some luck involved in this game.

I have heard of some exceptions to what I said above, but no evidence that the majority can sustain the habits that are associated with the exceptions.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

There is no S better than Vanilla No S (mods now as a senior citizen)

LadyFartFace
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2018 5:41 pm

Re: If you aren't losing: sobering fact about how much weight loss maintainers eat

Post by LadyFartFace » Sun Apr 19, 2020 1:38 am

It also depends on what weight you are trying to achieve. Both my mother and my sister are in healthy weight ranges. My sister consumes around 1400 a day to achieve the lowest weight of her range per her BMI. She isn't active. My mom is semi active and at the highest of her healthy weight range per bmi and consumes 2000 calories more or less a day.

The less active you are, the less you need to sustain your body. The older you are the less you eat, the shorter you are etc.

There are many studies conducted that do say a person who dieted down to one weight vs a person that doesn't diet but is that weight both need to consume different amounts. The dieters usually need 300-400 calories less.

Now if you were to build lean muscle tissue it is possible to be able to actually eat much more then had you not.

I think the hardest part (which rings true for me) is simply accepting that to weight less you will eat less. I regained over 100 pounds by thinking once I got my goal I would magically be able to eat as much as a line backer and stay thin. Due to muscle I was able to eat more then the calculators stated but less then I was eating when I started.

The other thing to which makes accurate calorie counts iffy at best is many people will over calculate or vastly under calculate what they are consuming. A good amount of dieters also suffer from EDs so those numbers may possibly be off. When it boils down to it a smaller body needs less then a larger body. The typical amount of 2000 calories for a female usually applies to a moderately active (think 10k steps plus 45 min of purposeful exercise), 20-50s, mid to high end of BMI with a typical to talk height. People will always fall under or over these numbers.

I think if one isn't losing anymore and they are above a healthy weight range by a good amount it might be helpful to make sure most of the plate is veggies as they do tend to be less caloric then anything else. Also helps to be mindful of cooking oils and coffee creamer etc.

It's super discouraging to read you will eat less, but if you can accept that early on it's very helpful. This time I know I can't eat like this and be thinner. I will have to eat less. My plates now might be loaded and I'm losing but later on they won't be. Very good discussion!

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BrightAngel
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Re: If you aren't losing: sobering fact about how much weight loss maintainers eat

Post by BrightAngel » Sun May 24, 2020 9:15 pm

The less active you are, the less you need to sustain your body.
The older you are the less you eat,
the shorter you are, etc.

There are many studies conducted that do say a person who dieted down to one weight vs a person that doesn't diet
is that weight both need to consume different amounts. The dieters usually need 300-400 calories less.

I think the hardest part (which rings true for me) is simply accepting that to weigh less you will eat less.


So sad, but SO Very True.
BrightAngel - (Dr. Collins)
See: DietHobby. com

oolala53
Posts: 10059
Joined: Mon Oct 06, 2008 1:46 am
Location: San Diego, CA USA

Re: If you aren't losing: sobering fact about how much weight loss maintainers eat

Post by oolala53 » Sun Jun 21, 2020 5:14 am

Hi, BrightAngel! The queen of honesty regarding caloric intake. We don't get alerts when there are now comments, so I missed your post. Hope you are well.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

There is no S better than Vanilla No S (mods now as a senior citizen)

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