MinnMan

Overheard on my group ride yesterday,

"____, you seem to have lost some weight"

"yeah, 20 lbs."

"Great, how did you do it?"

"Noom"

rumrunn6

thank you, yes, that's what I'm hoping for but it's sooooo sloooow ...

rumrunn6

funny. my goal is 196 (I started at 229), Noom says my goal should be 136 - 179. well, that's not gonna happen, my HS weight was 175. but they assure me in 6months I'll get there! um, nope

but I like that they highlight motivation. because you gotta have motivation!

PeteHski

You just have to be patient and consistent. It doesn’t matter how long it takes if you intend to remain at a healthy weight for the rest of your life. Yo-yo diets are a waste of time.

PeteHski

There is no reason why you can’t get down to your HS weight. Your body composition will inevitably have a little less muscle and a bit more fat, but overall weight should be roughly the same. If you can lose 30 lbs, then you can lose another 20 lb. It’s all just excess fat at this weight.

MinnMan

there's some sense to your expectations, and I wish you luck getting down to 196, but once you get there, you may feel differently about going lower.

One of the BIG challenges to losing weight and keeping it off is actually the keeping it off part. You get down to your target weight and you say, "OK, now I don't have to be quite as careful with my diet because I'm not trying to lose weight". But that's a slippery slope and figuring out the new diet that is weight neutral can be VERY hard. This is why people yo-yo. Have a plan for this.

MinnMan

For many of us, "high school weight" is a pretty nice accomplishment. I guess now that more youth are overweight, this won't always mean to people what it means to most of us older folk.

rumrunn6

if I understood my nephew correctly, I stay with my calorie limit. it gets me to my goal weight & keeps me there. meaning, what I'm doing is not not temporary

rumrunn6

of course, but my goal was set by a personal trainer who met me, measured me, took a profile, etc

hopperja

This is an example of part of the problem here. I speak for myself and what works for me. You are trying to tell me what works for me, but you don't know me. Maybe this works for you, but because it works for you it doesn't mean it will work the same for me or others.

​​​​​​

genejockey 

For me "high school weight" would be a problem, because I grew another inch or so after high school, so I'd be stretching the weight over more length.

MinnMan

Well, weight loss comes down to having a deficit of calories relative to what you burn. If you have a regimen that results in weight loss, your (intake-consumption) energy (calories) is a negative number. So I don't see how your weight loss diet and your weight maintenance diet can be the same, unless, say, you start exercising less.

MinnMan

You know, I have seen many posts here that are of the flavor that you are describing, but I don't PeteHski 's falls into that category. Calorie counting is a helpful tool for many. You don't have to do it to lose weight, but that isn't the same as "doesn't mean it will work the same for me or others".

Shorter: I think you are being too harsh here.

rumrunn6

at my current weight, it's a deficit
at my target weight it, will be maintenance

MinnMan

Yes, I see the point - as you lose weight, your daily homeostatic burn goes down.

PeteHski

I'm not trying to tell you anything. I'm just saying that calorie counting is a bit like weighing yourself i.e. an objective, trackable metric. Whether it is helpful or not depends on what you do with the data. I happen to find calorie counting very useful when training to hit a specific target weight, in a specific timeframe. A lot of pro cyclists do it instead of guessing their calorie intake. I realise an objective approach is not for everyone.

wolfchild

Eating intuitively has worked for me my whole life and not just me but many other people...I can easily loose weight or gain weight without counting a single calorie. I just know exactly how much to eat without keeping track of calories. Some days I eat more some days I eat less. Some days I may eat 2 - 3 meals per day and on other days I may eat 4 - 5 times per day. It all just balances out and works great for me, no need to keep track of any data.

PeteHski

How can you eat an exact amount of food without measuring it in some way?

PeteHski

Well intuition works for me too, but calorie counting makes it more precise when I train for a specific event. As I said it is just data like knowing your weight. I could guess my weight too, but it’s not as precise.

wolfchild

Is this even a serious question ?

Inusuit

I'm blessed with good genes. I weigh regularly and adjust input accordingly even if it means skipping beer for a few days. I wish everyone the best of luck with whatever method they use to reach loss goals and maintain a healthy weight. We have an epidemic of obesity that raises health care costs for all of us.

Carbonfiberboy 

A reporter asked LA how he knew how many calories he was consuming. He said, "It's written on the side of the box!"

wolfchild

You take the word exact out of it's context and meaning....I didn't say I eat exactly the same amount of food at every meal every day....I said I just know exactly how much total food to eat every day. Some days it's less, some days it's more, the actual portion of food isn't always exactly the same. I just know what my body needs without having to keep track of any data.

MinnMan

No, he took the word in the correct context. Exact means exact.

Your posts are consistently strident. If you are feeling sensitive about this kind of criticism, consider moderating your writing style.

PeteHski

Yeah I know what you said. It is impossible to know exactly how much food you ate today if you didn’t keep track of it. Words like “less” and “more” are not exact amounts.

Eating intuitively works for me up to a point, but if I want to lose a specific amount of weight in a specific amount of time then I track my calorie intake and calorie burn. I can lose weight without tracking calories, but it’s never as consistent.

Just to be clear I’m not saying that calorie counting is the only way to lose weight. But it is definitely one way that works for some people and many pro athletes do it routinely.