Why some people eat so little and can't lose weight...maybe.

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/eatt...ds-in-america/

Note that people who ate out UNDERESTIMATED their calorie intake by
93%. Wow. I strongly suspect this is a factor when people claim to be
eating so little but don't lose weight. If they miss the calorie
intake that much in a restaurant, my guess is they also underestimate
at home. Those fats like salad dressings, olive oil, etc. are most
likely the biggest problem, because they are very high calorie and so
it is easier to misjudge how much you ate. If you underestimate how
many calories are in the spinach or lettuce, that wouldn't likely be a
big deal cause it might mean the difference between 100 and 190
calories....difference- 90 calories, but underestimate fat which you
might think has 350 calories by the same amount and you have really
eaten 315 calories more. It is human nature to want to believe that
somehow the wt. gain must be due to something rare like metabolic
diseases, a really, really slow metabolism but simple overeating and
underestimating calories is probably the case. Look to fats if you are
overweight. Therein lies the problem. dkw

On Apr 11, 5:40 pm, "dkw12...@yahoo.com" <dkw12...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> http://health.yahoo.com/experts/eatt...t-foods-in-ame...
>
> Note that people who ate out UNDERESTIMATED their calorie intake by
> 93%. Wow. I strongly suspect this is a factor when people claim to be
> eating so little but don't lose weight. If they miss the calorie
> intake that much in a restaurant, my guess is they also underestimate
> at home. Those fats like salad dressings, olive oil, etc. are most
> likely the biggest problem, because they are very high calorie and so
> it is easier to misjudge how much you ate. If you underestimate how
> many calories are in the spinach or lettuce, that wouldn't likely be a
> big deal cause it might mean the difference between 100 and 190
> calories....difference- 90 calories, but underestimate fat which you
> might think has 350 calories by the same amount and you have really
> eaten 315 calories more. It is human nature to want to believe that
> somehow the wt. gain must be due to something rare like metabolic
> diseases, a really, really slow metabolism but simple overeating and
> underestimating calories is probably the case. Look to fats if you are
> overweight. Therein lies the problem. dkw

I think it's even simpler. Boredom eating is KILLER when it comes to
calories. When we're eating because we're bored, we tend to eat snack
foods. A lot of those have higher calorie counts ANYWAY, and when we
mindlessly crunch a bag of chips, we could be eating half of the
proper intake amount for a single day in a single sitting!!

I always thought the idea of a "food diary" was kinda stupid, but when
used in PREPARATION of a meal, instead of after or during the meal, it
really helps keep the actual numbers very close to the top of my mind.

Knowing is [more than] half the battle.

On Apr 12, 3:48*pm, James G <SnoopJ...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Apr 11, 5:40 pm, "dkw12...@yahoo.com" <dkw12...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> >http://health.yahoo.com/experts/eatt...t-foods-in-ame...
>
> > Note that people who ate out UNDERESTIMATED their calorie intake by
> > 93%. Wow. I strongly suspect this is a factor when people claim to be
> > eating so little but don't lose weight. If they miss the calorie
> > intake that much in a restaurant, my guess is they also underestimate
> > at home. Those fats like salad dressings, olive oil, etc. are most
> > likely the biggest problem, because they are very high calorie and so
> > it is easier to misjudge how much you ate. If you underestimate how
> > many calories are in the spinach or lettuce, that wouldn't likely be a
> > big deal cause it might mean the difference between 100 and 190
> > calories....difference- 90 calories, but underestimate fat which you
> > might think has 350 calories by the same amount and you have really
> > eaten 315 calories more. It is human nature to want to believe that
> > somehow the wt. gain must be due to something rare like metabolic
> > diseases, a really, really slow metabolism but simple overeating and
> > underestimating calories is probably the case. Look to fats if you are
> > overweight. Therein lies the problem. dkw
>
> I think it's even simpler. *Boredom eating is KILLER when it comes to
> calories. *When we're eating because we're bored, we tend to eat snack
> foods. *A lot of those have higher calorie counts ANYWAY, and when we
> mindlessly crunch a bag of chips, we could be eating half of the
> proper intake amount for a single day in a single sitting!!
>
> I always thought the idea of a "food diary" was kinda stupid, but when
> used in PREPARATION of a meal, instead of after or during the meal, it
> really helps keep the actual numbers very close to the top of my mind.
>
> Knowing is [more than] half the battle.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

What helps me is to make my menu every day then stick to it. For me it
is easy because I eat a lot of the same foods and know exactly how
many calories are in them. When I am through my list, even if it is 2
PM in the afternoon, I stop eating. Acutally, I am finished eating
quite often at 2 PM, but really don't get hungry the rest of the day.
I eat quite a lot at about 11 am. Since I get up at about 5 am each
morning, I have breakfast then.

I think one of the main ideas of a food diary is that you can see how
much you have REALLY eaten. Many people conveniently forget they ate
something otherwise and this sort of shames them into cutting back.
Really, if a person doesn't know how many calories they've eaten, it
is kinda difficult for a nutritionist or the person who's overweight
to make the best choices. When I was losing wt...because I was losing
wt., I knew exactly how many calories I was eating, how many I was
burning, and what my wt. loss rate would be. This worked very
precisely with only slight tweaking required because as you weigh
less, you burn fewer calories when exercising and need fewer calories
for the new, lower weight, but even that I had figured out in advance.
When I went onto maintenance at 138 pounds down from 230, I also knew
exactly how many calories I needed to maintain my wt. at the time...
2025. I haven't gained or lost a single pound in 3 years with that
amount. The open-ended eating that many people seem to practice does
not lend itself to serious dieting. Whenever I hear someone say
something like "I really overate today", I think they are not really
serious and their "diet" has already failed. It is like cheating on
your spouse. It's possible that someone might do it just once, but the
likelihood is that after that first time, they do it time and time
again and just like overeating, feel like crap over and over again
too. Best to just not overeat ever, IMO. I know I can't and WON"T.
While few need to be as anally retentive as I am about it, they seem
to need better data plus a good dose of willpower of course. dkw

On Apr 12, 7:41 pm, "dkw12...@yahoo.com" <dkw12...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> On Apr 12, 3:48 pm, James G <SnoopJ...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > On Apr 11, 5:40 pm, "dkw12...@yahoo.com" <dkw12...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > >http://health.yahoo.com/experts/eatt...t-foods-in-ame...
>
> > > Note that people who ate out UNDERESTIMATED their calorie intake by
> > > 93%. Wow. I strongly suspect this is a factor when people claim to be
> > > eating so little but don't lose weight. If they miss the calorie
> > > intake that much in a restaurant, my guess is they also underestimate
> > > at home. Those fats like salad dressings, olive oil, etc. are most
> > > likely the biggest problem, because they are very high calorie and so
> > > it is easier to misjudge how much you ate. If you underestimate how
> > > many calories are in the spinach or lettuce, that wouldn't likely be a
> > > big deal cause it might mean the difference between 100 and 190
> > > calories....difference- 90 calories, but underestimate fat which you
> > > might think has 350 calories by the same amount and you have really
> > > eaten 315 calories more. It is human nature to want to believe that
> > > somehow the wt. gain must be due to something rare like metabolic
> > > diseases, a really, really slow metabolism but simple overeating and
> > > underestimating calories is probably the case. Look to fats if you are
> > > overweight. Therein lies the problem. dkw
>
> > I think it's even simpler. Boredom eating is KILLER when it comes to
> > calories. When we're eating because we're bored, we tend to eat snack
> > foods. A lot of those have higher calorie counts ANYWAY, and when we
> > mindlessly crunch a bag of chips, we could be eating half of the
> > proper intake amount for a single day in a single sitting!!
>
> > I always thought the idea of a "food diary" was kinda stupid, but when
> > used in PREPARATION of a meal, instead of after or during the meal, it
> > really helps keep the actual numbers very close to the top of my mind.
>
> > Knowing is [more than] half the battle.- Hide quoted text -
>
> > - Show quoted text -
>
> What helps me is to make my menu every day then stick to it. For me it
> is easy because I eat a lot of the same foods and know exactly how
> many calories are in them. When I am through my list, even if it is 2
> PM in the afternoon, I stop eating. Acutally, I am finished eating
> quite often at 2 PM, but really don't get hungry the rest of the day.
> I eat quite a lot at about 11 am. Since I get up at about 5 am each
> morning, I have breakfast then.
>
> I think one of the main ideas of a food diary is that you can see how
> much you have REALLY eaten. Many people conveniently forget they ate
> something otherwise and this sort of shames them into cutting back.
> Really, if a person doesn't know how many calories they've eaten, it
> is kinda difficult for a nutritionist or the person who's overweight
> to make the best choices. When I was losing wt...because I was losing
> wt., I knew exactly how many calories I was eating, how many I was
> burning, and what my wt. loss rate would be. This worked very
> precisely with only slight tweaking required because as you weigh
> less, you burn fewer calories when exercising and need fewer calories
> for the new, lower weight, but even that I had figured out in advance.
> When I went onto maintenance at 138 pounds down from 230, I also knew
> exactly how many calories I needed to maintain my wt. at the time...
> 2025. I haven't gained or lost a single pound in 3 years with thatamount. Theopen-ended eating that many people seem to practice does
> not lend itself to serious dieting. Whenever I hear someone say
> something like "I really overate today", I think they are not really
> serious and their "diet" has already failed. It is like cheating on
> your spouse. It's possible that someone might do it just once, but the
> likelihood is that after that first time, they do it time and time
> again and just like overeating, feel like crap over and over again
> too. Best to just not overeat ever, IMO. I know I can't and WON"T.
> While few need to be as anally retentive as I am about it, they seem
> to need better data plus a good dose of willpower of course. dkw

I agree with what you're saying, except for the notion that overeating
can lend itself to making a diet "fail."

I know what you mean, that the type of person that complains about
overeating doesn't tend to stick with their diet, but it's a subtle
difference.

Every now and then, I get a little overconfident in my diet and my
intuition about what I'm eating, and I overeat some. It's not a very
large amount, but it's just enough to have a very tangible effect on
my weight trend (especially if this occurs 3 days in a row, about the
time it personally seems to take my body to readjust the internal
mechanisms of fat metabolism).

I find that before I managed to get on-track with my diet, a single
slip-up would result in a "oh well" giving up attitude. I let myself
become a victim of my own mistake, and the chain reaction that ensued
threw me way off-course. But now, instead of making myself the
victim, I pull myself aside for a moment, and sternly but calmly
ensure myself that everybody makes mistakes now and then, and the
absolute most important thing to do is just to get back on the horse
and keep going right where I left off.