[eyelidlessness]

From high school through nearly all of my adult life I’ve been obese. For the last several years my weight has barely fluctuated, but it’s fluctuated between caution about being underweight and a few pounds “overweight” that barely even count. I’ve eaten almost exactly the same the whole time. The two factors which changed:

- I take ADHD meds, amphetamines, which are appetite suppressants. They haven’t made me eat less, and they’ve reinforced “bad” eating habits I used to have before I lost so much weight, specifically reinforcing my tendency to eat one, large, meal per day.

- I’m much more active than I used to be, because I got a pup who needs the activity and with whom I like to be active.

My caloric intake is about the same as it’s always been. Once I actually paid attention to it I realized it wasn’t even very high. I very seldom reach the recommended 2000 calories diet metrics are based on. I still don’t understand how eating that way made me obese, but I have to assume now I was just absurdly sedentary.

I got lectures like this about caloric intake for years and always found it interesting but confusing! How was I so fat and never eaten much?

I’m not saying this applies to anyone else, but it’s bothered me for decades that I’d been told calories in -> obesity meanwhile my own caloric intake had next to nothing to do with my body mass.

[HyperSane]

People are notorious for underestimating how many calories they are eating. Modern food is so cheap and delicious it isn't hard to eat 1000 calories in a few minutes. I lost weight by only eating food with accurate calorie information available that I could weight to the gram. I then used MyFitnessPal to track it and keep a 1000 calorie/day deficit.

[eyelidlessness]

I’m eating basically the same food, basically the same quantities, and I did start paying attention to the calories. Amusingly I started paying closer attention when I was worried about losing too much weight, and when I found myself frequently craving sweets (which I very seldom have since I was a kid).

[phil21]

The simple act of tracking things - even with no intent to change - typically makes me eat far less, or do the activity far more. Anecdotes with friends makes me believe this is quite common.

There is literally no way to take in more calories than you expend and not gain weight - short of hyper-specific and exceedingly rare medical conditions you'd be quite aware of.

Some people find this easier or harder than others due to a whole host of factors. Physics is physics though, and there is no way to run a calorie deficit and not lose weight. It's why this drug class is so interesting/popular - it lowers the bar for many people, making the effort of taking in less calories than they expend much easier to achieve.

[eyelidlessness]

> The simple act of tracking things - even with no intent to change - typically makes me eat far less, or do the activity far more.

When I started tracking things so closely, I was already concerned that I’d been losing weight and feeling very strong cravings for sweets which I don’t usually care for. The effect wasn’t that I ate less: I started making an effort to eat more, again much like I used to eat. The biggest change is that eating enough has been a concerted effort rather than fairly automatic.

[nradov]

Odds are you are consuming more than 2000 kcal/day. Most people underestimate. Have you tried weighing and recording everything you consume for a couple weeks?

Anyone who wants to lose weight should start with a resting metabolic rate test in order to establish a baseline. You just sit in a chair for a few minutes while a machine measures your inhaled and exhaled gasses to calculate energy expenditure. If you consume fewer calories than your RMR then it is impossible to not lose weight.

[eyelidlessness]

This is a confusing response. I do not want to lose weight. I had to pay more attention so I could stop losing weight. Your advice might be good for someone with a different problem, but (1) I don’t have that problem and (2) I addressed the problem I did have by eating more.

[HyperSane]

Have you every reached 600 pounds? 800? If not why do you think that is? It is because you simply didn't eat enough food to do so.

[eyelidlessness]

I reached about 350 lb, and my current weight is just shy of 190. I’m eating almost exactly the same, with some minor adjustments for taste changing over time. What I eat now would still be ill advised for anyone trying to lose weight. The thing that changed is I burn a lot more calories than I used to. Everyone pointing out this basic fact is right, but the focus on calories in is wrong in my case, and I find it pretty odd to totally dismiss the calories burned factor.

[HyperSane]

No one is dismissing calories burned, it is the calories out part of CICO but it is vastly easier to reduce caloric intake than to increase caloric burn. as an example for me it takes an hour of walking to burn 400 - 600 calories.