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Originally Posted by Jane Doe  I'm having trouble accepting the whole calorie thesis. For one thing, I've eaten a diet low enough in calories have lost two or three times my entire body weight for years on end and have done nothing but gain weight, and my ex-husband used to eat huge amounts of very fattening foods all day long and never gained an ounce.
If it's all about calories, how do you explain these phenomena? Don't tell me my body "went into starvation mode and transformed everything into fat" because I never starved. I ate as much as I wanted, whenever I felt like it, of satisfying whole foods in correct balance with respect to fat, protein, carbs, etc. My ex on the other hand would eat tons of stuff that I couldn't even think of eating without gaining five pounds just from the thought of it, yet he stayed thin, and he was not that active of a person. No more than me, anyhow.
I've been eating more often and in smaller quantities per meal for the last year or so, and it has not resulted in any weight loss. Quite the opposite! I am stumped over this. |
It's difficult to answer these questions without being able to do some calculations or see a food diary. As far as your husband is concerned, men tend to have a higher BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) due to differences in body composition and we all have unique calorie needs based on our age, sex, height, weight, and activity level. Rather than comparing to others, it's important to determine your own calorie needs and then try to consume an amount close to those.
I'm not one who feels that you need to count calories (or anything else for that matter) for the rest of your life in order to lose weight. I think it's more about choosing a variety of foods from all the food groups and eating them in moderation (stopping when you're full and not eating when you're not hungry...following your body's signals) but it can be helpful to some people to have a place to start. Counting calories for a short season can help you to learn which foods to limit and which ones to choose more often.
Have you ever calculated your individual calorie needs? I would recommend that you use the Harris-Benedict equation to figure out how many you need daily and then keep a food record for a few typical days to find out how closely you are to that. Just consuming 100 calories over what you need each day would cause a 10-pound weight gain each year.
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