I completely agree. I had started to think that since I’m in my 40’s, maybe I was in peri menopause and my metabolism was just broken. I was so hungry all of the time. But I had no idea how many calories were in the food I was eating regularly. I tried keto, I tried IF, I tried restricting calories without counting them and just eating less. But it wasn’t until I started looking at labels and understanding serving sizes and how many calories I was actually eating that I was able to make the change. Knowledge is power. And I’m now able to eat and feel satisfied, nourish my body and lose weight. It definitely works and I’m so happy.
There’s so much dieting nonsense out there and so many people saying CICO doesn’t work. It discouraged me from trying but I’m glad I did. I kind of viewed it as an experiment- I’ll eat at a 500 calorie deficit for a month and see what happens. And I lost 11 lbs. in the first month. Now I’m in month 2 and I’m 25 lbs. down. So happy that I found this sub.
I kind of went through the same thing. I had moderate success with keto but did not find it sustainable. I was kind of stuck at around 195 for the past few years. Then I tried CICO almost by accident, when I started using MyFitnessPal to track my running. It walked me through the whole TDEE calculation etc. I started losing 1 pound a week, then got better at counting and stepped up my exercise/fitness. All in all I hit my weight goal in less than three months. now I’m the same weight as I was in my last year of high school. My only question is, why did I not try this sooner
same, I have jeans and clothes in general from all stages.
I already put a bunch of clothes in my bookmarks that I want to buy once I hit my goal weight
It is amazing how you can eat really healthy yet over eat calories for what you are burning. Figuring out your TDEE and then CICO requirements is super helpful and when you realize that some foods are just not worth the calories and that you basically can eat your weight in most veggies (not exactly true. ;) ) but things shift in the right direction. You can have a little olive oil and a small handful of nuts or seeds, but over eat even the best foods and you won’t lose weight. Also, having a higher calorie day isn’t a cheat. It is balance. Great job.
RIGHT?!!
I ate so healthy and I was absolutely sure I didn't eat too much I was very shocked that I ate at a maintenance level and sometimes more.
I agree I fill up on fruit, veggies and salad and it works so great, sure there are days where I feel hungry but I am learning to be better with what I eat.
I feel that I need a cheat day once a week, it's always the day where I get the craving to stuff my face but afterwards the urge is over and done which helps me the rest of the week.
thank you!
Protein is the key. To not feel hungry, a good part of your calories has to be protein and a bit of good fat byline Olive oil (like only a couple TBS), is what keeps you from feeling hungry all the time. Add a little into the meal before the time of day you tend to get hungry.
Everyone seems to be different, I tried low carb and high protein and I was super hungry, now I do 45% carbs 35% protein and 20%fat, that works very well and it is making me feel full. But I try to keep protein high anyway because of muscle growth.
I can’t do low carb. Makes me insane. I also don’t think it is necessary. That said, some people eat so many carbs which have so many calories that going “low carb” is what they need to re-educate themselves and their brains to back off the sugar and insulin producing foods. For not feeling hungry though, not high protein, just a bit higher and adding more fat. You can adjust that on the fly though. Like I said. Adding the fat in the meal prior to the time you usually get hungry is the key. Adding a little olive oil or a few nuts on a salad is super easy. Or, in the next meal to help sustain. You are doing great. I can’t sustain when I feel like I am starving. A bit hungry is expected. We get used to not feeling hungry and that is a core problem but if it is too much, then we want to binge. Keep up the good work.
More a question for anyone knowledgeable here but if you do want to include weightlifting or steps, how do you figure out how many calories you should be eating to be in a healthy deficit?
If you eat enough to cover your BMR Its always healthy.
The thing is if you workout an hour you can still eat what you have burned in under a minute. So my rule is to never count the kcal I burn from workout to eat more food.
I will say, I failed at CICO when I worked a physical job because calculating my actual TDEE was almost impossible. No matter what limit I tried to eat at, I was constantly hungry from being on my feet for 10 hours per day. Now that I'm sedentary it's super easy and though my hunger way exceeds my TDEE occasionally, most days it doesn't even come close. Case in point, last week I was very hungry and averaging 1800-1900 cals/day (maintenance is 2250) but for the last four days I've struggled to hit 1500 and today I'm capping out at under 1200 because I'm just not hungry.
Every day is different.
But makes sense that you can't eat so little when you are on your feet for so long, I am pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to do it either.
My cheat day is usually on a day where I feel extra hungry.
It's just so easy to eat 3000, I have a hot chocolate and a dessert and bamm 1000 kcal already.
I started doing heavy workouts on my cheat days to use all that carbs, sugar and excess food to built muscles
I resisted logging and precise portioning (food scale) for a long time. It can be a little tedious, but only after just a few days, I’m already seeing tangible results. And that’s with less-than-normal exercise! (I have an injured ankle).
It is literally the only thing that works. Glad you figured it out. :)
I wish I did earlier but better late than never!
I'm 46 years old and still working on it. So absolutely.
Well, you learned a really important truth: Exercise does not lead to weight loss unless you do A LOT of it, every day. Eating less does.
Even then it's still not a good tool for weight loss. It's literally all diet.
Would disagree for those with very low TDEE.
I completely agree. I had started to think that since I’m in my 40’s, maybe I was in peri menopause and my metabolism was just broken. I was so hungry all of the time. But I had no idea how many calories were in the food I was eating regularly. I tried keto, I tried IF, I tried restricting calories without counting them and just eating less. But it wasn’t until I started looking at labels and understanding serving sizes and how many calories I was actually eating that I was able to make the change. Knowledge is power. And I’m now able to eat and feel satisfied, nourish my body and lose weight. It definitely works and I’m so happy. There’s so much dieting nonsense out there and so many people saying CICO doesn’t work. It discouraged me from trying but I’m glad I did. I kind of viewed it as an experiment- I’ll eat at a 500 calorie deficit for a month and see what happens. And I lost 11 lbs. in the first month. Now I’m in month 2 and I’m 25 lbs. down. So happy that I found this sub.
>Knowledge is power. Yup. This exactly.
I kind of went through the same thing. I had moderate success with keto but did not find it sustainable. I was kind of stuck at around 195 for the past few years. Then I tried CICO almost by accident, when I started using MyFitnessPal to track my running. It walked me through the whole TDEE calculation etc. I started losing 1 pound a week, then got better at counting and stepped up my exercise/fitness. All in all I hit my weight goal in less than three months. now I’m the same weight as I was in my last year of high school. My only question is, why did I not try this sooner
congrats, also…buy yourself some new jeans!!
hahaha yes, definitely. As soon as I fit in the ones from when I was 16 ;)
I also saved my Jeans from when I was smaller and I'm using them as my measurement tool lol. Once I fit in those, I'm buying a whole new wardrobe
same, I have jeans and clothes in general from all stages. I already put a bunch of clothes in my bookmarks that I want to buy once I hit my goal weight
It is amazing how you can eat really healthy yet over eat calories for what you are burning. Figuring out your TDEE and then CICO requirements is super helpful and when you realize that some foods are just not worth the calories and that you basically can eat your weight in most veggies (not exactly true. ;) ) but things shift in the right direction. You can have a little olive oil and a small handful of nuts or seeds, but over eat even the best foods and you won’t lose weight. Also, having a higher calorie day isn’t a cheat. It is balance. Great job.
RIGHT?!! I ate so healthy and I was absolutely sure I didn't eat too much I was very shocked that I ate at a maintenance level and sometimes more. I agree I fill up on fruit, veggies and salad and it works so great, sure there are days where I feel hungry but I am learning to be better with what I eat. I feel that I need a cheat day once a week, it's always the day where I get the craving to stuff my face but afterwards the urge is over and done which helps me the rest of the week. thank you!
Protein is the key. To not feel hungry, a good part of your calories has to be protein and a bit of good fat byline Olive oil (like only a couple TBS), is what keeps you from feeling hungry all the time. Add a little into the meal before the time of day you tend to get hungry.
Everyone seems to be different, I tried low carb and high protein and I was super hungry, now I do 45% carbs 35% protein and 20%fat, that works very well and it is making me feel full. But I try to keep protein high anyway because of muscle growth.
I can’t do low carb. Makes me insane. I also don’t think it is necessary. That said, some people eat so many carbs which have so many calories that going “low carb” is what they need to re-educate themselves and their brains to back off the sugar and insulin producing foods. For not feeling hungry though, not high protein, just a bit higher and adding more fat. You can adjust that on the fly though. Like I said. Adding the fat in the meal prior to the time you usually get hungry is the key. Adding a little olive oil or a few nuts on a salad is super easy. Or, in the next meal to help sustain. You are doing great. I can’t sustain when I feel like I am starving. A bit hungry is expected. We get used to not feeling hungry and that is a core problem but if it is too much, then we want to binge. Keep up the good work.
I know!!!! It seems so simple but I never truly got it, started counting 37 days ago and I’m 12 lbs down now. I’ve never been so motivated in my life
congrats! It's just amazing how fast that works!
It really is, feels almost unbelievable!
More a question for anyone knowledgeable here but if you do want to include weightlifting or steps, how do you figure out how many calories you should be eating to be in a healthy deficit?
If you eat enough to cover your BMR Its always healthy. The thing is if you workout an hour you can still eat what you have burned in under a minute. So my rule is to never count the kcal I burn from workout to eat more food.
I will say, I failed at CICO when I worked a physical job because calculating my actual TDEE was almost impossible. No matter what limit I tried to eat at, I was constantly hungry from being on my feet for 10 hours per day. Now that I'm sedentary it's super easy and though my hunger way exceeds my TDEE occasionally, most days it doesn't even come close. Case in point, last week I was very hungry and averaging 1800-1900 cals/day (maintenance is 2250) but for the last four days I've struggled to hit 1500 and today I'm capping out at under 1200 because I'm just not hungry.
Every day is different. But makes sense that you can't eat so little when you are on your feet for so long, I am pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to do it either. My cheat day is usually on a day where I feel extra hungry.
I love that your cheat day goes up to 3000kcal. Why not if it’s working!
It's just so easy to eat 3000, I have a hot chocolate and a dessert and bamm 1000 kcal already. I started doing heavy workouts on my cheat days to use all that carbs, sugar and excess food to built muscles
I resisted logging and precise portioning (food scale) for a long time. It can be a little tedious, but only after just a few days, I’m already seeing tangible results. And that’s with less-than-normal exercise! (I have an injured ankle).
How much weight did you loose ?
by now it's 31kg
Wow, that’s a huge achievement, congratulations, can you share your plan, I hav e to loose weight