You've heard it a million times, Eat Less, Move More.

You’ve may have also heard that that ELMM = Eat Less Move More is a failed strategy for weight loss. The rationale is something like one, or more, of the following:

• A calorie is not a calorie, because two people who eat the same amount won't weigh the same, or gain or lose the same amount of weight.

• The 3500 cal/pound fat figure is wrong because with deliberate overfeeding
or caloric restriction, people don't gain or lose exactly as this formula would predict.

• If you eat less your metabolism will just slow down to compensate.

• If you move more deliberately, aka exercise, you'll just move less later in the day
and/or be so hungry you'll compensate by eating more.

A study of body composition of small children as related to total body fat and physical activity level published in 2012 indicates that non-exercise activity thermogenesis is genetically hardwired. This means that naturally more active babies put on less body fat than the naturally less active ones because they naturally expend more energy.

There are many studies which show that there’s a wide variation between the resting energy expenditures of different individuals. A study of Thermogenesis after cold and overfeeding published in 2007 indicates that thermogenic responses are genetically hardwired.

Although it appears possible that both non-exercise exercise activity and thermogenesis is genetically hardwired, there are many gurus and diet book authors who say that eating this or that macronutrient, taking this or that supplement, exercising or not exercising this or that way, or adopting their particular food and/or exercise plan holds the magic answer.

Maybe I’m a pessimist, but I don’t believe there’s a whole lot that we can do about our genetic hardwiring. Personally I prefer to manage calories-out in a manner I know there is some control over, rather than chase after false promises of boosting metabolism through various other, largely untested/unsubstantiated, and often expensive, means.

I'm not aware of any clinical evidence that supports the notion
that a person can't lose weight eating less total calories of whatever.
*How* a person prefers to eat less is individual.
Different diets or food plans seem to really be merely variations of the same general theme. The amount an individual need to eat or the amount they need to exercise to accomplish weight-loss is different from person-to-person.

Calories-in is just a shorthand way to describe the amount of food we put into the body.
Calories-out is just a shorthand way to describe the amount of energy the body uses.
Calories-in/Calories-out is merely a shorthand way to generally describe how energy in the body works. That's it. That's all it means. 

However, what’s true is that those calories numbers are often different for different people
…even for those people who have the same height, weight, age, and activity level.
The bodies of different Individuals are genetically different, and EVERYONE doesn’t have a body that uses the same exact amount of energy. Some types of food might provide different energy for different bodies. Some people have to take less calories in, because their body simply doesn’t use as many calories.

There are scientific studies that show people successfully losing weight simply by cutting portion sizes and making no other change. Again, someone might argue whether this is sustainable, but that argument could apply to any type of diet, way of eating, or lifestyle program, including one that changes macronutrient content.

It seems to me that Consistent Adherence to a Diet, or Way of Eating, is the most important predictor of success...not the macronutrient content. If changing macronutrient content helps a person to consistently adhere better to that diet or way of eating, then great. But if it doesn't, that person won't have any more success with it, than with any other approach.

I’m thinking that what matters is getting one’s individual Diet, or Way of Eating, to support the lifestyle that one wishes to have. We don’t need to get caught up in whether or not the lifestyles of other people match the Diet or Way of Eating that we’ve chosen.

Carbs make you sluggish?

Reduce them.

LOW carbs make you a miserable nonfunctional wreck?

Eat more of them.

Hate physical exercise?

Do only the amount of exercise necessary to keep your body functional for your normal activities.

Running makes your body feel good?

Run.

Obese or overweight and want to weigh less?

Adjust your calorie intake…. of whatever foods you choose to eat within your personal lifestyle …DOWN, and eat only the calorie amount …of whatever foods you choose to eat within your personal lifestyle….that your body needs to sustain the weight you want it to be. Ignore the advice of experts that contradicts your own experience.  If averaging 1200 calories daily causes your body to be overweight or obese, eat less than 1200 calories in a way that meets your body's basic need for protein, vitamins and minerals.

Want a different body type so you will look like a slender, shapely magazine model?

Too bad. (Except maybe in some future life, if you believe in reincarnation.)

       
Below are Eight charts showing Yearly Averages of my own Daily Food Intake. Beginning 9/20/2004 through 8/8/2012  ...  an 8 year period (approx 7 years 11 months) 2880 consecutive days of detailed record keeping.

Despite low-calorie eating, one can see that my nutritional needs were adequately met during the entire 8 years. I find it personally interesting that although I experimented with a great many different "diets" and eating plans, my nutritional yearly nutritional ratio averages wound up overall being quite similar.

One CAN see slight differences in nutritional ratio due to various experimentation with various low-carb eating plans during the past 3 years in that the fat ratio increased slightly; the carb ratio decreased slightly, while the protein ratio remained fairly constant.

                                                     

FOLLOW UP NOTE: 
Be sure to read the Final SUMMARY
showing average weight and average calorie comparisons.

1st chart Below started on 9/20/2004 - therefore the yearly average is 42 days less than 1 year.

SUMMARY
9-2004 through 8-2012 
8 year period (approx 7 years 11 months)  2880 consecutive days of record keeping

Date        Weight

9/2004: --- 190.5 lbs.
8/2005: ----145.2 lbs.
Loss 45.3 lbs. - 1235 average daily calorie intake
11 month period –  (calculating 3500 calories= 1 fat lb)
............averaged = 480 calorie daily deficit =  making actual Total daily calorie burn 1715

8/2005: --- 145.2 lbs.
8/2006: ----108.2 lbs.
Loss 37 lbs. - 1310 average daily calorie intake
12 month period –  (calculating 3500 calories= 1 fat lb)
............averaged  = 359 calorie daily deficit = making actual Total daily burn 1669

8/2006: --- 108.2 lbs.
8/2007: ----110.0 lbs.
Gain 1.8 lbs. - 1442 average daily calorie intake
12 month period –  (calculating 3500 calories= 1 fat lb)
.............averaged = 17.5 calorie daily excess =  making actual Total daily calorie burn 1424

8/2007: --- 110.0 lbs.
8/2008: ----113.6 lbs.
Gain 3.6 lbs. - 1406 average daily calorie intake
12 month period -  (calculating 3500 calories= 1 fat lb)
.............averaged = 35 calorie daily excess =  making actual Total daily calorie burn 1371

8/2008: ----113.6 lbs.
8/2009: --- 116.8 lbs.
Gain 3.2 lbs. . - 1015 average daily calorie intake
12 month period –  (calculating 3500 calories= 1 fat lb)
............averaged = 31 calorie daily excess =  making actual Total daily calorie burn 984

8/2009: --- 116.8 lbs.
8/2010: --- 116.8 lbs.
Loss/Gain 0 lbs. . - 1069 average daily calorie intake
12 month period –  (calculating 3500 calories= 1 fat lb)
............averaged = 0 calorie daily excess = making actual Total daily calorie burn 1069

8/2010: ----116.8 lbs.
8/2011: ----120.0 lbs.
Gain 3.2 lbs . - 1081 average daily calorie intake
12 month period –  (calculating 3500 calories= 1 fat lb)
...........averaged = 31 calorie daily excess =  making actual Total daily calorie burn 1050

8/2011: --- 120.0 lbs.
8/2012: ----127.0 lbs.
Gain 7 lbs . - 1149 average daily calorie intake
12 month period – (calculating 3500 calories= 1 fat lb) 
...........averaged = 68 calorie daily excess = making actual Total daily calorie burn 1081

Re: calorie intake and calorie burn calorie numbers.
Note that I am a "reduced obese" female, height 5'0", over age 60.
I am sedentary, and I do not count, or attempt to count, exercise calories.
The "Normal" calorie calculations for my personal statistics per the standard formula Charts are: 
Harris Benedict formula - BMR for sedentary = Total daily calorie burn 1400
Mifflin formula - RMR for sedentary = Total daily calorie burn 1250

My exercise activities have been:

Primarily Walking with a bit of additional Strength Training.

🔺1st year of weight-loss exercise averaged 1/2 hr daily.
🔺2nd year of weight-loss exercise averaged from 1 to 2 hrs daily.
🔺During the first 4 years of maintenance exercise averaged 1 hr daily.
🔺Past 2 years of maintenance, exercise averaged 1/2 hr daily.

NOTE that the first two years of weight-loss maintenance, my daily calorie burn went as one might expect based on my height, weight, age, and exercise. (See standard chart calculations)  But NOT during the 4 subsequent maintenance years during which there has been an "unexplainable" drop in my total daily calorie burn.

I consistently record my food intake and weight data in various computer programs.  I have now been doing this consistently every day for almost eight years. ..…. as of the time of this writing, for the past 7 years and 11 months.

The Computer and software program in which I record my food is a useful TOOL. There are many such food journaling programs,  but my own personal choice (at this time) is a program called DietPower. (Update 2018: My Recommended Food Journal for beginners is now  "My Fitness Pal". My behavior of RECORDING my food intake every day forces me to stay aware of my actions, and it keeps me out of Denial. I know what I'm doing, and what I've done, and I continually face my own actions head-on.

 Sitting at the computer and entering the daily data has become a Habit which …most of the time….is an enjoyable one.  It is sometimes emotionally difficult to actually write down Everything I've eaten, but in a way it's similar to a Catholic going to Confession. My frequent input of my total food information often brings a sense of relief and sometimes even personal Absolution, a feeling of pardon or forgiveness.

I am Accountable for my eating BEHAVIOR every day, no matter what it is.
My weights are the RESULTS of my eating Behaviors, and those RESULTS are actually outside my personal control. I am responsible for the food that I put into my mouth (my behavior). I am not responsible for what the scale says (my results) because I cannot control what my body chooses to do with that food.

Therefore,

I am responsible for my Behavior, but not for my Results.

The scale is merely a TOOL that reflects the total weight of one's total body, including fat, water, bones, fecal material etc. It shows the RESULTS of my eating BEHAVIOR.

The scale is without personality. It is not a Judge and Jury of my actions, but is merely a reflection of them.
Ones individual weight on one single day might not be very accurate, but graphing many days of those individual weights gives an extremely accurate picture of the RESULTS of one's eating BEHAVIORS.

Weighing and recording ones weight every day can be emotionally difficult when the scale goes up. This is especially true when the entire weight graph shows an uphill pattern. Watching a downhill, weight-loss pattern feels very rewarding,

but watching an uphill, weight-gain pattern can feel demoralizing.
These are the times when most people choose to stop recording weights.
And, there are days when I feel very reluctant to write down what the scale says.  
There are weeks when I am very unhappy with my weight results,    and I sometimes feel that I'm having an uphill pattern that is unjustified,  but IT IS WHAT IT IS.  I cannot change what I will not face.

People who ACTUALLY keep records of their food intake ALL THE TIME, can gain a great deal of insight into the connection between their body size/weight, and their food intake.

Although I remain open to the knowledge and opinions of nutritional "experts", conventional wisdom or the knowledge and education of any such expert, cannot erase the truth that is shown in long-term detailed personal records.

Due to my consistent daily DietPower journal entries, I now have records of every day of my all of my food eaten since September 20, 2004.  This is just about 1 month short of EIGHT years of personal data.

That data is statistically correct, because all 8 years were handled by me personally, in the same manner.  I've consistently weighed and measured my food, read labels, and followed calorie counting charts.

If I've weighed and measured food incorrectly, or made calorie counting errors (which is impossible to avoid), those inadvertent errors are a consistent part of the long-term process.  Such errors would merely raise or lower the overall caloric levels but does not alter the weight/food-intake relationship.

On my ABOUT ME page here in DietHobby, under the heading RESOURCES, there are a great many links to weight charts and weight graphs showing many details of my first 5 years of personal record keeping.  If you have not done so recently, you might want to review these.  To do so, click the link above.

I also plan to soon write an article  showing detailed charts of my personal food intake, together with a SUMMARY of the relationships between my food intake and weights for the past 8 years.  Watch for it.  

                               
I'm not a Guru... a teacher or a guide, and DietHobby is not a place to find every dieting answer.
What I am is a living human being who shares my own thoughts, my experiences, and my opinions
here while I pursue my own personal hobby of dieting as a lifestyle.

I recently read: 

"Getting Information from the Internet is like taking a drink from a Fire Hydrant."

I find that so very true. There's a lot of information available here on the internet.
Something for everyone. There are hundreds, even thousands, of diet plans ... of "ways of eating"
.. including those claiming not be be "diet" plans, such as those which use intuitive eating principles...but all of which deal with the specifics of eating .. how, or when, or what to eat... often including various items and/or amounts to eat and to not eat, or when to eat or not eat.

All of them work for someone, but that someone isn't necessarily me.
Maybe that someone is you, and maybe not.
Many of them interest me, and I can enjoy learning about them.

A great many people seem to believe that an "Ultimate Answer" exists.
I'm not one of them.
My personal position is that a continual search is okay.
The process doesn't have to be an unpleasant one.

I've been fat and I didn't like it.
I didn't like having a fat body, and I don't want to be fat again.
I've worked very hard to get my body to a normal size,
and I'm willing to continue working hard to keep it there.

In a perfect world, I could eat all I wanted, of anything I wanted, whenever I wanted
and while doing that, my body would stay within a normal BMI range
...rather than spiral into morbid obesity.

It's not a perfect world, but I've learned that Dieting can become an enjoyable hobby.
It merely depends on the perspective one chooses. 
We can learn to enjoy the process, the dieting lifestyle journey,
and we don't necessarily have to find an "Ultimate Answer".

This has a lot to do with the issue of "Acceptance".
Acceptance of the reality of life the way it is, rather than the way we wish it were.

                

Like it or not, that Baby is still inside, and part of us.