Suddenly not burning as many calories as I expect to

[MQ5]

I hope you all can help me figure this out.
I have a Gowear Fit and have been using it since April. All of the sudden my expected burn has dropped by about 200 calories a day doing similar activities. This has been going on for about a week.
Since April I have lost about 10 lbs. Is this enough to slow my burn so much?

I have been keeping a 600-700 calorie deficit with my average burn being about 2400 a day. This does vary of course. A day off (just puttering around the house, watching tv, grocery shopping etc) usually nets a 2200 calorie burn. My busiest day at work had been about 2700 and even 2800 calorie burn. Most are about 2400 burn days.

This past week I am lucky to hit 2200 on my busiest days.
Anyway - I am doing all the same stuff. 40 minutes of power walking every day and a busy desk job where I am on my feet a lot and 1/2 hour bike ride 3-4 days a week. These variables have not changed.

But I also feel slow.
I was feeling like a little power house. I would get up and feel like I buzzed with energy. But over the last week I just feel kind of "blah" and have no zip.

Diet wise I have been trying to have a day where I eat at maintenance. I am not always successful at this. I have tried NOT counting calories for a day - and usually discover after adding up the damages the next day that I have only increased my cals by 200 or so. Is this part of the problem? Have I just been restricting too long?

This week I also feel hungry all of the time. That has not been true previously. But this week I just want to eat. I have been good and not eaten but it is getting very hard to maintain a deficit.

Let me know if you have any questions. I really would appreciate help figuring this out.

(current stats - 42, 126 lbs, 5 feet even. Down from 152)

[LaraT]

I would think it is the weight loss that accounts for the change in calories providing you are moving around and exercising the same.

[missjane]

Did you update GWF with your weight loss changes?

[MQ5]

Yes I did. And since my weight loss has not been huge it would seem that 200 (or so) cals is a big difference.
I did not mention it before but I DO weight my portions. ALL of them.
I have not started or stopped any meds.
The only real variable I have noticed is the weather. It has been gloomy here for two weeks but I am still sticking to my activites.
I just dont know!

[Aoife]

It would seem to me to be both. There's of course a smaller burn if you don't weigh as much… you're not carting as much stuff around all the time and you've lost 10 pounds of metabolically active tissue… and while both are small changes, they add up… esp if coupled with less and less energetic movement. You say you're moving the same, but if you're feeling like you're dragging you likely are. Maybe not by much, but a little less moving around, a little less fidgeting, a little less quick and zippy. Again… small change, not a lot of difference, but enough to add up.

[purplekale]

I have also been wondering how much the burn changes when I am dragging--like you, I have mandatory NEAT, but when I'm tired/stressed, I certainly do it all more slowly. I wonder what proportion of the change is your weight vs. your energy level.

[scribess]

I agree with all the above posters--like a combo of the decreased weight and decreased NEAT since you're feeling draggy.

How long have you been in a deficit for? If you don't count cals on your refeed day and only up it 200 cals, then that doesn't seem like a true refeed to me since it's still a deficit and not even hitting maintenance calories (or above, as Leigh recommends, particularly the closer you get to your goal). So yes, to me it sounds like your body may be asking for a better refeed.

[MQ5]

Thanks Scribess. I was wondering about a refeed. I am not in Leigh's program so I use the word losely. Scince I am having a hard time hitting maintenence I should trake advantage of these draggy days and do some serious chowing lol

Would 10 lbs really make such a big SUDDEN drop? I would have expected a slow down over time but not the cliff plunge I have seen lately.
I do agree that NEAT may be an issue. It is much harder to quanitfy NEAT.

[missjane]

Take a look at your step count (wow I typoed that BIG time before I spotted it and made the correction!!).....has it decreased?

[scribess]

How frequently did you update your GWF with your weight? If not every week or so, I could see how that would cause a sudden drop since there would have been a sudden change in the calculation. But yes, decreased NEAT is probably the bigger culprit.

[dianas]

I don't have the display so I use my GWF more for the big picture rather than daily monitoring. I also haven't been changing my activity based on the numbers I wanted to get a better idea of my baseline first. One thing I noticed when I looked at the 28 day averages was a gradual drop in my overall burn the longer I was in a deficit. Over time it did actually drop around 100 to 150 calories each month. It was so gradual I didn't notice it till I did some monthly summaries. Anyway I took a diet break in April after 3 months of deficit and my burn went right back up.

[Leigh P.]

The force into the movement you do is just as important as the movement itself.

For example, take a classic aerobics class.

For the next 2 mins people have to so a hop side step (classic move). Someone who is more tired or lacking energy/enthusiasm may do the exact same movement as someone excited. However the excited person is going to hop higher, bounce more, and step with more aggression.

As you diet down your enthusiasm drops for movement. It is the point of the protection process for your body.

[MQ5]

Thanks for weighing in Leigh. I agree that force or effort plays a huge roll. I have a very hard time convincing people that my power walks do anything because so many people equate walking with the mall shuffle. I have wondered if the gloomy weather has had an effect of dampening my usual pep. I usually feel "buzzy" like I have bees in my blood. But these past two weeks I have felt more mellow. Not sad, or depressed but mellow.

Here it is 8:30 or so and I have hit 2200. Today was my "hell" day. My busiest day of the week. I had to skip my usual lunch walk because I was too busy to leave - so I took a short ride between rain storms after work. Doing anything always makes me feel better and this did too. But I might try a little light therapy. "I just positively wilt without enough sunshine" lol
Somewhere I have an ott light (natural spectrum light) that we use for painting - it might help.
Well at least this is good practice for this winter.
I will also try to honestly refeed to full maintenance calories. It sounds preposterous to have trouble with that. But food has never been my thing. I always thought I would do well with Willy Wonka's gum!

[Anna21]

MQ5
I could have written your original post! I too have noticed a drop in my burn - not by that much but I think it is ONLY because I have the display and I purposely try to keep my burn rate up. When I walk on my breaks, my rate used to be 5 or 6 cals a minute - today it was 4 so I tried to go faster and got it up to 5.
I have also not eaten at maintenance since I have had the Gowear and that has been since May 1st. I have lost weight but I really don't know how much because I did not have a scale until May 12th and the last weight I knew was from the doctor on April 1st, so I used that; however, there was an 11 pound difference! So I did go and change it in the Gowear.
My average burn is 2400-2700 - a few days have been higher (one was 3000!) but really, if I did not make the effort to keep my burn up - it would be much lower. Sadly, I don't want to not move as much for one day just to see what it will be b/c I am scared it will depress me!!
I have eaten 1858 calories today and I vary from 1600 to 2050 in what I eat. Not a huge deficit - esp. since/if the Gowear is overestimating and the calorieking/fitdays are not 100% accurate (but I do weigh my foods). I may actually be just barely maintaining! But I also have been more hungry but I think that is b/c I am eating more.
But it was funny how you described yourself as a powerhouse with energy b/c that was me! I was catapulting out of bed at 5 am on vacation to go walk. I have lost that momentum somewhat just like you. I have definitely been slower - like my legs have lead in them! But I feel better today so maybe I will wake up as the Energizer bunny!
Anyhow, just had to comment that I was having similar experience.
Keep us updated!
Missy