Hello Ben and welcome to the forum.
Your sense of frustration is shared by many who feel as though they’re doing all the right things, such as eliminating junk food, exercising regularly and following calorie counting apps, yet don’t necessarily see the results they desire.
However, by virtue of such lifestyle alterations, a number of physiological changes will have begun to occur within the body, not least through exercise, as cardiovascular, respiratory and muscular systems will have become more efficient at processing oxygen as you exercise, thus, allowing you to increase the duration and intensity at which exercise is performed.
Depending upon how long you’ve been exercising for, and whether you incorporate both cardiovascular and resistance into your regime, some of the weight gain could have occurred through the accumulation of lean muscle mass; it may just not noticeable if a layer of fat covers it. If clothes are beginning to feel a little looser, then you’re headed in the right direction.
Equally, if you don’t feel as though this is the case, despite counting calories through the app, you could be consuming too many on a daily basis, despite coming in beneath the recommended amount.
The key to successful weight loss, regardless of the method adopted, rests in the importance of achieving the correct energy balance.
Once you begin to view calories as simple units of energy, whether they’re consumed or already stored (excess fat), you stand a far greater chance of attaining your intended goal(s).
The exchange of energy (calories) varies between individuals, depending upon measurements and corresponding levels of activity. However, the key to successful weight loss rests upon creating a daily deficit from one’s TDEE, whilst also ensuring that the deficit introduced doesn’t take one beneath their BMR.
By all means, consult BMR/TDEE calculators to ascertain both, but let’s say, for example, that based upon your measurements, BMR is 1500Kcal and TDEE is 2100Kcal, you can afford to introduce a daily deficit of around 600Kcal.
By introducing a daily deficit of around 600Kcal, through reduced calorie intake, you could expect to lose around 1lb per week, taking into consideration that your body would utilise calories (stored in body fat) to meet daily demand. However, when exercise is included alongside calorie reduction, your level of loss could be as high as 3lbs per week, largely due to the increased uptake of glucose and fat during periods of exertion, allowing the energy exchange to occur, thus, leading to reduced levels of body fat.
The higher the level of exertion, the greater the uptake of glucose and fat throughout.
However, exercise is only one part of the jigsaw, since dietary choices remain paramount. Keep lean protein consumption high (approx 40% of intake), while replacing refined carbohydrate (cakes/sweets/pastries) with complex varieties (such as beans, pulses and whole-grains), in addition to reducing consumption of saturated fat to a minimum, in favour of poly-unsaturated alternatives.
Working on a 40/30/30 split, researching macronutrient calculators may also be useful, in allowing you to determine how many calories should be obtained between the respective food groups, taking into consideration that protein and carbohydrate each contain 4Kcal per gram and fat contains 9Kcal.
