Fat "fitness trainer" bewildered by CICO I know I'm not welcome here (this is a throwaway).  Here's a story, however, that you might enjoy. I am 5' 7'' and 165 pounds.  Fat.  I'm not proud, but I have lost 20 pounds since March and am still going. Just joined Lifetime Fitness again after ages of sedentary shitty living and I do the "meet with the trainer" portion. The trainer is probably 5' 4'' 200 pounds, female.  I can see her camel toe and fat through the tight capris she has on, and the rolls through her shirt. Parts of our conversation:  Me: Oh well I've lost 20 pounds and want to keep losing more, but integrate exercise in as well while maintaining a calorie deficit. She:  Oh, okay.  Well, what were you doing? Me:  Ah, I ate 1200 calories a day.  She:  Oh, okay, interesting.  What kinds of things did you eat? Me:  I would eat a thing of sushi every day for 400 and Wendy's or other fast food for 800 the rest.  It wasn't the best food, but it did maintain a deficit. She:  So what else were you doing, then?  You exercised a lot? Me:  No, I kinda just sat on my ass and ate 1200 calories a day and lost weight. She:  Huh, interesting.  So how long have you been doing this for?  Me:  Since early March. She:  Oh, really?  Huh.  That's odd.  So at this point you'll see that 1200 calories is going to be your new maintenance weight.  What we want to do is see if you can eat more and add exercise to that.  You don't want to have to eat 1000 a day, do you? Me:  Um... no, but if I only need 1400 a day and I eat 1200 a day I'll just keep going. She:  Well, see your body metabolism has changed now and you won't be able to lose weight any more because 1200 is your new maintenance.  Have you heard of reverse dieting? Me:  Uh... yeah. She:  We can work to make it so that you have a really good metabolism and can eat a lot more.  Wouldn't that be great?  She smiles Me:  Well the thing is I'm not hungry at all during the day now.  I mean it was hard at first to change lifestyle but... She:  Yeah that's because your maintenance weight is what you're eating now.  See muscles burn more than fat.  So we'll increase your muscles so you can eat more. Me:  Um, why don't we just focus on an exercise routine then... or maybe talk later (never again). Anyway, I had to get away from her.  This pisses me off so much because if I hadn't already changed how I thought about weight loss I might have listened to her and ruined everything. How does she know that today is the day I start not being able to lose weight at 1200?   This is what is out there as a reference, apparently.