Weight Not Moving

[DifficultDieter]

I have been walking 10k steps every day for two months and I have only seen a small change in my weight. I have been reducing my food intake As well - feeling very dispirited. Has anyone any ideas how I can move my weight please?

[slipstick]

Walking is great for fitness but for weight loss food is generally more important. And sometimes eating a lot less can be counter-productive as it can kick your body into what is effectively "starvation mode". Often what types of food you are eating is at least as important as quantity.

It may be worth trying the Weight Loss Support forum. It's a lot more active than this one and there's a friendly crowd over there with plenty of expertise and support. healthunlocked.com/weight-l...

[DifficultDieter in reply to slipstick]

Thank you, I will have a look at that forum 👍

[suryakaizen]

Dear DifficultDieter, I was amused at your name as so many of us on this Forum have difficulty dieting, including me. I like the pic you have posted! I have been trying Intermittent Fasting (IF) from 2 years and find it helps. Please see a recent earlier post (within past 2 months) on how it has helped me. Do try IF, I am sure it will have positive results for you too. Cheer up and keep posting. Tell us a little more about yourself, and have a nice day!

[DifficultDieter in reply to suryakaizen]

Hello there, I started 5:2 yesterday and managed to do 625 calories. I have read two books, one that advocates 500 and the latest which says 800 calories are fine. I am aiming for the mid-ground 😁. I am on the go most of the time and really only sit down after my afternoon walk, so around 4.30pm. I volunteer for a Dementia Day Care Service. I have a serious health condition that doesn’t allow me to work but I still get a lot out of life. I know with about a 10kg Weight loss I will feel much better. Thank you for your advice and I am very happy to give it a go. 👍

[suryakaizen in reply to DifficultDieter]

IF does not tell you to count calories. It merely says that you eat in a 16 hour-8 hour pattern each day. So, what I do is have dinner at 8-9 pm and then my next meal is lunch the next day after 12 noon. In between I do take tea or I would not be able to manage. You can do breakfast and then early dinner after 7 hours. It’s so nice to know that you are volunteering. I want to start doing that next year after my 70th birthday in January.

[DifficultDieter in reply to suryakaizen]

That sounds very different! I am never hungry until about 5pm. What sort of food do you eat ?

[suryakaizen in reply to DifficultDieter]

Hi DifficultDieter. I live in India and am a vegetarian. So, my food is rice, chapatis, brown bread, veggies and thick soups, and occasionally, eggs.

In the IF method, you neither count calories nor worry about what you eat, so long as you observe the timings 16:8 hours, and are not bingeing on fried foods, sweets and cakes. All the best with your efforts!

[Amynah]

Hi I had same problem and I couldn't do intermitent fasting, I used NHS app to log calories and drank water, it helps to drink water and log the water I started having 3 small glasses and now I have 6 and it took me 3 months and I lost only stubborn 2 kg. I still have to loose 2 kg. So try drinking water and it's hot in India so maybe It will help. Plus don't forget to write down how much water you had. Good luck

[sfh3l]

You are in the early days of a change to your habits. Don't give up too early. I cannot do the fasting thing, as lack of food aggravates my atrial fib, so exercise is the only way for me. I have used a Fitbit followed by Garmin watch for the past 3-4 years and try to walk 10k steps each day. It is not always easy, but my average since starting is nearly 8k a day and I am coming up for 10M steps on Garmin devices alone now!

All I can say is that as a 54-year old male, weight is pretty easy to put on if I am not careful and walking gives me the scope to eat like I used to in my 20's and not put weight on. However, it didn't happen in a couple of weeks. Think of this as a complete lifestyle change and not a quick fix.

I would also say that exercise, even at this level is a great way of boosting your mood. In fact, the results on mood ar far faster to see than waistline and far more important too.

Stick with it. You've done the difficult bit of actually starting and now you are in the boring part where results can't come fast enough and it all seems pointless. It's not! Have faith in yourself and perhaps find someone else to walk with and make it a social event that you look forward to for other reasons and don't actually notice the walking. Just an idea.

Good luck with it and tell yourself that you CAN do it.