Getting nowhere

[Dawn1962]

Well as you know I have been struggling. Working out with a pt twice a week and on advice switchn from 1250cals to 15 to 1600 cals and still nothing lost! Visiting gp today to see if any medical issue ...help anyone?

[TheHud]

As a girl 1600 calories without significant exercise, is a maintenance diet not a weight lose amount. Even if you are a chap, my hubby went down to 1000 cal to actually lose the weight. I am currently on day 5 and weigh in this morn shows I have lost 5.8lb (digital scale). I have never achieved anything like this before but I have never gone down to 600-700cal a day before.

I have what they call a borderline thyroid issue, it varies so no treatment is advised as it would just make it worse for me while I am still functional.

Plummet those calories just for a couple of days, fat only in lean meat and fish, veg as much as you want, no sugar! Keep drinking fluid, chew gum, treat yourself to a tiny nibble of dark chocolate or low sugar chocolate as an emergency lift. If you lose anything, (remember weigh in the same place and pref no clothes at the same time) you can diet.

[Dawn1962 in reply to TheHud]

Thanks but 600 to 700 cals is very low wont your body go into starvation mode and affect your metabolism?

[Hidden in reply to Dawn1962]

I personally think that unless you are doing an intermittent fasting diet, where you alternate low calories days with higher days, this kind of calorie level is too low, and not sustainable or healthy in the long term.

The calorie goal given to you by your pt doesn't sound too bad for the weight that you are. I think that most of the people on this forum who have been losing weight successfully have been eating more rather than less calories !

Going to the doctor is probably a good idea a rule out a medical issue.

Other than that - are you measuring, weighing, recording everything you eat very carefully to be sure that you are within the calorie goal ?

What's a typical day's menu - if you don't mind me asking ?

[Dawn1962 in reply to Hidden]

Hi i would have cereal for breakfast ...at work probably a sandwich and then a cooked tea usually meat veg etc no ready meals. I use MFP to log calories so if i have a glass of wine or treat I count it.

[Hidden in reply to Dawn1962]

Perhaps try changing what type of thing you are eating ? Change the cereal in the morning for something less sugary like porridge, eggs etc. Try a salad / veg / grain mix for lunch instead of a sandwich. Cut out starchy carbs in the evening etc. Any of these things might start to shift the weight ?

If you exercise, do you then increase the amount of calories you have in the day by the same amount ? If so, your measurement of calories burned may be over-exaggerated causing you to eat above your calorie goal ?

If you are weighing and measuring everything diligently, and there is no medical reason for not losing weight, it would seem strange to not see any difference ?

[Penel in reply to Dawn1962]

Perhaps the problem is what you eat rather than how much? Have a think about trying different breakfasts and lunches, which are high either high fibre or have more protein.

Porridge, or alternatively some protein, for breakfast, and a high fibre bread for lunch, but check that it does not have a high level of added sugar.

[TheHud in reply to Dawn1962]

Dieticians recommend tou reduce your calorie intake by at least 700 cal per day, as I was told, in order to lose weight rapidly if you are morbidly obese. My problem is I exist on a maintenance diet of 1500 calories a day anyway and only ever eat lean and very few carbs. Metabolic rate is often used as an excuse to not diet hard, but that is for all intents and purposes a myth. If you are very overweight you have a high metabolic rate anyway just to sustain your normal bodily functions. I am actually not doing a starvation diet because i am eating significant amounts of veg and 2 fruit items plus the recommended 30% protein rule.

I will do this for 2 weeks and then I will gradually add calories, bit of oil on steak etc until I am losing 3lb a week. When I finally get down to the obese/overweight threshold I will add more calories and go to 1lb a week lose.

The health risks to being obese far outweigh any possible risk to shifting at least a stone fast so you can exercise a bit. Plus I am getting a stable diet, I am just not eating anything unhealthy, like, alcohol, diary apart from skimmed milk and some cottage cheese, no biscuites, treats, sweets or puddings that are dead calories.

I may surprise most people when they do a food diary that the significant calorie intake comes from carbs, sugar and fat that is not part of a healthy diet. That one milk biscuit at 45 cal, followed by another and then what the hell they are only little, just came to the same calories as a tin of tuna or a nice piece of poached haddock.

I have just excluded all the sugar, most fat, not all because you actually get enough omega 3 just by eating 2 portions of oily fish a week ie Tuna or Salmon in my case. I also take vit and min supplements but that is for other health conditions which have eased considerably this last week.

livestrong.com/article/5353...

This is worth a read, informative, amusing and essential knowledge.

comfortpit.com/the-truth-ab...

[flavourfiend]

Hope your GP gives you good news!

I'm the same age and weight as you (near enough), but male, not female.

My daily energy requirement, for a bloke with light activity levels is 2640 calories per day (yours will probably be something around 200-300 less than that). If I eat fewer than 2640 calories, or burn sufficient calories to take me below that level, I lose weight. If I don't, I don't.

The bigger the difference between input and output, the more I lose. I don't run or go to the gym, but I walk around 20 miles per week (outside normal activities), and I find that works pretty well.

If you are eating 1600 cals per day, and training twice per week, there is no logical reason for you not losing. You will be building some muscle from working out, but surely not enough to account for the lack of weight loss.

Are you keeping careful track of absolutely everything that you put in your mouth? If you aren't writing everything down, and working out *exactly* how many calories you're consuming, perhaps you should. You may be surprised! ☺

[LessToLose 2lbs Restart April 2024]

I am female and consume 1600-1800 cals a day and am losing roughly 2lbs a week. I do work out several times a week and think that helps.

Are you active outside those two PT sessions? Try to add in some walking every day if you can manage it and go to the gym another day a week, that might help.

Let us know what the doc says!

[Dawn1962 in reply to LessToLose]

Thanks. Gp says.menopause hinders with weight loss and doing bloods for thyroid. Suggests 1500cal to see how it goes.

[LessToLose 2lbs Restart April 2024]

They blame everything on the menopause, LOL!

I find weight loss easier now I don't have to deal with the monthly hormone fluctuations. I am glad you are getting your thyroid tested and well done for keeping going, you will succeed, you are definitely determined!

Keep us posted, we are keen for you to get this sorted.

[bigfattoe]

I guess so...but im praying the menopause doesnt affect weight loss..as im going through the onset..this last week i felt rather funny....lol...on myself..but i knoe one thing i can now ly down in the bath...at xmas i got stuck in the bath...so im losing inches loads...lol it was the best bath in the world today..i could see me xxxxx feet girls lolxxx