I’ve started my health & fitness journey after a lot of weight was gained during COVID.
I’m only 23 but the heaviest I have ever been. I’m eating extremely well and drinking 2l of water every day plus exercising in the gym 3 times a week but my weight is not budging.
I have never had this issue before and it’s been 3 weeks now and the scales isn’t moving.
I wonder has anyone else gone through this? It’s as if my body doesn’t want to let go of that extra fat.
I’m worried that there may be something else wrong that’s preventing weight loss.
Any advice is appreciated!
Written by
ClodaghK
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We hope you'll be joining us on all the Events, Challenges and Clubs that we run, especially a weekly weigh in and the Daily Diary, the best places to give and receive advice, support and bucket loads of encouragement.
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If you think there may be a health problem that explains your inability to lose weight, do make an appointment with your doctor so you can rule that out as an explanation.
If there is no medical reason, you may have to re-think your eating plan and whether it is as healthy as you think. Weight gain/loss very largely comes down to what we eat. Have a look at the Daily Diary and you'll see the different plans that members follow: everyone will be happy to answer questions about their approach.
Maybe the calorie is not well counter. You need less than 1900 in the day. Also, it is important to avoid sodium in the diet.How is the calorie intake daily?
I’ve been assigned 1550 calories by my coach, which is a calorie deficit but it’s still not moving! Very frustrating - eating all good quality foods, drinking lots of water etc.
I have gone from barely moving each day (due to an office job & working from home) to now eating great food & working out 3 times a week.
I thought I would see such a big difference so it’s just disheartening when I’m doing everything by the book.
Maybe you'd like to share the fatismyfriend.co.uk/ link with your coach, and look with them at how your eating matches up with a plan like that. Your exercise is great, you're doing everything you're being asked to and the weight isn't moving so I do think a re-look at your diet is a good idea, with a shift away from a focus on calories.
Perhaps your coach could discuss with you the importance of key hormones in weight gain/loss: insulin, leptin and ghrelin
Not being facetious but if any of us is doing everything by the book, which it's clear you are, and not getting results, then maybe we have the wrong book
Hi Obaidaa and welcome to this amazing forum. I suggest you spend some time clicking about to find your way around. It's easier if you have a lap-top as there are several threads. If you’re using another device I strongly suggest that you use the web page as opposed to the app at least until you know your way around.
Have a good read of the pinned post “Welcome Newbies” and follow every thread.
Thanks for your support. You don't mention if you're on a weight loss journey too. If by any chance we're counting calories we need to get our BMI and from there a personalized calorie amount.
I strongly suggest you read and contribute to the Daily Diary and participate in a Weekly Weigh in.
You will find there's loads of tips about better eating, from other members. Sharing your daily menu not only helps you stay committed, it can help other members too.
Unfortunately calorie counting can lead to starving yourself if you cut calories from the wrong types of foods. Carbohydrates are what is known as empty calories because they do not provide any nutrition and the body is programmed to eat until it has sufficient nutrition. To loose weight you need to cut out these empty calories which only put up your insulin and trigger fat storage.
I think the observation that it simply doesn't work should be evidence enough.
Most Britons are complying with the government recommendations for fat intake (sometimes inadvertently, because most prepackaged supermarket products these days are low-fat). We're eating a lot less fat, both in absolute terms and as a proportion of calories, than we ever did.
And yet, 40-odd percent of the British public are overweight, and about 10% of them have serious chronic illnesses related to diet.
You've explained this very well. It's also worth remembering that when fat is removed from a product so is much of the flavour which is compensated for by salt and sugar.
You might want to ponder on the incongruity that arises from 'eating extremely well' and being 'the heaviest you have ever been'. As you've discovered the hard way, eating child-sized portions doesn't cause fat loss (for well-understood physiological reasons), so there's not much point continuing down that path. This is doubly true if your coach is recommending the fashionable 'clean eating' pattern - typified by chicken breast, broccoli and rice - which will eventually leave you with serious micronutrient deficiencies as well as unwanted flab.
There's some astoundingly bad advice given out by people who really ought to know better, with the result that thousands of people are going mad with frustration at their inability to lose weight while "doing everything right".
Obesity is essentially a defence mechanism against human-inappropriate food - in particular, the very-high-carbohydrate, very-low-fat diet recommended by mainstream experts. Although we can survive on this for short periods, it's basically the one diet that humans really can't cope with, at least not for months or years. Your body has been backed into a metabolic cul-de-sac where the only thing it can do with your meals is to dispose of them as bodyfat.
The fastest route out of that cul-de-sac is to replace the starches on your plate with vegetables, adding meat/eggs/dairy to taste. Don't be afraid of cooking with cheese, butter, and fatty cuts of meat. Eat when you're hungry and stop when you're full.
You should find that your appetite rapidly starts to work properly again, and within a couple of weeks you should notice some fat loss accompanied by a decline in appetite - you'll find that you can go longer between meals, and you don't need to eat quite so much. Just follow your appetite and the fat loss will continue, without any real need for you to count anything or think about transitioning to maintenance.
Why don't you try with hula-hooping? Do it for atleast twenty minutes a day for like 8-10 days and you'll be shocked to see the difference, especially if you are concerned about losing belly fats and extra inches.
It's the best activity to keep oneself fit without leaving the comfort of their home and yet being able to burn enormous amount of calories at the same time. Some even relate it for being an alternate to cardio.
Hope that helps and Happy Working-Out !
Edited by Admin to remove reference to branded products
Hi, I too was suffering with the same problem for many year ,no matter how much I exercised or how less I ate. Then later on doctor's prescription I got my thyroid tests done which showed I had hypothyroidism. After starting the medication i gradually started loosing weight even though i felt hungry more but iam loosing weight and I also started doing a little bit of exercise .I hope my experience could help you and also consult your doctor.
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