Mumsnet Talk

I am really hoping someone can help me. I have cut out all junk, been eating well and shredding 3 times a week and haven't lost a bean. I am 9.5 stones and 5ft so would like to loose a stone. I thought I would be well on my way by now!

Here is a run down of the kind if things I eat:
Breakfast- porridge, bran flakes or fresh fruit and veg juice/smoothie
Lunch - homemade soup, omelette, poached eggs on a single slice of wholemeal toast, a wrap with salad and tuna,
Dinner - chicken or fish with salad, veggie curry with brown rice

I snack on dried fruit and nuts or oat cakes twice a day. I have cut out alcohol and only have two cups if tea a day.

The lack of results is enough to send me heading for the biscuit tin!

I probably don't drink enough water and I don't get enough sleep (dd2 being a pain in the arse).

Can anyone help?

How long are we talking about?

It can take a long time for your metabolism to adjust. Plus if you are toning up muscle is heavier than fat so your weight can stay the same.

The dried fruit is a bad idea. You need to drink water.

How are your clothes feeling? That is a much better indicator.

Thanks pag, two weeks. And my tummy is looking much more toned and clothes do feel better.

Right will up the water and cut out dried fruit.

I agree with Pagwatch that snacking on dried fruit/nuts/oatcakes is a bad idea. Drink more - you can drink black tea (or tea with lemon) or herbal tea as well as water. If you feel hungry in the early evening, a glass of dilute elderflower cordial can keep you going until dinner quite successfully!

I would guess that your calorie intake is too high.

Dried fruit and nuts very calorific, try logging your food on myfitnesspal for a week to see roughly how many calories eating.

Nuts ok as a snack no more than 25g a day though and cut the dried fruit. Drink 2 litres a day.

I reckon there's a delay between doing the exercise/diet and seeing the results - in my case I reckon it takes about 3 weeks for my body to catch up with what I've been eating/doing. Stick it another few weeks and see if you see results then. DON'T GIVE IN TO THE BISCUITS! You're doing really well.

Thanks everyone.

I really haven't snacked too much at all, just perhaps a couple of dried apricots or a few nuts mid morning and maybe and oatcake when the kids have the after school snack but I will be very mindful of overdoing it and maybe try carrot sticks and elderflower cordial instead (I love raw carrot so not a problem there). I will also up the water intake.

I hope you are right about the catch up quodlibet.

I have resisted the biscuit tin and even refused my friend's straight from the oven chocolate brownie earlier. One thing I have noticed is that my craving for sugary stuff has very much diminished.

Thanks for the encouragement. Its my best friend's wedding this year and my 40th birthday (am having a big party) and so I have incentive.

Don't forget weight loss can also fluctuate due to hormonal changes and 'time of the month'. I used to find most of my weight loss occurred during the 1st 2 weeks of my cycle, the 2nd 2 weeks I would either stay the same or even gain a little.

This is so encouraging as I have been going since new year too with minimal results yet logging every single calorie. Could being constipated keep the weight up? And why is the water so important? I haven't been so good on that.

Measurements can be a better guide than weight, anyway. I have lost 5 or 6 lb in the past couple of weeks - but already lost 3" on my waist and hips. They don't call scales 'diet killers' for nothing... Might be best to drop the weighing entirely for a month or so, and just measure and track that as you progress. Then weigh yourself when you know the measurements are going down.

Can also be weight don't shift if you eat too little (sorry to contradict people here) - your body goes into hold onto the weight mode. There are some useful charts for the number of calories to aim at per day, for given weights/heights in Rosemary Conley's books. As the weight drops you have to keep readjusting this. Just a glance at these tables in the shop - you don't even have to buy the books - and you may well be shocked how many calories you can eat.

I sued to track my cals on the free site, FitDay. And also track activities. That helps you get used to how many cals are in the things you eat a lot.

The muscle weighs more than fat thing is a fallacy when people say they haven't lost weight and people reply it must be cause they've built muscle.

Yes a pound of fat takes up less volume than fat, ie. it's more dense, but you can't convert fat to muscle (you can only burn the fat off and build more muscle). And a bodybuilder would be delighted to gain a pound of muscle in a week. It's practically impossible for a woman just doing cardio/toning a few times a week!

OP, your diet sounds good. I'd weigh everything and tot up calories to make sure you're not unintentionally overeating.

Oh, I've just seen that you're logging calories. How many are you allowing yourself per day?

IIRC when I did Rosemary Conley you took your weight in pounds then added a zero to get how many calories you should eat in a day. A ten stone person (140lb) would therefore eat 1400 calories a day to lose 1-2 pounds a week, but I don't think she advocated going below 1400 calories a day, even if you weighed less.

how much of each?

Wow, I'm nearly 11 stone (154 pounds?). Does that mean that R Conley would say that I could drop a pound a week on 1540 cals a day?

<digs out takeaway menu>

1540 cals a day = one small portion of chinese takeaway

calorie counting is a road to nowhere as once you hit "target" its easy to slip back into bad habits : which the diet industry relies on for its repeat custom

better is to do food diaries ; true ones with weighed portion sizes
and only weigh yourself weekly
then you will learn to listen to your body as it learns how to only take in what it needs to use
rather than what you have been giving it to store around your hips

Doing slimming world and lost 6.5lbs in 2 weeks totally amazed as been eating loads following the plan would totally recommend no calorie counting or weighing and kids love the new meals, dh lost 7lbs in same time and not even on diet just eating the new slimming world meals!

Thanks everyone. Mychilddoesn;t need sleep - I am not calorie counting but I might start myfooddiary again to give me a sense of it. I have preferred to just cut out crap and up the good stuff (chicken, fish, salad, veg, no pasta/white rice etc).

I have realised that my period is due today or tomorrow so do wonder if that could be the reason why I haven't lost any. I am not going to do any weighing for the next couple of weeks and just carry on as I am. Will take my measurements though - that is a good idea!

Yes TOTM can make a difference.

But also eat not to loose weight eating all the right food, because you are eating too much.

re: weight training. Its so very hard to gain muscle weight as a woman, an extra couple of pounds of muscle would be a massive effort with very heavy weights BUT when you start doing weight training there can be some water retention due to muscle repair.

Also water very important - helps prevent constipation. Also if you drink loads of water end up eating less as often we think we are hungry when in fact we are thirsty!

Some great advice here, I also thought increasing water / herbal tea intake would be a good plan. Dried fruit and nuts and oat cakes are quite high calorie.

Oh yes, TOTM makes a huge difference.

I don't even bother weighing on those days, and I'm a daily weigher.

I'm just about the same height and weight as you! I think you may have too many calories or portions too big? Did you calculate your BMR? I did one and it said 1200 calories allowed per day. That's pretty low.

I'm low carbing as it works best for me. Also taking L,Carnitine which is meant to help with fat metabolism, co enzyme q10 for energy and a multivit.

My weight problem was driven by pregnancy overeating and bedrest, but I've lost 2 stone doing what I'm doing now. I will be happy at 9 stone as I've got big boobs and am naturally hourglass/a bit curvy .

goodness 9 stone seems v v light to me!

Not if you are a shortarse 5ft like me, nowwearefour! My BMI is just on 25 so am borderline. Before children I was about 8 and a half stone and was happy at that weight. At university I was 8stone but realise that is probably a happy memory these days.

I have been counting calories for the last two days and am on between 1100 and 1200 and have been watchng my carbs too. I simply can't eat any less! I have started on Level 2 of the Shred and aim to do it 4 or 5 times this week.

As I face my third week of no wine, crisps or biscuits I am truly hoping the scales will show some improvement by the weekend!

Thanks for the tips sooty, will go and google. Well done on your weight loss