not losing weight

[TheGoop]

If you went from being a biscuit chomping, chocolate guzzling sugar fiend to eating loads of salads, low fat meals and healthy breakfasts - how much would you expect to lose a week?

I am on week three of denying myself all snacks and sweet things and have lost a grand total of one pound!

I am seriously confused, why am I not losing weight.

Here's an example of what I ate the last couple of days

Monday:
Breakfast: small amount of oats with fat free yoghurt and some strawberries.
Lunch: Salad (Chick peas, cucumber, tomatoes, small bit of feta cheese) and mackerel fillets
Dinner: Slimming world Spag bol with a small bit of low fat cheese.

Snacks: Banana, pear, apple.
Drinks: Loads of water and 2 cups of coffee.

Today:
Breakfast: half a grapefruit, fat free yoghurt with two chopped up strawberies, a chunk of pineapple and 5 grapes.
Lunch: 2 eggs, 4 small slices of ham spread with low fat cheese, salad (Celery, apple, cucumber, carrot, tomatoes) 5 pickled onions.
Dinner: Will be chicken fillets, salad and roast potatoes cooked with low cal spray.
Drinks: Water and 2 cups of coffee

Alcohol: I have had 2 vodkas with slimline bitter lemon.
I have had pasta once and rice twice and have eaten more fish than I would usually eat.

This is the kind of thing I have eaten for the last two weeks. I was hoping for 2lb a week weight loss but it's just not happening.

Has my body gone into 'starvation mode' or is this a myth?

[TheGoop]

I am 5 ft 6 and weigh 10st 11lb and want to get down to about 9st 7 so not a huge amount to lose.

[TheGoop]

and I am mid 40s - could it be middle age spread and I am just stuck like this?

[funkypigeon]

Yes I think it has. I never used to believe the starvation mode thing but then it happened to me and it was ecause I wasn't eating enough. It's strange but true. You haven't had any bread not any 'treats' as such. Maybe try adding more of these in and could make a difference. I'm no expert but I'm following SW and have lost just over a stone in 8 weeks. Good luck!

[funkypigeon]

Ah, you don't have much to lose then. I've heard it can be harder when you have not so much to lose. I do still have a lot to lose!

[TheGoop]

in the two weeks I think I have had a couple of slices of bread with butternut squash soup but, yes, no treats.

I feel odd about having them to be honest as I find it very hard to limit myself so it's easier to cut them out completely.

Congrats on your weight loss that's really cool. My work mate is doing SW so I am using some of the ideas but not following it completely.

[funkypigeon]

Thanks :)

Yes I understand what you mean. I'm an all or nothing girl really with regards to treats. For example I can't just eat one biscuit, or one packet of crisps so I tend to use my allowance on stuff like Mayo or ketchup/dressings that kind of thing to make my meals more exciting.

By the way, SW wedges are lovely in the oven. Feel like you're having chips! Made with fry light they are really nice.

[Labracadabra]

I would strongly disagree that your body is in starvation mode. In fact, what is probably happening is that you are eating more calories than you think. At your height and weight you won't have a massive TDEE (total daily energy expenditure). If you google TDEE you can work it out online. If you're eating close to this amount you will lose weight quite slowly (it's irrelevant how much or what food you ate before, it's just about how many calories you're eating now versus how many your body needs). Without weighing out your oats/chickpeas/feta etc you don't know how many calories they contain, so start doing that and inputting everything into MFP or a similar calorie app. You'll start to get a feel for the right portion size. You can choose to eat bread etc or not, it's up to you. Your body doesn't "need" bread but it's not bad for you either! Just log the calories and try to choose nutrient dense options like whole grain/ wholemeal rather than white. Also, start exercising, you can do it in your own home using workouts off YouTube. Try to do some high intensity interval training (HIIT) which will burn fat and boost your metabolism. Boring old standard advice but it works. Good luck!!

[lurkingfromhome]

Good advice above. Also, I do think it sometimes takes a while to get into a regular pattern of steady weight loss. I lost virtually nothing in the first two weeks then after that began to notice a difference.

I kept chanting the mantra that it didn't take me three weeks to put that extra stone on, so I'm hardly going to lose it in that same amount of time, no matter how strict I am with my eating...

[HeySoulSister]

I would limit the fruit a bit and eat full fat not low fat. I lost 5 stone low carbing and have kept 4 1/2 of it off for 18 months now. Low fat products are filled with sugar/fillers to compensate.

[Georgethesecond]

I only needed/wanted to lose 4lbs and I am 44. For me it was cutting carbs that made the weight go. I started eating fruit and (full fat Greek) yoghurt only before lunch. I was no more hungry than if I had had carbs for breakfast. Plenty of protein and low carbs for lunch and didn't change much else and I saw the pounds drop off.

[TheGoop]

Thanks, I will look these things up. I have been weighing my oats in the last couple of days and to be honest I am not eating mant specifically low fat items because so many of them have aspartame in them.

I am just amazed that by having no sweets/biscuits/cake/crisps/chocolate, which I used to have daily and by the packet load, I still haven't lost weight.

[tobysmum77]

0% fat Total Greek yogurt does not have added sugar. It is just skimmed milk and cultures. It is so so filling.

There is a load of nonsense on here about eating more fat. Yes some reduced fat stuff dies have crap in it but a lot of food is naturally low in fat (eg lean cuts of meat as posed to fatty ones)

Op cheese is something to watch I think but otherwise in terms of weight loss my weight fluctuates by up to 3lb across my cycle. Therefore you may find the is one week a month when the weight drops off.

[TheGoop]

Strangely I lost three pounds this week. Although I have been going through some stress and hardly ate this weekend so the weightless took place between Thursday and today.