Why am I putting ON weight?

So don’t tell yourself you can’t have different foods. I did not deny myself anything I wanted when I was losing. I just ate less of it or I made room for it it with my other food choices.

It's really tough, OP! Are you sure 1700 is right? I'm a little over 5'6, postpartum and breastfeeding and my calculator has said 1,565. I've started workouts now as well but easing myself back in.

I've realised so much of it is diet and I can get really demoralised by the scale but it is helpful weighing every day because there's natural fluctuations. You might find you're weighing yourself on a heavier day that week and miss the days you were a bit lighter!

I've also realised how many calories are in tiny bits of bready food and how few are in fruit/vegetables! Try and fill up on those with some protein. And let yourself have bits of cravings as well.

Ugh last time I weighed myself I'd lost six pounds. I just weighed myself again and I put on two pounds. :(

It's hard. Why is it so hard.

I think it's a mental thing. Because we keep telling ourselves "we can't have this food and this food" and then we snap and give in.

I'm going to listen to some motivational youtubes

@saltinesandcoffeecups juices like that are terrible for spiking your insulin levels though so I would avoid them especially if you were having them first thing in the morning

This is where I am now. After some time you just sort of know what you’re eating and can eyeball portions.

I found there are 3 stages to calorie monitoring.

1. Learning- Finding out how many calories are in food, portion sizes, and food choices. Example- I found out that the glass of orange juice I drank every morning had 250+ calories in it. So I made a different choice and could eat those same calories in a good protein or treat.
2. Exploring- This is the period that you’ve got the basics down and now you get to be creative and find new foods. You’re in the groove and are seeing results. It’s starting to become second nature and you’re not having to spend much thought or energy on it. You’ve passed the dreaded period between novelty and habit.
3. Ingrained- At this point you know what a portion size is, you can eyeball that splash of oil used for cooking or that spread you put on your toast. You’re making different choices by habit instead of effort. You don’t even really think about it anymore.

I always thought that MFP should have a ‘blind’ setting for when you are first getting started so that you eat normally for a week or two but it doesn’t show your calories. Then you can see where your problem areas are. Like my OJ example. I mean I like OJ, but not 250 cal worth! I switched for a child size juice box of organic apple juice and like that just as much for 50 cal 😁. 5 years on and that’s my go to still.

I don't calorie count and have mostly maintained the weight I lost with slimming world. do eat more than you, weigh less but do a lot more exercise, a walk for me is 5k and then I also do 5 exercise classes a week.

For me I would watch the days when you are having bran flakes, bread with soup for lunch and then pasta dinner. In fact I would ditch branflakes and replace with low fat yogurt and fruit or eggs as the protein will fill you up for longer.

I snack on fruit and things like cherry tomatoes, chicken, I will have some home made soup for lunch which I made and is quite filling.

Dinner is anything I would normally have with minus the fat as much as possible. Last night was homemade chilli with 5% beef, my children would have it with rice and sometimes I have a jacket potato although I didn't have anything last night. It will probably be salad tonight but I will add in chicken, lots of greens, maybe a boiled egg etx..

Good advice.

Intermittent fasting is amazing for reversing insulin resistance and healing the body

My strong advice - forget calorie counting and try intermittent fasting with an eating window of six hours or less. Your walking sounds great, do as much as you can, it will make a difference, whatever people say.

You eat too much

Very true. Eating enough calories is very important, especially protein.

As mentioned previously too, getting insulin controlled is vital. With weight gain comes insulin resistance, so keep foods balanced and on the lower GI until insulin is stable. You’ll be able to treat yourself again, but in the beginning, get that insulin fixed (which will stabilise female hormones too)

While all posters here will be well-meaning and will want to help you achieve your weight-loss goals, I do think that unexplained weight-gain or the inability to lose weight requires the input of professionals.

Have you talked to your doctor yet? That would be my first stop. I expect you'll get a referral to a dietician, or perhaps your hormone levels need to be tested. It could be a lot of things. It is possible you eat more calories than you think you are, or there might be something else entirely going on.

The thing is that there are too many variables at the moment. You need to eliminate possible causes of a lack of weight-loss without doing harm to your health.

Agree with this. Be very careful with how much you are restricting calories. Especially if you want to grow muscle (which as another poster has said, burns more calories at rest).

Best thing is I can eat whatever I like now, no need to diet. I still lose weight and maintain because the muscle is burning calories at rest.

Keep at it, and well done! It’s not easy

Thank you! Choosing to work with a nutritionist was a game changer. I wish more people knew it didn’t have to be such a battle (and you don’t have to starve yourself!).

You are so right! It’s all about finding what you enjoy and you’ll stick at it. Sounds like you’re in a great place too! 🤍

Don’t give up. I got up to a size 18, I’m an 8 now from consistent walking

Completely normal. Very frustrating tho, happened to me when I started walking and exercise/diet. Almost made me give up.

Muscle is heavier, and as you work them they rip and lots of water is accumulated for the inflammation. You actually gain weight on the scale.

Keep going. It will whoosh off in a couple months and your clothes will be hanging off, fr

It is very frustrating when you’re being good and not seeing the results but I’ve always found it takes about 6 weeks to really consistently see weight loss results from your actions so you’re dieting now for the future you. Stop weighing yourself every week initially it’s just demotivating - you’re gaining weight from either past eating habits a few weeks ago or water retention but either way if you stay committed doing exactly what you’re doing it will shift - 1600 calories should be enough initially and you can drop as you plateau later.

I visualise it as if you’re in a car on the road to weight gain and the diet is you hitting the breaks to turn around towards weightloss. If you’re a man the breaks are instantaneous you just have to look at a rice cake and you’ll start loss mode, teenage girl or young 20’s woman - pretty rapid action. Unfortunately the breaks just get worn down as you get older and you have really slam on to get it turned as you pass mid 30s!

Porridge is a carb with a high glycaemic impact, and oats are on the 'no' list if you use the blood sugar diet.

If you want porridge you can make it from rye, barley and buckwheat flakes. Not oats.

@Daffodilpup the calculation I always used is times your weight in pounds x 10 to get maintenance calories. So yours are 1960 and to lose a lb a week (which is 3500 calories) calculates your daily intake to be 1460.

i would add more protein and lose potatoes and pasta (works for me but not everyone) and use a homemade yoghurt lemon dressing rather than mayo which is loaded with calories!

Honestly there is so much better information out there about losing/maintaining weight than restricting calories and doing more exercise. It's more about balancing your hormones, mainly your insulin levels. Please do some reading and/or listening of podcasts/YouTube videos - restricting your calories to crazy levels and weighing yourself every day sounds hideous.

It can be truly depressing to find out how little you must eat in order to lose weight as you age. Upping exercise has the great effect of increasing (marginally) the amount you can eat, making you fitter and look better even if you don't lose any weight and also - you can't eat while you're exercising!

Good plan!