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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To not understand my weight?

108 replies

MagdelenaMorrison · 24/05/2026 08:41

I seriously don't get it.
I'm trying soooooo hard to lose weight.
It's bloody hard, hard work trying to shift it.
The eating less is easy, I find calorie restriction easy. I'm naturally a healthy eater and my diet consists of vegetables, salad, brown rice, potatoes, poultry, fish, a little red meat, lots of mixed beans and lentils. No cheese, cream, milk, ice cream, as I'm dairy free. I don't eat any UPF or takeaways or convenience food; everything I eat is home cooked from scratch. Nothing is fried. I've got Coeliac disease which means I can't eat gluten so that cuts out bread, rolls, pastries, cakes, biscuits, etc. as I medically can't eat those foods. No crisps, chocolate or fizzy drinks, don't like that stuff. I don't drink alcohol, I'm teetotal.
Anyway despite eating healthily I am overweight and I am now tracking my calorie intake on a diet tracker.
What's hard is not the calorie restriction, I'm doing that easily. It's how hard it is to get any weight off. AND how much my weight is bouncing around.
So here's my gripe about my weight:
6 weeks ago: 12.6
5 weeks ago: 12.8
4 weeks ago: 13.2
3 weeks ago: 12.7
2 weeks ago: 12.8
1 week ago: 12.6
Today: 12.9
WTF?
Throughout these weeks I have eaten EXACTLY the same amount of calories each day, 1,100. All weighed, measured and recorded in to my weight loss app. Not one day have I exceeded this amount of calories. Literally not once.
5ft 7.
45 years old.
And bloody fed up.
BTW I've had a load of blood tests done (not for weight loss but for other reasons), tested my thyroid, diabetes, LH FSH hormones, kidneys, liver, cholesterol, lots of other stuff I can't remember, and every test was in the normal range.
Why is my weight bouncing around all over the place????

OP posts:
Wistfulwisteria · 24/05/2026 09:01

Yes I’m the same. I have to eat below 1,000 a day to shift anything. Fasting is the only thing that works for me, nothing but water or herbal tea until 1.00 and at least one if not two very low calorie days of 600-800 a week.

Sartre · 24/05/2026 08:57

Do you exercise at all? It isn’t mentioned. 1100 calories isn’t enough for an adult or even child to survive so I think you’re in starvation mode in truth. I think you should increase your intake to a sustainable level and work out.

Fillybuster · 24/05/2026 08:56

Sympathy, OP. Thats really frustrating, especially because 1,100 is definitely not a fun amount of food, so you’re quite right to feel miffed 💐

That level of fluctuation is quite normal, though. Salt levels and water retention can create quite big shifts for now apparent reason.

And it sounds as though your body has adjusted to 1,100 being your baseline intake, so you’re not burning enough to make it a deficit.

You didn’t say how much exercise you are doing, and whether that is cardio or resistance training? If you’re not, then that might drive a significant shift.

And yes yes to the pp who suggested 5:2. I would suggest that specifically,as opposed to any other IF variation, probably combined with eating a bit more on your non fast days, to give this a kick start. Good luck!

AltitudeCheck · 24/05/2026 08:55

planespotter71 · 24/05/2026 08:49

that’s very carb heavy you need to go low carb x

How are you getting high carb from what OP has posted? Apart from brown rice and potatoes it looks quite low carb to me! Certainly no bread / pasta etc.

DriveVerySlowlyPastNumber23IWantThemToSeeMyHat · 24/05/2026 08:51

Are you weighing yourself daily? My weight fluctuates so much and it's very disheartening.

I now weigh myself daily and do a weekly average.

Gardenflowering · 24/05/2026 08:49

Ok, you sound like me and I have posted almost identical to your post.
People DO NOT get it and will say that you are lying and you must not be revealing all that you are eating.
Before those posters come I want to tell you that I get 100% what you are saying, and that as another woman who’s weight behaves like this, I totally sympathise.

All bloods normal here too, but I am convinced I have suffered from PCOS all my adult life (undiagnosed) & metabolic syndrome add in peri & menopause and I am trying to push out the sea with a sieve.

The only thing that has worked ( very very slowly and unreliable) is Mounjaro. Again, I have been told I’m lying because it’s not worked for me like it has done others.

planespotter71 · 24/05/2026 08:49

that’s very carb heavy you need to go low carb x

AltitudeCheck · 24/05/2026 08:47

Hate to say it but it seems 1100 calories isn't a deficit if after 6 weeks your weight is much the same. Unless of course you've been working out and your body composition has changed in that time and you've lost inches / changed shape and gained muscle?

Since menopause the only thing that has worked for me is intermittent fasting.

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