Why aren't I losing weight?!

[CommunistLegoBloc]

Right, I know the answer to this question is usually 'you're eating too much' but I'm not! I'm being quite brutal and I've cut down a lot. No mindless snacking, two meals a day. Plenty of veg, no meat, relatively little dairy. Home cooked meals.

I'm 5ft 8 and I weigh 65kg, so I'm in no way overweight. But I've put on a few kilos in lockdown and I'd like to shift them and get down to 61-62kg again. I'm running 5k every other day. I don't get enough steps in on my non-run days, it's true. Maybe 6,000? I also do the 16:8, although being honest it's probably more 14:10 at least three days a week.

For a month I've been running, eating 1200 calories a day, no booze, fasting, drinking 2l of water. I AM THE SAME WEIGHT. I'M ALSO QUITE HUNGRY.

Help.

What am I doing wrong?!

I highly recommend keeping a journal of what you eat. Be religious about it and write everything down. If you are doing everything right, and it sounds like you are, there may be underlying issues at play. Check with your doctor - nothing to worry about I think - sudden weight loss is the worrier.

I'm not over weight and am as active as you To lose weight I need to always eat less than 1000 calls.

I write everything down. My fitness tracker says I burn an average of 600 calories a day through my run and my walk. So if I'm eating 1200 (which I think I am, but will be monitoring even more now for anything sneaking in!) then I should be in deficit.

It's bonkers that some people think running 5k a day doesn't make you active 🙄 Possibly the same people who think apples are too sweet and should only be a monthly treat...

It is quite possible that it's just slower to lose when you're already a reasonable weight. It's quite possible I need to kick-start my metabolism by eating a bit more. It's quite possible I get up at 3am and eat 40 fondant fancies, although less likely.

Feel your pain Op, my weight is just it shifting either and no idea why so can’t offer a solution but watching with interest.

To posters who are talking about bmi ratio etc, this is not the only indicator as your weight to height ratio is a key health indicator. Most people would say that I am relatively slim but o put weight on around my stomach so hence having to watch my weight like a hawk.

Of course running 5k a day makes you 'active'. Running 5k a day would burn 2100 calories a week, that's a day's food!

The difference between sedentary and active is more than 300 calories per day, it would be more likely be double that for the average 65kg woman, it would be enough maybe to move a sedentary individual into moderately active, but not all the way to active.

Aye well I'll do a marathon every morning then, that'll probably work.

Aye well I'll do a marathon every morning then, that'll probably work

It is very difficult to burn excess calories when not overweight, your 600 is almost certainly an over-estimated from you watch (300 from the run every other day, means you would be still walking 30 miles a week which you said was unlikely) So it's probably a few less.

And you're probably eating a few more than 1200 - remember calories from weighing etc. is all approximate, the exact calories in the food and the efficiency of extracting the calories from the food differs (unless you're just eating raw sugar / lard etc.)

That's enough to make losing these couple of kilos difficult, the change from normal day to day activity really hurts to add weight on, but returning to activity doesn't have the same impact on taking it off, your body likes to keep the same weight that it has, the hormones try and make your body defend it.

As you're at a net +600kcal/day, you're probably sluggish because you aren't eating enough to have any spare energy. Get yourself back up to at least +1200, probably +1500 and see how you feel after a week.

Keep up the running, it's a massive benefit even if you're only doing a short time. Not in a direct calorie counting way, it's very hard to lose weight by exercise unless you're doing many hours of serious workout every day, but in a psychological keeping-your-mind-on-it way.

(The "eating too few calories puts your body into starvation mode" thing is a myth, unless you're actually starving. So you can ignore that)

My body hold onto weight. The only times I have seen weightloss really is either ridiculous calorie restriction (not sustainable or healthy), when I meditate regularly (relaxation?) or when I had a miscarriage (hormones?). Exercise does very little as I build muscle too easily. No idea. We are all different.

Don't think anyone can tell you for definite, but in your position I'd try - not low carbing as such, but trying to replace some of your existing carbs with extra veg. Just for a week or two, to see if it makes a difference. Bulky but super healthy veg like cabbage and cauliflower, to make sure you don't feel hungrier. And maybe more liquid things like soups, which you can make as healthy and tasty as you like and then fill up on without breaking the calorie budget. Worth a shot? I find eating more bulky but low calorie veg/recipes is usually the magic bullet to weight loss when you are not actually overweight to being with (obviously I'm not saying that it doesn't work if you are overweight too).

OP, my first bit of advice is never ask MN for weight or diet advice. You must live off lettuce and water forevermore, and weights only.

Look up Intuitive Eating and Food Freedom. Move in ways you enjoy (walking, swimming, running, yoga, etc).
Also 1200cals is the needs of a toddler not a grown woman.

I'm 63 kg, mid 50s. I just ran about 5km & burnt 360 kcal.
Fitbit says I burn about 200 kcal/half hour walk.
to get 600 kcal/day average from walk+run, OP must be walking about 2 hours every 2 days, or one hour walking/day average.

But OP said on non-run days she only does about 6000 steps.
the numbers don't add up.

I shouldn't pick on exercise because calories eaten is main factor... just that the numbers don't add up.

I walk for an hour a day 🤷 that gives me 6000 steps. I try to run every day but sometimes it's 2 out of 3 days, I'm only human. On the days I run and walk I obviously go over 6000 steps. It could be I have a huge stride or my phone doesn't count my steps properly (the watch vastly overestimates my step count) but that's what's the numbers tell me.

Anyway I think PPs are right. I'll either be told I'm not exercising enough and should be constantly in motion, or that if I want to be really thin I need to master photosynthesis and occasionally glance at a carrot.

I agree it's 80% calories, 20% exercise. But I'm doing both.

My sister, DM and me are similar. We all have to eat less than 1000 Cal's to lose anything. We're all overweight. We weigh our food, count our calories and we're active people. We weigh heavy and are not flabby but naturally quite muscular.

It is calorific deficit but clearly some need less than others. It's torture. According to MFP I should be on 1500 a day to lose weight. I'm having to eat less than 1000 to see any difference 😭

Are you considering how many calories you are drinking? Unless you only drink water there will be calories in every drink

I drink water, mint tea and black coffee. No booze for 5 weeks, which is when I started watching what I eat. I don't buy juice or squash or fizzy drinks. So probably 10 calories a day in liquids!

I’m having the same difficulty OP, so you’re not alone. I have lost over 4 stone in the past 6 months and I’m now 68kg which puts me towards the top end of the healthy bmi range. I have mfp set for 1200 calories also and stick to it religiously, weighing everything. My target is 63 kg, (I’m 5ft 6 inches), which is still heavier than where I used to be but I think achievable. This last 5kg is proving to be hard to shift unfortunately.

I also run, probably about 45-50k a week, although I do it more to get out of the house than to lose weight. It doesn’t seem to count towards weight loss as much as I had hoped. I guess it’s just going to take time, but it is frustrating. I’m experimenting with lowering my carb intake, but I find it hard to balance with running.

I also meant to say I’m going to try upping my strength training as I’ve read more muscle equals a higher calorie burn. It’s time consuming though and difficult without access to the gym.

Are you getting enough sleep? Honestly I suspect this is one of my biggest problems - I average about 4-5 hours a night, rarely more than 7.

Running is shit for weight loss, unless you do tons of it. It's good for you in other ways though.

Since July I have eaten nothing nice. Most days I eat homemade soup, fruit and vegetables, raw porridge and a slice of wholemeal bread. I drink only water or black tea. I’ve lost19lbs. If I eat anything extra I gain weight. Depressing, isn’t it?

1200 is hardly any calories for a 5'8 woman who regularly goes running.

Eat more, so say 1600, but mostly protein and vegetables and try to incorporate some strength training into your routine. That way your muscles will be passively burning calories while you're sat on the couch.

There's a trainer on instagram who used to only do cardio and eat 1200 calories and she was pretty slim but miserable. She took up strength training and now she eats 2300 calories and is in amazing shape.
She's called Kim French Here's her profile, she's very down to earth. She said the strict calorie restrictions killed her metabolism, so the less she ate, the more her body clung on to fat.

@CommunistLegoBloc Hey! Weirdly we have really similar stats, though I'm an inch shorter than you. I'm usually 61-62, had a baby, was losing weight fine, hit about 63 pre lockdown then BAM, put on another 3 and just couldn't get back down. I am also obsessed with carbs and sugar and would eat them all day everyday if possible... but honestly within relatively sensible diet: wholegrains, salads not to mention I'm vegan and so no meat or cheese.

Personally I've just started the FAST800 and quit carbs because I felt like I was tired ALL the time and just stagnating with my weight- I also hurt my knee and I just felt a bit afraid that I'd just gain even more weight.

Anyhoo if you're interested in trying the fast800, I bought the audiobook and it's really good, very evidence based and really quite interesting about how eating carbohydrates all the time keeps you fat even though your calories are low because it keeps your insulin levels high and as such, your fat stays stored instead of being available as energy...

I do think I'm about half as active than I was pre lockdown... that I think is a big contributing factor. I used to walk to work then walk all around work. now I WFH and mum the rest of the time and of course we only leave the house once a day as we are supposed to.