How can my metabolism be this fucked?

[tenbob]

Yes, I have thyroid disease, but this is just ridiculous

I’m breastfeeding, which Google tells me should burn around 500 calories a day
I exercise most days, which my heart rate monitor tells me burns an average of 400 calories

But I have been struggling to lose my pregnancy weight, so thought I must have been kidding myself about my diet
So I’ve been doing one of those meal delivery services, where they bring me everything I eat for a day.

It’s set at 1400 calories a day, Ive followed it religiously. Literally nothing else has passed my lips

After 2 weeks, I’ve lost… 1lb. ONE POUND
So that means my BMR must be 900 calories a day? Is that even possible?

No I don't think that's possible, I think the lack of weight loss is likely a combination of a few things, (a) unfortunately exercise trackers do tend to overestimate calories burnt, it may be less than 400 p/day (b) our weight will tend to fluctuate over the course of a day/week/month due to factors like hormones, water retention etc., plus when you are losing weight it doesn't tend to go in a linear fashion with a deficit of 1000 = exactly 1lb lost p/week, the body will tend to hold onto fat reserves as long as possible and then suddenly lose several lbs all at once (c) it's possible depending on what your diet was before that the change of diet (even to a 'healthier' diet) you may be constipated and/or dehydrated.

I'd stick with it for a while longer if you can afford/sustain doing the calorie restriction and/or meal delivery service and see where you are in a few weeks. Otherwise very often people especially those with thyroid issues find doing carb restriction and/or fasting rather than pure calorie counting the easiest way to lose weight - check out the threads on here?

Yep, unfortunately it is possible, I am exactly the same. I have had thyroid disease for over 20 years, but it's only been the last 5 that my metabolism has become so slow, I put it down to peri menopause, which obviously isn't the case for you. How are you thyroid levels at the moment? I know mine always went haywire after childbirth. You may need a medication increase.

Its been over 3 months…
I thought I had been underestimating my previous calories, and that’s why I hadn’t been losing much, so switched to the delivery service to make sure there was no cheating

but it’s obvious that my metabolism is struggling because I’m doing everything I should - 2 hours a week of weights, cardio, daily general activity

Its just so depressing to think that nothing is going to shift the weight I put on, and also wtf is going to happen when I stop BFing and don’t burn calories that way ☹️☹️

First thing is to get yourself in for your TFTs doing, and see if your meds need adjusting. However, this could well be a case of you not eating enough, if you are doing that much exercise while breastfeeding, 1400 calories is in reality nowhere near enough, and your body has probably turned its furnace right down to minimum. You need to fire it up again. Up your calories to 2000 minimum, and make sure you are including lots of healthy proteins.

I didnt loose any weight while breastfeeding.. not everyone does..it can be a bit of a myth. I think it was hormones. I ate healthily, once baby started cutting down the weight started to come off. Id be concerned you aren't eating enough though at 1400 calories.

I can't lose weight while breastfeeding either, it drops off when I stop.

sleep deprivation = elevated cortisol, stress of a new baby = elevated cortisol = harder to lose weight.

In the 2 weeks after I stopped breast feeding and started doing cardio I lost 7lbs - have never experienced anything like it since

Yes, same. My body held onto all the fat whilst breastfeeding and then lost it straight away once I stopped. Wish I had known this (or my DH had reminded me) as I tried desperately to lose weight each time.

Yep. My body clung on to every pound when breastfeeding. Good way to lose weight my arse.

Not enough information to go on, but have spoken to your GP about losing weight?

You may not be using as many calories as you think through bf and exercise. You don't say how tall you are or how much you weigh. Who's to say 1400 calories is what you need in order to lose weight?

2 hours of exercise in a whole week? That's not going to have any impact on weightloss unless the majority of that time is lifting heavy weights. Good for you, but it won't be a factor in weightloss.

I’m 5’5“
pre-pregnancy, I’m around 9.5-10 stone
Im currently around 11.5 stone and just cannot shift it
Ive run 6 marathons, I’m no stranger to exercising and training hard but I’m also trying to be sensible and respect that I’m fairly recently post partum

currently, I’m doing 2 or 3 Peloton rides of 30-40 mins, 2 x 1 hour sessions of weights which is lifting heavy (50kg and increasing) weights, I walk the dogs every day, usually with a baby in the sling, I’m active!

I’m exclusively breastfeeding a 75th centile baby, I’m calorie counting, I don’t know what else a doctor will say

its starting to get me down, but I don’t know what the answer is

I had a full thyroid function test around 6 weeks ago and have reduced my thyroxine as my TSH was very low so I don’t think it’s that, I just think my metabolism is screwed and needs very little to tick over

Really interesting to see so many others couldn’t shift the weight until they stopped feeding

I didn’t try very hard for the first 9-12 months after DC1, but looking back, it did go fairly quickly once I cut down then gave up feeding

I only really lose when I eat a Mediterranean diet with low amounts of complex carbs. Otherwise I hold on to any and every lb regardless of calories. Might be worth a try?

Go and speak to your GP. There may be some other factor at play and they can help.

The only other thing I can think is that the 1400 calories a day pre-prepared meals are actually higher in calories than you think. Possibly due to an error in ordering?

There is no way they are out by any sort of significant amount
It’s an established company that markets itself to people closely tracking their diet so depends on all the macros and ingredients being spot on
Some days, my total calories will have been slightly under because my plan includes a juice and some of them are a bit grim and I don’t drink them.

I only started with the delivery because my attempts at calorie counting weren’t working, despite me being quite careful at portion control

But I assumed I must have been somehow eating more than I thought, so did the deliveries as a control
Given that I’ve not lost any weight on those either, I think my portions were probably also pretty accurate

What else can be at play that can bring my metabolism to such a crashing halt that I need half the normal amount of calories per day?!

I can’t spend the rest of my life on a crash diet in order to stay a healthy weight ☹️

Can’t pg affect your thyroid function though? You might need more thyroxine now.

Normally, the dose is increased during pregnancy because the baby needs it in early weeks until their own thyroid grows and produces their own

After pregnancy, you can then usually reduce the dose

I had mine checked as part of a few blood tests done after my 8 week check because I was concerned about potential anaemia after blood loss, and then again 8 weeks after that by ordering a thriva test at home
The second test showed my TSH was very low so my dose was reduced a bit

I’ve ordered a Thriva test today to check it again because I know my GP won’t do it again so soon after the last one

I don’t feel undermedicated, but might well be. I’m also on the thyroid UK group so will give them my t3 and t4 results to see if anyone thinks there is an issue

Im realistic, I know I don’t have the metabolism of a 21 year old but I’m doing all the right things and nothing is working, it’s really depressing

I breatfed and never lost a pound. Afterwards, it was easy.

I'm not suggesting you go on a crash diet. I'm suggesting you speak to the GP as something is stopping you from losing weight.

Same with me.

I don't lose while I'm ebf either. The extra weight just sits there until my babies get the hang of solids, then my periods come back and it falls off in like 2-3 weeks.

I would live healthily but otherwise just not even monitor your weight at least until your baby is established on solids.

Another here adding to the chorus if not being able to lose weight while breastfeeding. As soon as I stopped I lost weight shockingly fast with no effort whatsoever. I know it’s disheartening but your body is hanging into it because it feels it needs it.

Which meal delivery service are you using?
How much does that cost?
Do they deliver daily else how many days old are the meals you might eat?
Did they actually deliver to you on Easter Sunday?
What do they give you for breakfast that stays fresh?
What do you do with all the packaging?
Do you live alone? How can you have literally no other food in the house.

Would you feel very weird if you walked into a supermarket?

wait, have you been on this diet for 3 months or 2 weeks?