Why TF am I not losing weight?

[Ozgirl75]

I’ve managed to pile on about 4kg this year - solely due to moving to the U.K. and embracing Galaxy, nice white bread and other delicious comfort food, plus stopping my usual exercise routine, although I am still exercising.
Im not dramatically overweight but I have 6kg to lose. I feel like I’ve cut out all the nice stuff and it’s still not shifting!

A normal day looks like:
No breakfast (I never have breakfast, I have a cup of tea)
Lunch - two hard boiled eggs in a salad, cucumber, red pepper, pickled cucumber, beetroot, olives. Followed by one of those naked bars. Occasionally a roll with this if I’m v hungry.
Dinner - normal stuff, stir fry, roasts, fish. Plenty of veg. Not tiny but just normal dinners.
Followed by a frozen yogurt and sometimes a Galaxy Ripple.
Maybe some fruit in the evening later.
Occasionally 3-4 rice crackers mid afternoon.

Is it just because I’m 46 and am destined to be a size 14 for ever more now? I’m 70kg and 5ft 3 and a half.

Depressing isn’t it @Beezknees
Im kind of hoping that Wegovy or whatever will become widely available to the public in the next few years so I can use it to just drop this final stone.

And do you know the other annoying thing? My dad, my literal genetic dad, is one of those people who “can’t keep the weight on”.
My mum says that if he’s out one day in the garden he loses two pounds. We met for coffee yesterday and my mum and I were sipping our teas while he tucked into an almond croissant!
I’ve inherited his temper, pale skin and fair hair, but his genetic ability to lose weight in an instant? No. This appears to have passed to my eldest son who is also skinny while eating at least double what I do.

This.

I'm pretty sure what you eat has some bearing on losing weight because of the effect on your metabolism/hormones. It's not just about calories.

Also, I think if you've been upping your exercise you sometimes put on some muscle so your weight doesn't drop straight away. It took me ages to actually lose weight when I was both exercising more and eating less because of this. Eventually the additional muscles speed up the metabolism and take up less space than fat so you start losing weight and suddenly look a lot slimmer!

In short: change the balance of your food, as fat and protein fill you up more than sugar and carbs and keep it going!

@Ozgirl75 My DM is like that, so I feel your pain! She's actively trying to put weight on, adding butter to everything, bigger breakfasts, has dessert every night.

Our fitbits reckon I burn around 50% more calories every day even if we both lie in bed all day, because I'm 3inches taller, 30 years younger and 2st heavier. But there's no way I could eat like she does and get away with it

I don’t think that’s a lot of food at all. I eat more than that some days and I’ve been losing weight. At your age you’re prob premenopausal or getting to that stage and weight loss is tough. I’ve lost a bit of weight by drinking more water and upping my exercise. I do cardio at least 5 days a week. I have an iwatch and I make sure my BPM is up during the entire time I’m working out that way I know I’m burning calories. I started with 30 mins of cardio 5 days a week. Now I do at least an hour 5 days a week. I’ve lost quite a bit of weight in the past few months and I’ve barely changed what I what I eat.

Are my choices between that tediously small amount, or being mildly fat?

Sadly, yes.

Although some people on this thread are ridiculous. In what world does two boiled eggs equal 300 calories?!?! Unless they are ostrich eggs, which I doubt

Few very basic reasons.

1. breakfast is actually the most important meal of the day, this isn’t some bullshit cliche saying. If you skip breakfast, you throw your metabolism out of whack and you’re far more likely to retain weight AND eat junk food later in the day.
2. you don’t need to eat a chocolate bar every single day so cut that down to 2-3 times a week.
3. you need to exercise. Hard cardio for at least 30 mins a day- power walk, run, swim, HIIT workout, lift weights. Do something every day to get your heart pumping.

I think people need to really stop obsessing with calories. Why is it that some people like the OPs Dad can eat loads whilst others pile on the weight? The science (through lots of twin studies) shows that it isn't actually genetics that plays the biggest role but your gut bacteria. It is these that determine how many calories you absorb from food. Gardeners like the OPs Dad actually have many advantages in loosing weight - contact with the soil improves your gut microbiome, plus you get the benefits from movement and vitamin D.

Rather than dieting you need to focus on improving your gut and your overall health. Eat loads of plant based foods included fermented foods which are really beneficial for your microbiome and the weight will fall off.
https://www.healthyfood.com/advice/gut-microbes-the-new-frontier-in-weight-loss/

Doing this for 6 months I lost 2 stone and I am now in the position that I am struggling to maintain my bmi of 19 despite always feeling full. I calculated how many calories I need to maintain my weight and it is significantly higher than it was 6 months ago so am making a conscious effort to eat more.

@Bubbles254 congrats on your fabulous weight loss!

Please feel free to ignore this, it may not be at all relevant to you but if your current struggle to maintain your BMI seems out of proportion to your eating, please do just check-in with your GP. Your post made me think of a friend of mine who was absolutely thrilled that their minor lifestyle changes in lockdown were having such a positive impact on their weight. Sadly, by the time their cancer was discovered, it was too late 😞

but you say your enjoying bread - that’s not included in your normal day.

The key is to look at an online calorie calculator- do not use MFP. Track your food religiously and then work out what you need to reduce to get into a calorie deficit.

What are you on about? 2 eggs are not 300 cals! And the rest of that salad is not substantial. Maybe have a quick google to see how many calories is in a cucumber, good lord.

Bloody hell OP, don't listen to this nonsense, the amount of food seems fine. Treats are ok in moderation.

Jesus, "two eggs are 300 calories" 😂

Point 1) here is incorrect.

According to the British Medical Journal, Zoe and numerous other experts, "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" has been debunked.

Yes, the first meal you eat (when you "break your fast") should be nutritious, but when ^that happens is irrelevant. In fact a longer fast between last night's dinner and the first meal of the next day is beneficial and has been proven to support gut health, weight loss and longevity of life (see Zoe research).
^
^So if the OP is used to waiting to eat until mid morning / lunchtime then that is good, so long as her lunch is a good one. Suggesting she adds in another arbitrary extra meal of 400 calories or when she wakes up will not help her lose weight or help her gut health.
^

I just played with TDEE.net to show how age alters everything in calorie burning. Basal metabolic rate is if you do absolutely nothing bar lie in bed so most people will be a bit more active.

Check portion sizes - weigh everything until you get a handle on them, and add to MFP or Nutracheck or whatever to see what you are actually eating. You need a deficit of a few hundred below these to show appreciable weight loss: the usual suggestion is 500kcal so you drop a lb a week (7x500 = 3500kcal aka 1lb fat). I'm way post-50 so yes I know it's not as easy as you get older!

Portion sizes were an eye-opener to me. They need to be a lot smaller than you think...

A woman who is 5' 3" and 154lb (BMI 27.3)
.................basal metabolic rate.......light exercise
age 20................1438..........................1977
age 30................1388..........................1908
age 40................1338..........................1839
age 50................1288..........................1771
age 60................1238..........................1702

ps two large eggs are 156kcal. :)

Rad the 8 week Blood Sugar diet

Many thanks, it feels really odd to have to eat more to maintain but I am pretty sure I don't have cancer as my bloods are all great and I feel better with a lot more energy than I have done in years!

Sorry to bang on about it but I really do feel that getting the right gut microbes is really key to loosing and maintaining weight and yo yo dieting is really detrimental and where a lot of people go wrong.

There is an interesting documentary on netflix on the 'blue zones' where there are more people living to 100 than elsewhere on earth and their diet (alongside community aspects) is key. If you watch this documentary no one is overweight and they all eat 100% whole foods, lots of beans, pulses and nuts (great for gut), mainly plant based with a little fish and meat and some red wine and hardly any sugar. Follow this and you will feel better and maintain a healthy weight.

@Bubbles254

I feel better with a lot more energy than I have done in years!*
*
Yes, that's exactly what he said 😞

Sorry about your friend but it is a pretty sad situation when people think you must have cancer becuase you can easily maintain a healthy weight without the need to diet.

It says an awful lot about the sorry state of our food culture.

Just listening to the latest zoe podcast on upf and the brain, really shocking findings that the quality of your diet is directly linked to the size of your hippocampus.

Another thing it does say that our hunger level is controlled by our gut microbes which probably explains why I don't feel the need to over eat.

https://spotify.link/9gq2Q3qx5Cb

@Bubbles254 sorry, I didn't mean it to come across that I think "you must have cancer becuase you can easily maintain a healthy weight without the need to diet." It was more your suggestion that you have not only lost weight but even at a healthy weight it is getting harder to maintain.

I'm sure you are fine and I'm delighted you have found your equilibrium. Your words were just so exactly word for word his, that I wanted to post to provoke thought in you or anyone else reading who might benefit.

I absolutely think you can maintain a healthy weight without the need to diet and gut biome is very important. I have been fortunate enough to do exactly that my entire adult life (pregnancy and illness aside). My appetite naturally increases with increased exercise and decreases with a corresponding decrease. Maintaining steady blood sugar I also find is key to appetite matching energy requirements without having to focus on it. I admit, I have never found myself needing to consciously increase calories to maintain weight though.

@Bubbles254 you've inspired me to add more fermented foods to my grocery order!

Sorry to hijack your thread OP good luck with your weight loss goals.

As per PPs, I think a lot of people still are under the impression that women need 2000 calories a day and men 2500, when actually depending on your height and activity levels, 2000 calories a day could actually see you gaining weight. My TDEE is about 1600/1700 calories, so if ate 2000 calories a day I would gradually put on weight. To lose weight, I need to be on about 1300 calories a day.

You also need to count everything: if you drink tea with sugar for example, that adds up over a day. MFP is good for starting out as you can get an actual look at how much you are consuming. After a while everything is sort of in your head so you don't need to religiously log it, but starting out it's a helpful tool.

@anoteofcaution That's OK and yes definitely get lots of fermented foods. Raw milk cheeses are especially yummy. My apologies to the OP as well, it is too easy for these threads to get sidetracked.

@Milkkbottles yeah, if you like

Weight is always harder to lose than it is to put on. It's not just a case of going back to how you ate, your body clings to it.
Partly because you're not really eating enough I think. I hear what you're saying about not eating breakfast but could you manage, say, one boiled egg? And then have a chicken salad for lunch?

I’m 54 and in the last 2 months I’ve lost 9 kilos.
Breakfast - smoothie made with high protein yogurt or kefir and four types of fruit.
Lunch - a genuinely massive salad with 6 or more salad ingredients plus protein such as chicken, salmon, tuna, ham and a bit of cheese, eggs etc
Dinner - protein such as fish with four types of veg.
One low calorie hot chocolate, herbal tea, water.

OP if you ditch your snacks you’ll lose a kilo every 18 days.