Where is my diet going wrong and keeping me obese?

[BoobsGalore]

I am mid 50s. Weigh 94 kg.
Always been curvy, have lipedema (heavy diet -resistant legs) on HRT.
Spent years on low fat artificial sweetener type diets, now for the last 5 years eat less UPF, no low fat anything. Try to be reasonably low carb.

I am doing intermittent fasting (16/8) since early Aug and have lost 4.5 kg but it's painfully slow.
Tried mounjaro back in Spring but had to come off it after it triggered terrible panic attacks.

I am photographing my meals for my intermittent fasting app. Here is yesterday's food - spinach omelette for brunch and a bean and courgette stew for dinner. I had 2 slices of home made bread, a handful of mixed nuts, and an apple as well as what is pictured. Will add a couple of other days as well. Is it the carbs?

I have noticed I don't drink enough - about 1.5 litres a day of tea, coffee, diet coke (1 can a day, I think it's an addiction) and squash or water. Would that make a huge difference?

Eh?

If I have a BMI of 21 which has been the same my whole adult life. How am I eating way too much food?

What?

@Gloriana1 balls because I don't believe that instead of two eggs scrambled and a small 120 cal wrap you eat 2/3 of an egg and 1/3 of a small wrap and consider yourself well fed. That instead of a small bowl of veg soup, 4 strawberries and 6 grapes you would eat a teaspoon of soup, 1.5 strawberries and 2 grapes. That instead of 7 cubes of chicken in a curry portion you would have 2 or 3 bits of chicken. That instead of half a tin of butter beans and half a courgette you would eat 1/6 of a tin of butter beans and 1/6 of a courgette. It's balls.

I am starting to find the assumption that I MUST be eating big portions because I am overweight over and over again on this thread quite depressing.

Well done, OP, you are doing great.

I'm about 80kg and 5'7" and 49 years old. I have been as much as 94kg (and went down to 55kg in my 20s) but have struggled to maintain any weight much less than I am now for the last 15 years. But looking at the upside, neither have I gained weight and I'm actually slightly down overall which is pretty good for someone my age.

I am fit, healthy and toned and a size 14 at the very most - mostly in size 12. My limbs have always been rather muscular at any weight. My measurements are 38-29-37. I just walked 15+ miles on Sunday and have hardly any aches from it. I go to the gym three times a week plus one yoga class. I never get so much as a sniffle and have plenty of energy. My blood pressure and resting heart rate are on the low side of normal. My cholesterol is perfect. My waist to height ratio is in the healthy range and I have no issues with blood sugar or insulin. My diet is very good- for ages I tracked on Nutracheck and it's a very good balance of macronutrients.

I think I should just carry on with diet and exercise as I am and stop worrying about losing weight.

How big is your serving plate? Because they look like very big portions and I could probably only manage half of whatever you've put there. They do look very delicious though you must be such a good cook!

Even if the OP has lost a few kilos, her calorific requirements even to lose weight are going to be quite different from someone who is 9.5 stone. How is it helpful for a tiny slim person to say the OP is eating too much?

I mean yeah, we could all eat 800 or 1200 calories a day and lose weight (believe me I've been there) but it's unlikely to be sustainable and is often counterproductive as people just put the weight back on and more.

I have 4 sizes of plate. Size 1 is a side plate. I am serving my food in these pictures on size 2 or size 3. In none of the pictures am I using a full size dinner plate.

My portions are not massive and there is no way you would be eating half this quantity unless you are a 3 year old child.

Goodness, this thread has taken an odd turn 🙀

@BoobsGalore - don't get derailed. KOKO. Maybe increase the veg and look at some foreign dishes to make your food more exciting....... if you can be bothered.

But overall you are doing great!!

It depends what it adds up to, without the calculation you cant possibly know

So what grams do you think it should be

You'll look it up now Ive asked you but Im on a low carb intake, its how I generally eat, Ive had porridge for breakfast with dried fruit, rice with my lunch etc.

The shortbread wont be doing any favours but generally people seem to think you dont eat any carbs at all on a low carb diet, milk in particular will add into that calculation too

Are you sleeping well? Lots of studies link poor sleep quality to obesity due to the hormones released and circadian rhythms. If you have tried everything else maybe work on that as you burn calories when asleep too!

I drink a pint of Coke Zero everyday and I have a BMI of 22. Also in my 50s. Not on HRT.

Nice plates

OP is losing weight, theres nothing wrong with her or her plates or her carbs or her sleep

It depends on individual microbiomes but diet drinks can cause metabolic syndrome in some people and is a diuretic so can contribute to thirst/hunger confusions.

OP-
I would not cut down your food or carbs. I’d add a bit more protein.
I would keep up the walking but add in weight training. Muscle mass burns fat.

I think 14.5kg since August is really really good! And you have hit the extremely common plateau stage where weight loss slows down. This is because the BMR of a heavier person is higher than a lighter person. So as you lose weight, it takes more effort to keep losing it.

Do not be disheartened, now is the time to add in some sort of weight based exercise, this can be physically lifting hand weights, using weight machines in a gym, taking any kind of Pilates/calisthenics/yoga, using a rowing machine…..etc.

Yes, in some people, but I was responding to an implication that it makes everyone obese.

Are there some pro-ana posters on here or something? Some really weird responses here to normal portions.

You're doing great, OP!

Like if you genuinely believe this is an adequate portion for a grown adult for an evening meal, I don't think it's the OP who's got an issue with portion size.

And food thread always fills up with the competitive under eaters.

@Gloriana1

Please RTFT - this is getting boring now.

RTFT - OP has been through this several times

As I've been running the Low Carb Bootcamp on Mumsnet for the last 12 years I think I know a little bit about low carbing!

Then you'll know that low carbing goes right from around 20g of carbs a day to around 100g of carbs a day, and if you're eating around 80-100g of carbs you have space for fruits, milk, lentils and the odd bit of bread/starches

So why did you exclaim about low carbing when OP showed her picture of her lentil soup, toast and fruit (and yes shortbread, might put her outside of a daily limit but the average is whats important)

Agree with the PPs that 4.5kg since August is great going! That's about 9lbs, give or take, which means you are losing just under a lb a week, which is what is recommended for good, healthy sustainable weight loss.

It is slow, sometimes you hit a plateau and don't lose anything at all for weeks, then it starts again as your metabolism adjusts. But you are doing fantastically, your meals look absolutely fine. Don't let negativity creep into your good work.

Daily plate, she said with trepidation.

Lunch was in a cafe, shakshuka. Now that WAS a big portion and I ate about 3/4

Dinner was my very favourite tea, roast veg and chicken. Portion police, it's 1 chicken thigh, one tomato, half a courgette, half a red pepper and half a shallot plus green leaves and a couple of cauliflower florets.

As well as this I had an apple with peanut butter about 10 olives and a handful of roast almonds (about 6 or 7).