I've lost 5 stone, but I feel rubbish!

[Bingbongsingalong]

As the title says, I have lost 5 stone (four stone since January and a stone last year). I have gone from a size 18 to a size 10 (I am 5ft 4 for context, my BMI is now 24.5, just so you know I am by no means underweight!) I am happy with my weight loss, my body is unrecognisable and I have never been anywhere close to this weight before, even when I got married!

My main reason for doing this was because I am self employed and have a very physical job and I was really struggling and was contemplating closing my business. My knees, back and shoulders were all suffering every day and I was fed up with being in pain all of the time. However, while mentally I am happy because I like my new body shape and the new clothes I have been able to buy, I actually feel horrible most of the time. My knees are better, but my back and shoulders are exactly the same, no improvement at all. I feel tired all of the time and have such a lack of energy and getting up in the morning is impossible. I am always freezing cold. My stomach is now so sensitive to so many things. I can't even really describe it, but I just generally feel pretty icky. I had to have a blood test a couple of weeks ago because I saw the doctor about this and my liver function isn't right and i've had to have another blood test to check what is going on so currently waiting for the results from that.

I have lost the weight by eating much smaller portions and a lot of fresh fruit, salad, low fat options where possible, lean protein. I also run a fair amount and aim to do 10km a 2 times a week and another shorter run (although a recent injury has somewhat thwarted my running efforts over the past few weeks!).

Does my body just need time to adjust to itself or something?! I'm so sick of being so tired and feeling rubbish. I don't want to be fat again, but I can't help but wish I still felt the same as I did when I was fat. I was looking forward to being slimmer giving me a new lease of life, but honestly I feel fed up and down. I spend my life now focusing on maintaining this new weight, it doesn't come naturally to me after a lifetime of being fat (i'm 38 and been overweight since I was 13), and i'm paranoid about gaining the weight back again, and this coupled with just feeling gross is just a bit crap!

Not really sure what i'm looking for with this post to be honest! Sympathy?! Tales from other people who have lost a fair amount of weight?! Advice?! No idea..!

I take a lot of supplements since losing 5st and have a protein mousse and shake daily to try and get that in (I’m on Mounjaro and weight 8st7ish).

I take
biotin
high strength vitamin c and zinc
iron (every other day as it messes up my tummy but I’m borderline low)
b12 (also borderline low)
b complex
omega 3
creatine
magnesium complex (at bedtime)
vitamin d
a complex with glucosamine and two other things in it
psyllium husk (fibre)

i find when i take those it definitely helps. The iron and vitamin d are ones I definitely try and take regularly and the vitamin c with the iron to help absorption.

Your body needs carbs for energy, especially if you run. Carbs are your bodies main fuel source when you run. Carbs don't make you put on weight, excess calories do. I used to avoid carbs but once I started including them in my diet I saw a huge improvement in my energy levels. My 5km and 10km pb got quicker remarkably fast too once I started fueling my body properly.

You've had great advice already, so I'm just adding that you would likely benefit from working on your core, which in turn should help your sore back. Pilates is good for working on your core.

Sore back and shoulders can also be signs of gallstones. You'd likely benefit from doing a series of Andreas Moritz Liver & Gallbladder cleanses (you can buy his book on Amazon which gives you the details). I did 8 of them over the course of a year and the improvement in my health was immense.

Lastly, after I had the same weight loss (same height as you, lost 5 stones), I REALLY felt the cold! That excess fat we were carrying really helped to insulate our bodies, and once we lose it, we feel the cold a lot more!

When I lost a lot of weight, I was advised to add probiotics to my diet - fermented stuff like live yoghurt, kimchi, kombucha etc - and prebiotic things like grains, seeds and nuts as well as fruit, veg and pulses. It really did make a difference. But I still feel the cold more - less fat to act as insulation.

Sounds like you haven’t optimised your health even though you’ve lost weight. If your back and shoulders hurt from physical work you need to be doing specific stretches to limber them up and strengthen them morning and night. I’d recommend seeing a physiotherapist.

If you’re tired all the time you could be deficient in certain vitamins like B12, Iron, D, C, B6 or folate. If your liver isn’t working properly this could be the cause.

It sounds to me like you feeling crappy doesn’t actually have much to do with your weight loss and likely is because you are unwell.

Sounds like you're not eating enough carbs really, given that you have a physical job??

And that is a really quick time for you to lose four stone. It's less than a year -

In addition to all the comments about vitamins etc. and if in budget, I
would suggest finding a good reflexlogy practitioner and having a few sessiins plus investigate an Ayurveda holiday in somewhere like Sri Lanka.

Can I ask what vitamins you take?

What’s your muscle mass like? You’ll need muscle to keep the weight off. I’d throw in some weight training too, find a way to make it not boring.

I assume your job is fairly physical? Could you afford regular sports/deep tissue massage? (Make sure you tell them about your back etc!).
Definitely get the most in depth blood tests you can and at the very least start taking a good quality multivitamin as soon as possible.
I lost 7 stone years ago (put it all back on now 🤷‍♀️) and I was permanently freezing, I had a heater on under my desk at work in summer! In all honesty I think the whole feeling amazing thing is a bit of a myth, I felt like me but slimmer and in better clothes!

She's lost weight at a rate of 1.5lbs a week which is perfectly okay. Well done on making this positive change.__

I think it's the underlying health issue. Had you not lost weight OP, this might not have been picked up on. Getting those results will be key. In the meantime, concentrate on eating nutritious food, strength and core training. Pilates and or yoga could be beneficial.

I’m in a similar situation. I’ve kept the weight off for 2 years now. My husband says I’ve never been as unhealthy and he’s right! Manual job, full of aches. However I’m perimenopausal. I now take a range of vitamins and iron and that’s helped. Also have less issues when my stress levels reduce.

Get a full blood test and find out what you need. Almost everyone in UK is low for vit D though.
I'd suggest there's something else going on. The liver function sounds a little alarming...but it can get inflamed with fast weight loss

Docs can tell so much from blood tests get the vitamins . Iron. I would turn into a blob if I was denied any carbs and sugar having eaten them all my life. Do you eat fruit? Perhaps a dietician would help.

Nothing to say that others haven’t but - well done! That’s brilliant weight loss. You are absolutely healthier for it, even if that is not clear right now.

how long have you felt unwell?
is it the autumn?
i would buy multi vitamins

is there any follow on from your blood tests? your liver?

agree that gallstones are common after dieting

You’ve already done the right thing by checking in with your doctor, especially with those liver tests.
Lots of people who’ve lost a lot of weight hit this weird phase—it doesn’t mean you’ve gone wrong, just that it’s complicated.

I agree with pp about getting thyroid, vitamin B12 etc checked.
20 years ago I could barely function and the problem turned out to be underactive thyroid. I was prescribed thyroxine and within 10 days I felt a different person.

I’ve lost a lot of weight too, at my biggest I was about 20 stone, now I’m just under 10stone. I was carrying around the excess weight at varying levels for 30 years and my muscles are twisted and knotted because of it. Have you had any kind of physio at all for any of your aches and pains? You mentioned running which can be hard on your joints and muscles and with the weight changes you’ll be moving differently which in itself can cause strain. I’ve been trying to get a deep tissue massage every couple of weeks because my back and hips are very tense and tight. It’s not a comfortable massage, lots of wincing but I really do feel the benefit a couple of days later, and I’ve been doing a lot more stretches to try to maintain it and improve the flexibility of those muscles too.

not going to comment too much on the stomach/liver because your doctor is already on it, but I will say that a few years ago I lost about 3 stone on a low calorie, high protein diet doing it all right and got gallstones (turns out they are caused by being over weight and by losing weight so damned if you do and damned if you don’t!).

Are you on Mounjaro? Your symptoms sound similar to what lots of Mounjaro users experience when they prioritise fast weight loss over nutrition. 4 stone in 9 months is a LOT - you have to be eating well below your maintenance to lose that so of course your body is struggling. You need to ensure you get enough healthy fat and protein every day and if you're 40+ then you need to supplement with essential vitamins. B12 (unless you eat a lot of meat), D, creatine and omega 3 at least.

ETA also weight training, especially if you're 40+.

I wouldn’t take any vitamins until you get your liver results back and speak with your GP.

Good that you’re having the liver issue investigated as a health issue is the most likely culprit.

To help for now - have you tried having a good quality electrolyte drink every day and also taking floradix (iron and vitamin supplement) which really helps with tiredness. While losing weight I found those two things made me feel much better.

As someone said check your vitamin levels, you might to increase stuff like iron. Can you go for one of those full body check ups?

you need to diversify your exercise regime, weight to strengthen muscles around your bones, Pilates to help stabilise your torso and back. Cycle rather than run preserve your knees. Protein protein protein.

some sauna and cold plunge to help with soreness and get you blood pumping and moving more around the body.

keep on at your GP as well, so your not languishing in pain

OP, I really sympathise. I lost five stone motivated by a horrible health condition that weight loss is supposed to improve. Instead, it drastically and abruptly worsened with a knock-on effect on my quality of life.

I tell myself - and it's true - that the weight loss was still worth it, and otherwise I would have this condition plus obesity and at least I've got rid of one of those. But it's disheartening when everyone talks about weight loss as a magic bullet that will cure everything, and we find out that we can still be unwell anyway. I mean, obviously I always knew that was true, but there is so much hope attached to losing weight and it's easy to believe it solves everything!