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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To not understand how I've put weight on?!

48 replies

Snowcherriesfromfrance · 22/06/2014 07:47

I'm trying to lose 7lbs at least for summer.
I'm 5"6 and started out at 9stone and 6lbs.

For ten days I've eaten only fruit and salad, no bread, biscuits, pasta or starchy carbs.
I've upped my exercise.

And I've put weight on! How?! I think I'm only having maximum 1200 calories a day which is definitely less than before and I've been walking everywhere rather than driving and going swimming.
Ad I'm 2lbs heavier than when I started! I may as well go back to eating what I want!
If I hadn't lost any yet I could probably live with it but to gain weight?

OP posts:
scarletforya · 22/06/2014 09:00

At nine stone six and five foot six you are nowhere near 'big'.

You should stop dieting and nourish your body through this. Are you maybe using the during as a displacement activity?

I know ivf can be an emotionally and physically draining experience with no guarantee of success.

Is there some other activity you could focus on rather than dieting to release stress and distract you....?

scarletforya · 22/06/2014 09:01

Using the *dieting as a displacement activity....

northlight · 22/06/2014 09:05

I lost a steady pound to a pound and a half a week simply by massively reducing my sugar intake. Besides losing weight I also lost my taste for sugar and so I have made a permanent change to my diet. I don't fee
hungry, except pleasantly so when it is time for a meal. I save a fortune on the processed foods I now never buy.

Throughout I ate full fat everything, with fruit as a sweet treat when I had cravings. Fruited bread or scones are good for this too. An oatcake with a sliver of cheese and some pickled gherkin also helped. See if you can find a preferred taste to substitute for sweet things.

Eggs are filling and nutritious. Try French and Spanish omelettes stuffed with a mixture of sautéed vegetables. Right now I'm off to have scrambled eggs on toast with a side of mushrooms, courgette and peppers sautéed in a little butter with chilli and garlic. Oh and a small grating of cheese.

Soups, stews, pasta sauces, tagines and curries that are heavy on vegetables are delicious and satisfying. Scatter with some toasted nuts or seeds. I eat meat but often use kidney beans or chick peas in these recipes. Batch cook and freeze so you have some ready meals for when you need them.

Sugar messes with your ability to recognise when you are full. Stop eating it and you soon regain your ability to recognise satiation (fullness) and it is easy to stick to mealtime eating.

Fruit is fine so long as you do not overdo it because your body has to digest it to access the sugar.

Porridge, I can't recommend enough. Have it with some berries and plain, full fat yoghurt and you won't need anything else till lunchtime.

To begin with I would buy a small chocolate bar if I had really bad cravings and eat it as 'pudding'. Now I do this less and less, not because I have great will power but because the sweetness is too much.

Roundedbuttocks90 · 22/06/2014 09:10

Try stir frys with lean meat such as chicken. Instead of egg noodles why not try rice noodles! Thy are so much better for you and you don't have to boil them - just chuck them straight in the wok/frying pan!

I always add a little bit of sweet chilli sauce, not too much though as its got a lot of sugar in. I fry with fry light too.

You can't sustain a diet on just fruit alone! You body is probably clinging onto everything you put in there.

I'm a lot heavier than you (even after losing 2 stone) but aiming to be down to you weight. Lots of thing affect weight loss. You could be retaining water, pre menstrual, anything!

I always remembered reading an article where a very overweight woman couldn't understand why she wasnt losing weight. Her doctor asked her to keep a food diary and worked out that she was eating between 700-1100 calories per day. However ever so often she would have a binge. Not a huge binge - around 600/700 calories. But he body was clinging on to these calories. Anyway she started to eat more which in turn meant that she didn't feel compelled to binge every now and again and started losing weight!

MsVenus · 22/06/2014 09:21

www.jillianmichaels.com/fit/

You need to approach this through healthy eating and excercise rather than a starvation diet. If you want to get pregnant then your body needs to be in top optimum condition.

EarSlaps · 22/06/2014 09:25

Too much fruit, not enough protein. Try Greek yoghurt with nuts and seeds, lots of eggs, peanut butter on rye toast, lots of veg on the side etc.

If your method of dieting has been to restrict calories so much I suspect your metabolism has suffered. Try building some muscle using body weight exercises and dumbbells or kettlebells. High weights and low reps will do the trick. You won't bulk up (practically impossible for most women without steroids) but more muscle will help your body burn fat around the clock. You will definitely need to eat protein and carbs to help your body.

DapSlash · 22/06/2014 09:26

You know if you do get pregnant your body is going to go to hell anyway? At least temporarily.

Your eating habits are unhealthy.

And your weight at your height is not too heavy. I'm am almost the same as you and I'm a size 8-10.

chocolatemademefat · 22/06/2014 09:33

Oh stop showing off. The way you describe yourself it sounds like you're already gorgeous! Leave the fad diets to women like me who need to lose 7 pounds every week for the rest of our lives!

And good luck with your IVF.

Droflove · 22/06/2014 09:35

OP, I think you need to understand better healthy eating. It sounds like you have gone too extreme. You need fat and protein. Especially if you are trying to have a baby. Please talk to your GP before you do damage. Being allergic to soya and being a veggie neads careful management.

PrimalLass · 22/06/2014 09:41

every time I look at how big I've got it reminds me how we've failed.

I am 5'5", and nearly 2 stone heavier. I don't think of myself as "big" (12-14).

brokenhearted55a · 22/06/2014 09:50

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

northlight · 22/06/2014 09:53

Blast, I'm rubbish at knowing correct height for weight levels. Take the good advice above, OP and really consider whether you are overweight. Then, do not go on a diet but change to a healthy, forever pattern of eating that you enjoy.

Look at some of the body mass index calculators online. Also consider the waist to hight ratio that is starting to be the preferred measurement for healthy weight. The NHS is thinking about converting to this.

NHS BMI calculator

www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/Healthyweightcalculator.aspx

Waist to height calculator

www.health-calc.com/body-composition/waist-to-height-ratio

paxtecum · 22/06/2014 09:53

Are you taking any vitamin and mineral supplements? There are specially formulated ones for pre-conception.

You seem to be on a starvation diet at the moment.
You need to be eating loads of veggies, pulses, eggs, cheese.

Cut out fruit, biscuits, cakes, confectionery, crisps, all soft drinks - including sugar free, all alcohol.

fatlazymummy · 22/06/2014 10:55

Op, I am a vegetarian. I lost weight successfully through eating the following - eggs, various types of cheeses, lentils, chick peas, beans, nuts, quinoa, (at least 2 portions/day). To this I added a minimum of 3 portions of veg and 2 portions of fruit/day, plus porridge ,a small amount of wholemeal bread ,some yoghurt and milk, and a little olive oil for cooking. Plus the odd treat (chocolate biscuit etc)
It was really easy, normal food , I didn't feel hungry and I was fit and healthy throughout. There really is no need to restrict yourself like that.

crazykittensmile · 22/06/2014 11:07

I am 5'6 and weighed 9st 9ibs (size 12) three months ago. Am now 8st 12 (size 10) and I did it through a 1200 diet on weekdays and 1500 on weekends plus upping my exercise. I've now upped my calorie intake to 1800 most days (with about one day a week where I tend to go out for a meal or have a takeaway or whatever and probably eat a lot more) and seem to be more-or-less maintaining my weight and dress size.

I started off just by eating lots of salads and fruit and veg and didn't find I was losing anything. Not sure why but I then started weighing and writing down every single thing I ate to make sure I was sticking to about 1200 calories - it turned out that left to my own devices I seemed to be having the odd biscuit or whatever and not really registering it and I didn't realise how many calories were in the odd treat. I was also some days eating nowhere near 1200 calories as I was eating so much fruit/veg. If you eat too few calories your body goes into 'starvation mode' and your metabolism will slow as your body tries to hold onto your weight, 1200 calories is usually recognised as the minimum you should eat. So now I record everything I eat so that I know if I've gone over/under the 1200 and can vary it the next day accordingly.

I also agree you should try to eat as much protein as possible as this will make you feel fuller. I'm vegan and my typical day's diet when I was on 1200 calories looked like this:

Breakfast: Soya protein shake

Lunch: Soup with roughly 200 cals and 10+ grams of protein (bean, lentil, pea soups are best veggie ones)

Dinner: One of the following: A big salad with tofu and mixed seeds, veggie sausages with lots of veg, lentil dahl with pitta bread, vegetable stir fry with tofu, ratatouille with soya chunks, couscous with TVP bolognaise

Snacks (had a few each day to take me up to 1200): Fruit, soya yoghurt, energy bars (eg: food doctor, nakd, eat natural), popcorn, ryvita/oatcakes with peanut butter, handful nuts and dried fruit, ice lolly, chocolate rice cakes, toasted pitta bread or crumpet, carrot/cucumber sticks with hoummous. I would have the occasional treat (eg: chocolate, biscuit, cake) as well but not often.

I tried to make sure I was having something with plenty of protein for dinner and a moderate amount of protein at other meals too. I took a vitamin supplement with added iron and B-vitamins. Aim to eat 1g of protein for every kg of body weight you weigh, so at 60kg you should be aiming for 60g of protein a day. As you're veggie and can't eat soya that may be more difficult for you but look in health food shops for alternative meat and soya-free sources of protein as they do exist. You can buy whey or pea-based protein powders to add to shakes which are a good idea. Also make sure you're eating plenty of dairy products, eggs, nuts/seeds (they are high in fat but as the rest of your diet is probably going to be fairly low-fat I wouldn't worry about it - some fat is good and necessary) and lots of beans and legumes (peas, lentils etc). I added nutritional yeast flakes to some of my soups or meals as this contains a high level of protein (plus added B vitamin inc. B12) and I liked the cheesy(ish) taste.

That said I was not trying to conceive on this diet so I do agree with the above posters that you should check with your GP before going on a low-calorie diet whilst you are undergoing IVF.

Preciousbane · 22/06/2014 11:17

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Andrewofgg · 22/06/2014 11:50

OP Being male and not a medic I can't say anything practical but I can and so say Bloody good luck with the IVF!

Iswallowedawatermelon · 22/06/2014 11:54

Age?

Bad metabolism (caused by crash diets)?

specialsubject · 22/06/2014 12:26

you are a healthy weight and need your head sorted, not your body.

not your fault; but you are doing disordered eating and that damages health. Please get help before you try for a baby.

Alibabaandthe40nappies · 22/06/2014 12:34

You have a very warped body image OP, and you aren't thinking clearly about what you are eating.

Your body needs a range of foods in order to be healthy, real fats are necessary for all kinds of functions.

Roobix04 · 26/06/2014 17:11

Well for a start you weren't overweight to begin with. But muscle weighs more then fat so if you're exercising a lot maybe that's why you've put weight on. A better way to check if you're getting slimmer would be to measure yourself with a tape measure. That way you can see what you're losing from different areas. Saying that I really don't think you're overweight and you need to address the issue that you think you are.

Roobix04 · 26/06/2014 17:15

Well for a start you weren't overweight to begin with. But muscle weighs more then fat so if you're exercising a lot maybe that's why you've put weight on. A better way to check if you're getting slimmer would be to measure yourself with a tape measure. That way you can see what you're losing from different areas. Saying that I really don't think you're overweight and you need to address the issue that you think you are.

specialsubject · 26/06/2014 17:16

let's hope the OP has not starved herself into hospital or worse. Only fruit and salad for 10 days, with a lot of exercise? Scary.

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