AIBU To wonder why I am so fat and unhealthy?

[PandaEyes25]

I am 25 years old, 5ft 3 and weight 11 stone 3lbs.cMy BMI is 28, so I am overweight.
I work in an office for 10 hours 5 dyas a week but I do have to walk up and down quite a bit so on average I usually cover about 4000 steps during the day.
My heart rate is always high- usually 80 bpm resting.
I go to the gym between 3 and 5 times a week for an hour where my heart rate often goes over 180 bpm. It has been known to reach more than 200.
I just feel constantly knackered, regardless of how much I've slept, and I'm fed up of being so chubby and unhealthy.
I don't feel like I eat massive amounts of food. I'm on weight watchers and always eat less than the allowed points, So I don't know where I'm going wrong!!
Here is this weeks list.
Monday
No Breakfast
One small white bread roll with 2 slices of ham
4 slices of left over roast beef in gravy. No sides/mash/veg or anything.
2 cups of tea with one sugar and 2 litres of water over the course of the day

Tuesday
Breakfast- One crumpet with a little bit of butter
Lunch- One chicken salad sandwich and melon
Dinner- half a nest of noodles, one slice stirfry beef with a splash of oyster sauce, half a pack of stirfry veg.
Snacks- One cuppasoup
One cup of tea with one sugar and 1.5 litres of water.

Today
Breakfast- One weetabix with skimmed milk
Lunch- Salad with beetroot and chicken
Dinner for tonight- Lentil soup
Snack- 1/4 of a melon
Two cups of tea with one sugar and so far 1.5litres of water.

I genuinely don't know where I'm going wrong. Please help!!!

Is Veg not going to give me the calories without making me full though?

Try eating 200g of carrot sticks and tell me you feel hungry.

Starvation mode is not a myth. Look at the people who went on the Biggest Loser show. After they lost all the weight they had to significantly less calories than other people the same size as them (at their reduced weight) to keep the weight off. They never have follow up shows because none of them can keep eating so little.

www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/health/biggest-loser-weight-loss.html

This sounds like a starvation diet :( it's probably suppressing your metabolism. I'm wary of giving advice though because I'm not an expert.
Maybe try to be more active overall rather than being fairly inactive and then doing exhausting workouts? E.g. More steps per day and maybe a small amount of gentle/enjoyable exercise like swimming or cycling?
Your metabolism definitely reacts to how much you give it, in my experience. If you increase your intake and your activity simultaneously it may kick into gear (disclaimer: I'm not a scientist!)
All the best

Eat properly, get more energy and increase your exercise levels.

4000 steps a day isn't a lot, I know. But I'd find it difficult to increase that during the day due to my desk job. The 4000 steps doesn't include my gym workouts.
My heart rate at the gym usually sits around 180 but can increase depending on how hard I'm going. I usually just speed walk on a speed of about 6-8 and an incline of anywhere between 8 and 12.
I usually burn between 400 and 800 calories depending on how long I've been there. Sometimes I just spend an hour on the treadmill for example.

In the nicest possible way, OP, I'm going to suggest that you watch an episode of Secret Eaters. Everybody on that show claims to be eating significantly less than they actually do. They aren't deliberately lying: they just leave things out in error. If you were truly only eating the Weight Watchers minimum and exercising 5 times per week, you'd be losing weight. You just would.

How do I increase my levels of eating to "eating properly" without spending a fortune on grains etc...?
How much should I be eating for breakfast, lunch and dinner? and what?

Panda, what a shit time, you're trying so so hard, hope it isn't too discouraging for you! But great that you are so focused on getting yourself healthy.

I would do what others have said and relook at your diet to get it to around 1250-1400 calories a day. Include lots of wholemeal foods, protein at every meal and good fats. A shift in the bodies diet can really help.

I would also get your thyroid checked out too, just to see if that's having any impact. Maybe take Vit B and D if you aren't to see if that helps?

Finally, if you aren't doing any weights, I would add that into your routine instead of focusing solely on cardio. Weight training helps your muscles burn calories on your rest days. Hope this helps a bit!

OP, try low carb/high fat. No carbs and a lot (a lot more than you think) of fat, silly amounts of greens, go easy on protein. You will get more energy.

Example: Breakfast: 2 eggs, 2 slices of streaky bacon. Lunch: Big salad with avocado, tinned tuna, lots of home made mayonnaise and olive oil/lemon juice dressing. Dinner: Fatty meat (lamb chop or salmon steak, skin on) with lots of broccoli with a huge knob of butter. Dessert. Berries and cream.

The only possible thing I can think of is portion size, which is why I tend to stick to pre-portioned packets and then mostly halve them.
I literally am counting everything that enters my mouth.

Current research states that the best way to lose weight is to eat a diet high in good quality fats and in protein. Lots of veggies, especially green leafy vegetables . Very little fruit, berries are ok. Avoid carbs or go for "natural" carbs- sweet potatoes, rice, not processed carbs like bread and pasta

Good fats are avocados , coconut oil, butter, high quality nuts (not peanuts)

Fat will not make you fat. Your body needs fat to function. Carbohydrates will make you fat as your body stores the excess carbs as fat.

Don't count calories, count nutrients.

If you are constantly exhausted and tired regardless of getting a decent amount of sleep every night then I'm inclined to think something hormonal is amiss.

Because if you work out as much as you say you do and eat what you say you've eaten in your OP then you really should be losing weight. Granted your food choices aren't great, you still effectively should be in a calorie deficit.

Sorry haven't read the whole tread, but from your meal plan example you are getting foods which are easily digestible and easy to over-eat.
Try eating the recommended 10 portions of veg (with some fruit) for two week, guaranteed the weight will start dropping off.
You also need to incorporate more activity (not just the gym) into your daily routine, could you walk to work (or at least some of it)?

Ps, those calorie counters on the gym machine are bullshit. Enter your activity into myfitnesspal or similar to get a more accurate number. (It will be about 1/2 what the machine tell you! If you're lucky!)

I usually burn between 400 and 800 calories depending on how long I've been there.

How do you know that? I already asked about how you are measuring your heart rate because the machines are not accurate - especially at measuring calories burned (they can massively overestimate). I used to compare my activity on the machines with my heart rate monitor and the machines would suggest an additional 150 cal burn over my heart rate monitor. And even then I would assume my monitor would overestimate to be on the safe side.

I'm just not convinced by your diet to be honest. If you have honestly only been eating that over a two month period you would have lost weight but I don't think you have monitored it accurately. I think you need to sit down, log everything for two weeks and then review (and eat some veg - a 100g bag of spinach is around 20 calories!).

If you absolutely have been eating like that for the past two months and nothing has happened then you need to see your GP - but I think the first thing he will recommend is also for you to accurately log your diet for 2 weeks so he can see if anything is wrong.

How many WW points are you on? I'm 30 a day and I also log what I eat on MFP, if I eat the 30 then it's always around 1200 calories.

I'd be starving if I ate what you had on monday.

Despite the sarcasm above, it is entirely possible you have a thyroid condition and it would be foolish not to ask your GP for a blood test.

I do and symptoms included being overweight and feeling sluggish. Significant improvement with the right dose of thyroxine.

Diet wise, I'm not an expert but the low GI diet I followed when I had gestational diabetes seemed sensible:

Complex carbs, always with protein alongside
Plenty of veg
Not too much fruit
Sugary treats very occasionally

Oh and drink plenty of water, that could help with tiredness

Heart rate isn't calorie burning (and most tools are inaccurate if you're not actually running.) Walking 4000 steps around an office is also, honestly, nothing.

3-5 gym visits is good but what are you doing there? Working hard? Weights? Strenght? Better than jogging.

Make a proper food diary with accurate calories/nutrients (My Fitness Pal.) Weigh your food. You should spot the error. For me it was too-large portions of cereal - 600 cals or more - and a cider or beer in the evening. An easy 1000 extra cals I didn't need.

There's no 'starvation mode' (otherwise thin people wouldn't exist.) There is over-estimating the amount of exercise you do and under-estimating how much you eat.

Speak to a personal trainer at the gym. They can make sure you're actually doing worthwhile things and not just having a bit of a bumble around.

You burn off far fewer calories than you think. Exercise for health. Eat less for weight.

Sounds like a thyroid problem or that your body is producing too much cortisol.

Most veg are free to eat when you are on WW. It's virtually impossible to consume a large amount of calories from vegetables and they fill you up and give you essential nutrients.

I'd say you need to eat a lot more veg.

On WW you should be able to eat as much fruit and veg as you like without it using up any points at all. Exceptions for sweetcorn, peas and potatoes, but everything else is free.

No wise words, just sympathy from this corner. Can't lose weight on any diet - 5:2 stopped working, am now trying low-carb and despite initial loss am now going no-where, and all I seem to eat is vegetables. Always hungry, still fat.

On the other paw, I'm sure there is more to you than your weight. The scales can't tell you how fabulous you are

Are you actually fat though OP? I am a similar height and weight to you and I am a bit chubby but I am really muscley. I always have been. If I put on more weight I look like a cube. Most of my 29 BMI is muscle and no I am not delusional. I have just come out of hospital and the nurse was looking for a blob of fat to shove the anticoag shots into. BMI is not a great way of assessing anything much.

You're tired because you under eat and most of what you do eat is low in protein and nutrients. Swap the white carbs for something better and increase your protein intake.

ffs. No one loses weight by eating more. have a bit of common sense people