To ask for your advise on how to lose weight

[Cocacola12]

Throughout my teens/20’s I always weighed around 11 stone (I’m 5ft 8) and worked out around 4/5 days a week (mainly running/les Mills classes)
Since having children I’m almost ashamed at how much weight I’ve put on. My scales weren’t working but I had guessed around (gulp) 18stone as I was hovering around that about Christmas time. I always walk 10000 steps a day but didn’t do other exercise. My diet was terrible. My Fitbit estimated I burned around 3000 calories per day. Things came to a head a few weeks ago when I felt almost suicidal, I knew I had to change and my diet and exercise was one thing I could change.

For the past 3 weeks I’ve been doing a les Mills at home class every day (attack or combat) and I generally (according to Fitbit) burn around 600/700 per 45min session. I give it my all. I’ve been walking also, on average doing around 15k steps. According to Fitbit I’ve been burning around 4000 calories a day.
I have been eating around 2000 calories a day.
I would presume eating this much of a deficit would result in weight loss, given how heavy I am. My clothes feel In no way looser. I weighed myself this morning and I was 18st12lbs, much heavier than I had anticipated (obv I didn’t weight 3 weeks ago but really don’t feel like I have lost any weight)
I’m feeling so disheartened. Am I eating too much? Surely cutting my calories by so much compared to what I did eat and exercising intensely every day would after 3 weeks result in some changes.

You don’t know what your starting weight was so you can’t know your efforts haven’t paid off so far... perhaps you’re not actually eating enough to lose weight with your own weight being quite high and your activity levels also being high.
I would try something like my fitness pal to allow an actual calculation and tracking accurately of your input and output for a few more weeks and see that you have a starting weight now.
Failing that- 18:6 is working well for me- no restricting of the food I eat but time restriction to only 6 hours window of eating in the day and 18 fasting hours. I eat 11-7 but you can choose any window you want.

8:16 even. Not 6:18 😬🙈

Unfortunately I am gaining weight at the moment, but when I lose weight, I notice that it takes a while before I see results on the scales. I then enter the danger phase and fall off the wagon. Keep trying! You are going through a long term change, so it will take time.
Also, the best tip I received was....go to bed early....honestly it works for me and I feel so much better snuggling up with a book...away from the snacks. I will be watching this thread for some more tips too.

Your Fitbit will be wrong I suspect. They are not accurate and is probably wildly overestimating calories burned.

I work out a lot. I ran 100k in the first 10 days of lockdown for example and since then have got 3/4 of the way through the Insanity Max 30 programme (intense cardio and strength!) and do daily weight training and walk at least 17,000 steps a day. I eat around 1700 calories a day and maintain.

2000 calories is still pretty high OP. Have you checked you’ve set up your weight and height in your Fitbit correctly? Mine averages my basic daily calorie burn at around 1275. I’m walking maybe 10k steps a day and find I only lose around 1lb a fortnight on a daily intake of 800 calories. Maybe increase the veg and reduce the calories. Do you use anything like MFP or similar ? By logging everything you eat and drink I find it easier to keep to my daily allowance and it’s really easy to do once you get into the habit. Hope you find a balance that works for you.

not too much advice to add here but a major handhold.
I'm weighing myself daily, myfitness pal, couch 2 5k, depriving myself food I would normally eat, today DP took a video of me in the garden with my dogs and i look like 10tonne tess.
My problem is alcohol and I know it, but its difficult atm not to have that release.
I went all in with the home workout and burned myself to the ground. Loosing weight is so hard. If you have already I recommend myfitness pal as it syncs with your fitbit and you can really gauge where you're going wrong.
Rememeber this is a journey and not to expect immediate results (saying that I do a work out then instantly look in the mirror for results!)
Major handhold and sending you lots of PMA x xx

16:8 and stick to 1000 calories. Focus more on the calories than the
exercise. Eat only at meals, no snacks. One treat a day within the allowance.

*haven't already

To lose weight successfully I have to go down to 1200 a day.Im 40 and a size 12 5ft10.

Fitbits really aren’t accurate. The money and science that goes into accurately getting how many calories elite athletes need is remarkable, if they could do it wearing a £150 watch they would.

Firstly I would spend a week or so making a really accurate list of everything you eat, bites of your children’s meals, milks/sugars in tea and coffee, oils and fats used in cooking. Most people seriously underestimate how much they are eating.

Most weight loss comes from diet - it's something like 80-90% down to what you eat. Don't stop the exercise though, it has huge health benefits. Why don't you have a chat with your GP? They can provide with sounds advice and there is lots of support online. Fitbits and gym machines are very inaccurate when it comes to telling you how many calories you've burned.

Could you try 1500 cals?

Cutting calories compared to what you were eating doesn't work if what you did eat was well over in the first place.

2,000 is for sustaining current weight, not lose. (At 5'2" my sustaining is about 1,700. To lose i need to reduce by 500.) I remember reading exercise is only 20% of weight lose even if you do loads. Diet is therefore 80%. You cannot exercise away a bad diet.

Resting metabolic rate for women is 1,400. So you use up that a day doing nothing. Add the 600 you figure for exercise, you get 2,000. Which is what you're putting back in. Thus no weight lose.

Your weight gain could be the added muscle from exercise. Fat does not turn into muscle. The idea is to lose fat and add muscle. So it looks like you keeping fat and also adding muscle.

Reduce calories by about 500, but make sure you have the types of food that support your exercise. Lean protein for muscle growth etc. Exercise usually means a weight increase in terms of muscle for several months before it levels out. Weight lose in terms of fat means lower calories than you need to sustain weight, not lower than the amount that caused weight gain in the first place.

Do not only eat 1000 calories or you will be starving yourself of basic nutrients. My BMR is around 1300 calories a day but you’re taller and a few stone heavier than me so yours will be higher.You really need to track what you’re eating accurately (as in weighing portions and everything that passes your lips) and ideally get a more accurate heart rate monitor to find out how much you’re burning through exercise. At least 80% of weight loss is diet.....as the saying goes, you can’t out train a bad diet!

Sometimes people underestimate calorie intake due to miscalculation of portion sizes and forget to count the odd mouthful here and there, sugary drinks, sauces. My DH swears by fatsecret app on Google play or website if no smart phone:

play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fatsecret.android

Other tips:
Ask go to check thryroid function to see hypothyroidism a factor.

Chew sugar free gum while cooking to avoid snacking.

Eat small portions - 3 meals and 2 snacks per day.

Drink lots of water (small shops throughout day, not a lot at once).

Eat lots of fruit and veg (raisins in cereal, apple and banana for snacks, grapes with lunch, 5 different types of veg in a pasta or rice dish for dinner,etc)

Dance to 'Just Dance' videos - virtual dance choreography on YouTube :-) So fun!!!

Honestly?

Eat fewer calories. Fill up with undressed salads, reduce the amount of fat and carbohydrates and remember that one Freddo is about 100 calories.

Don't eat mindlessly. Pay attention to what's in your hand before it reaches your mouth and account for it.

My Fitness Pal, Fitbit, Weight Watchers or Slimming World - make a note of every mouthful.

I've gone from a size 22 to a size 16 just by eating less.

Embarrassingly, I've also started watching the weight creep on again in recent months.

All the little 'it's just a mouthful's, it's only one's, 'the packet's nearly empty, just finish it's have all added up.

And Les Mills classes at my gym estimate 350 calories for 45 minutes - and that's when I really went for it.

I just did a rough calculation and based on your height, weight and activity levels you should be burning more like 3000 cals a day. 2000 cals should mean weight loss - but you don't know where you started. Are you weighing/measuring your food or just assuming and eyeballing the calories? It can make a big difference. Don't give up, stick with 2000 (ignore people suggesting 1000 or 1200) and be strict with calorie counting.

Hi op, carry on with mfp but don't eat any exercise calories. Good luck!

And good lord IGNORE ANYONE who gives a single figure that is 'maintenance' or 'bmr' IT IS DIFFERENT FOR EVERYONE.

Thanks for the advise. Surely resting metabolic rate is weight dependant? ie it’s not going to be the same for an 8 stone woman and an 18 stone woman?
I’ve used an online calculator which has determined my base metabolic rate is 1980, so the amount of calories id burn if I didn’t move all day.
My diet was so terrible before, I was probably eating around 4000 calories a day easily....
Pre children when I was a healthy weight I used to eat around 1800 to maintain.

I really don’t have the time, the will or disposition for constant dieting and exercising. But somewhat have managed a to lose half a stone in last month by reducing the size of my portions by 1/3 and not eating anything from dinner to lunch. I thought I was going to find it more difficult but but after a week or so Ino longer even feel hungry anymore at all as long as I drink enough water.

And reducing sugar has made a huge difference, those mad cravings are well gone.

That's why I suggested starting by talking to the GP. Someone bigger will need more calories just to function as their body is working harder to carry them around. Please get some sound advice OP.

I am going to speak to my doctor I think, I’m just so embarrassed about how overweight I am. 8 years ago if someone would have said to me that I would end up like this I would have laughed in their face

Also, if you have rapidly upped the amount and intensity of exercise, your muscles will be holding quite a bit extra water. That can make you weigh more (several pounds for me) and also feel puffy.