To ask how to lose weight when not actually overweight?

[HappyAzure]

Not a goady thread. I’m in the normal BMI range but not happy with the few Kgs I’ve put on over lockdown, just generally feeling a bit wider and soft so want to lose some weight (ideally 5kg) - will be upping my exercise as well.

The issue is that I think it’s harder to lose weight when there isn’t as much to lose - I think weight comes off quicker when you’re actually overweight. I’ve tried to lose a few kgs over the last month or so eating about 1500calories a day and it hasn’t really worked. I also tried 5:2 for a couple of weeks but ended up fainting and read it’s not suitable for people with a BMI of 20 or under (not sure if that’s true or not)

In short - have you managed to lose weight as an already ‘normal’ weight person and if so, how did you do this? Don’t want to go on a crash diet or starve myself! Will eating 1500 calories eventually work?? (According to my fitness pal that’s what I should be eating in order to lose weight!)

Absolutely agree that it's easier to lose kg when you are very overweight! I remember my post-baby weight just flying off when I started losing it.

The best tip I can offer is to do some strength training, try to improve muscle tone. As well as redefining your shape, it will boost your metabolism - muscle burns more calories, even at rest. You can keep it really simple, I just have a set of dumbells at home and work on my 'bingo wings' a little every day.
You don't want to lift heavy weights, lift small weights for lots of reps to get tone.

@littlecatfeet

Absolutely agree that it's easier to lose kg when you are very overweight! I remember my post-baby weight just flying off when I started losing it.

The best tip I can offer is to do some strength training, try to improve muscle tone. As well as redefining your shape, it will boost your metabolism - muscle burns more calories, even at rest. You can keep it really simple, I just have a set of dumbells at home and work on my 'bingo wings' a little every day.
You don't want to lift heavy weights, lift small weights for lots of reps to get tone.

If you go this route though remember to change your goals from weight based to body measurements based.

Pick the size you want to be and go with that if you're going to train muscle, as the density differnce can make it way off. a dieted 53kg will look like a trained 55 kg person sort of thing

“ 18.5 is the bottom end of healthy. Tiny inaccuracies in weighing and height measurement could tip you below. I generally don’t think it’s healthy to aim for the absolute bottom of a range like that.”

Sometimes you just know your own resting weight though. In my adult life, I’ve weighed between 46-54kg. 46, I looked like a bit like a lollipop, but not emaciated. By 54, I’m starting to look inelegant in my clothes and round in the face. These numbers might sound small (I don’t know where they would put me on the BMI scale) but when I start to creep up in the 50s, I cut back, because - for me - that means I am carrying extra weight.

Same, I'm 5'2(.5!) and small/narrow framed so every kg is noticeable. It's also definitionally not unhealthy to be at the low end of a healthy weight.

I have absolutely no idea how many calories I eat. I didn't want to calorie count.

Example lunches would be:

• half a (frying pan) fritata made from 4 eggs with onion, courgette, potatoes, tomatoes, spinach and cheese with a green salad
• 2 x fried eggs with fried mushrooms, tomatoes and sliced potatoes
• an avocado ( whole one) and bacon ( 2 rashers) and tomato wholemeal roll
• massive salad of spinach, lettuce, courgette, tomatoes, mushrooms, hummous. nuts and seeds with half a ti of tuna, or cottage cheese or a matchbox size piece of cheddar.

Recent dinners include:

• sausage casserole (2 sausages for a serving with sauce of tinned tomatoes, onion, red pepper, mushroom. Served with 5 small new potatoes and peas or cabbage.
• chicken casserole with 2 x chicken thighs per serving cooked in cider with apple, onion, mushrooms and creme fraiche, served with half a pack of microwave brown rice and boiled batoned carrot.
• salmon steak microwaved with cherry tomatoes, green beans and olives, served with a jacket potato.

Substantial and tasty, but lowish on carbs and highish in vegetables/ salad.

I did it for my wedding lost 10lb in 6 weeks. I went low carb (love carbs so just had a small portion). Increased veg intake, it takes me longer to eat veggies than carbs, so I get bored of eating earlier! Stopped snacking. Drank more water with meals and less alcohol generally, did lots of core yoga videos to tighten my abs.

If your bmi is under 20 then honestly it's best to focus on health, strength, wellbeing, toning, activity

And not weight at all

Watching with interest as I'm facing this at the moment. Have put on a stone during lockdown and although my bmi is still 22 I feel very sluggish and heavy.
Going to get going with healthier options this week and up my exercise.

@GhostCurry

Oh yeah I don’t really drink anything other than water. I think tea and coffee must add a fair whack of calories that people don’t think count. If I have a drink other than water, I count it as a snack. Because it is.

They can be, though it's really only if you're drinking v. milky coffees like lattes or having full fat milk or sugar with many cups of tea that calories start to add up (if you're counting them).

Tea with semi skimmed milk is only 13 calories. Herbal teas are often 1 or 2 cals or less. Coffee with skimmed milk is 15 cals. Skinny latte would be about 70. I only know this because when I was in my last job I hated it and so used to treat myself to a lot of takeaway coffees and started piling on weight drinking several full fat jumbo lattes a day.

OP I'm in my late 40s and my weight goes up and down. If I start to put on too much I just cut down on portion sizes or reduce carbs a bit and boost protein and veggies. I'm a recovering addict so can't go for too much weighing of food or too much calorie counting as everything is a possible frickin' addiction for me unfortunately since it's just how I'm wired. But I visually cut down my portions and have more protein-based meals.

You do you but life is too short for this to take up time and energy.

Following for the tips! I am in a similar position. Not “overweight” but the higher end of “normal” and as I’m so short there’s no flattering way I can carry the extra stone 🤣

Any weight I put on goes straight on my tummy and doesn’t look (or feel) good, so I’m very aware of it and take action quickly. I have gone from 9st 4lb (lockdown ice cream habit) to 8st 10lb by:

Cutting down on wine
Drinking lots more water
Having a serious think about whether I’m really hungry or not
Having an equally serious chat with myself about portion size
Upping my exercise, including some strength work

No idea how many calories though.

@HappyAzure my BMR is 1263 calories a day. So anything I eat above that I don't technically need.

I create my calorie deficit my exercise. 500 calories a day, approx 3500 a week - hopefully loose a LB!

It's funny how often you'll hear "oh, but BMI isn't a reliable measurement, it's a blunt instrument" etc when someone is overweight but in a case like this it's the Holy Law.

Ignore the bucket o' crabs!

It is really worrying how many posters are failing to notice that the op is aiming for a BMI of 18.9 and supplying weight loss tips.
Sometimes this place really verges on pro ana.

Why do you think you need to lose 5kgs?

@littlecatfeet exactly! And for most of us who aren't pro athletes it's fairly accurate!

And even for a lot of them it's accurate too!

OP - I am exactly the same I'm 5'2 and small framed so do notice if I gain weight quite quickly.

I need to lose about 5kg to be back to where I want to be also.
I've had to buy bigger jeans for the first time in my life so I'm cracking down.

Coffee and water for breakfast
Lunch at 12
Small snack at 3
Dinner at 7
Herbal teas all evening

If I've exercised I'll have a healthy snack around 8

I don't feel hungry at all, apart from coming up to meal times, which is the point.
At home in lockdown I was eating as soon as I felt slightly hungry which was the issue. At work I wouldn't be doing this and would build up the hunger before a meal and then satisfy it.

I'm sure you know what to eat and what to cut down on so I won't advice on that. But simply not eating between 7/8pm-12pm seems to do the job.

BMI is not the holy grail and I'm sure everyone knows it is an indicator only. Even more so for females with small frames and males with large frames it is grossly inaccurate. Go with how your clothes fit and how you feel in yourself

@HappyAzure whilst they say that you cannot outexercise bad diet, as someone who was an active participant in sports where weight is paramount (and has lost heaps in a super unhealthy ways too) it's not aaalways right.

What worked for me, was crash-lose then keep the restricted diet. Very hard when working. I ate apples and coffee endlessly, snacked on veggies and had salads for lunch (sometimes not even). Also lunch, then no more than coffee afterwards, no dinner but if you exercise before bed, or even better go swimming/use sauna (I love sauna) it will make you nicely tired and sleepy and not hungry.

Not maybe the most healthy approach but works.

Also, what I do know is this. Losing weight and keeping the weight down are two completely different things and if your body is not content with the lower weight you would like it is a daily endless struggle to not eat when hungry.

Good luck!

Mmm my BMI is also 20.7 and frankly whenever I've been lower than that it's been pretty full on keeping it that way - or I've just been so stressed/busy/unhappy that I'm not taking care of myself. I also struggle with 5:2 - some people are not great with fasting - I just can't concentrate at work and I get faint if I miss a meal or undereat for a couple of days. I've come to the conclusion that being anything less than 20.7 is unnatural for my body and a healthy lifestyle.

When I had a BMI of 19 I lost my periods and started to look unhealthy thin. Every frame and body is different! Try not to focus on the numbers!

@GhostCurry

Oh yeah I don’t really drink anything other than water. I think tea and coffee must add a fair whack of calories that people don’t think count. If I have a drink other than water, I count it as a snack. Because it is.

I don’t think that’s the case for me. Even if I have about six cups of tea it would only be about 125ml milk, 42 calories.

Hi OP

I am reading this thread with interest!

For me, I gained weight during lockdown through a combination of lack of regular sport/exercise- can't really blame the gym/pool/sports club closing!- eating too much & too late in the evening and also more alcohol than usual.

My BMI is teetering around 24.5/25 and I definitely want to lose at least 5kg, I can really feel the extra weight and as I'm short I'm sure it's noticeable.

Well, my mum has helpfully told me I'm fat- she's said that quite a bit in the past, but this time I think it grates more as I know she's right!

To add, the 5kg is 7.7% of my total body weight.

I do empathise with all those posters who are short & have put on weight in recent months!

I'm around 5ft 3 and def feel the weight gain, I got upset being unable to do my normal jeans up comfortably the other day & feel like I just look hefty in quite a few of my regulars tops/dresses.

Actions stations for me!

Reading with interest. My BMI is 22 but as I’m 5ft 3, I still have a fair amount of belly fat which I’m trying to shift, but it’s proving difficult. I’m doing a 20 min run 2/3 times a week and I’m doing Adrienne yoga. Also, I’ve cut down on the carbs and no mid week drinking, but it’s so slow to see any progress. It does feel harder this side of 40.

Yes, by reducing colories and be in deficit. The difference is that it takes longer to see the benefits because the deficit is not as significant. In my case it can take up to 4 weeks before suddenly the weight drops but when it does, it is good.

Whatever you are doing, you need to stick to it for longer.

It sounds like you need to be stricter with your snacks. Make yourself a salad in the morning or have some soup ready to microwave if lunch is a problem. And increase your activity levels, aiming to improve your muscle tone to get rid of the softness.