To think rapid weightloss in the morbidly obese isn't an accurate representation of weightloss for most people?

[Halfadamnlb]

I'm currently 10st 7 and want to get down to 9.5st, I'm overweight but not obese.

I've been making changes to my diet and lifestyle for a little over two weeks and giving it my all.

Daily walks for at least an hour, sometimes two hours.

No sugar in my hot drinks and I've switched from whole milk to skimmed.

I have cut out all unhealthy snacks like chocolate and crisps which I was eating most days.

I'm eating smaller portions at dinner time.

Drinking alot more water.

Doing some light cardio at home in addition to the long walks.

I have lost a measly 0.5lb, if that.

Meanwhile on a weight loss group on Facebook there are women bragging about having lost 12lbs in a bloody week.

The people who are posting this type of loss are, in their own admission, morbidly obese.

Therefore, in my opinion, such losses aren't representative of the reality of dieting for most people.

It's demotivating to work so hard on something and see such a miniscule loss then to read somebody has lost 12lb and done so well by "just cutting out takeaways"

AIBU?

A 20st person needs about 3000 calories per day. If they eat only 1500 calories that adds up to a 3lb weight loss per week. Even if they ate absolutely nothing they’d only lose 6lb per week. So it’s possible for someone to weigh 12lb lighter at the end of the week but they won’t have lost 12lb of fat because it’s impossible. Most of it will be water.

Dieting rarely works. Cutting out whole food types and weighing yourself constantly is really unhealthy.
I'd suggest speaking to a qualified dietician, not a quack or a slimming world rep etc, someone who can look at your diet and check out where you may be deficient and where you're perhaps needing a tweak.
Veggies over fruit will help those extra calories, fruit is great in moderation. Cutting out food you like will work initially but then you can become fixated on some food being 'bad' which isn't the case, it's just moderation.
You need to be in calorie deficit to lose weight but you also need to be sensible especially with your history of ED.

Realistic steady improvement in diet and fitness levels are way more important than numbers on the scale. Plus women fluctuate and are hormonally complex beings.

Good luck

Alot of wonderful advice here thank you all!

I'm going to sleep in a minute but I'll be back tomorrow to answer the questions above

"a bit podgy"

How tall are you? 10 stone 7 isnt going have you a size zero but unless you are 4ft, it doesnt make you podgy.

It does seem to come off faster in much bigger people, op!
I only have a little over a stone to drop and it’s creeping down slowly. Make sure you drink lots of clear fluid - water (little drop of fruit juice or squash if you need flavour, or some fruit in an infuser), and get a decent night’s sleep - it helps your metabolism. And watery sweet fruits are satisfying for ages without adding to calories.
I’ve been using Noom (still in the free trial) and apparently to gain a lb you need to consume 3500 calories. So if someone eats a lot of junk then cuts it out, that will just drop off. Food for thought.
Oh, and weigh yourself in the mornings after you’ve gone to the loo but before you eat or drink. Do this for consistently - evening weight is always higher (gravity, input etc) so if you forget one morning and weigh later you’ll be disappointed unnecessarily.
Good luck!

All that matters is that you burn more calories than you eat - that you are in a caloric deficit. Cutting out carbs etc is frankly bollocks - so long as your calories work then you will lose weight.
MFP is great, but be careful when logging. Weigh everything - the “three biccies” should be weighed and added by grams, so should milk in tea, locating powder etc. Done estimate, don’t count half a teaspoon etc. It’s amazing how much you over and under estimate. Anyone can add foods to MFP, go by the info on the pack - create your own foods if necessary.
At your weight tracking poorly could result in over eating a hundred calories or so a day, your deficit will be quite small, 50/100 calorie miss tracking a day could destroy your weekly deficit very quickly.

I second the resistance training, 20 minutes a day of weight training using basic household items will work wonders. Developing muscle will burn more calories. You may not lose weight but you will notice the difference physically.

Have a look at Team RH on Facebook. They have excellent advice for weight loss sensibly without gimmicks, fad diets or demonising any foods.

I'm 5'3 and dress size 12. Possibly even 14 in some places.

10.7 doesn't sound that big but I do have quite alot of fat. My stomach, arms and legs are the worst offending areas.

If I could get down to 9.5 I'd be within the healthy bracket of BMI (I'm classed as overweight right now) and I'd feel alot better about myself in a size 10

Do the resistance training on top of the walking - they have different effects.
Weigh yourself daily and take the average across the week. Scales measure everything, not just fat changes. Water, excess carbs refilling glycogen the day before, menstrual cycle changes etc. A weekly average will give you a more accurate picture than a weekly weigh which can be confounded by too many variables.
Agree with weighing in the morning just after peeing too!

I average about 10st4 and I'm definitely a bit podgy, even though I'm technically not overweight - that's bang on a BMI of 25 for me and I'm an apple at any sustainable for me BMI (I got down to 9 stone, 10 years ago, and it was worse, as my abs are fucked)

Filling up on ovaltine isn't great, unless that's something you've always done and always will do, so you're making the habit fit. It does mean that you're missing out on a lot of other nutritious tuff, though, if a lot of your other calories are from fruit.

I will reiterate what i said above in a different way, though: if you are eating in a way that you are comfortable eaing, if you're lsing the weight, however slowly, and if you feel good wihth the way you are eating, ignore the big, dramatic weight loss posts and keep on doing what you are doing. Losing some of the fruit and finding veg that you enjoy would be better long term, though - for your dental bills, if nothing else!

10 stone would put in the healthy BMI range. Losing a pound a week is much more sustainable long term.

The basics of weight loss is more calories out that in, so if you're counting your exercise calories and then eating to match then there is no calorie output, try ignoring your exercise calories for a couple of weeks and see if it helps?

And yes...MFP is rubbish 😂

Depending on your height ( and dare I say age, as in post menopasal) your weight might be nearer ok, your body’s ok weight.
At 58 and 10st 10, ok lost 2 lbs this week, top calories for day 1500, after my first week ( done this before) never more than 1 lb a week, wanting to be between 10st 6, never lower than 10st 4 tho

It’s also not the reality for most morbidly obese people. I am morbidly obese. I am dieting and exercising and being ridiculously careful about what I eat. The weight is coming off. Slowly. One pound at a time. I didn’t get here by overeating or being lazy so it makes sense that it’s not as simple as stopping those behaviors and the pounds melt off, so it really irks me when people imply that is the case for all of us.

Glowing . similar here. Realistically even if I manage lose weight slowly it will be months, maybe a year before its noticable? There wont be the encouraging changes in dress size etc. Or people noticing

Im m.obese and will stook look very big at 4 stone lighter.

I'm hoping I can make some long term changes that work as any diet just adds weight ling term.

I was drawn to the title as no I dont think rapid weight loss is true for most morbidly obese at all.

From what I've read, its v hard for m obese. The body tries to hold onto the fat and resists attempts to lose weight through a homeostasis. You lose weight, body tries ti stay the same and sends hunger messages.

I want to be one of the 5% that can...

I’m similar in weight and experience. I did find I’d lose nothing for a few weeks but it would suddenly fall off at once. This seems common so keep going.

Also ignore the exercise, keep MFP for the calorie count and monitor your sugar and macros to increase protein and good carbs v sugar and processed carbs. I have used meal replacements successfully and they are terrible for sugar, however it’s ok if they are for a short time and you go back to healthy eating habits straight after.

If you exercise it will speed up the loss if you don’t eat back the calories. So think about whether you want speed or slow but comfortable weight loss. I’m surprised at the time spent walking as 1.6 miles would take me half an hour to walk, so 60 minutes return rather than 120 minutes. And you are likely waking much slower round shops. If you can run this will really make a difference to fat loss, body shape and fitness. Weight training and boxercise will be good too. Yoga etc only helps tone.

If you're making all those changes and nothings happening then why bother? Your body clearly doesn't need to lose the weight if it's not shifting so you prob don't need to lose it. Just enjoy your life and don't worry about it.

@Halfadamnlb

I'm 5'3 and dress size 12. Possibly even 14 in some places.

10.7 doesn't sound that big but I do have quite alot of fat. My stomach, arms and legs are the worst offending areas.

If I could get down to 9.5 I'd be within the healthy bracket of BMI (I'm classed as overweight right now) and I'd feel alot better about myself in a size 10

If youve been sedentary for a while you will be growing muscle which can make the scales lie abit.

Ie you may have lost 0.75lb of fat and gained 0.25lb of muscle (not sure how fast muscle grows but I know its fairly slow)

So it may be best for you to monitor yourself by measurements not weight.

Belly, arms and legs circumference if that's where your interest is.

Just measure them up now and do it the same time each week (weekday is good as it avoids the weekend bloat from alcohol etc)

I went from obese to bmi 22 in 8 months - lost 5 stone. I'm now a 10/12. It is much harder to lose near your goal weight and if your diet wasn't too bad before. 2lb a week is ambitious.
Firstly walking is obviously good but don't overstimate effects, I aim for 15,000 steps a day and also swam a couple of times a week and still probably 95% of my weightloss down to diet.
I do slimmingworld not calorie count. What struck me about diet posted is it's carb heavy and some processed stuff like slimfast, fibre one. Neither suit me. You are not eating much fruit or veg at all. So eg I'd have 2 weetabix and berries, Lunch homemade chiken and veg soup and dinner same as you but 1/3 or 1/2 plate veg. Fills you without too many calories. I find too many bananas don't suit me either I have a couple a week. What suits me best is protein and veg so swap weetabix for 0% greek/skyr and berries or eggs and mushrooms/spinach/tomatoes some days. In my experience it's what you eat not just calories you have to find what suits you. I personally wouldn't lose on what you posted as your diet.

Kind of sad how people are just telling the op to give up.

@PyongyangKipperbang

"a bit podgy"

How tall are you? 10 stone 7 isnt going have you a size zero but unless you are 4ft, it doesnt make you podgy.

I'm in the middle of a healthy bmi and definitely a bit podgy. skinny I ain't

wrt to walking, it's great exercise, but unless you get sweaty and breathless you won't use many calories walking.
a 30 min run uses about 300ckal, that's one large snack!

I think it's unreasonable for you to be upset about it. It's not a competition. Do you.

It reads a bit like you're somehow envious of people who are morbidly obese and are getting bigger/ faster results.

I'm sure most of them would much rather be where you are now (and quite frankly I think you would, too!)

Dixie - wow you did fantastic! I've changed in the last 2 weeks to greek yoghurt and berries (with some flax/chia stuff on it). At lunch Im trying to have a protein (avocado/egg/ salmon/mushrooms/mackeral) and mainly salad but sometimes have some crackers. Or soup and a small roll. For dinner I'm trying to be mindful of carbs but still having them, and trying to up the veg content. The kids are fussy, so sausages and lasagne are on the menu but on those days I have less of that portion and more of the veg.

Overall I know it isn't very low carb but its a move away from what I was having which was very carb based. I think I've changed breakfast ( I know it still has carbs) and I've reduced lunch. I've eliminated crisps/etc which I was snacking on too as already I don't feel like them.

I've filled my fridge and freezer with the veg I do like to try and make it "easy" to base a meal around a salad or veg.

I hope it works. It's a start anyway. I'm hoping as my hunger/cravings/yoyo blood sugar with leaving a very carb based diet improve I'll be able to revisit it again.