Why can't I lose weight?! Is it my age? 😭

[HurryUpAndWait23]

Im 39.

I've never been overweight but I was always comfortable at 9st12 and when I started to push 10+ stone (around Christmas or too many summer BBQ's and wine) I'd do 5:2 or similar and the weight would come off easily, always around 2lb a week.

Now, I'm 11stone and 24.5 on the BMI and I've been trying to lose weight for months.
I've tried WW (worked very well in the past) 5:2 which was always great, and I can get down to 10st10 if I'm lucky and it goes back up again.

What the fuck is going on?! I've even stopped drinking (was drinking wine most nights, now drinking once a week and have done for about 2 months), I thought the weight would fall off then - but no!

I feel fit and well so I don't think it's a thyroid issue or anything medical.

I'm 39 soon - is it my bloody age?!

How fucking depressing if it is?!

Metabolism doesn't actually slow much with age - we tend to be much more sedentary. Myfitnesspal is a good way to see how much you are actually eating - probably more than you think. And remember weight is affected by things other than fat - if you eat a lot of salt/carbohydrates one day, you will retain water afterwards, if you do hard exercise, your muscles retain water to mend themselves.

I'm 43, I've lost a stone over about 12 weeks cutting out all processed foods, sugar, wheat and veg oil. Read 'Why we eat too much' or have a scan through the thread on here in weight loss chat. It's slow and steady but I am honestly eating really, really well and am never hungry.

I've been using MyFitnessPal for years, it's great.

It's just like torture now though. All that effort and bugger all in return.

@HighlandCowbag

I'm 43, I've lost a stone over about 12 weeks cutting out all processed foods, sugar, wheat and veg oil. Read 'Why we eat too much' or have a scan through the thread on here in weight loss chat. It's slow and steady but I am honestly eating really, really well and am never hungry.

I don't eat bread, pasta or even bloomin potato (not that that's a processed food). The only food I've eaten this week that's processed is the soy sauce I put in my chicken and veg stir fry.

Believe me, I know and love all the diets.
I know they work, they have worked great in the past.
I did paleo for about 2 years, that was great, and pushes non-processed food to even stricter limits.

But believe me, that's not working for me right now.

For me I must have simply been miscalculating portion size, and not regulating eating habits.

I was exactly the same. Sticking to 1500 calories ish, lots if exercise, not 1lb down.

In desperation I signed up to one of those meal services. All food provided, you just add fresh fruit, veg, and a milk allowance.

3 weeks in and I’m down 8lbs. I’m also getting used to eating breakfast, lunch and dinner again, i’d got i to some really bad habits skipping meals, fasting, pissing about cutting carbs or eating high fat etc and must have been overcompensating. I’d also been eating big portions and underestimating the calories.

Two stone to go.

I could have written you post, except I'm now nearer 11st 12. It has crept on. I'd be happy with 10st 7. I don't want to be mega skinny. I just can't seem to get it off. It doesn't help that I'm on the pill and anti depressants, both of which can result in weight gain but I have no desire to give up.

You have to eat less as you age in order to maintain a healthy weight.

I do think Exercise helps, I do a LOT of yoga and can still eat what I want but what I want is skewed by wanting to feel good. Stopped eating meat in my late 20s, stopped drinking in my late 30s and feel soooooo much better for it.

The problem with all the diets is they push your set point up and make it even more difficult to lose weight and maintain the loss, plus then you put extra on when you stop dieting.

Are you as physically active as when you were last comfortable with your weight? Not just scheduled exercise but generally? I always put about half a stone on in the 6 weeks holidays because of not doing the school run plus after school activities that finish for summer. Plus stress and sleep affect weight loss and obviously hormones and age unfortunately.

@HurryUpAndWait23

Are you eating sugars? Are you teaming heathy food with exercise. I find you need both to lose the weight well.

Sugar free everything (which is basically fake sugar in my coffee) and I keep carbs to a minimum.
But I'm an absolute sucker for fruit. I could eat it all day long and I've had to curb this the last couple of weeks because I'm beginning to wonder if this is an issue (that's allowed on WW).

I do fuck all exercise and I don't want to change that. I realise I might have to but I want to keep my head in the sand a bit longer and just starve myself a bit more, as infantile as that is.

You sound like me, I adore fruit.

The only thing that worked for me is BIWI's low carb bootcamp. I lost 1.5 stones in 2 months.

And yes, limit fruit to a handful of strawberries or raspberries or blueberries or 1 guava a day.

I am literally exactly the same… same age, same BMI, same issue.
In the past I could make a few small changes and lose the weight easily and then remain at the same weight.
Now I just cannot shift it without an almighty effort for months, and then it goes straight back on in an instant if I am not careful.
It’s incredibly frustrating.
Eat generally very healthy food & exercise daily. Gaaaa

I'm 39 soon - is it my bloody age?!

No

I lost several stone in my very late 40s

I found that being ruthless about counting every single mouthful really helped. I'd had to be dragged kicking and screaming to MFP because I thoaught that writing everything down wouid give an unhealthy focus. Fat from it!!

You do need to weigh/measure stuff, and if you're adding a 'splash' if something to your cooking, count it as at least a tablespoonful. Keep checking, even if you think you know what 30g of cheese looks like.

And remember to check if the weight for pasta is dry or cooked - there's a huge difference between the two and one error can wipe out 2 days deficit. Always choose the brown/fibrous option, and take a break from alcohol - it's calories with nothing to recommend nutritionally and really erodes the will power that might otherwise stop you nibbling.

DC's leftovers need to be off limits

And don't eat back your exercise calories - use them as the cushion against under-estimates of what you've eaten or things you forgot to log

Sorry - I know that's bound to sound more strident than it wouid if I was talking to you in RL! But perhaps a bracing 'hell you can do this' might be useful in its way?

Apparently, scientifically, the reason you require fewer calories as you age is because you lose muscle mass. Resistance training has massive benefits. Also people eating too few calories (ie under 1400) then tend to binge at the weekend and end up eating then all back hence not seeing any weight loss, and/or they're not tracking properly. Plus simply not moving enough. 10000 steps a day minimum not just for physical health but also mental health. A study showed in menopausal women those who did >7500 steps a day were 75% less depressed than those who did fewer than 4500 steps a day.

Follow ESGfitness on Instagram for all the science. She's brilliant and explains why all the crap that's spouted everywhere really is nonsense.

If you really restrict your intake sometimes your body goes into starvation mode and clings onto the fat instead of shedding it, at least that's what I've read.

The only time I ever lost weight quickly was when I was breastfeeding. Lost over a stone without even trying. It's all come back since then though!

I was doing really well up till December last year with sensible eating and working out I've fallen off the wagon a bit though so getting back on and trying to incorporate running as well although lately that's buggering up my knee, which is just typical. It's been doing wonders for DH, I was hoping it would work for me

could be age.
my metabolism slowed right down around that age. I now gain if i have more than 1700cals a day.

Fasting is the only thing that works for me. The weight just falls off.

I am 58 and to maintain my weight, I need to be eating no more than 1300 calories a day. That would have been a strict diet years ago and I would have lost lbs. Now, I pretty much always do the 16/8 diet, am vegetarian, don't smoke, rarely drink. I run 5k a couple of times a week and still have a few pounds to lose! Only thing I can say, is if you need to lose weight, do it and keep it off as believe me, it doesn't get easier.

I've lost 12lbs since June 1st with the low carb threads on here. I'm 54 and spent years gaining and losing the same half a stone. I'm aiming for another stone and the best thing is that I know it will work.

Read the obesity code...then find a way of eating that suits you

@Reallyreallyborednow

For me I must have simply been miscalculating portion size, and not regulating eating habits.

I was exactly the same. Sticking to 1500 calories ish, lots if exercise, not 1lb down.

In desperation I signed up to one of those meal services. All food provided, you just add fresh fruit, veg, and a milk allowance.

3 weeks in and I’m down 8lbs. I’m also getting used to eating breakfast, lunch and dinner again, i’d got i to some really bad habits skipping meals, fasting, pissing about cutting carbs or eating high fat etc and must have been overcompensating. I’d also been eating big portions and underestimating the calories.

Two stone to go.

That's interesting. I mean, I weigh everything or scan the barcode so I'm not going over my portion size but I've never done a meal thing like you are, is it expensive? Which one do you use?

I found that my 40s were brilliant for body shape, strength and fitness (literally the best shape of my life, better & waaay stronger than my 20s, even after having DD at 40), but you definitely have to find out what works for you and your metabolism.

For me it was low carb/occasional keto plus some intermittent fasting. For exercise a combination of running (although I know that’s not for everyone), weights and pilates.

You have to keep in mind that your metabolism slows more every few years from now on, and the best way to combat flabbiness and muscle wastage is to exercise. But you also have to be much more aware of what you’re eating and make a few considered choices sometimes rather than just having everything you want (without totally robbing yourself of the pleasure of food and having treats, obvs!).

The only thing that stands out from your posts OP is the whole ‘pretendy sugar’ thing. If you can I’d highly recommend steering clear of all that shit, plus anything labelled ‘low calorie’, ‘reduced fat’ etc. I’m firmly of the belief that fat is not your enemy - a bit of butter won’t hurt you, and we need fat to assimilate vitamins - but anything with those labels will have been processed to include sugar as flavouring and it’s all crap and will damage your efforts to lose weight, no matter how they’re marketed.

Previously, you've had the ability to go out and do far more things up to 365 days per year.

So you will likely have lost muscle mass, muscle strength and hugely reduced your activity levels over the year - which makes a difference to how much energy you need to get through the day and how much you expend.

A crash diet will make you even less energetic just when you need to increase your activity, as well as triggering a desire to binge. And it's a lot easier to reduce your intake by 350 kcals whilst expending an extra 150 a day than it is to reduce it by 500.

Tl;Dr It's not your age. It's sodding Covid.

Are you as physically active as when you were last comfortable with your weight?

I've always been a really lazy bastard. I'm really busy, from 6am to 9pm and I never stop, but I have a sedentary job, and I hate exercise.

If you really restrict your intake sometimes your body goes into starvation mode and clings onto the fat instead of shedding it, at least that's what I've read.
There's no such thing as starvation mode.
That was a myth bandied around the internet 15 years ago and still occasionally rears it's head but it isn't true. Same as sugar doesn't make kids hyper. It sounds like it could be true, but it isn't.

I now gain if i have more than 1700cals a day.

1700! That's amazing, I can't go above 1200, are you quite active?

Oh god I feel your pain. I'm 39 too and the fucking weight just worn budge. I'm 5'5 and have been 144 pounds for at least 6 weeks. Been eating eggs, salads, etc etc, no sugar etc.

I will just have to hit it harder... No alcohol, uber low carb etc. Which sucks.

Dieting is shit

I know how you feel. I'm not overweight now, but I had my last child at 39 and it's taken me nearly TWO YEARS to lose the baby weight (just over two stone so not a ridiculous amount). I'm a healthy weight now but if I so much as look at a cake the weight creeps on and it's so hard to shift.

Back in the day I could just cut out junk and booze and lose half a stone in a couple of weeks, now I would have to really really work at it.

Meanwhile, my husband is like 'oh I fancy losing half a stone' and loses it without even breaking a sweat...