Dieting for 6 weeks and guess how much I’ve lost?

[CollagenQueen]

I’ve been dieting for 6 weeks. I’ve been eating like a bird during the day, with a normal evening meal.

I’ve cut out crisps and chocolate (which I used to eat daily).

I’ve dropped my wine consumption massively, now having several tee total days a week (I used to drink every day!)

I’ve also upped my exercise enormously, I now usually walk about 15-20k steps a day, rather than my usual 7k.

After six weeks of this, I’ve just weighed myself and guess what I’ve lost?

Absolutely nothing.

What the hell? Can anyone explain this? I really don’t want to give up, but this just seems insane!

Zero veg is not normal eating.

Not sure if others have said this, but if I drink more than about 1 glass of wine in a week, I never reduce my weight. I run about 50km a week and eat sensibly, but there is something about alcohol that seems to mess with my system.

Could you possibly have been slowly gaining weight on your previous diet? So you have reduced enough to stop that gain but not to lose in essence.

This is really good advice. I have lost am 1.5 and also your age op. I am eating very much like this but also eating carrots. I have just had an early lunch - cooking for the family today - with a half the normal amount of rice I used to eat and feel really bloated. I will have salad for dinner.

Fat needs water to metabolise. Drink loads more. And change the battery in your scale!

I’m similar to you and trying to lose weight. Have lost a couple of stone since May: I get weighed every couple of days though. I know it’s not recommended but it helps me to be accountable, and also learn to know what works and what doesn’t. And how what I eat or not affects my weight.

I'm a similar height and can't lose any weight if I eat more than 1200 calories per day. Use your calories wisely, give up alcohol and see what happens. Eat mostly veg and lean meat and fish. Don't waste any calories on treats.

How often did you weigh yourself before you started the diet? It may be that you were consistently gaining weight (it does sound as though you may have been) and that what you're currently doing is enough to maintain weight but not to lose it. Also look at how often you've weighed yourself on the diet. If it was just 6 weeks ago and today then there's a lot of variables - time in your cycle, time of day, when you last went to the loo etc.

With all that taken into account, I still think some of the advice on here about upping your veg and decreasing your carb intake has been very good. I would also look into intermittent fasting. And be careful with the meals you do eat (in your case, the evening meal) - it's very easy to overeat at them if you've come to them fasting or only having had a little. Measure out the portions, don't have seconds except of things like veg. And you need to be drinking way more water (which includes black coffee, tea without milk etc.).

@CollagenQueen the thing that stands out most for me is the massive cut you've made in your drinking and I just want to say a massive congratulations for that. My advice would be to log everything on MFP and yes, I think being 53 is relevant. I'm similar and finding it much harder to keep my weight under control than I did even 5 years ok. Don't be too hard on yourself and remind yourself of the massive changes you've made already.

Have you ever had your thyroid function checked?

Agree more water, and salad/veg/fibre. If you want coleslaw, make it yourself and use natural yoghurt instead of at least half the mayo. Also weigh the breakfast cereal and the milk. The pack usually tells you the portion size and how much milk. Even better go for overnight oats with some dried fruit and seeds soaked overnight in skimmed milk, but weigh all ingredients, I usually aim for 35g of ingredients plus 70ml of skimmed milk, and a spoonful of yoghurt. In the morning I add a few frozen berries.

OP I just wanted to say you sound lovely and you’ve done so well already to cut back the drinking 💐 I wonder if some counselling around the alcohol issues from your childhood would help? It may be worth getting bloods done to see if you’re deficient in anything as magnesium and zinc among other things can affect sleep.
cheering you on!

Good luck and let us know how you get on, I also find it very difficult to loose weight

@CollagenQueen and ideally don't drink more than half a bottle on the 2 nights you drink, if you can manage that - it will help.

Op
Irrespective of weight loss

you family will be so so so happy that you’re not drinking 2 bottles a night.

I think you are doing really well to have made the changes you have made - they are hard. I am 5'1" and have used my fitness pal to successfully lose weight (~12kg). It was a bit of a shock that I need to eat around 1200 calories to lose weight (based on my sedentary job), so I exercise most days (spin, weights, pump, combat) and this has 1) completely changed my body composition, 2) given me some wiggle room with calories, and 3) made me feel so much better about myself. I try not to get too hung up on calories as it can make you eat low calorie, nutrient deplete food, and I focus more on increasing the variety of healthy low-processed foods I eat.

For example (and this is all portion checked when I enter it):
Breakfast: coffee, milk, fruit with yoghurt or kefir, handful of nuts/seeds
Lunch: two egg omelette wrap with chicken, sweetcorn, tomatoes, and spring onion (veg sticks if still hungry)
Dinner: lentil, chickpea and kale curry with rice
I drink two bottles of water and perhaps 2 cups of tea a day.

I have quit alcohol (just for the month but may carry on) and I'd seriously encourage you to consider that. Why hang on to 1/2 days? It isn't making you feel better, honestly.

Okay, so today :

Breakfast : Bowl of bran flakes and skimmed milk

Mid am snack : Tin of mackerel in tomato sauce

Lunch : Half a chicken breast (as finger food)

Will have a satsuma mid pm and maybe the rest of the chicken

And dinner is sausage casserole. The sausage isn't good, but it will have alongside it, gravy, carrots, potatoes, onions, green beans and sweetcorn.

A better day, I think.

To answer previous questions, I don't have any health issues, except for slightly elevated blood pressure (which I'm hoping will come down as I've cut the booze)

How long have you been drinking two bottles a night for?

Was your partner drinking with you?

When you say you don’t have any health issues, when was the last time you had a blood test? And are you just referring to physical health?

And thank you so much for the kind comments. It really helps! I hope everyone else trying to lose weight has some success - it IS hard.

I am enjoying the fact that I've cut the wine down. It had become a nightly habit, to open the first bottle with dinner, and then just keep going. But now, six weeks in, it is much easier to get a glass of water, than I ever thought possible.

I know I should probably cut the wine out completely, but in my head I'm not quite there yet. Doesn't help that DH loves his wine too. He was on annual leave recently and drank every night, and it was hard sitting with water when he was doing that!

I used to drink when he was working at night - now I just sit with water, and if I don't sleep, then so be it. I will have to watch not to slip back to drinking every night. I wont do that before the wedding, as I have such a focus, but am slightly worried that I could slip back once that's over. I don't think so, though.

Here is what I eat in the throes of menopause( am veggie and Asian, so may not apply to everyone...)
Breakfast: Greek yoghurt with berries
Snack: a few nuts
Lunch: Omelette with mushrooms, peppers, spinach
or stirfried veggies and tofu with very little noodles and my own sauce
or a falafel wrap with cucumber, carrot, tomato and beetroot
Snack: Slice of cheese or fruit
Dinner: Some type of Asian food usually:
daal or paneer or beans for protein
more veggies usually spinach, cauliflower, okra, tomatoes, carrots, mangetout
Two coffees a day
Chocolate or alcohol only on weekends

I don't use MFP; too much trouble. I just stay vaguely within this diet.

Just noticed your age, my weight crept up from about 48 onwards. I had no issues keeping it under control before that, could lose 7 lbs on a 1000/1200 kcal, low fat/ fairly high complex carb diet over 2 weeks. ( Was recommended in those days). Doesn't work at all now.
I did end up being treated for an underactive thyroid as well. A combination of peri menopause plus post, the thyroid issue, possibly retirement, seem to have completely changed my body! Add in periods on inactivity due to illness/ injury and side effects from meds.
I wonder if just focussing the impressive and very positive changes to your lifestyle, might be the way to go for a while? You must feel so much fitter and healthier. The wine cut down alone saves about 550 kcals per bottle, it's also likely that your absorption of nutrients, including vitamins has improved.
Could be worth getting a thyroid blood test.
As I said, my older body seems very different to my younger one. Pure, balanced diet calorie counting doesn't work for me now. Spent a month starting on 1200 kcals per day, then 1000. Zero weight loss. Had to cut to 800 to lose half a pound a week.
Lost the same amount of weight on a low carb diet, 1200 to 1400 kcal per day; kcals averaged out over the week as did intermittent fasting on not hungry days.
I think, for me, carbs don't seem to be metabolised as they were before, but we are all different. The vast majority of female friends gained weight post 50. It is so much harder to lose it as well.
Best of luck and congratulations on your healthy lifestyle.

Just work out the actual calories, you will probably be surprised

Anything that comes out of a tin in tomato sauce will have hidden sugar.

You need to add a big salad with the chicken breast . Lots of veggies / salad and you stay fuller for longer.