To think my body just wants to hold on to weight !

[cushioncovere]

I've been eating so well and exercising so much over the last week- ten days.

I have a good amount of weight to lose, so it should start working reasonably quickly.

I've also done a lot of exercise and I've had a stomach bug. Would you believe it I still have lost no weight ? It's ridiculous !

I've also been exercising most days. I play tennis around 4 times a week and lift weights / gym cardio once a week or so.

Why can't I shift weight !! I've been eating a lot of chicken breast and broccoli and salads, these are my go to foods when trying to lose weight as they're super filling and really filling. Trying to avoid any sweet / starchy / processed foods as they just make me more hungry.

I weight all my food, except vegetables.

Oh, I'm insulin resistant too, I have PCOS. And I also told myself for years that I didn't know what to do, but I did, I just didn't want to because it's really boring.

Exercise, minimum 10k steps, every day. Proper weights, three times a week. Get enough sleep, every night. Eat a minimum of 5 a day, every day. Get 30g fibre, every day. Get sufficient protein, every day. Drink enough water, every day. Alcohol and sweet stuff for high days and holidays only. Rinse and repeat ad infinitum...

You can get a glucose monitor (I did!) I guarantee you already know which foods will spike it (sugar, bread, cereal, rice, pasta...) and that it will show you that if you go for a walk after each meal your spikes will reduce. But it won't make any difference unless you just get your head down and actually consistently do the dull stuff, sorry.

I'm not sure why you're sorry?

A couple of PP have mentioned it but have you measured yourself?

Measure your non-dominate arm around the bicep, waist, hips and mid-thigh on non-dominate hand side. (Google where you should do the measurement.) Then note the measurements down with the date.

Then keep doing what you are doing but if possible add in another day of weights/resistance training per week. Make sure you make each session harder every time it becomes easy.

The thing is you are doing lots of exercise so you will be getting more muscular as you are building muscle. So if you measured yourself every 6-8 weeks (I would do it monthly) you will have slimmed down but you may actually not lose any weight on the scales for about 2-3 months.

You may then lose weight and then put some back on again if you continue exercising but still look slim simply because muscle takes up less space then fat.

Quick question about the insulin thing.

If we eat foods like sugar / bread / pasta- our insulin spikes which then crashes and causes you to feel hungry again quickly, which is why it's hard to stick to a calorie deficit.

By sticking to low carb, high protein / fibre etc, you are avoiding those spikes and can eat less, so stick to the calorie deficit.

I also read some stuff about stress and poor quality sleep increasing insulin or something like that, which is why I thought the monitor could be useful.

For example now I'm exhausted. I have eaten 500 calories today. I had a terrible night sleep and have been up since 5. I'm about to play tennis for a couple of hours. Maybe I should have just had a nap ? Maybe stuff like that won't help, as I'm just stressed out and not rested.

Look up the guidance on reputable sites like diabetes.co.uk loads of good recipes and suggestions for swaps.

You don't need to cut carbs completely, just be more mindful about how you eat them, when and how much.

• Go for complex carbs over simple so seeded/rye bread instead of white.
• Pair them with a protein so if you want toast, have egg/peanut butter with them. The protein helps you to metabolise the carb.
• reduce your portion size, if you would normally have 150g of spaghetti, make it 80g and add some extra veg to fill out your plate.
• have a time of the day when you cut off carbs, ideally where you stop eating altogether, but the most important thing is to have a solid 8hrs minimum where your body isn't having to deal with breaking down carbs. If you find it too difficult to not have something in the evening, then make that something that's pure protein like a couple of slices of deli meat or a chunk of cheese.

It actually depends on you as an individual.

I've had glucose tests for pregnancy and Zoe, and my insulin levels don't do that when eating carbs. However I tend to eat carbs with protein. I also have a habit of reheating pasta and rice which makes them harder to digest.

My insulin levels do crash in the morning if I don't eat after about an hour of waking up. However I have a history of doing lots of exercise and doing exercise helps regulate your insulin levels.

Lack of sleep can really screw you up if you are just focused on weight loss but being physically tired through exercise can help you decrease your stress levels and so you sleep better. So if you are absolutely exhausted and will sleep call the exercise off. If you won't sleep go and do some exercise.

Sustainable health & fitness body transformation should be measured in months and years, not days and weeks.

Eat right, drink lots if water, exercise regularly, sleep well. Just stay committed to your new lifestyle choice and the results will come. Promise. If you have an off day or off week, just accept it and get back on the wagon.

I think (just IMO obviously) you need to completely recalibrate how you are thinking about your current state of health and remove weight loss (or gain) as a manner of measuring your progress in the short term.

Your weight loss / gain over the last 10 days is completely irrelevant. Have a think about your medium & long term health goals (alongside weight loss) in terms of cardiovascular fitness and strength that you'd like to see achieved and then sustained over the next 20 years.

Set yourself some short and longer term measurable targets for whatever forms of exercise / training work for you. Use these to track your progress / success, not your weight.

Gradually implement changes to your diet and lifestyle that can be sustained in the long term - not for weeks or months, but years. Don't try to change everything all at once.

Decide what look like achievable, sensible and healthy eating habits from your point of view and then stick to them. Have high protein snacks if you need to do so between meals. Calorie counting every day is pretty unlikely to be sustainable for a prolonged period of time.

You could potentially integrate some form of intermittent fasting to this as a long term habit. Stop eating at 8pm and skip breakfast 3-4 days a week - you've "fasted" for 16 hours by the time you have lunch at midday. If you "need" breakfast on certain days of the week (for exercise etc) then eat what you need to fuel that.

If you do all of that there is no conceivable way you won't lose weight in the long term.

Just my 2$. Apologies if that's all a bit too obvious / patronising.

I personally think lack of sleep/stress has a massive impact. The only time I’ve easily shifted weight was when I was working very pt and had time to focus on me.
It sounds like you are throwing everything at it. Maybe focus on food and steps and water for a few weeks with more self care/naps. Then add exercise in.
If you are tracking then track everything - drinks, veg. Nutracheck is easy with barcode scanner.

What do you think about my work out ? It was pretty intense ! It was 1 hour 30 minutes and apparently I burnt 900 calories. But I just can't believe that. Check out my heart rate. Would be useful to get some ideas if that's a good workout.

It was really fun. I love tennis so much.

If you’ve had a stomach bug, you’re probably dehydrated which can lead to fluid retention

Track the butter. The milk that goes in coffee.
Work out how many calories are in things. It can be surprising. I was surprised! It's not always obvious.

If the weight isn't coming off at all after 10 days of consistently eating 1500 cals at 100kg. Then I would say there must be hidden calories somewhere. But apologies if that's obvious.

I speak as someone who has consistently eaten 1500 for the last 6 weeks and has lost 4.5kilos.
But before I started tracking EVERYTHING, I was actually consuming more like 2000 a day and more at weekends.

Concentrating on diet will make you lose weight.

Those watches are incorrect about the amount of calories you burn. They are just a guesstimate normally based on a man.

If you enjoyed it and it's helped to relax you then it's good exercise.

BTW most female professional tennis players aren't small women. They are very muscly.

You have/had a stomach bug.

You're not supposed to work out when sick.
Workin out when sick makes your body want to hang on to any resources it has to get you through because our bodies have to work harder to fight the bug. This is why we rest when unwell .
You're body is in bits this week. Let it rest.

You're right. I don't know what I've had but my stomach is not right. Maybe it's the change in diet.

Don't demonise foods - there is nothing wrong with eating carbs, they are a source of energy, especially when exercising. Yes, eat complex carbs rather than refined and you'll benefit from the fibre.

Get a tape measure and measure yourself - bust, waist, hips, upper arm and thigh. Measure yourself again in a few weeks. Even if you haven't seemingly lost much weight you can lose inches.

Lack of sleep makes it harder to stick to any diet plan. Tiredness makes for poor decisions and gives us an excuse to reach for a quick fix as a pick me up - often something like chocolate, cake, biscuits. Try prepping your meals at the weekend and only eating what you've prepped. No decisions to make, just eat what's there for you. Don't buy the things you find it hard to resist. No point putting yourself through hoops testing your willpower when you're trying to cut back.

Give the changes time. You didn't put the weight on overnight and you won't lose it overnight. Treat it as a reset and a way to embed different habits. I know this is tough - if you're determined, you can do it.

So true about the quick fix and tiredness.

Having two babies and dealing with night wakings is how this all started for me.

When my son was waking in the night and then I would need to be up with my 2 year old the next day too- I would just start grabbing whatever there was and stress eating. Never sitting down to eat meals really. Just grabbing what I could find.

Then when he hit around a year, he just started crying all the time and wanting to be picked up. It was relentless. Often they'd both be crying and I would just stress eat. Whatever was near me, just shove it in my mouth to calm down. 😢 I know we don't all react like that, but it's what calmed me down.

My days were long and sad, so all I had to look forward to was food really. And that's how I got myself into this hole. Then I feel disgusting so I don't want to see anyone. I don't want anyone to see me like this either.

I've lost touch with all my friends pretty much and avoid social stuff etc. it really sucks. I need to get a handle on it. First step is just getting out there, I didn't want to play tennis, as it's so social and I didn't want people to see me etc. but I'm out there. Fuck it. If I just stay in, it will only get more difficult.

After my son was born, I did ok for a while. I lost some weight on keto. Then it plateaued massively and I couldn't shift anymore and still felt disgusting.

Then, I just focused on doing a lot of exercise for a while. I had diet burn out. I was playing tennis, 6 times a week. Gym some days too. Didn't lose any weight at all, as my diet wasn't good. But my focus wasn't on weight loss. I was so disheartened by the plateau.

Then I actually started gaining weight, even though I was super active. Then I went back to work. 5 days a week, exclusively from home and I gained a stone like that quite easily, as I was suddenly inactive and diet was still not good.

That's the story really. I want to turn it around. My enjoyment of life is just not there anymore.

OP I once had gastroenteritis and was nil by mouth for 3 weeks. Would you believe I didn't lose a pound or an inch. When I could start eating again, I also didn't shed anything. Despite what people say, I do believe some people just hang onto their weight more stubbornly. One side of my family is exactly the same, every single person. Even those that only eat 2 meals a day and barely eat surplus calories as it is. You will have to work alot harder to push the weight off and promise yourself that once you do, you will follow whatever life choices it takes to keep it off because it's not easy yo-yoing. I've been there/am there.

@cushioncovere - I typed a response to you last night but mustn't have posted it.

Sleep deprivation is horrible and it sounds as though you have a lot on your plate. It's hard to accept you're not where you want to be. Try taking things one day at time. You do have to weigh and measure everything to be sure you have a calorie deficit.

One other thing I found was that I thought to myself I'd buy some new clothes when I'd lost the weight I wanted to lose. But this meant I'd lost some weight, not my goal, and I still looked terrible because I was wearing the only stuff that fit me and it didn't do much for me. When I actually went and got a few new things I looked and felt so much better even though my goal is still to fit in a smaller size. I also did things like put make up on for work.

Some self care can make you feel better about yourself. Your life has changed, but you don't need to beat yourself up because it's harder to achieve what you want.