Where am I going wrong in my diet?

[PrettyHungry]

I’ve been dieting since Jan 1st and have only lost 4lbs. I know to some that would seem loads but I would have expected a little more by now.

Ive been really strict. This is my average daily food:

Breakfast - sugar free latte from Starbucks (medium) - 150cals.

Lunch - slice of Jason’s sourdough, topped with smoked salmon and 2 eggs - 400 ish cals. No butter!

Dinner - M&S count on us range ready meal or home cooked dinner with salad. I always make sure half the plate is salad with no dressing - 500 ish cals.

I only have sugar free, zero calorie drinks like Pepsi Max. I only ever snack on berries and not every day, maybe 3-4 days a week if I’m a little peckish in between meetings or in the evening.

That’s just over 1,000 calories a day. Even with a little wiggle room to account for errors in weighing or underestimating, I’m still way under. Any ideas for how I can speed up my weight loss? I don’t like exercising so would rather diet related suggestions.

I’m 5’6 and 11st 4lbs.

I am also 30 years old.

its only the 16th so that’s 2lb weight loss a week - what were you expecting?

4lb in about two weeks is at the upper limit for safe weight loss so I don’t think there is anything wrong with your approach. It’s very unlikely to come off any quicker than it currently is.

2lb a week is great. And given that your BMI is only 0.5 above the healthy range. You're not consuming anywhere near enough calories. So yeah, don't know what else to say really.

When I have done Slimming World or other diets in the past, I’ve always had quite dramatic losses at the beginning - so I’d expect to be averaging 3-4lbs a week at this beginning stage.

1000 calories is really low, it's not healthy.

Sugar substitutes are not good for you anyway. Drink water, if you want a can of coke have the full fat one. Much more satiating.

I think you need to eat more and get some steps in your day. I'm the same height as you, eat 1600ish a day and I'm still losing weight.

That's because you lose water initially. Your current loss rate is perfect but I'd still up your calories to at least 1200 and get more protein in there. Salad is pointless at filling you up so veg would be much better.

Normally it is because one then overeats on the weekend. One bad day a week can totally ruin progress. However as a lifelong weight watcher... I lose the same 2 stone to get back into middle of my healthy BMI every couple of years ... I am finding it FAR harder to shift the weight now in my late 40s.

You're not exactly overweight to be able to get those big losses.

Might be worth finding an online calculator for your basal metabolic rate (BMR). That will give you the calories you would expect to use "doing nothing".

I'm small, so my BMR is about 1200kcal/day, so if I were eating 1000 per day, that's only 200kcal deficit, and will take me longer to lose weight. Plus, then you can get a feel for whether 1000/day is reasonable and healthy for you - for some people it's fine, others not so much.

When I want to lose weight, I eat about 800/day, which most people would be horrified by, but works fine for me cos it's only ~400 deficit, which is completely reasonable. And I can add a bit more on exercise days.

Also, if you are "pretty hungry" as per your user name - eat more protein and try to ditch the sugar-free stuff in favour of actually no sugar things, such as water, herbal tea, black tea or coffee, low fat milk etc.

The make up of your gut microbiome and how you're processing sugar and sugar substitutes has quite an impact, but it'll take about 4-6 weeks to start seeing a change as you have to wait for the bacteria to die off and be replaced by ones which process the foods you've now changed to.

Bloody hell how depressing. I don't think you're eating enough quite frankly.

This is unrealistic and unhealthy. Also big losses in the first week are almost always 50% water weight, which comes back!

You're not going to lose a lot quickly as you aren't very overweight? 4lbs is decent! Plus that is not a great diet you are eating so is that even sustainable?

Sounds reasonable?

It's only Jan 16

I'd be really hungry if I just ate that. Eat more protein and veg. Have you tried eating more but then taking a gap like a 16:8 ?

Hi OP, I'm a similar age and weight to you. I'm currently doing Noom and as others have said 1-2lbs a week is healthy amount to lose. I also started on 1st January and have lost 5lbs which I know was mosly water weight and expect it to slow down to 1lb a week. From what Noom has taught me (I really recommend it by the way, used it 2 years ago to lose 18lbs with no fuss)...

• your calorie intake is so low that your body is likely in starvation mode, so will actually hang onto weight more. The lowest calorie intake Noom allows for women is 1300 for this reason. During my 5lb weight loss so far my average calorie intake has been between 1300-1500 calories a day. I'd be crying on 1000!

• are you eating the same thing every day? I found when I started mixing up my foods it helped to keep both my weight loss and my sanity in check! Noom actively encourages you to view no food as being "bad" or off limits, I can say hand-on-my-heart that when I lost the weight last time (and my current weight loss) I've been able to do so while still enjoying chocolate and the odd glass of wine.

• water intake is always important for weight loss, and admittedly the area I struggle with most.

Good luck!

It’s nowhere near enough food and it’s all convenience/pre-prepared stuff. Make your own then you know exactly what’s in it!

Well done on 4 lb though.

That's a healthy amount.

But... that's a lot of processed food you're eating.

You can eat more calories than that but eat more raw and unprocessed stuff.

Try going for a walk each evening too.

If you are very obese, you lose more per week as there's more of you to drag about. The first week on SW/WW is because of fluid loss. People get excited over losing 6lb over the first two weeks then moan about only losing 1.5lb in the next 3 weeks. Then they drop out as seen this myself in both WW and SW.

1-2lb loss a week on average is healthy. Anything above that - unless you are over 18st is unhealthy.

Up your greens, change your food as your body gets bored of it and therefore don't lose the weight.

You say you don’t like exercise but how much do you move around. Do you manage 10k steps a day for example?

I would ditch the fizzy drinks, try and drink more water, maybe miso soup etc and lots more fruit and veg to fill you up. Eating more protein as well if you can.

Slow and steady is better and will help you maintain realistic losses. SW and WW don’t teach good habits.

you're loosing 2lb a week but you could eat better. You're not getting much fruit and veg, cook from scratch instead of ready meals, eat a proper breakfast and drink water instead of soft drinks.

I suggest you take 4lbs of something out of your cupboard, maybe sugar, rice or flour. Stand it on the counter and look at it then hold it in your hand. You will see that it is quite a lot to look at and to feel.

11.4 to 11 might not seem much but when you can actually see it and feel it you will be able to achieve a better feeling about it.

That's a great loss, particularly as you can't have much to lose.

I'm 5'7 and 11 stone is my target weight.

Not eating enough. I lost only a little weight on 1000 kcal a day so thought I couldn’t possibly eat any more or I’d only break even. I was so wrong! I lose waaaay more on 1650 a day.