Why the f*** can’t I lose weight? I’m doing everything right

[Sorryagain]

Postmeno, 55, want to lose half a stone. I don’t like my weight. I’ve always worked out, done lots of heavy-ish weights and eaten healthily but in the last month I’ve really upped weights a lot. I’ve also

• kept to a low calorie count (20% off my TEE - track food most days. Try to keep to 3 meals but some days I do graze but not over cal limit
• upped protein most days to around 100-120g a day
• upped walking to try to do 7.5-10k a day
• added at least one HITT class onto 3 days weight training
• drink more water (my weakness)

i don’t drink, I eat v little sugar and almost no white stuff

the scales have moved by 1lb! I’m so fucked off.

I know post meno it’s hard but this is ridiculous.

I feel stronger, though, and I sense more muscle definition. But I don’t believe muscle will weigh more and keep me at this weight

thoughts? It’s v un motivating

Hi OP, I am probably not the best person to comment on your post as I have never been on a diet nor have I ever been overweight and I am in my early sixties, but as someone who has always been very active, your activity levels look low to me. Could you up your physical activity with things you love doing? Walking/hiking, running, cycling, swimming, gardening, playing a sport? I think if I were in your situation I would rather put the effort into more calories out, rather than fewer calories in.

I'm honestly at a loss to work out why some thought you were being rude 🤷‍♀️ there are some very brittle people on mn.

One of the things I do to cut calories is literally just eat loads of fresh vegetables for lunch with a small handful of nuts. I will also have some collagen peptides and soluble multivitamins & minerals alongside it to ensure I'm getting protein (without the calories) and all the nutrients I need.

I think the one thing that this thread emphasises is the vast amount of contradictory dietary information we are constantly being fed, along with the fact that no one dietary regime suits everyone. At the end of it all, the best diet and exercise plan is the one that you can consistently stick to without it taking over your whole life and excluding every small source of pleasure.

Starvation mode isn't real

Her activity levels look low ?

To quote op she:

• upped walking to try to do 7.5-10k a day

• added at least one HITT class onto 3 days weight training

What are you doing? A daily ironman?

Going to the gym 4 times a week and I walking 10k steps a day isn't 'low' activity levels.

I’d love to be your weight same height, 10st 12, 62, Parkinson’s mid stage doesn’t help life at all.
Going sugar free on Monday, not much exercise as can’t walk very far, tremors and mild shuffling 😔
I don’t let the weight get to me ( lost weight at 50, was 5’4”, from 12st 6 to 10st 6), I admit I get i do get low about life

I also think you might be having too many calories if you want to lose weight. I’m 50+, 5ft3, and started at 10 stone in early January and am now just over 9. I have been eating 1000 calories a day and lose only about 1lb a week, so it’s very slow. I probably do less exercise than you as I mainly walk, so reducing to 1200 might be enough to start seeing some weight loss. I also avoid lots of carbs, I have edamame pasta instead of pasta and cauliflower rice instead of rice snd flatbreads instead of bread. I do eat well and a variety of foods and of course the odd treat.

I admire your persistence. I would find it hard to believe the weightloss was real and have the motivation to continue.

Well, that’s the term that’s commonly used because most people don’t understand thermogenesis or adaptive thermogenesis, which is the science bit. OP is losing weight, but more slowly than she would like, so if she eats more like her recommended intake and doesn’t put on, then she can properly adjust to be in calorie deficit. It’s more likely that she isn’t accurately tracking calories, really.

Charming. And I don't care, it's repeated many times over this thread (and across the many weight loss boards) that muscle weighs more than fat, so it's worth pointing up that it's total crap.

An average size brick made of muscle will weigh more than the same size brick made of fat.

This might be true, but it's rarely written as so, and why I will continue to be a pedant every time I see someone write the nonsense about muscle weighing more than fat. Context and being precise is everything. If this makes me a pedant, so be it.

🤷🏻‍♀️

Honestly OP - as a few people have mentioned on here - get the Stacy Sims Next Level Book. She is an expert in this area (people on here are not).

What is true is that at this stage in life all our usual tricks - eating less and exercising more just don’t work. Those recommendations to eat a stupidly small about of calories are not great advice. It’s not healthy

The book explains it all. But fasting isn’t good for active women. Not eating enough is not good for active women.

The takeaway from the book so that heavy weights, Sprint interval training (but not loads of zone 2 cardio) and sufficient protein (and fat) are key. Not calorie counting and heavy calorie restriction.

You may not be able to lose weight. You don’t sound particularly overweight. Once your body is at its ideal, healthy weight then losing more at this age is very hard (and not really advisable).

I would focus on building muscle (you can actually only do this in a calorie surplus!!)..being strong and healthy is the important thing at this age.

I'm very interested in what Stacey Simms has to say, but I think it's a bit premature to say every woman should ditch intermittent fasting.
Having said that, intermittent fasting isn't really for weightloss anyway as you eat about the same amount, just within a window.

I can’t believe some women on here are eating only 1000 calories a day. You eat less than a toddler! You will screw your metabolism and end up putting it all back on and more when you start to eat normally again.

It’s a heated debate and I accept it’s very individual. Who does best with intermittent fasting? Middle aged, pre diabetic men. Active middle aged women need to be more careful. She definitely advises against exercising fasted.

To be fair - I just eat my dinner early ish in the evening- say 6.30/7 then don’t eat again until breakfast at 8.30. But that’s a natural overnight fast. If you are sat at a desk all morning and not exercising then that may be why missing breakfast works. But we need to fuel exercise.

According to the TDEE calculator if you're 68, sedentary and 5'5 your TDEE is just over 1500 so sure, if you want to lose 1lb a week you'd need to drop to 1000 a day. However you can increase your TDEE by being more active, and if you reduce your calories by 250 a day rather than 500, as well as increasing your activity level to add another 100 calories a day to your TDEE you can lose weight without starving yourself.

There’s a show called secret eaters

She is at a healthy weight.

The problem I find is that any kind of heavy exercise makes me eat more than I normally would after, so I overeat massively later that day or the next, even if it's protein I'm still hugely over calories (same height as OP) so I gain weight. Whereas it's easier to just not eat in the first place. The problem I have is that I have muscle, for example in my arms, but I have fat over the muscle (purely from too many cals, a little over 2000 per day) so it makes me look fatter and makes it impossible to fit into otherwise perfectly fine fitting t-shirts. I have a flatter than expected stomach because of the reduced carbs and sugar, but I hate my arms as they make me look bigger than I am everywhere.

She's still the only 'prominent' person saying this at the moment though. If IF works for someone, I'd wait for further research before ditching it.

What's that got to do with the price of fish

Yes she is - and you’re right that is because there’s very little research on women and fasting out there. She makes a compelling enough case for me to not try it though. I think about 13 hours overnight is enough for me. I am completely on board with not exercising fasted - many experts agree with her on this.

So it’s individual- if IF works and you don’t exercise in the morning then that could be the right thing for you.

You're doing everything we're usually told to OP, but sadly it just doesn't work for everyone. I was unable to shift weight postpartum no matter what I did, until I understood how closely womens' weight gain/retention is connected to hormones.

In the end, intermittent fasting helped to balance my hormones and got rid of the last stubborn half a stone for me within two months. and I can't recommend it enough, not just for weight loss but general health.

As some have mentioned on here IF is often said not to work for women. This is absolutely true if you don't consider your hormones and try to fast all month long. There are some good books and plenty of info online now about fasting specifically for women.

People will say muscle weighs more than fat in the same way they'll say lead is a heavy metal and aluminium isn't (and you'll even hear scientists say that). Yes, we're talking about density here, but everyone understands that, your pedantic input isn't needed. Try convincing the physicists they need to change the terms on the periodic table.

I’m 5ft 2. It’s harder being shorter, I don’t feel like it’s talked about enough that it’s harder for us to lose weight.

1350 calories would be too much for me in order to lose weight.

But you are a perfectly healthy weight at 9st 2. Whilst I’ve lost weight recently, I’m 2 stone heavier than you atm and my goal weight is 9st 7. I know I won’t be able to maintain less than that.

My other issue with intermittent fasting (and one is mentioned in the Next Level book) is that it’s very hard to hit your protein goals with 2 meals a day in a smaller window. That’s why I need breakfast- as I can get a good 30g in then. I wouldn’t hit that target if I just ate lunch and dinner.