Calorie deficit not working

[Username06]

I am a lifelong yo-yo dieter, if truth be told I definitely have some issues with food, I've been on/off a diet since my teens, basically I'm either on a diet losing weight or eating like food is going to become non-existant hence the constant yo-yoing.
I've always gone to slimming groups, always lose the weight and think I've changed my life around and then end up back at square one.

So i have decided now to try a calorie deficit in order to eat the things I still love in moderation and try to learn to eat healthy with occasional treats and lose weight. I have also started jogging a couple times a week as I'd like to be able to exercise and then have a treat without putting on the weight again when i reach my goal. At present I have a stone to lose to get back to a healthy BMI.

Here's the issue, in a month I've lost a couple of pounds despite feeling starving everyday and bloody exercising! I lose weight much faster following slimming world, what is going on, do calorie deficits just not work on some people, feeling so disheartened 😔

Prioritise protein as it will keep you feeling full and not hungry. Switch your breakfast yoghurt to a higher protein yoghurt like skyr or Greek. Even the 5% fat will keep you full if you don't like the texture of the 0%. I eat around 140g per day and 50g of fat and I slot carbs in around them and I'm rarely hungry. Fat is important to keep hormones in check as we age and it also keeps you full.

Slimming world works brilliantly for me, I think because I'm not a volume eater. So SW may say I can have as much pasta as I want, I'll only want a small bowl. My problem is sugar cravings related to my PCOS so I binge UPF and get stuck in a cycle and anxiety also trigger binges. Because of the PCOS I gain easily but lose slowly.

Slimming world tells me I can have 3 meals of real food, that's easy, I like that food, I eat sensible portions of it and feels satisfied. It also tells me I can have 15syns which is roughly 300calories of non free food. That food I need to have specific amounts of. Set rule. Which I can do.

Since discovering slimming world I've only gained weight when breastfeeding (Extreme hunger and sugar cravings, I lose weight in pregnancy gain when feeding) and otherwise can lose then maintain. The classes help keep me accountable and sharing those ideas of swapping up foods etc with others. It's not magic, it's still just a calorie deficit but it works for me because on calorie counting diets I'd happily have 1500 calories of chocolate and no vegetable. That's just the truth.

They’re all different because it’s very hard to calculate.

Slow loss is manageable and less likely to yoyo. You can do it! Keep going. This isn’t a diet, this is just your new normal.

Also how are you measuring your success? By the scales? If so, that's not a reliable source of how you're doing due to things like hormone changes and water retention etc. it's normal to gain anything up to 5lb on your period so if you weigh that week then you'll think you've gained when in reality, you haven't. It's a marathon, not a sprint and a lifestyle change so hang in there.

Exactly. And I think counting calories is crazy. I mean who's got time for that. And you don't need it! You can eat all vegetables you want and eggs/fish without putting on weight! Just reduce carbs into a fistful per meal (pasta/bread/potatoes). Just go light with the desserts and you're good. It's easy and sustainable.

a couple of times you have mentioned the feeling of hunger - often just the fear of that discomfort can really trigger some bad responses. It's actually ok to feel hungry. That is normal. But some of us have bad experiences with hunger and it causes disordered eating. So, it will be worth your while to explore volume eating (i can highly recommend dr fuhrman for whole food plant based as a principle) - focus on fresh fruits and veg, starchy veg try to reduce bread, pasta and rice and if you do eat it thats where you need to really measure as they are calorie dense. Avoid junk and processed food. But as every persons biology is different, I would also explore some support for the emotional side - its unlikely to just be about calories and perhaps that will help you.

Have a read of this book:

Why We Eat (Too Much)

by Dr Andrew Jenkinson. It explains why calorie-counting and yo-yo dieting doesn’t work. (And tells you what will!)

You just have to push through the feelings of hunger for a while.

You distract yourself with anything and everything else. There's nothing 'wrong' with feeling hungry, we feel lots of things daily ,and distract ourselves from it. This is the same.
Things will reset and you will feel normal eating less, eventually.

Other things that can help speed up your weight loss;
Not adding peanut butter and jam to yogurt anymore and double check the yogurt is pain without added flavours or sugar.
You don't need jelly at lunch.
the 200k sweet snack at night needs to go or be cut in half at least.
Ready meals should be a no go.
Don't add sauce or dip to anything.

Yes it sucks we can't all eat what we like when we feel like it, but you don't "need" these treats and things. Explore why you feel so dependent on it.

Try eating more protein less carbs and drink loads of water

This was me 2 years ago, slimming world does work great and I lost 4 stone on it, my diet was great, I loved the classes etc. But I always saw it as a quick fix, once I got to goal I struggled to maintain on the slimming world plan, I'd save all my syns for evenings which is when I need a sweet treat to stop me wanting to binge and then that would mean I could only eat free food all day which sounds fine but I found it so restricting that I couldn't add anything to the free food and I stopped looking forward to my meals anymore. I need the freedom to be able to eat any kind of food just in moderation. I often am out with my DD and I find slimming world food hard to plan when out and I would often skip meals instead and it was creating lots of bad habits.

Read The Obesity Code by Jason Fung. Very clearly explains the science behind weight loss (it's all about insulin levels).

See when I maintained I stuck to slimming world friendly meals when home, rough idea of what treats I could have and if I wanted a meal out the I'd have whatever I wanted and just get back on it the next day. 1 meal really doesn't derail things. I think it helps that I don't really drink often because alcohol, especially wine is really high syns so if I had to factor in chocolate and wine it just wouldn't work😭

For many years also I mistook my growling and hungry stomach as hunger but it was actually acid.

You do not "need" sweet treats. You mention that a lot.
You are letting yourself believe you need them. Far too much focus is on food, too much emotion.
Do think about getting help sorting out that aspect.

Food is ultimately fuel. If you want to indulge and fully enjoy it every day, you'll probably have to be OK with putting on/not losing weight.

You talk about needing the freedom to have everything you want in moderation, I think a helpful first the goal would be discipline with food rather than freedom, as you mention not being able to control cravings.

Don't buy the crisps and biscuits. I'd wolf those if they were in the house, not because I like them, but because of the 'I'll just have a little bit'. They're just binge fodder with no nutritional value.

I think you should focus less on weight loss and more on finding a new, healthier way of eating that's enjoyable and satiating.
Try eating just whole foods. No calorie counting. Just whole, unprocessed foods. You can eat as much as you like if you focus on fruit, veg, meat, fish and good healthy fats like olive oil and butter. You can find loads of info online about whole food diets.
So for example, rather than have scrambled egg with toast, you might have scrambled eggs with added protein like ham etc and whatever veg you like. If you enjoy bread, ditch the supermarket bread and treat yourself to some artisan bread from the bakery which has natural ingredients.
If you avoid processed foods, foods with sweetners and refined carbs, what you'll find over time is that you'll feel better, have more energy, feel a lot less hungry generally and never hangry. You also won't have the added burden of calorie counting or measuring everything.

Well, as I am sure others have said, you need to remember that if you are exercising there is a "muscle weighs more than fat" element to this stuff. A more helpful thing for you may be to see if you can get your body fat tested rather than just relying on your overall weight. You can also do a version of this by just measuring your waste size and other areas on a monthly basis.

If you really want to lose weight then do the low carb, get into keto mode, and the stuff will fly off. But remember that you may well feel kind grotty to begin with and you shouldn't do that diet if you have gallstones etc as it can prompt more of 'em.

Ultimately if your goal is to become healthier then you are doing the right thing: exercise and eating less will work. Calorie deficit always works - if you are burning more than you are consuming you will lose weight - the more difficult question is where you are going to be shedding that weight from and, if you are exercising, what muscles will be growing (and therefore weighing more).

Also remember you need to be honest with yourself - sadly in my experience a lot of people aren't actually doing a proper deficit and/or are consuming crap "diet food" rather than making sure they are ditching the processed food/refined sugar etc etc.

You are me 🤣. Thanks for posting. I haven't tried SW because I've always felt people wouldn't appreciate me being there because I am not "overweight" but am over my ideal weight. I never really lost the baby weight after my second. Scratch that, I paid for an online trainer, worked out three times a week and calorie counted and lost it all, then when I finished, gradually put it all back on. I think you have to let go of what worked before your metabolism could be slower, there are a lot of variants - could be viseral fat etc. Give the calorie deficit time (you could have water weight etc), you may just be maintaining your weight currently and need to actually work out to lose it. I know this is what I have to do but honestly find it so hard to start, I am a mom of two, working part time and always on my feet but as they say, you can't outrun a bad diet. I totally understand the evening treat - I've often said its my one little thing and I have no other vices but - have it once a week maybe or do something else like buy yourself some clothes. It doesn't have to be food. I am sending you all my best wishes and am in the trenches with you. Try skipping or something fun that is exercise that you can easily add in to your day. It all helps.

In sure many have said this but a slow loss is healthier that big ones early on which then plateau and exercise can take up to 5 weeks to show through scales.
Keep doing what you are doing and keep up the fluids. Sometimes hunger can be mistaken for being thirsty.

I'm slow at losing weight. I've lost 11lb since January. I've been doing an aerobic class once a week and trying to get out walking a bit on weekends and just finished C25K app so continuing that a couple of times per week. But I've definitely changed shape. I take photos every 3 months to compare. It's much better for me than just weighing once a week.

1200 is very low and you may not be able to maintain or have enough energy from food to exercise.

I need to eat 1400 to lose weight as well, hence taking Mounjaro as I was too hungry to sustain that for long.

If you've lost 3lb in a month honestly that pace is great. Steady is sustainable. If you drop too low for fast results, it's easy to tell yourself you've earned a cheat day, eat back all your deficit calories over a couple weeks in a mad one or 2 day binge, and feel defeated. Dropping too low is why many struggle, since your body is running on empty and once you start eating its hard to stop.
If the exercise is about wanting guilt free treats, then that's great once you hit maintenance. But you can't outrun a bad diet and weight loss begins in the kitchen, so be careful about eating back exercise calories during the cut. Do eat a bit extra on intense exercise days so that you don't crash, recovery is important, but while trying to lose weight don't go overboard, especially if tracking those exercise calories from a fitness tracker. The estimated burn form them can be off by about 25 percent either way. Slow is better for your body, it isn't a race good luck!

I have to disagree. I eat healthy food and have never counted calories until very recently because I've put weight on in the last few years following an injury. I was so, so surprised at how high calorie some healthy foods are! This doesn't make them "bad" foods and they can have loads of nutritional value, but it showed me where I was going over a calorie deficit and maintaining my high weight.

Counting calories can definitely become problematic but if you're able to handle doing it without it becoming an obsession, it's so illuminating and helpful. I feel so much more able to lose weight now I know exactly where I am.

I have an intake of 1200 calories a day and I lose about 1lb a week.

Cutting out my cups of tea was probably very beneficial as all the sugar and milk soon adds up. I worked out that 8 beakers of squash was equal to one cup of tea.

I don’t particularly do too much exercise, but I do make sure I have at least half an hour walk each day (fast paced) although on other days it can be longer.

That's key really if it's a long term thing: not letting it become an obsession.

What I meant was there are some foods you never have to "calorie count"; most vegetables for ex.

I lost a bit over three stone last year and a bit and am maintaining. The thing that finally made the difference for me was working with a ‘fat loss coach’. It’s not cheap, weight loss tools be it clubs/mela replacements etc rarely are though, but it was to me worth the investment as it gave me focus (rather than the scattergun effect asking or searching online can give), support and helped change my attitudes around food. It’s not a quick fix, but slow and steady loss is I think why I’ve been successful this time and I feel confident of keeping it off. I followed several coaches on Instagram first until I found once whose approach resonated with me before taking the plunge.