To think I’ll be stuck at 16 stone forever

[justmeandthedogs]

I’m in the process of losing weight and since the start of the year I’ve lost about 13lbs.

But I seem to be in a loop. I’ll hit 16 stone 0.3 on the scales and then go back up to 16 stone 4, then go back down, then back up. It’s like an annoying cycle.

I eat well:

breakfast - yoghurt with berries and sometimes a drizzle of honey. On low protein days I’ll add some skyr.

lunch - something from home. Usually soup, a salad or a bit of meat with some veg.

dinner - again something prepped. Can be another big salad, cottage pie, pasta bake.

I eat 1550 calories a day, which is a deficit for my height and weight. I go to the gym twice a week (under the direction of a PT, to lift weights), try to run 3 times a week but I’m waiting on some new running shoes, and the other two days a week I’ll walk 10k steps minimum. I try to drink 4 litres of water a day at least.

my clothes fit better but the scale just won’t change 😥 do I just accept I’m stuck here?

@justmeandthedogsJenkinson talks about the weight set point: I’d give it a read. if your clothes are fitting better, I’d deffo take that win - better than I’ve achieved - sitting at 10 at 7 been trying to lose the same 21lb for like 2 years. The people saying “oh you’re eating more than you think” despite your saying you’re logging all food religiously - honestly, so fucking patronising.

Maybe I’m in error there BUT she certainly lost no weight what so ever and she was being very diligent, she had plenty of support from her family and work colleagues. She wasn’t the sort to secret binge,

BUT muscle is heavier than body fat, she became very “toned” and I confirm to the PO she did loose a good deal of weight eventually when she found her exercise routine to help her, running and swimming. Weighs did nothing for her.

We were all very proud she reached her goals for her wedding!

It is hilarious that there are people who think somone who is not losing weight is more likely to lose weight by either maintaining or increasing calories.

The First Law of Thermodynamics doesn't apply on MN. 😁

Ignore those saying you are wrong on your calories. The same happened to me. I completely stalled for months and I was on 1200 calories. My TDEE is 2100! I've no idea why. It just seems to happen.

I ended up doing that 800calorie diet for a few weeks and that shifted the weight. But it's bloody brutal to be honest so I don't blame you for not wanting to do that! I've heard good things about fasting as well.

No you don't. What's happening is your TDEE is 300 calories under where you think it is.

Have you considered tracking macros instead of calories. (sorry haven't read every comment in case it's been mentioned already). xX

What?
You didn't burn those calories through exercise alone. Do you mean this was your total energy expended during the day?

I'm in my late 30s and in my adult life I've been between 9-13 stone so I've lost and gained a fair few times.

I'm currently 10.11, 2 stone down since December as I crept up again last year due to stress eating (and also believing it was too hard due to my age, so just not starting, which was silly). I'm almost at my target.

It sounds like you are doing everything right. Continue what you're doing. 13lb since the start of the year is a steady loss of over 3lb a month. 1lb a week is recommended. If your clothes are fitting better, a drop on the scale IS coming.

I track my weight on an app called Libra and it reminds me that even though there are ups and downs day to day, the progress over 1 month is real.

It sucks as losing weight is hard and you want to see the scales move for that dopamine boost, it's just how we are wired. Try and not let the scale ruin your day and think 1 workout ahead, 1 meal ahead. Make sure you cook and eat foods you truly enjoy.

Starvation mode is a myth.

No but honestly she didn't gain a stone of muscle. She just couldn't have. It's impossible. If her weight actually stayed the same then it's possible she did recomp a bit, losing some fat and gaining some muscle. That would make her body look different.

But that's OK, then. The scales show nothing but your relationship to gravity. I am 8kg heavier now than I was ten years ago but I still wear the same size clothes. I train Olympic weightlifting and there is considerable difference in my muscle mass. Taking measurements alongside your weight may well help you mentally through the process.

On another note, when was the last time you adjusted your calorie targets? You've lost 13lbs, you are a smaller person so your caloric needs may have naturally changed. I would consider using an app which dynamically adjust your calorie targets based on your rate of progress. Macrofactor would be one example.

You may have answered that later in the thread but how often do you weight in? My weight can fluctuate up to 4lbs in a space of a couple of days. I try to get on the scale every morning so I can track average weight for the week rather than snapshots in time.

OP sorry if someone has already said this but may be worth getting your thyroid checked? This can really affect you losing weight.

Yes, when someone says they eat lots of "wholemeal, sourdough bread" ... I'm really not surprised that they aren't losing weight , just because it is wholemeal and sourdough doesn't give it any magic properties. It is bread, and as I've said, slim people don't eat lots of it, or pasta or potatoes, slim people will be eating scrambled egg whites and steamed spinach.

Indeed.

1950kcal is enough energy to accelerate a 1500 kg car from 0 to 60 mph about 10 times.

A 30k run would do it (assuming no metabolic losses) so it's possible.

More likely the PP's watch is adding loses due to metabolic processes to the losses due to exercise and many of those calories would have been burned on the sofa.

I'm not criticising exercise, exercise is superb but if weight loss is the sole objective then it's easier not to eat calories than it is to burn them.

How? Unless you are a nutritional scientist measuring the exact caloric content of home cooked food is really hard.

But it's perfectly possible to lose weight whilst eating bread every day. I have lost 3.5 stone on WLI eating homemade sourdough bread every single day for breakfast. I cut down bread and other carbs at other meals but toast for breakfast is non negotiable and has not hindered weight loss at all.

Ok, thank you for the explanation.

So isn't that the whole point of having a protein drink immediately after exercise, so as to encourage muscle build? Your body doesn't know that you are "in deficit" over the day, it just takes the energy (calories) where it finds it.

And, yes that second point wasn't clear, I conflated two things. What I meant was if the scales stay the same but clothes feel looser that could be because the person has lost fat through dieting but in the same timeframe has gained muscle through exercise - and muscle weighs more than fat

Edit: thank you for your second post too, I will look at the links. I'm not going to reply directly to it as I don't want to hijack the thread 😀.

Agreed!

A protein drink after exercise won't help build more muscle if the overall intake of protein and calories across the day/week is insufficient. Bodies don't work like that. Eating something high protein after exercise does help muscle to repair and also reduces hunger resulting from exercise but it's not as simple as body gets protein, body makes muscle.

"Homemade sourdough " you sound as if you think it has some intrinsic, magical weight loss properties as well. Stop eating it , and you'll loose even more weight. It's really very simple.

OP I just wanted to say that it sounds like you're doing your very best and I'm in awe of you! I think it's a plateau and you'll eventually break through as long as you're consistent. It sounds like you are. I know I wouldn't be, I'd give up!! So keep doing what you're doing, enjoy the feel of your clothes fitting better and believe that the scales will show the loss someday soon. Best of luck and I hope you get to run that marathon

It sounds like you're doing really well and are losing weight at a sensible rate. You could lose faster if you do keto or some other highly restrictive diet, but I doubt it would be sustainable and it's unlikely to be good for your long term health.

Would taking measurements and some progress photos, be more helpful than focussing just on numbers on a scale? You're right that most women's weight fluctuates a lot throughout the month, so you're not going to see the number go down consistently if you're weighing yourself each day. You don't want to lose motivation and undo all your hard work, when you've come this far already.

I am slim. I eat 200g-300g of carbs daily. My breakfast this morning was two slices of rye toast with ham and cheese and a side dish of cinnamon roll (which, granted, isn't part of my diet every morning but I don't say no to a couple of cookies with my mid-morning tea on most days). Pasta for dinner yesterday. I also eat about a kilo of potatoes a week.
There are actual studies comparing low carb and high carb diets which show that, providing calories are equated, there is absolutely no difference in outcome. So this whole "slim people don't eat carbs" thing, is simply not true.

I mainly eat wholewheat pasta and lots of lovely wholemeal sourdough

And you are wondering why you aren't losing weight?

Well I'm slim, BECAUSE I've cut the carbs.