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?

Try keto. I had always had the same problem with weight loss. Started keto (kicked off with a 5 day fast which was intense and hard for days 1-3, but by day 4 i felt incredible!) And then reintroduced food following keto. I dropped 23lbs without even noticing - never felt hungry or deprived except during the initial fast - in a matter of weeks.

And with that you cut calories. Whereas, I maintain my weight calorie tracking and eating all the carbs I want within my allowance.
We have two different methodologies to achieve the same goal of cutting calories. One is not more magical than the other, that's the point.

I don't know if this helps but I lost 14 kg in about 18 months and did it by only eating two meals. The other thing I would say is to go by your basal metabolic rate not your TDEE because exercise impacts different bodies variably. Take your BMR and take 30% off that. That's your daily calories so for you that would be about 1000 calories. Yea it will suck and you'll be hungry but you will lose weight.

When I was 17 stone mine was 1800 and that was me not doing anything on the lowest level due to not exercising with a bad ankle

5 k run at lunchtime, gym session followed by 50 half lengths in the pool accounts for the lion's share. Plus walking about my place of work etc. Add in base line and I need something like 3500kcal to maintain.

5 day fast? Is that no food for 5 days? That sounds impossible to me.

I would gain on 1550. To lose I cannot go above 900 cals. Which is really shit.

I have halved my body weight on 900cal using WLI to make it sustainable for me. I have now stopped losing on the 900 cal which is fine, I dont need to lose any more.

I have sat on 7 1/2 stone for a year now , still on 900 cal . Some people just seem to have a lower calorie requirement. When I ran marathons and half marathons ( I dont any more) I still had to keep my intake very low, not as low as 900 but around 1200/1300 tops.

There is the added pisser that when you restrict/change your eating as you have to do to lose weight, you also have to look very closely at the nutrition aspect. Sure you can eat bread if you take it into consideration but there is very little nutrition in it compared to a lot of other foods and part of why people feel so rough when they've been on a diet for five or six months (even with good results weight loss wise) is that they are lacking in vitamins and minerals that they used to get prior. Just being low on something like iodine can eff you up massively. We all used to get boron from our food but it's mostly depleted.

Losing weight and keeping healthy doing it, has to be thought through far more than we think.

It's the easiest thing in the world to eat lovely food but the effort you have to go to to get it removed from your stored fat is hell by comparison.

My point initially, was that just because bread is whole grain, wholemeal, sourdough, artisan , hand kneaded, made from unicorn tears and hens teeth powder...IT IS STILL BREAD

I also got stuck at 16st 4lbs for months after losing two stone (very slowly, averaging 3lbs a month). I was much less disciplined than you, and basically gave up for a while before an unfortunate bout of D&V got me into the 15s and kickstarted a new routine. I think my body just needed to rest and reset for a while before being ready for the next chunk of weight loss.

Your body is clever and once it reaches a certain point will battle to retain weight. I’d give yourself a month or two of relaxed maintenance then have another go. You’ve done brilliantly, be kind to yourself and your body.

Well the carb heavy calories will affect the insulin loop/ blood sugar system. Yes all calories are equal in terms of energy but proteins/fats/ carbs have very different effect on the feed back systems in the body.

I don't know if anyone has said it yet OP as I've only looked at your comments - have you tried modifying your calories day to day and doing the sums over a week. Sometimes I need to do that to kick start stuff. I mean I expect you have but worth a mention. It works for me on days where I can skip a meal for whatever reason, so I only have say 900 on two days, then I can add those calories to another day in that week.

I've yoyo dieted over the years but I did stick until the last year when I've injured my shoulder and had a stress fracture in my foot, which all stopped me doing my weights and classes and I've piled it on and become sloth like. I've just kick started myself but I know it's going to be hellish slow because I'm 55 and past menopause, whereas in past years I could lose a stone a month easily.

Pasta is an absolute no-no for me, and although people are different, I would cut out the pasta and potatoes. Bread isn't so bad on me, but again, be careful with it. I found fasting and no breakfast worked and only a small amount in the day, easier if you're busy. It's bloody hard and good for you on your weight loss so far. You're building muscle as well, which can actually put weight on, but your body sort of redefines itself, which is why your clothes are fitting.

I found swimming more than anything defines my shape and takes off the weight. Good luck :)

How wonderful for you that you were born with superior genetics that mean weight is not something you struggle with. Why are there still so many uneducated people on the science of weight loss.

Which is fair but my issue was with your other point that slim people eat egg whites on steam spinach rather than pasta and potatoes.
Food is food. Method of prep is irrelevant, I agree with you. One can get fat eating "healthy" and slim eating twinkies.

But its effect on weight remains largely undetermined.
To deliberately take this point to absurdity - Do you know what they fed concentration camp "detainees"? Bread. Only bread. Were any of them overweight because of the insulin loop? I don't recall seeing that.

I mean in the context of the carbs I eat. I’m obviously not sat eating a loaf of bread a day.

The OP is 16 stone... said they eat "lots of lovely wholemeal sourdough "... if I was 16 st... I'd stop eating lots of bread. She's gonna have to eat steamed spinach and egg whites for a while.

No. Your understanding of science is wrong Hummingbird.

Muscle weighs more than fat, maybe that has something to do with it if you're doing weight training? I weigh more in kg now than ever but I do more training than ever too

It could be your carb intake, some people's bodies just don't process them well, way back in the day when slimming world was red & green days, I would lose 3lb a week if I did all red (high protein low carb) as soon as I introduced a green day (hi carb low protein) I would lose 0.5lb or even maintain and that was with going to the gym and I was early 20s then.

It’s normal, sadly

wow. I eat 1900 calories a day, walk 10k steps and weigh 8 stone.

I use MFP all day every day without fail. I went from 10st 7 to where I am now on 1400 calories a day, so I don’t know why you aren’t losing weight op.

The thing it there are simple pathways in the body which turn sugars and starch into fat, so, 1500 kcal made up mostly of bread and pasta is not the same as 1500 kcal made up mostly of Chicken, or butter

You're doing all the right things. Your body will respond - it's impossible for it not to. Plateaus happen, and they always seem to happen around a stone marker or milestone. I have been flirting around 90kg for weeks. WEEKS. I cannot get into the 80s. Sometimes I get to 90.8kg. Then I'm back up in the 91s.

As others have said, you have to stop weighing and focus on a fitness goal instead when this happens else you'll go insane.

Running for cardio health, weights for muscle mass, bone health and weight loss... You are doing all the good exercise. You know that your diet is nutritionally balanced and leaving you in a calorie deficit.

It's not you. It happens to all of us. Keep enjoying the running and notice the changes in your body. I don't run - though I do enjoy it. I am not feeling joggly at the moment. But I do fast walk - 4.6mph. And I am currently enjoying the fact that my arse is tighter and higher, and my hips are getting narrower, and I am getting stronger and my posture and gait no longer read as 'fat', even though objectively I still am. This is all I can do, because the scales are NOT rewarding me.

Keep going, soldier.