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?

Maybe try a longer fasting window 14 or 16 hours between your last meal and breakfast and apple cider vinegar to balance blood sugar

My sympathies OP. Since I hit my 40s, I only lose on about 800 calories a day despite all the websites saying 1600 maintenance. No breakfast (so 16/8 fasting), tiny lunch, normal dinner during week and more at weekend when I gain but then lose the gain the following week.

Sorry to keep adding OP but the guides you are using to show how many calories you need can be bullshit.

If I followed those guides I'd gain weight.

I think you need to accept that you need to eat less, maybe dropping the carbs significantly and trying 1200 cals a day. But better than counting, just eat 3 smallish portions of protein, loads of veg and fruit, some dairy and a small portion of one carb a day.

That will work.

Wow. I can't believe how horrid people are being here.

I was in exactly the same position as you OP. I was defeated and miserable. I KNEW I was tracking everything. I was on 950 caleries (I am very short) as my professionally approved 'deficit'. I was eating a 'healthy' diet. The reason I say 'healthy' is because it transpires that although it was healthy it was not healthy for me. I tried the Glucoss Goddess method and have finally started shifting weight. For me, it was all to do with glucose spikes. I changed what I ate and, importantly, the order I ate it.

Exactly the same caleries, same excercise, same everything else as before but just changing what/when and order and now the weight was dropping off. For me, it was all hormone/insulin related.

Before giving up, I would see if you could give it a go. She has a great book that explains the science behind it.

I belive you, I 've been there, and I know how miserable it is.

So say on a Saturday I’ll have some sourdough toast, with avocado and eggs. About 400 calories.

You’ve lost a stone in 4 months! That’s amazing!

I do get the frustration though. I had a very similar problem and I was absolutely tracking my calories correctly!

I think everyone’s bodies are different and what works for one person, doesn’t necessarily work for others.

But for me what helped me lose weight was prioritising protein and veg.
Protein is less likely to be stored as fat compared to any other food groups. It also helps keep you full.
The veg was to fill my plate up and make it a larger meal.

Carbs are not the devil but they are so easy to overeat on and so when I reduce my carbs and focus on protein and veg I lose more weight than when I don’t.

I also went to bed early.
I’d read and then sleep.
I didn’t realise how much sleep impacted by weight loss.

I've said it before and will say so again. Calories are legally allowed to be up to 20% incorrect on packaged food. Even if they're more incorrect than that, they wouldn't recall it.

But that can be fine if you're eating a wide range of foods (theory being all the inaccuracy eventually cancels itself out).

Calorie counting only worked for me when I was in my 20s. Paul McKenna "I can make you thin" (intuitive eating mainly) worked for me in my 30s and the weight stayed off till I hit perimenopause. Intermittent fasting is working for me in my 40s. I'm not sure what to make of all that apart from to suggest to try something different? Not necessarily what I've tried but as we age, things change for us and what worked before might not work now? At least that's the conclusion I've come to with a sample size of one.

But glucose spikes usually only come from eating carbs.

So what did you eat and not eat?

I've done the Zoe gut assessment and I monitored my glucose for 2 weeks with an arm patch. It rose after carbs including food like bananas but dropped quickly with exercise.

You need to kind off mess around with your system. So have a high calorie day then a very low one... do one day juice only.

I would not be eating cottage pie on a diet.

From the sound of what you're eating, you need more protein and fewer carbs like bread and pasta.

I lost 3 stone in 5 months by intermittent fasting, no/low carbs, unlimited veggies, good lean protein at every meal, and walking every day.
(built up from a mile a day, having to stop frequently, to an easy 3 or 4 miles including uphill with no problems).

I went from 14 stone 4 to 11 stone.

Good luck!

Its a massive oversimplification and not particularly helpful. This is a good article which explains why.
https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2023/07/05/its-time-to-bust-the-calories-in-calories-out-weight-loss-myth.html

I read an article recently that said Zoe are quietly dropping their claims on glucose spikes and moving to being focused on gut health. Quite often their claims in the past (and the Glucose Goddess) have been based on some pretty weak evidence.

That all said, insulin resistance is thought to be a contributor to weight gain or at least making weight loss hard. But it doesn't mean glucose spikes or avoiding them is the answer. Or at least not the advice GG gives. I'd be more keen on reducing or avoiding refined carbs as a strategy than worrying about necking vinegar.

try something different

The OP seems to be doing exactly the the right thing. She's got total knowledge of calories going in and she's lost a stone. The only problem is she's slightly out on her calorie budget now and instead of allowing herself 1500kcals a day she needs a bit less.

She doesn't need a change, she needs a slight tweak. (Albeit a rather miserable one!)

OP, have you tried skipping breakfast completely?

I know some people can't because they get too hungry, but when was the last time you tried it?

But it worked me, it has completely changed my life.

Also, if you're building muscle with the exercise, that's more dense than fat (apparently - I was told this) , so you're building a healthier body but it's not showing as a loss on the scales.

Keep going! 💪

That does not sound right.

Depending on the size of the avocado ,it can be 250 cals.
2 eggs are around 120 cals.
Sourdough- depends in how big slice is .Or how many you have.

As I said, I've looked at guides for weight loss or daily intake (not to lose weight) online and they are BS.

If I followed the guides I'd gain weight.

You said you ate lots of lovely sourdough- now it's just on a Saturday.

I do feel for you but I also think there is a mismatch between what you need to eat to lose weight and what you're eating.

How may grams of carbs are you eating in a day?
How much protein?

That's the basics.

You need just under 1 gm protein/ per kg weight a day (more if you're an athlete or older person), the rest should be piles of green veg, a small amount of wholegrain carbs or beans as your carbs, some fruit, a few nuts and some dairy.

I have many of the same issues and I think different things work for different people so you're probably going to have to try a few things over several months to see if they work for you.
If you don't fancy the 16:8 system all the time, I've found that just doing a one day fast can help. I had to do a fasting blood test and then couldn't eat straight after so it was about 16 hours and then had better results when I next did my measurements.

I have horrendous periods which cause me all sorts of problems, including bloating. I eat a lot of veg but have found a fibre drink (ispaghula husk) for a few days before or at the start helps. I think it absorbs some of the water into the bowel which then helps with that side of my issues too.

I eat sourdough too but try not to have pasta more than once a week because I know it doesn't work for me. Have you tried quinoa? I use that instead of rice/pasta where I can so in salads for lunch or combined with mixed veg for dinner with salmon etc. It's a protein source as well so quite useful.
Have you heard about chilling carbs, it changes the structure (of the starch?), making them better for some people's digestion? I follow this advice for new potatoes and pasta so have them in a cold salad if I have them at all. I understand you can warm them back up again once you've chilled them and still get the same benefit. I freeze the rest of the sourdough loaf for toast and think it works the same way.

Do you drink the squash after meals or any time during the day? That could be affecting your digestion more than you realise. Try not to have it between meals because your body might be treating it like a snack, same with other drinks, even if they're low calorie. I only have water or black coffee between meals and if I want something else I tack it on to the end of a meal.
I'm obviously no expert so do your own research, I'm just telling you what seems to work for me.

Really glad for you. Tried it. Did all of the tips. Didn't lose an ounce. Actually I think I even gained weight.

Might be wider things in my diet at the time I was unaware of. But that's why I said you might need to try a few things.

Nothing in that article debunks calories in/out at all!

One of the things it says is your body gets more efficient and managing with less calories. Well yes it does. So you have to reduce calories more. That doesn't mean your body is magically creating energy.

If I go into a calorie deficit now and remain so I will die.

I eat avocado sometimes, it's really good for you and tasty. If I were having it on toast, I would not be eating an entire avocado; at most, I would eat half.

OP's clothes are fitting better, which tells me what she's doing is working; she just needs to be patient and wait for the scales to catch up. Lots of things affect our scale weight, water retention, periods, muscle growth... Her shape changing is a far better indicator.

If in a month's time the scale still has not changed, then maybe she should alter something, but for now, she's doing great.

I didn't eat any fruit other than berries for a start - I was eating lots of varied fruit before because, you know, 'health'.

I followed GG incredibly strictly for months and within two weeks I was losing weight were I had been stagnant for months and months previously.

I am autistic, and part of that (for me) is routine/strictness so I always found it easier to stick to diet plans/methods religiously. I literally just did word for word what was in the book.

I have lost five stone in 13 months.

Fuck me I don’t mean to be rude but are you just not believing me because I’m fat?! I calorie count. I weigh it out and count.

Zoe has never been just about glucose spikes. I don't know where you're getting that from unless their marketing has changed recently. I did Zoe around 2 years ago. It was never just about glucose but more about gut health.

Lift heavier weights to increase muscle mass to increase metabolism.
cut bread and refined sugar and white carbs