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?

Whole milk is a really good source of protein and calcium. If you can incorporate it into your diet without going over on calories and fat, you should keep it.

Sugar is a little more complicated. Your body can use sugar as a direct energy source, so while it's burning sugar, you're not burning fat, however sugar is still a calorie i.e a unit of energy. Unless you're eating 1500 calories of sugar a day, you're golden. Your weight loss might be ever so slightly slower than someone who is sugar-free, but not by a measurable amount (unless we're measuring over years instead of weeks and months).

DD's boyfriend is an exercise scientist, and I went through all of these questions with him when I was losing weight. I once, rather rudely because of my frustration, demanded that he evaluate my diet and training in minute detail, and tell me what I needed to change when I hit a plateau. His answer was the same as I am giving you. Someone needed to change the batteries in my scales; they needed to take them out and hide them from me for a month.

The one tip he did give regarding Nutracheck is that their protein goal is way too low for someone looking to build muscle. It's fine for maintaining muscle, but if you're on 1500 calories (same as me), you should be aiming for 120g of protein per day minimum. He was impressed by the carbs and fat goals and thought they were pretty spot on.

OP don't stop. Sometime it takes time. Get those 3 extra walk/runs in a week as soon as you can and just be consistent. You'll get there.

The truth of muscle gain is that it’s really really slow. 1kg gain over 4-5 months would be a big win. Yes she could be gaining muscle but not enough to cancel out all the fat loss.

Temptation? It’s milk!

If she's working out and not used to working out, her muscles will also be holding onto water, but I agree that muscle growth is slow. Water would explain the plateau, though, given that her clothes are looser.

No-one is saying the human body is exempt from the laws of thermodynamics. The point is that the energy you expend when you exercise does not come from body fat. It comes from your glycogen stores in muscle and liver. So it doesn't cancel out calories from food. That's why the calories in calories out advice is nonsense. And why it doesn't help people lose weight.

Yes up to a couple of kilos of water retention so I suppose it depends how long the plateau is. If it’s under 4-6 weeks need to keep on plodding on.

Cold turkey on both will a) Remove temptation b) Is a good habit for life c) Free up some calorie budget for something more filling.

The person I saw replying to said thermodynamics were nothing to do with this because the body isn't a machine and nothing in your post supports your conclusion:

That's why the calories in calories out advice is nonsense.

In calorie deficit long enough you lose weight and then die. If you're not in calorie deficit you don't. That's not coincidence.

I feel your pain. I’m stuck at my overweight weight and have been for 7 months. I tried asking ChatGPT for advice yesterday and it was surprisingly helpful. Maybe run your meals through it and see what it recommends? Far better than all the posters on here that claim you are lying about what you eat, how many snacks you have and that you dare to eat carbs.

Are you measuring yourself? It’s probably something to do with lifting that makes the scale look like you are not losing any fat - perhaps you are building muscle and losing fat? You can tell from body measurements

Someone needed to change the batteries in my scales; they needed to take them out and hide them from me for a month

I agree with this. I have failed at dieting multiple times. This is largely because I end up fed up at the 1lb loss after being starving all week. For clarity's sake, I am taking mounjaro and for the pharmacy each week, I take away 1lb to get the next month's pen but I only actually weigh myself every 8 weeks. This has had a massive psychological impact on how I feel about dieting - because there is a clear shift when I do weigh myself. Whole heartedly recommended as a weight loss tactic when you have loads to lose. I am never disappointed!

Mix it up a bit - try OMAD, it's easier than it sounds

Enter a Hyrox or similar you'll soon shift the pounds / inches through training!!

I've pretty much maintained the same dress size / weight for 15 years. 3 months of Hyrox training and I've shifted 1/2 stone and dropped a dress size (Gone from 10 to 8). Haven't changed my relatively calorie aware diet at all.

Agree about weighing yourself. The aim of exercising and eating healthy shouldn't be the dopamine reward of the scales number going down but the feeling in your clothes, your mood, your skin.

I've been running for a year. I know I have slimmed down around my waist due to the fit of certain jeans but I have enlarged in the bum and calf area. I haven't weighed myself in years because if I was doing 20km running a week and I was the same weight as when I started... I might feel like stopping.

Are you weighing food/portions though? How do you know your portions aren’t too large?

The app may be inaccurate? I know MyFitness Pal is awful for this.

You need to eat a much lighter meal in the evening - vegetable soup or a salad with chickpeas or lentils.

YES, she is weighing the portions and tracking every single calorie.

This thread is infuriating.

@justmeandthedogs it's likely just a plateau. As long as your clothes are fitting better, it's all positive. Keep going at it and forget about the zillion people on this thread who either can't read or are just enjoying being condescending.

I found counting calories very unhelpful for weight loss. 3 meals a day. Cut refined sugar and snacks completely. No processed food. Veg, protein and carbs with every meal. Use your fist as a portion measure. Hit 10-15k steps a day. Keep busy. You should feel hungry before a meal and a little bit hungry but not uncomfortable going to sleep.
I think it's super unhealthy to obsess over calorie counting. Either you are eating more than you think or you need less than you think. Unless there is something medically wrong there is a miscalculation. If I were you I would be focusing on the wins or. How your body looks l, how you feel and how your clothes fit.
I always gain weight during my running season because I need to fuel those longer runs or performance declines. Imo, walking is much easier for weight loss. And no, you don't need more calories because you did a run or did more steps.

Hope it helps

Not necessarily. I lost 2 stones in four months and then nothing more for another four months. It's coming off slowly again now.

The body does plateau and go through periods of readjustment after a loss, and sometimes these are long.

Don't make the mistake of severely restricting calories to compensate for this. Your body will respond by making you really hungry and crave for food to put your weight back up to the point it was before. Increase by 200-300 calories per day to avoid rebounding and regaining it all back again.

If you can keep your weight stable throughout these stalling phases, you'll begin to lose again albeit at a much slower rate than before. I've just been through one, so I'm proof of this.

You just have to ride it out.

You say carbs are nothing to be afraid of, you definitely don’t want to cut further calories etc - if you aren’t willing to try other things then yes, you probably will be 16 stone forever. What you are trying isn’t working, so you need to try something else. I started losing weight at the beginning of the year through running and healthy eating. I was 17 stone 10 and am currently 14 stone 4, so it is possible. I am, however, eating low carbs and making sure I actually weigh my food.

Unfortunately I cannot access that article, but one the summary does seem to confirm is that not all macros are equal when it comes to weight gain.
Something which is being ignored by those rather unfairly having a go at the OP.

It’s not 1995. That stuff has been debunked a long time ago.

I definitely do not lose weight on 1500 calories a day. At that level I maintain weight but don’t lose. If I want to lose I have to reduce below 1300 per day, and that’s been the case since I hit late 40s.