To not understand my weight?

[MagdelenaMorrison]

I seriously don't get it.
I'm trying soooooo hard to lose weight.
It's bloody hard, hard work trying to shift it.
The eating less is easy, I find calorie restriction easy. I'm naturally a healthy eater and my diet consists of vegetables, salad, brown rice, potatoes, poultry, fish, a little red meat, lots of mixed beans and lentils. No cheese, cream, milk, ice cream, as I'm dairy free. I don't eat any UPF or takeaways or convenience food; everything I eat is home cooked from scratch. Nothing is fried. I've got Coeliac disease which means I can't eat gluten so that cuts out bread, rolls, pastries, cakes, biscuits, etc. as I medically can't eat those foods. No crisps, chocolate or fizzy drinks, don't like that stuff. I don't drink alcohol, I'm teetotal.
Anyway despite eating healthily I am overweight and I am now tracking my calorie intake on a diet tracker.
What's hard is not the calorie restriction, I'm doing that easily. It's how hard it is to get any weight off. AND how much my weight is bouncing around.
So here's my gripe about my weight:
6 weeks ago: 12.6
5 weeks ago: 12.8
4 weeks ago: 13.2
3 weeks ago: 12.7
2 weeks ago: 12.8
1 week ago: 12.6
Today: 12.9
WTF?
Throughout these weeks I have eaten EXACTLY the same amount of calories each day, 1,100. All weighed, measured and recorded in to my weight loss app. Not one day have I exceeded this amount of calories. Literally not once.
5ft 7.
45 years old.
And bloody fed up.
BTW I've had a load of blood tests done (not for weight loss but for other reasons), tested my thyroid, diabetes, LH FSH hormones, kidneys, liver, cholesterol, lots of other stuff I can't remember, and every test was in the normal range.
Why is my weight bouncing around all over the place????

Hate to say it but it seems 1100 calories isn't a deficit if after 6 weeks your weight is much the same. Unless of course you've been working out and your body composition has changed in that time and you've lost inches / changed shape and gained muscle?

Since menopause the only thing that has worked for me is intermittent fasting.

that’s very carb heavy you need to go low carb x

Ok, you sound like me and I have posted almost identical to your post.
People DO NOT get it and will say that you are lying and you must not be revealing all that you are eating.
Before those posters come I want to tell you that I get 100% what you are saying, and that as another woman who’s weight behaves like this, I totally sympathise.

All bloods normal here too, but I am convinced I have suffered from PCOS all my adult life (undiagnosed) & metabolic syndrome add in peri & menopause and I am trying to push out the sea with a sieve.

The only thing that has worked ( very very slowly and unreliable) is Mounjaro. Again, I have been told I’m lying because it’s not worked for me like it has done others.

Are you weighing yourself daily? My weight fluctuates so much and it's very disheartening.

I now weigh myself daily and do a weekly average.

How are you getting high carb from what OP has posted? Apart from brown rice and potatoes it looks quite low carb to me! Certainly no bread / pasta etc.

Sympathy, OP. Thats really frustrating, especially because 1,100 is definitely not a fun amount of food, so you’re quite right to feel miffed 💐

That level of fluctuation is quite normal, though. Salt levels and water retention can create quite big shifts for now apparent reason.

And it sounds as though your body has adjusted to 1,100 being your baseline intake, so you’re not burning enough to make it a deficit.

You didn’t say how much exercise you are doing, and whether that is cardio or resistance training? If you’re not, then that might drive a significant shift.

And yes yes to the pp who suggested 5:2. I would suggest that specifically,as opposed to any other IF variation, probably combined with eating a bit more on your non fast days, to give this a kick start. Good luck!

Do you exercise at all? It isn’t mentioned. 1100 calories isn’t enough for an adult or even child to survive so I think you’re in starvation mode in truth. I think you should increase your intake to a sustainable level and work out.

Yes I’m the same. I have to eat below 1,000 a day to shift anything. Fasting is the only thing that works for me, nothing but water or herbal tea until 1.00 and at least one if not two very low calorie days of 600-800 a week.

Apart from the 13.2, which could be a scales anomaly, all the other measurements are effectively the same when you account for variables that have nothing to do with how much fat there is in your body, which is what you're trying to lose.

However, as someone who’s the same height and weight and slightly older than you, I don’t understand how the weight isn't falling off you as I easily eat twice as much as you and my weight is stable. If I could stick to even 15-1800, I would lose easily.

Don't weigh yourself everyday
Drink lots of water like 3l a day
Be mindful of hormonal fluctuations the scales only tell part of the story
Get your thyroid checked

It looks like you're at maintenance with a water weight gain every 4 weeks due to your cycle

If OP didn't get out of bed all day, she should be on 350 kcal/day deficit on that diet, so should have lost a fair bit by now.

Write down on here what you ate today since midnight, and every thing that passes your lips, OP, all fluids and all food today. Somewhere is 600/day missing kcal, I'd wager.

Fellow coeliac here, and exactly the same problem. I’m convinced it is a coeliac thing but nobody believes me and is interested in finding a solution. I find my body just “fights” me daily - an inflammation response? Add in menopause and I literally feel likes there’s no hope in shifting any weight - it just fluctuates like yours and slowly creeps up. If I cut amounts down, I feel like my body goes into fight or flight mode and just stores everything.

You need to do strength training alongside it. Lifting weights increase your metabolism

1100 is a bad calorie intake for me. I do not lose weight at that level, I either have to go a lot lower which is unsustainable or go higher. I find 1800 works for me but I have an active job. At 1100 my body goes into starvation mode and holds onto as much as possible, I end up lethargic and unproductive.

Have you measured your fasting glucose and insulin along with your HbA1c?

If not, I’d check these as a priority but you may have to go private for the insulin unless you can convince your GP. You can buy a HOMA IR test online which will assess if you’re insulin resistant. Many people are but have no idea as docs only get concerned once a person becomes diabetic.

I would also buy a little blood glucose monitor to see what that’s doing 1,2,3 hours post eating with different foods. You might be surprised what certain ‘healthy’ foods can do to blood sugar.

You aren't eating enough!!! Your body is probably in starvation mode and desperately clinging onto fat. You need to eat more, eat more fat and get more active. You need to increase your metabolic rate not send it comatose with so few calories. Also your weight is not wildly fluctuating it looks pretty stable to me.

Even lower calorie foods will have an impact of you eat too much. You need to reduce calorie intake and or increase exercise. Weigh yourself once a week.

The only way I can lose weight nowadays is to cut out carbs. Nothing else will shift the weight. I found it quite easy to carb cut once I was in the right frame of mind, but it does taking planning because it’s not just bread and cake.

I found this too and I have come to the conclusion that it is my metabolism slowing down a lot. So my advice would be to look at things that increase your metabolism. The single most effective one at our age is weight lifting. I am 5 weeks in and still haven't shifted any eeight but I am starting to look slimmer because far is becoming muscle and eventually I hope it will start to shift..

Good luck though I know how frustrating it is.

A lot of this will be water. There are quite a few calories in legumes, and I'm not sure I trust a lot of these apps. Have you looked at packets and worked out what you are getting calorie wise? That isnt a lot for someone taller than I am, if I could stick to 1100 I would lose weight I'm sure with only activity from my job and not much more at the moment. Generally it's 4000 calories a pound in or out, but everyone metabolises foods differently apparently. If you are exercising at all, muscle is significantly heavier by volume than fat. I think as some have said you need more fat and protein to fill you up though clearly you sound as if you are happy with your current intake. Personally I am wary of beans as a means to protein though obviously good for fibre and micronutrients. Also dairy free here.
Edited to add, have you weighed out a pound of something? It really isnt that much yet we stress over them in unison I guess!

I was exactly like you, pretty much same weight as well. Recording everything, 1000-1200 kcal, working out - and nothing.
I am now slim. I achieved this by mounjaro and using and AI app to photograph everything, all drinks, all snacks and random nibbles included.
Most people underestimate their calorie consumption, many studies on that topic. In a study of 10 obese subjects who reported diet resistance, 100% underestimated their caloric intake by an average of 47%. Another study- all participants underestimated calorie consumption, with overweight individuals underestimating by 40%.
And yes, as it turned out, even as a lifelong calorie counter, my estimates were wildly off. Even when measuring the main ingredients, it's quite amazing how little things add up. So something I would have recorded as 300 kcal, the AI estimated as 700. And when I looked at the breakdown, I had to agree 700 was probably more accurate. So I didn't lose weight when I thought I was eating 1200 kcal. I did, when I was actually eating 1200 kcal.

That's not enough calories. Are you feeling really lethargic on that? Upping the calories and increasing exercise might be the best way to go. Drink lots of water, it could be water retention causing the fluctuations.

What’s carb heavy? Did you skim read and see all the things she COULDN'T eat…?

Read burn by Herman Pontzer.

And try and increase your muscle mass like previous posters have said!