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????

Completely agree with this but she is still 0.3 heavier than 6 weeks ago.

Are you sure your scales are working OK?

How much and what do you drink?

I am on Mounjaro and eat 1200-1300cal a day, that's apprx a deficit of 500. But I only loose significantly if I drink at least 3l of water and herbal/lemon and ginger tea. Black tea is extra and cappuchinos or latte have to fit in my daily count.

No fizzy drink, hardly any juice, no squash.

I believe you because the same thing has happened to me.

In the end, I threw away the scales (well, put them in a place that wasn't easily accessible to me!) and bought a button through dress (Rua Style from White Stuff) in one size below my usual size.

I try this on every two weeks. It's a good way to see if you are changing without the scales.

people will say it's a case of calories in, calories out but I am exactly the same as you at 44. I eat lean protein and veg twice a day and my weight just doesn't budge. it's immensely frustrating! I had success with hbd a couple of years ago and am going to try and go back on that strictly after half term.

As a professional dieter I’m similar height but ten yrs older I can only add I have similar health issues (PCOS) and here’s my advice. Add cals up to 1400 a day. Expect one pound a week loss could be two one week none the next. Be patient it’s a long game. Weigh and track everything! Key things that will affect you is high cal items so olive oil peanut butter honey etc weigh on digital scales and be like a ninja!

I track on free app my fitness pal. I added a little extra exercise each day like exercise bike or twenty minute walk.
Doing this I lost fifty pounds in six months . Good luck.

It really isn’t.

I think 1100 calories a day may be too low

HRTFT but inflammation could be part of the story. Could you do something which might seem counterintuitive but which can help reduce inflammation, like yoga nidra or restorative yoga? Yoga Nidra you can do in bed, I use it to help me sleep. Insight Timer have lots of good ones, it may take a few tries to find a voice/style you like.

The healthy weight charts I think are to put it mildly, a bit basic. Which is where people get the ‘what should I weigh’ from.
There will be a wide range of bodies who are 5ft 7 who weigh what you do. They will all look different. And all eat differently.

Your body is probably in starvation mode. As in, it has noticed a reduced number of calories coming in so metabolism drops. So you don’t use up calories quicker. Your body is being efficient. Inefficient ones would lose weight.

Muscle through exercise will give you a stronger looking body.

The need to be slim in our society dominates. And recently I think very slim has crept back into being. Hardly any boob, super taut shape, slim hips and thin everywhere. Be mindful of the impact of advertising. It is powerful. And that you cannot change your basic body. If you are curvy you will not be like Kate Moss any more than Kate Moss could be like Marilyn Monroe.

Strive to be healthy and yes, it matters that you feel you look good. Try not to obssess over it though.

Too much carbs. Even ‘healthy’ carbs turn to sugar in the body

I’ve just turned 53. I certainly don’t eat unhealthily but not nearly as healthily as you. My periods have just started to be erratic in the last couple of months so I’m obviously entering menopause (perhaps a bit late). I’m also hypothyroid.

The only way I can keep the last stone off (which brings my BMI to 22) is to microdose with Mounjaro. I buy a pen every 12 weeks, which i can afford. I wouldn’t be able to justify buying it more frequently.

I don’t care about people saying it’s cheating. I couldn’t give a shit. I’m happy at this weight and look slim(-ish) - I definitely haven’t gone too far. I’m still kinda chunky from the waist down. Whereas with another stone I don’t feel comfortable.

Life is short, and I don’t want to spend my remaining years fighting food or constantly thinking about food. This way I barely think about it. I’m on a low-dose pen and it just takes an edge off my appetite.

So there is always this way, if you would consider that. I tried hard to shift the last stone with diet and exercise alone but it just didn’t work.

@dontletmedownbruce sorry if this is a silly question but how are you able to do that - I thought prescribers required you to be on a monthly prescription?

That makes no sense. I'm 50 and 5ft 4. I was a stone overweight at 10sr 3. I ate too many carbs though.
In 6 weeks i've lost 1 stone and switched to protein plus salad at lunch, veg and protein for dinner. Cut all carbs apart ftom brown rice. I've lost it easily. And i'm on HRT.
You must be eating more than you think.

I’m exactly the same.

Last year I spent over a month eating 800-1000 calories a day in a bid to lose the weight that has piled on in my 40s since starting HRT. I didn’t lose a thing. I exercise daily anyway.

This year I decided to start mounjaro. The weight has dropped off on exactly the same diet - I’d kept a daily diary previously - and with the same level of exercise.

It doesn’t just suppress appetite - although it made lowering the calories easy - but it helps with insulin resistance and other things too. I lost 3 stone in 3 months.

TDEE was a load of rubbish for me as I was putting weight on at over 1400 calories (at 5’6), even being very active and doing strength training etc.

I assume you worked out your sedentary TDEE and then subtracted 500 cals to get to 1,100? Are you also weighing every single thing that goes in your mouth using digital scales?

I'll assume you are.

I have PCOS. When I started taking inositol I found that suddenly if I ate in a 500 cal deficit I would lose about 1lb per week. This had never happened before! Weight loss had previously been much much slower than it was 'meant' to be. More like a quarter of a pound a week or thereabouts, which is very difficult to notice.

I'm not saying you have PCOS! I'm saying that we're all different. There are a multitude of factors that can mean that someone does not lose weight at the exact rate their TDEE would suggest they will. Thyroid, PCOS, peri, and so on.
You can still lose weight - you just need to find the right balance for you. As you are already on 1,100 I'd try to avoid going lower, as that's difficult to maintain long term and potentially isn't great for your metabolism. I would add in exercise instead. Weights are great if you want to boost metabolism and burn calories quickly if you're tight on time. But any exercise you enjoy and will keep doing.

The only other idea I have is to watch when you eat. Try not to eat on more than three occasions each day, to allow your blood sugar to go down properly in between. And try not to eat after your early evening meal.

but we're not all the same are we.

A few medical conditions/medications aside, if you aren’t losing fat then you aren’t in a calorie deficit.

You sound just like me, I seem to need so few calories to maintain, i needed to drop to 1000 prepackaged and add a training programme (1 hour 3x a week group let by a professional) to shift weight downwards. Once I stopped I obviously wasn’t counting accurately because i gained slowly but steadily. The only other time I lost weight was when my exh left me, kids were at university and I simply couldn’t be bothered to cook for me, just ate toast, scrambled eggs and a bit of salad (with Stilton mmm!) when I was at home, fell off me but don’t recommend it. I need to shift weight now as since meeting my now dh I’ve steadily gained again, need to stop booze and breakfast as a starter for 10, I don’t snack anyway and eat healthily from scratch small portions

Small fluctuations are due to water weight. Certain foods require more water to help digest them, so you’ll hold on to water. This can equate for a 1-2lb gain. A carb heavy day will make you hold onto water while it is digested.
I was always taught you need to drop 5-6lb for this to be actual weight loss and not just water loss.
Thats why you can lose easily half a stone or more through a tummy bug. You’re not throwing up or shitting out fat. It’s mostly water.

Period when your weight zoomed up then dropped back down?

Drinking plenty?

1100 calories is very very low. Try eating more for a fortnight and see what happens.

What are you drinking? Cup of tea? 25 calories. Cappuccino? Around 100-120.

Also, I’d suggest getting smaller plates. It’s really easy to overeat when you think you’re only having healthy food.

Are the high points related to your cycle? I used to gain half a stone pre period, and even though I don't get periods now (mirena) I can still tell when it would have have been from my heavy swollen boobs.

I don't think that tracking weight this closely is always a good thing. Slimpod, (which i think is a sensible approach) advises against it. If 4 weeks ago and today are both the heavy points in your cycle, then you are trending downwards albeit slowly.

Personally, I would focus on your healthy habits - eating well, exercising, building in daily activity - and let the results come with time.

I'm almost exactly the same @MagdelenaMorrison although I am shorter than you. It's so disheartening.

I've upped my calorie intake to around 1700 per day, as the 1500 I was rigidly sticking to meant I was losing nothing, and was quite often so hungry I felt faint (although I also have very low iron stores at the moment which doesn't help on that front).

I am also exercising a lot, and so I've had to face facts that my body has decided that 75-77kg is where I'm going to stay. I've already bought a load of new clothes so I guess that's sensible, but it's SO frustrating when I'm carrying a load of weight round my middle but nothing anywhere else!

I would say though that your calorie intake is very low, and I know a lot of people say it's a myth, but from experience I don't lose weight when I'm sitting at that level. Try increasing your calorie intake for a month and seeing what that does for you.

Good luck, it's fucking infuriating isn't it?

Honestly best thing i ever did was throw away my scales.
That is very low amount of cals and your body is probably in starvation mode. Have a Google for Dr Giles Yeo (sp?) Who will tell you that when body goes into starvation mode it basically uses less calories and so that's why you cannot lose weight.
I try to exercise well and eat well but I don't watch my cals and I enjoy my food. Honestly I am still fairly much the same size as when I was dieting. I am a lot happier !