Dieting is horrendous

[SassyLemonFish]

Just looking for sympathy really.

I’ve a bmi of 28. I need to lose a lot of weight. For the last two weeks I’ve been good but MY GOD the hunger and sheer depressing nature of it all. My BMR is only 1600. Sticking to 1000 or less is so hard.

My husband, on the other hand, seems to have no hunger and amazing self control. Last night he ate a single sweet potato and declared that as his dinner. His BMR is 2700. I can see him visibly changing before my eyes.

I guess I’m just jealous.

Yes it’s not cheap. I do earn enough to afford it when I’m saving so much on food and booze as I liked a drink every weekend and I don’t want it now and we got a takeaway once a month which I’m not doing now. If you’re scrimping anyway though I get you can’t afford it so I’d just calorie count. That’s what I’m doing anyway but I don’t need the willpower anymore which for some reason became so hard for me during perimenopause. I’m being lazy basically (not physically but mentally!).

My thighs are solid and my boobs probably weigh as much as a small child. I am not a size 10/12 across my chest. Buttons are NOT my friend.

I AM an outlier, I know this. It's why I'm not bothered about my BMI. But it's also why I am suspicious of it as a measure of health - your question about my waist was much more pertinent.

At a reasonable estimate, about 15-20% of people have circumstances where BMI on its own is a noticeably poorer guide than waist to height ratio or other measures. That's about 1 in 5 of us that aren't lying when we say BMI is shite - that's not really a negligible number of people.

Even the NHS says BMI should be used in conjunction with waist/height ratio, and many researchers are calling for it to be the primary tool. It's the one that my GP surgery uses with me, because both the scales and my BMI bely what your eyes can see and my bloods/blood pressure tells you.

The bloody 10 year risk of mortality score doesn't use it though, so my NHS app is still depressing reading relative to the work I've done to improve my health.

I think that’s fair and of course you will be right, I also admire you for just stating it and not coaching it with and everyone who takes it is about to die.sigh

Counting calories is miserable and almost always a sure way to failure when trying to lose weight.

That’s true, but it also means for 80-85 percent of people it’s a good indicator, and of course height to waist should also be taken into account

You’re not eating the right foods if you feel weak. Have a look at your macros and drink litres of water.

I hate to say it, but even if you stick to this ludicrously low amount of calories, you'll only put the weight back on again.

You need to eat good, filling high fibre foods. 3 meals a day, no snacks, no eating 2 hours before bedtime.

The weight will come off slowly and sustainably.

You need to give up or cut down on the cheese

Eggs are a great source of protein so will keep you fuller for longer around 70 C an egg so three eggs will be 210 c

Which means you have nearly 300 cal in cheese and veg is low in calories

Your next meal includes cheese again

Cheese is lovely I love cheese but you’re getting very small amount for a lot of calories even when it’s half fat cheese

I had a sweet potato for tea yesterday which is good for you isn't it?

I still felt weak

Sod half fat cheese too. If the small amount of cheese makes the difference between a meal having satiety, eat it. Just make it a tiny amount.

Half fat and low fat will make you feel deprived.

Your kcals seem way too low. Cutting calories down so much is never a good strategy because even if you do lose the weight, you will end up gaining it all back.
You need to find a sweet spot that allows you to lose weight slowly and in a sustainable manner, more of a lifestyle change, not eating the calories of a 3 years old, OP!

Also, 1600 on maintenance seem incredible little, OP.
I am 5ft3 and moderately active and my maintenance is around 2000 kcals. I lose weight at 1800 kcals a day, althoug very slowly (which for me is a good thing as I know I can stick to it)

How do you know how many calories you need to eat a day?

No! Nowhere near enough. Sweet potato, cottage cheese and salad might be getting somewhere! Or chickpea scramble if vegan or dairy intolerant.

Google TDEE calculator and put your details in

Can I make a big suggestion as this worked for me? Cutting cals was making me miserable, tired even dizzy sometimes and also obsessed with food. I swapped on advice of a PT to low inflammation low GI. It basically just means no processed, all natural and you keep an eye on your macros and fibre. It was life changing for me as the cals could be higher than the usual miserablr lo cal doet, my blood sugar was stable, the protein and fibre kept me fuller and i just wasnt hungry nearly as much. It worked realy well and its basically how I eat all the time now more or less. You can get a low GI factsheet for free of the internet and chatgpt can even work out your macros for you.

Thanks

It said 1,489 calories a day

You could aim for 1200 a day in that case to lose 0.5 lbs a week

Yeah, surviving on 1000 calories is a much better idea.

You don’t have to stop taking MJ, unless you mean for financial reasons. Wegovy have their pill form approved in the UK now, and it’s relatively reasonably priced, compared to MJ.

There's very little fibre there. Try eating more fibre, which will make your meals feel more satisfying and filling.

Try this, for example.
https://www.platingsandpairings.com/cauliflower-salad-with-roasted-chickpeas-quinoa/#recipe

And full fat is much better for female hormones as well I've heard

Fast 800, no hunger

Probably. A human needs to eat some fat.

Yes, and up actively to either lose more quickly or be able to eat more.

I am 5ft 4, age 46 and 8 stone 2. My maintenance calories are 1360, I always put that I am sedentary as I work from home. I do exercise some evenings.

When I was BMI 28 my maintenance calories were 1658, I was just over 12 stone then.

It varies so much. I could probably maintain at higher than 1300 in reality but not as much as 1600.