How come I'm not losing weight?

[SillyTilly123]

I've just done my bmi and I know I'm over weight.

I'm 5'0, 11 stone with a bmi of 31 which is obese.

The nhs thingy said I should be eating 1369-1760 calories a day.

However I'm using my fitness pal and on a normal day (without trying) I will eat around 1500, when i'm trying i will eat 1200. I walk the dog for an hour 5 x a week, plus usual looking after 3 kids, running a house etc. So why am I not losing any? Its really disheartening.

I don't want to go on any particular diet as I cannot afford to cook seperately for me-I just have a smaller portion of what dp and the kids have.
I dont eat chocolate or drink wine, I dont snack at all or eat late.

I think hairy dieters would work for you, get both books, the recipes are fab. Tonight I'm having beef curry with cauliflower rice and a chapati. Can't believe it's a diet really .Also, weigh everything you eat. So easy to underestimate!

White toast and lurpak! There's your calories and fat. It's not nice but you'll have to change some things to make a change in your body. Also don't tell yourself things like you need the toast, you actually don't and can have a banana or yoghurt & fruit

You need to be stricter with yourself! Loosing weight means giving up some food. Simple.
Drink lots of water. Set yourself a meal plan poof new healthy foods like others here have suggested and if you don't eat it then you go without eating. No alternatives. You'll soon learn to like new and different foods. Being brutal with food and retaining my tastes and changing my attitude towards food got me down to 7st 2 and i'm 5ft 2in. If you don't retrain yourself then after the diet you'll put all the weight back on. Food isn't to make you happy, its to fuel your body! your children and relationship should be the ones to make you happy (not toast!)

OP, I've just worked out your BMR is 1418 and if I base it on a lightly active lifestyle it comes to 1949 calories to maintain your weight. So ideally 1500 to lose sounds about right to me, but not with such carb heavy foods. You can fill up on lighter foods I think and still feel full ??

I 2nd the suggestion to be absolutely obsessive about what goes in MFP - we do our own bread in a breadmaker - I have a recipe on MFP with everything in it. When the loaf is cooked I weigh it then I weigh any slice before it goes in my plate so I know what proportion of the total I'm eating - sounds bonkers but a roughly cut slice can be anywhere from 120 to 200 cals depending on loaf size and slice thickness! Weigh the butter that goes on the bread and in the mashed potato and the amount of potato that goes on the plate... Apologies if you already do all this!

I am also pretty sure MFP over estimates exercise calories - especially as it doesn't subtract your TDEE calories from that time. So for example if I run 3 miles in 30 mins at 100 cal mile I've burned 300 cals but would have burned 1/48 of TDEE anyway - so net loss is a little less than 300. This is magnified for longer gentler exercise, if i walk 3 miles in 60 mins I would probably burn less calories per mile anyway, say 80 - so 240 total and you I would have burned 1/24 of TDEE in that time anyway. So although the run and walk look pretty similar, the net loss with the higher intensity exercise is actually better.

I'm doing 5:2 and don't feel deprived as I can eat to TDEE 5 days a week, or a bit under on some and over on others. I am fortunate to be taller so have somewhat higher TDEE to start though.

I would suggest talking to your doctor to get blood tests as you may have a thyroid problem as this could be stopping you from losing weight.

I don't think your overeating at all, in fact I don't think you are eating enough!

I would have a good breakfast such as porridge or eggs or something along those lines, basically something thats healthy and will keep you going until lunchtime.

For lunch dinner meals dont cut out carbs completely - your body needs them but just limit them. Fill your plate with veg and protein.

Sometimes its good to snack between meals (but not on junk!) so snacking on an apple or carrots is fine and keeps your metabolism up :-)

I know you said you only eat takeaways occasionally but I say, if you want to see results - cut that junk out completely. At least until you have reached your goal. I did that and now I can't stand the taste of the stuff - my tastebuds have come accustomed to different foods now, so I never feel as if im missing out!

Don't get disheartened - its hard and takes a little bit extra to lose weight compared to maintain it. You can eat healthily and balanced food etc but might end up just maintaining it if thats what your body is used to. Sometimes you have to step it up a notch. Exercise is the perfect way to do this, maybe try something fun like exercise classes at your local leisure centre, or try swimming in the evenings or mornings - I promise you will notice a difference. You need a mixture of toning and cardio :-)

Sorry all of this you probably know but I get a bit carried away haha! x

Look up some family friendly slimming world recipes. You can have burgers (homemade from lean mince) if you just swap the white bap to a white bap. Brown rice, whole meal pasta, Brown bread is what I would suggest. I try and limit myself to 2 slices of bread a day. I also use full fat butter and milk but in moderation. I don't like the crap they put in low fat marg

Losing body fat does not means losing weight, you probably gain muscle at the same time when working out,good body form has proper proportion, its not all about weight. Keep doing cardio and eat clean. More info, you could go to watchfit.com

not sure if it would help, sorry if I repeat others comments.
after each child I put on SO much weight and the only way I could shift it was by loads and loads of exercise. I was down the gym 3-4 times a week and doing home exercise (pilates, push up, sit up, cardio etc )
when I stopped weight crept back on, my family are all overweight it must be genes (some people would disagree) tho I have a friend that eats like crap, does no exercise and is stick thin - family are all slim.

anyhow, gym instructor told me to eat every few hrs to keep a metabolism going, try eating smaller but often meals/snacks. im no expert in this topic tho im sure ive read it stops body going into starv mode and holding on to everything? some one might correct me not 100% sure how true a fact that is.

also you can find lists of zero calorie snacks - foods that burn more digesting than the calories they contain. hope it helps.

I eat ryvita crackers or wholemeal pita with pilchard/sardine for lunch some times if im craving bread.
as I say, im only learning facts myself so hope I haven't given any bad ideas?
if you like your food and cant change it then you may have accept you need to do a lot more cardio/toning to loose weight. skipping maybe to start you off? loads of fat/calorie burning videos on youtube to follow.

good luck