I don't know what to do :(

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Hi everyone

I'm feeling really deflated and not sure what else to do.
I'm calorie counting, I walk around 4-6 miles at least 4x a week. I go to the gym 5x a week and have a PT once a week.
I have been to the Drs to check my thyroids etc all clear.

I just can't lose the weight and it's really getting to me. I lose a Lb then the next day the Lb is back up and its constantly like that. I don't understand what else I can do. I'm eating lots of protein, I'm in a calorie deficit and drinking around 2-3 litres of water a day. Everyone says it will happen but I've been doing this for a while now and no change does anyone have any advice?

So just how few calories do you want people to eat?!

That’s not the point of that. The point is simply that if you eat fewer calories than you use you will lose weight.

i lost weight on 2,200 calories a day. You can calculate your calorie target on the James Smith calculator

It would have exactly the same weight loss outcomes.

Unlikely.
Firstly, one will yield more directly usable energy than the other. You don't get as many usable calories from protein and veg... it takes some to turn the protein into usable fuel and the veg probably won't be fully digested.
Secondly, vastly different effect on insulin

🙈

I doubt in prison camps they’re on 1200 calories and they can’t binge so it’s just not comparable. I’m normal life, if you starve yourself you will lose weight but it’s unsustainable so likely you’ll either binge or have an eating disorder. Weightloss isn’t supposed to be a near death experience.

That’s not the point!!!!

the point is, eat less, lose weight, ffs how difficult is it to comprehend?

It’s not as simple as that - don’t be so rude. It’s as simple as that if you are in vlc but it’s not sustainable or good for your muscle mass. I can’t be bothered to explain to someone who refuses to comprehend that weight loss is more nuanced.

Weight loss is exactly as simple as that.

You do not need to be doing very low calorie. Just a deficit of 500 calories per day will result in a pound or so a week weight loss.

It’s very simple

😂 okay. Menopause has no impact and I’m dreaming up the difference between my 30s and 40s? Sure. Do you genuinely believe if person A ate 1200 calories in chocolate a day, their weight loss would mirror the person eating 1200 calories in green veg and protein?

Wegovy...

Yes. The weight loss would be identical.

Health, not so much

I’m guessing you’re not a doctor 🤔😂

Jeez. I despair.theres no point

If I went 100m swimming would it be the same distance as 100m running...?

Sorry I can't help but laugh at this thread now.

So dim

I don't think the other posters are the dim ones ...

There is always a takeover on these threads by people pushing diets/eating plans, whatever you want to call them where major food groups are restricted then "backed up" by references to books that support their viewpoint. The OP hasn't been back to this thread to provide any more information. This thread has descended into a row.

It doesn't matter how you do it, but if you achieve a calorie deficit, however you do it, you will lose weight. There may be factors that make it more difficult - the older I get the more inclined I am to think many of these are psychological rather than physiological - when weight loss isn't pronounced and almost instant.

Yes low carb diets can be beneficial to people who are pre-diabetic or diabetic. But you still need a calorie deficit to lose weight. We can tinker around the edges of things with all sorts of things, but to deny this fundamental point is disingenuous and verging on dangerous for sone people who already have a poor relationship with food.

hasn’t there been studies as well that dismiss the “menopausal weight gain” theory that suggests it’s impossible to lose weight?

I am finding it harder in my 40’s. However, if I compare my lifestyle to that in my 20’s it’s absolutely clear it’s not a menopausal or metabolism issue as much as a Lifestyle change.

in my 20’s I didn’t own a car. I walked, cycled, got buses and trains. I didn’t internet shop, I physically had to go out and buy things. I’d easily spend 3 hours on a Saturday afternoon shopping in the local centre. Work I was much more active, on my feet most of the day fetching stuff, speaking to colleagues, attending meetings. Now it’s all delivered straight to my desktop and there’s no need to move for 10 hours straight. I sit at home and Amazon delivers anything I need. I go to the gym for an hour a day yes, but that 1 hour burns far fewer calories than just general activity for 12 hours a day.

even dd at school racks up 10-20k steps walking to and from, between classes etc. I do 3k on a good day.

classic example is I went to disneyworld recently with a bunch of similarly aged friends. Despite eating size American we all lost weight, because we were busy all day every day. 20k+ steps, swimming, shopping, rides etc.

the modern lifestyle lack of NEAT is extremely underrated IMO. Add to that the less active you are the more muscle you’ll drop, and it gets hard to lose weight very quickly.

I think the studies tend to suggest that you need around 200 calories less a day post menopause

So you could gain a couple of stone quite quickly

It's not clear if that's because of the periods directly or because of sone other effect like you lose muscle or you move less

I think the studies suggest that there is no change to metabolism until 60+ and even then the magnitude of reduced calories required is quite small.

Loss of muscle mass is a factor. Slashing calories without keeping protein high leads to even further muscle mass loss ie overall weight loss rather than fat loss. (See what happens to ppl on Wegovy who don’t maintain their protein intake - huge muscle loss).

Lifestyle changes have a big impact on the amount of daily activity/energy as we age and we often don’t notice this. I’m always surprised how many steps I do doing a supermarket shop, running a couple of errands. When my DC were at primary I did 8k steps just on the school run.

On these threads there’s always someone who says, go to the gym and lift weights, get more muscle. This is great advice but it takes time, consistency and intense training to actually make muscles bigger even just by a pound. Even then an extra pound of muscle only burns about 5 calories.

You were “overestimating” how much you were eating?

In that case you should have been losing weight!

@Runningbird43 that's what I didn't put as clearly upthread about activity.

It's a very good idea for women to do weight bearing exercise. You lose muscle mass every year over 40, I think it is, which is why some older people are frail. Women in particular should strengthen their bones to help guard against osteoporosis. Weight bearing exercise does that.

I was convinced I couldn't lose weight due to being peri-menopausal and joined a gym thinking the exercise would at least help. The gym has a weightloss programme, based around calorie deficit and macros plus strength training. They advocate daily walking for cardio activity. I lost two and half stone. I've since put that weight back on, but no more, and am working to lose weight again. The reason I put the weight on was because I was under a lot of stress, affecting my sleep, increasing my migraines and I didn't follow the maintenance programme or go to the gym for three sessions a week. I stopped going for walks. I was quite likely depressed. I came up with every excuse under the sun not to get back to a healthy routine until I really didn't like how I looked due to the excess weight.

I'm back on it and have lost 3.5kg in just over a fortnight. Granted I was troughing lots of unnecessary calorie dense food and drinking lots of wine up to starting so I expect that weightloss to slow.

I'm someone who is now in the third cycle of needing to lose weight as an adult over a thirty year period so as not to be overweight. The motivation is harder to find and I've yo-yoed a bit the last couple of years because I couldn't sustain the motivation for more than a few weeks. What has really helped me is the realisation there are no overnight cures which are sustainable longer term. Restricting or cutting out certain food groups just makes thing worse longer term: it makes eating normally difficult. Then you get into the cycle of "I've not stuck to it so I may as well give up". The challenge is to eat a varied diet including the things you like and being able to eat something you really enjoy within your calories and macros and forming good habits around food. My mother has been on a diet pretty much all her life and I think some of my attitudes to food stem from that. But I'm an adult and need to take responsibility for myself.

@Maelil01 ah typo- overestimate should read as underestimate. I was underestimating portion sizes. I was defintely not losing weight before adjusting my portion sizes unfortunately!

Eating protein doesn't give you muscles

Exercise does

Most people in the uk eat more than enough protein to build and maintain a reasonable amount of muscle

Do you have weight to lose, OP? You haven't said how overweight you actually are - perhaps your body is already at its ideal weight.