Weight will not shift

[amandamacg]

I've had 2 kids (dd 5, ds 19 months) and put on about 2 stone which i really want to lose, but it will not shift. I eat healthily, don't smoke or drink and run 5k 3 times a week. I have been doing this for 4 months and i literally have not lost a single pound, not one. I presumed i had a health issue and went to docs who did thyroid test (came back normal)...they say only option left is for them to refer me to weight watchers! I got really angry, saying what could they tell me? Eat healthily? - i am, Exercise - eh, i am! I thought it may be something to do with being on antidepressants (for PND) as apparently that can cause weight gain, but i came off them a few months ago and no change. Does anyone have any helpful ideas?

probably is thyroid, having babies puts it under stress. the limits for normal on thyroid tests in the UK can be up to 5 times higher than other countries. what was your TSH?

They didn't tell me, but they did say it was borderline the first time they did test and then said it was fine when they retested a month later

If you are exercising and eating as healthily as you say, then there is clearly a medical problem. Ask for 2nd opinion from another Doctor.

BUT please be totally honest with yourself. Someone I know used to tell me that she had a medical problem because no matter what she did, she couldn't shift weight. But I could see her eating pate by the pack; cooking potatoes in a whole pack of fat; drinkign a bottle of wine a day; having a sausage buttie for breakfast then lunch and pudding in the canteen; doing absolutely no exercise....

I don't know you so am absolutely not having a go. But know myself how easy it is to kid ourselves... so, either you know what you need to do or you need a different doctor. Good luck!

You won't lose weight by exercise alone. Are you calorie counting? You may well be eating more to compensate for the hunger you feel by doing all that running.

If you stick to a low calorie diet- 1200-15o0 cals a day for a week or more you should see some changes.

I'm using logynon. Before i had kids and i was on the pill, i stayed at nice weight, but minute i came off i put on quite a bit of weight. I was hoping that when i went back on pill, i would start to lose weight again, but unfortunately not.

Lilolilmanchester, i know what you're saying, i wish i was stuffing my face with allsorts. Truth is, i eat bowl porridge in morning, chicken breast sandwich/apple/grapes for lunch and then weightwatchers for dinner. Stopped snacking (which i was quite bad for before), but nothing.

OP- you still need to c alorie count and make a not e of everything you eat .

I k now what you say you eat sounds very little but unless you are eating less by 500 cals a day you will not lose weight just with exercise- I KNOW! I walk/jog 3 (5K) miles 5X a week but unless I reduce my food intake too the weight stays the same- your body gets used to what you do and what you eat.

For instance- how BIG is the bowl of porridge and are you using full cream milk and adding sugar or something to it? You could easily be having 500 cals there.

By the same token, your sandwich might be higher in cals than you think if you are using marg or mayo in it. Grapes are also high in calories.

Not sure what you mean by weigh watchers meal- is this ameal you buy or your own where you count the points up?

In any case- the only real answer is to do the maths- get yourself a cal counter or look online and be absolutely honest about every single thing you eat and add to a meal.

There have been lots of progs on TV showing how people think they are not eating much but ther PORTION sizes are far too big.

Have you tried Food Focus? You enter all you eat and it works out your total calorie count, accounting for exercise. It's great for getting the portion size right. When I use it I lose weight in days. When I don't, I stay the same.

WEneed- that is a really good site- have just looked at my cal requirements and see it is only 1330 a day- and to lose weight I have to eat 500 less than that!

The site doesn't cover all foods but it's a good guide. I would have liked smaller porion sizes for some meals but it gives a guide anyway! Shocked to see that the few raisins I snacked on add up to 60 cals which is as much as the egg for breakfast!

I have just managed it today and they reckon that 4 weeks like this should shift the few extra pounds!

if you have a borerline thyroid problem (would be a definate in germany or the rest of europe) you will find it hard to loose weight. i had to resort to only 800 calories a day to shift even a small amount. yes thats one small meal and a few pieces of fruit and thats it.

get a copy of yur blood test from your doctors. they might even be using 10 as the upper limit for TSH in which case borderline at that would be impossible to loose weight.