Losing weight is impossible!!

[Lowwintersun13]

Hi everyone, I’m 2 years post menopause and have piled on 6 stone 🥲 no change in lifestyle or diet, just menopause the only change. The 6 stone went on very very fast (around 6-9 months)
I’ve gone from a size 8 to an 18 and look and feel disgusting. I’m a tiny 5 feet 1 so you can imagine how I must look. I have had a recent illness where I did not eat for around 3 months, just an odd piece of toast here and there but still lost nothing! How is that even scientifically possible??!!! But one thing I have and do consume a lot of is milky coffees made with oat milk. Is it the oat milk that has made me so fat? All the usual diet rules just don’t apply after menopause; I avoid carbs like the plague but still nothing. I’ve had every test at doctors, desperately wanting there to be a reason why but all tests came back normal. I don’t even leave the house anymore except for work because of how awful I feel and look. I wear the same top and trousers as anything I buy always looks awful. I have a half hour walk every lunchtime but I am starting to feel this is just how it is. I’m now in the obese range which is an awful thing to hear. My knees and joints hurt all the time. Please someone tell me there is hope and how you managed to lose the weight. I’m not on any HRT, I had to remove my patch after my marker for breast/ovarian cancer spiked 🥲

Eat less calories than you burn and it's a scientific impossibility to put on weight. I know that sounds as if it's easy but it is doable with some mind application.

Honestly, start using Mounjaro.
I was you 14 months ago.
I posted on mumsnet about how I'd gained 5 stone with menopause yet barely ate anything and how I'd tried WeightWatchers for months, then Slimming World for months, then intermittant fasting for months, then low carb high protein for months, then Zoom for months, then basic calorie counting on my own using an app for months. All in all I tried all these different weight loss methods for a total of 3 years because I stuck religiously to each one for more than 6 months each.
Not one of them worked.
I lost no weight at all.
I posted here out of desperation and nobody believed me.
I received pages of replies telling me I must have not followed each method properly, I obviously must be eating too much, I needed to exercise more, I can't be sticking to it properly, I was clearly miscalculating my intake, I obviously didn't understand TDEE properly, if I was doing it right I would lose weight, etc.
I was completely insulted by all of these patronising replies because I'm an intelligent woman and I applied 100% accuracy and commitment to each and every one of the eating plans I followed.
Anyway, I started using Mounjaro 14 months ago and have dropped 5 stone. No eating plan. No calorie counting. No weighing and measuring. No exclusion of certain food groups. No working out food points. No increase in my general exercise.
Done.

I have a question about WLI related to the same topic of this thread.....if you are strict with your food/calorie intake, exercise loads, drink water, high protein and fibre WLIs wouldn't work right?

@Iamblossom weight loss injections work to help you do all those things. If you can manage to do all those things without needing the support of weight loss injections, then that’s great and you don’t need them to help you lose weight. But weight loss injections will work in your body whatever your approach to exercise or diet is.

I’ve done the human being diet by Petronella Ravenshear, it’s amazing, it’s completely transformed my life. It’s hardcore and you had to committ but the weight drops off. You need to buy and read her book and there are Facebook groups you can join for support.

If you do those things (exercise more, eat less etc) you won’t need any injections, which are expensive, cause side effects and will stop working once you stop using them (causing weight to rise again)

But OP says "I have had a recent illness where I did not eat for around 3 months, just an odd piece of toast here and there but still lost nothing!"

This indicates there is something else going on. To put on 6 stone in 6-9 months and also not lose any weight at all when eating just a bit of toast here and there is pretty alarming and I'm surprised at the number of people giving diet advice.

I suspect OP is not being as honest to herself as she could be, You can only eat toast but drink 8 milky oat lattes a day and gain weight.

Huh?

Of course they will work.

But how do they do anything different than stop you eating more? So if you are already doing that, over and above that, what do WLIs do, how do they help?

@Iamblossom they would make it easier for you to do all those things, rather than having to deal with feeling hungry all the time. They are a tool to use to help with being consistent at sticking to a calorie reduced diet. They work for 90 plus percent of people. If you take them, you will find your appetite suppressed and you’ll feel fuller for longer.

Oh yes I know they work I've people close to me who've lost stones and stones.

I was just wondering if, other than negating the need for will power, there was something else I was missing.

Apologies - it was easier to quote from AI!

Weight loss injections, such as semaglutidee(Wegovy) and tirzepatidee (Mounjaro), work by mimicking the natural hormones GLP-1 and GIP, which regulate appetite and fullness. They signal to the brain that you're full, slow down digestion to keep you feeling satisfied longer, and reduce overall calorie intake. By suppressing appetite and increasing feelings of fullness, these injections help individuals eat less and lose weight, but they must be used under medical supervision alongside diet and lifestyle change

I’m not on any HRT, I had to remove my patch after my marker for breast/ovarian cancer spiked

I don't know what this means. Can you explain OP?

What tests did you have for breast and ovarian cancer?

Get a macro check for free on Macros Inc on FB, then accurately track your calories and macros on My Fitness Pal (it’s free)
Then, start strength training. Get some cheapo light weights and do free YouTube videos (I like Sydney Cummings) As you improve, get heavier weights (Amazon is good for this) and lift heavier. Max I do is 45 mins a day.
As I have aged, I have had to change how I eat and exercise, to maintain my weight. When I was younger, cardio worked and I could eat pretty much anything. Now I’m older, I need to eat lower (not no!) carb , higher protein and do more strength training than cardio. I weigh the same as I did when I was 25 by doing this.

I think it's also easy to assume one is eating a 'healthy' diet because a lot of foods are marketed as being healthy or are mistakenly assumed to be healthy. Oat milk is a case in point, especially the 'barista' version. I thought that plant milks would be better for my diet than dairy until I looked at what actually went into them!

Apart from a steep slope in the first few years after menopause…yes it is gradual.

I’d cut the oat milk. It’s processed carbs and fat. But yes it’s very hard. I’ve ended up taking both HRT and mournjaro and I’m now back in pre menopause clothes. It’s also very important to lift weights, and eat adequate protein. One of the reasons for fat gain is because TDEE drops due to lack muscle mass.

I don’t recommend intermittent fasting as it will further risk muscle loss. I’d also try and see a specialist re: HRT to see if the topical gels really will increase your risks.

Other ideas - 30g protein each meal, lift weight 3-4 a week (need to do progressive overload, ie heavy).

i’d also discuss weight gain with GP, eg check thyroid.

Either way, I have ended up turning to WLI. But that’s mostly as I was struggling to stick to a deficit.

The phase when you were only eating toast - how much toast and what was on it? If you were consuming less than 1000 calories a day and not losing weight, that points to something being medically wrong and you should see a doctor. There are rare conditions that can cause rapid, unexplained weight gain.

Of course they’ll work. In fact they’ll work more efficiently than if you’re not doing all those things!
MJ and now wegovy have taken my appetite away in the most and when I do eat I’m eating far less as I get full up so quickly.
people saying the old “eat less and move more” have obviously never struggled with their weight, WLI is that helping hand that many of us need.

Of course they’ll work. In fact they’ll work more efficiently than if you’re not doing all those things!
MJ and now wegovy have taken my appetite away in the most and when I do eat I’m eating far less as I get full up so quickly.
people saying the old “eat less and move more” have obviously never struggled with their weight, WLI is that helping hand that many of us need.

@Kelly1969 I agree to some extent. I've been on WLI myself, but essentially it still is eating less and moving more.

I've been off MJ completely or 9 months now and weigh less than when I stopped - because I am eating less and moving more. I used the time on WLI to readjust my habits.

yes exactly this. This is what I have deduced. WLIs do the hard work of stopping you feeling hungry, negating the need for will power, because you just don't want to eat as much.

Once you've retrained your brain, you start to naturally make better choices and aren't (hopefully) on them any more, because you start making the same choices to eat less and move more as naturally slim people do.

And it is eat less and move more.

CamillaDonald · Yesterday 15:26
I posted on mumsnet about how I'd gained 5 stone with menopause yet barely ate anything and how I'd tried [long list] ...
I lost no weight at all.
I posted here out of desperation and nobody believed me.
I started using Mounjaro 14 months ago and have dropped 5 stone. No eating plan. No calorie counting. [No exercise]

How did that work? CD is saying she ate very little food on all the other plans and never lost weight. What did MJ do differently for CD that wasn't causing her to eat less? I haven't heard of any other mechanism for how MJ helps people lose weight except by making it easier to not eat too much. What else does MJ do for people trying to lose weight (other than help them not eat too much) ?

Exactly my question.

I have definitely found weight loss faster even on a 1,200 calorie diet. It helps with insulin resistance.