Lost 10kg in a year with no change of eating behaviour - discovered at GP check up

[Missuswalker]

So, I’ve gone from 65 to 55kg in a year and the nurse was starting to talk to me about eating high calorific food and seeing if weight continues to fall? I haven’t had this happen before and my weight as been about 65 for the last 7 years or so I thought! I tend to eat basically what I want, little and often, and am not vegan or vegetarian. Any ideas? It’s kind of scared me today.

Have you been more active than usual?

No, other than I haven’t had a car the last year and used public transport? Surely that couldn’t be it? :/

Well if you have done a lot more walking but continued to eat at the same level then it could result in weight loss. To lose 10kg in about a year, that's around 22 pounds. To lose 22 pounds in a year would mean being in an overall calorie deficit of around 210 calories a day, on average. That could be explained by doing more walking/activity - around an hour of walking each day would use about that many calories for example.

Mumsnet has solved it - I knew I could rely on here!!
Any ideas on what I can easily add in to my diet so that I can say to a doc or nurse in 6 months ‘I’ve been eating a or y daily to up my calorific intake’ so if my weight continues to go down they can investigate? This seemed to be what the nurse I saw today to be suggesting …

As you've posted in the Weights Room, I assume you lift? If so, the best thing to add is extra protein. Personally I like to add an egg a day (on top of whatever I normally eat) as they are among the most nutritionally perfect food while being light enough to snack on. If eggs don't float your boat, then you could add fish - I quite like adding a tin of fish 3 times a week, as again this feels pretty effortless to me. You could even add protein powder if you don't fancy getting extra protein from food (but I prefer wholefood sources personally). While these aren't in themselves calorie dense, they will support healthy muscle formation which will help your lifting.

Absolutely love eggs and fish and I could fit 1/2 portions of these in daily fairly effortlessly / enjoyably, so great healthy, high protein tip! Not just hit the cake (as the nurse suggested 🙄🤦🏼‍♀️).

Also make sure you're hydrating well. Eating more protein requires more water, so you need to make sure you're taking in at least 2 litres a day, more if you can.

There's nothing wrong with hitting some sugary complex carbs if you're feeling sluggish, like you're lacking in energy and need a quick boost. But for longer term weight gain in the context of weightlifting, I'd definitely go for more protein as an everyday addition, and cake when it feels nice!

If this is unexplained and significant I’d be thinking about any other symptoms and asking for some blood tests and checks with the gp just to make sure nothing sinister is going on. While it could be put down to more steps that’s a significant percentage of your weight to lose and shouldn’t really be ignored.

When I am more active I automatically eat more to compensate without even thinking about it. So to me it would seem strange to just lose 10kg due to not having a car.
I think I would give it a few weeks of trying to eat more and if no change then I would be wanting to go back and discuss further. Unexplained weight loss should be checked out.