I have never lost weight through exercise, no matter how much I do, despite having strictly controlled my diet for years now, since I was 14 or thereabouts (I definitely don't eat more to outweigh the effects of the exercise).
While I used to be able to lose weight through dieting I always had to go to pretty extreme measures (when I started trying to diet around age 11 or so I tried several of the "big name" diets at the time (Rosemary Conley etc) but ended up putting weight on rather than losing it simply because I was overweight on a calorie intake below the diets I tried). I was, however, able to lose weight.
I have been on anti-depressants for around 10 years now though (although not for depression) and since being on them, the only way I seem to be able to lose weight is by eating below the 100 calories a day line, something which I find nearly impossible to do for more than a few days at a time. I have had my thyroid tested god knows how many times and various other things done too but no doctor can find anything wrong with me. I've even had my metabolism tested but the figure came out far above what I was actually eating (I am a former anorexic so I know a thing or two about counting calories - I am not doing it wrong).
While trying to work out what the hell is wrong with me and what I can do about it I came across a few articles suggesting I may not be the only one having this problem. I just wondered if anyone else has had the experience but is 100% sure that they are calorie counting correctly?
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Anyone else had the experience of eating less and/or exercising more but not losing weight?
girlnearedinburgh · 16/03/2014 14:09
Further to my last post, this research paper (press.endocrine.org/doi/full/10.1210/jc.2005-0576) discusses a survey in which obese patients with a specific gene did not lose weight on a diet of 1200 calories a day. So 1500 would be too much for them as it is for many people, myself included. Yes, many people are lucky enough to call this a healthy diet or even a low calorie diet but for many of us it isn't healthy and we are or would be obese on it. And no, I don't drink 3 litres of water a day, MrRected, I thought that had been proven not to actually have any health benefits? I may have missed new research though so correct me if I'm wrong.
CurlyhairedAssassin - I'm on anti-depressants for a sleeping disorder. I take them at night and they knock me out completely! But have the pleasant side effect of ensuring I'm usually in a good mood (and the not so pleasant side effect of making weight loss impossible 
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Girl - apologies because this may sound brutal but I am concerned about you. You may feel like you are healthy but I honestly doubt that. You have been dieting for 20 years, from the age of 11. During a period when you should be building strong bones and muscles you deprived your body of necessary calories and therefore nutrients. Throughout your adult life you have been eating a (sometimes extremely) restricted diet that will be having an effect on your health.
When we restrict calories and lose weight, our body loses water, a little fat and (estimates say) up to 70% muscle. Fat is the body's emergency store cupboard, what we hang on to the hardest in case of starvation. Each of us has a 'set point' of fat that the body wants to maintain. So muscle is the first source of energy the body will use in the absence of sufficient food coming in. It is also our calorie burning 'engine', burning many more calories, even at rest, than fat. So say you lose 2 stone through calorie restriction, you lose up to 20lbs of muscle. When you eat normally again and regain the weight though, two things happen - if you dieted long enough, your 'set point' of fat will have shifted upwards, so 'normal' calories are interpreted by the body as overeating and more fat is stored than before. It is also much easier for our body to store fat than to build muscle, so this is what it does. So the two stone you regain is up to 20lbs of fat. Therefore after this diet you are the same weight as you were before, but actually require less calories to maintain that weight, because you have less muscle. Every single time you diet - lose and regain weight - the process repeats and is multiplied over and over. So you can see why, over time, calorie restricted diets become harder and less effective. The only way to combat this effect whilst restricting calories is to eat high levels of protein and do plenty of resistance exercise to build/maintain muscle mass.
Year after year of doing the above will have affected your body OP - as oscarwilde succinctly put it, your metabolism is no doubt 'f**cked'. AD's will also be creating chaos with your hormones and exacerbating the effect (as would sleep deprivation but it doesn't sound like that is an issue). You could go and get a full set of tests done to check bone density, nutrient levels etc to see if my guess is right...if they are as I expect though, weight gain may be the least of your issues with pregnancy 
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My advice to you would not be to try and lose weight at the moment but to try and maintain it whilst adjusting your fat:muscle ratio. Change your diet to include lots more protein - aim for at least 1g per lb of body weight per day. Add in an omega 3 supplement as you are likely lacking in EFA's and try and eat more good fat-raw nuts, avocado, you are good with oily fish, olive oil or coconut oil. Ditch the low fat versions of food, the mullerrice (have full fat greek yoghurt) and cut down on the wine. Start doing some resistance training, ideally free weights, 20 minutes, at least 3 times a week. Stop weighing yourself but take measurements of your body instead. Even just by eating more protein you should hopefully gain some muscle and whilst this may push your weight up, it should only affect your body measurements by shrinking them.
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