Why am I overweight? I can't work it out

[Gibralter]

It just doesn't make sense to me. I track every last thing in my fitness pal and I've been eating this way for about 5 months. I'm only overweight by a pound or two but surely I should be a lot slimmer?

Typical days food is:

Two slices of seeded brown bread with low fat spread and marmite OR porridge with blueberries on top OR a glass of fresh orange juice, two eggs and a small slice of toast.

Lunch: Rivita crackers topped with a 20 Calories laughing cow spread, cucumber OR avocado toppings, with banana and Diet Coke, OR sometimes I have for lunch a very small portion of last night's dinner.

Dinner: Vegetable curry (home cooked, low fat), OR vegetable rice and chicken, OR low fat Bolognese OR pesto pasta.

Snacks: Passion fruit (one), banana, raspberries (a handful or so), and sometimes on a Friday, a chocolate brought home by DH. It's rare I have more than 2 of these snacks a day.

Where am I going wrong?

I don't secretly eat other things, I'm also breastfeeding. I walk mostly everywhere. I go up and down a big hill with shopping etc.

I'm not very active indoors but is anyone, apart from my cleaning?

Highhorse By overweight by 1 or two pounds, I mean my BMI is only just over by 1 or two pounds. I agree, my ideal weight is more like 9 stone or less at my height.

I don't know how to cut back much more, I'm breastfeeding and I've been told I'm actually not eating enough. But that's not true because it's been 5 months and still, I've hardly lost a thing.

A pound or two overweight isn't really much to worry about, is it? You can fluctuate twice that amount day to day if you have a high intake of salt etc. I'd say you were doing tremendously, and give yourself a break.

You need to weigh your food. Just from what you’ve described there is potential to go way above 1600 cals!

ItsA To an extent, I do agree with you.

What bothers me about it is I'm not a couple of pounds overweight and eating a few treats here and there, like a normal person. I can't just eat sensibly and have the odd nice thing that is a bit bad for you. I'm literally counting everything and very strict. I never ever go over my calorie intake and the only odd treat I ever have is a small chocolate bar on a Friday if my DH passes a Tesco

It's quite miserable in terms of strictness, and yet I'm not even an ideal weight. I'm breastfeeding too

Glugg you've probably missed it but I do weigh everything

Post children weight does stiiiiiiick like a bastard I have to say. You're tired but not very active with small ones.

I'm 5ft. My gp told me I only needed 1100 calories a day to maintain my ideal weight and 900 a day to lose weight (I'm overweight so I need to work on this). That 1100 included 40 minutes of daily exercise where I break into a sweat.

You need to see your gp/nurse and ask them to point you in the right direction. It may well be that being 5ft 3 you need a lot less calories than you've been eating or a lot more of the right type of calories especially with you still breastfeeding.

anna I think you're right it really pisses me off.

I'm also active for at least 1 hour a day, I walk up/down a big hill with baby in pram or sling. I carry heavy shopping bags. I go swimming once a week

I'm never tired which is good, so I'm thankful my diet has at least helped with energy levels I suppose

It's just all so boring. I wouldn't mind be this size at all if it meant I could relax a little

It’s baffling I’ll admit that

I am very underweight and I eat a LOT more than that.

BUT

High volume low calorie.

So for you dinner load your plate with veg, but reduce the more caloric accompaniment.

Lunch - a salad mountain (undressed) and reduce the accompaniment

Are you on any meds?

What age is the BF baby. After full weaning I cannot imagine they take too many calories from bf.

Otherwise you sound like you are probably a stable weight for you while bf. It is actually quite difficult to lose those last few lbs while you are feeding.

I'd be absolutely starving eating only that in a day

I found the weight stuck while I was feeding. If I tried to create a calorie deficit my milk volume decreased (I was expressing so this was very obvious) and the weight didn't shift anyway. It came off, very slowly, after I stopped expressing.

Your breastfeeding and probably sleep deprived right now which will lead to your cortisol levels being stressed out. This will slow down weight loss or even Holt it.

Your diet is very carb heavy I’d cut out the bread and pasta plus any carbonated drinks for a week or two. Eat more vegetables and snack on those.

Highhorse no medication, but I do take iron tablets and omega 3, and calcium supplements daily

I would have 0 issue being this weight if I could treat myself a bit more.

Pink Baby is 5 months now, exclusively breastfed. Dread to think the weight I would be if I followed the advise of eating even more calories

I didn't breastfeed..for various reasons, and I very much regret that..so I don't actually know what impact that has on ones physiology, but I do know that you have a precious baby there who will grow up more quickly than you ever imagine..you don't have a huge problem and you are being very hard on yourself about it..my advice is worth squat, I know..but I would take a step back, enjoy your baby, and worry about your weight loss a wee bit down the line..before you really upset yourself (not said stridently, but with warmth). Life is short. It's likely that in 20 years time it won't have mattered so much.

I'd be absolutely starving eating only that in a day

You're not the first to say this. Even my DH thinks I'm not eating enough. I am, I think.

Strong I don't want to come across as having answer for everything, so apologies if it does, but baby sleeps over 12 hours a night and I'm definitely not tired so it cannot be that

Wow that is surprising Gibralter you obviously have a pretty low personal tdee.

I found on my fitnesspal that I can only eat 10% of exercise calories at most before I stop losing - are you eating your exercise calories? That could change things.

I'm tall and heavier. My TDEE is 1800 something but I don't lose on it. I only saw results when I cut to 1300 cals and 14:10 way of eating. Sorry!

Do you weigh margerine / oil and prepacked food too? At your size even 30-40 cals extra a day can make the difference between maintenance and long term weight loss. I no longer use tablespoon / cup measurements and weigh stuff like fish fingers too as most are bigger than the recommended portions.

Also need to remember that at your size it will take longer to show a difference and excessive salt intake could bloat over your hard work. You also need to weight train as that will help develop your muscles - in fact weightraining can increase metabolism allowing you to eat more.

In this instance would ask you to check out MyFitnessPal’s community area - full of people who have made significant body size reductions by not losing an awful lot of weight (quite a few women have lost two/three dress sizes with a weight loss of just 2kg!)

ItsASair Thank you I do agree and I'm generally very happy. It's just I can't help but be at the lack of weight loss! It isn't even so much that I am this weight. It would be fine, as I say, if I could at least have a little bit of 'bad food' here and there. I really don't think I can though. Not at this point anyway

That one small bar of chocolate is already being reviewed, I may think about taking it out but would it even make a difference?

I'm another who couldn't she'd the last few pounds while breastfeeding. It dropped off within a few weeks once I stopped when DD was about 18 months.

sorry, shed not she'd

Minnie Thank you for the reassurance! I'm aiming to feed for 2 years so hopefully it'll go after that such a long time to be so strict with such little reward but I will have to do it

I know you won't like it, but the bottom line is your calorie intake of 1600-1700 a day is what you need to maintain. You will need to cut it my a couple of hundred calories a day. I'd remove the snacks. That should do it.

Sorry. 😞