Cannot seem to lose weight!

[Whocansay]

My weight has been slowly creeping up over the past couple of years.
I am trying to lose 12lbs to get back down to 9st. I have been doing WW for 3 weeks and have lost NOTHING!

I am very active, as I run every day. I have been eating mostly zero points foods, which has meant I've eaten very few carbs. My portion sizes are generous, but apparently this shouldn't matter with zero point foods? I had a day off on Easter Sunday, but I didn't got mad with food.

My skin looks better and I appear to be firmer, so there are good things happening. But I just want to lose some weight! What am I doing wrong? !?!? Any advice is very welcome.

How far do you run? Could you increase distance?

It's early days, it will come. But you could add some intermittent fasting, ie. skip breakfast (only have water) so that you don't eat for 16-18 hours after dinner the day before. Just once or twice a week.

Thanks both of you for posting. I run at least 5K in the week, and 8K at weekends. I also do pilates once per week and try and walk wherever possible.

Will have a go with the fasting. I'm not generally a breakfast person, so that would suit me.

Taking WW out of it, you should look at how many calories you are consuming. Your body will need a certain ratio of fat/protein and carbs. I find that being very strict with food and quite active can put you into too much of a calorie deficit and while that should result in weight loss there are so many other factors there that could be going on. Good metabolic adaptation and see what I mean

Do you mean you run 40k a week or 13k? Just wondering because at your weight it's probably about 100 cal per mile so 13k might not be burning as much as you think .

Porridgeprincess I'm definitely very low on carbs at the moment. They are relatively high in 'points' and so have been avoiding them / substituting wherever possible.

tootsweet30 yes I run around 36K per week (more if the weather's good). I used to run more than this, and I suspect one of the reasons I have put weight on to start with is that I was eating the same as when I was more active.

36k a week and no carbs to fuel...what about fats ? Do you eat much fat ? Your body needs to be well nourished to lose weight properly ! Can you give a typical days food?

No, I haven't been eating fats at all really. I have been sticking with the zero points foods, so lots of veg (but no potatoes / avocado, etc), chicken breast, salmon (not smoked), eggs, lentils, chick peas, no fat natural yoghurt, etc. No rice / pasta / bread. Where fat is required for cooking I will use a few sprays of Fry Light. Maybe I should join properly and go to the meetings. I am clearly doing this wrong! I have been feeling significantly more tired than usual when I do run.

You could be insulin-resistant. I discovered retrospectively that I had been for years (at least 15 yrs) and couldn't figure out why I had a podgy belly. I was slender everywhere else, active, running a household, doing a full-time job, and eating a Med diet, no sweet tooth, etc etc.

A simple blood test will confirm or deny. Ask the GP.

BrittW That sounds like me! Legs and arms are toned, but the belly will not shift!

I will get that checked out. What does it mean, and is there anything I can do about it if I am?

This will sound weird but are you sure you're not cutting down too much, so your body is going into starvation mode and clinging on to the weight?

You would be better to calculate your Tdee and subtract a number from that to give a caloric deficit and eat within that number. It's an inconvenient truth, and I hate it myself, but if we are consistently "eating at a deficit" and not losing weight, it's because we aren't. We don't get to outwit that old, much hated, calories in calories out thing I'm afraid. Wish we could!

How tall are you? It's harder to lose weight when you're near the bottom of your normal range BMI. Particularly if you've got good muscle and low body fat as is likely if you run plenty.

What does it mean, and is there anything I can do about it if I am?

Insulin resistance is a pre-cursor to diabetes. From what you say, you are doing everything correctly now with your food, i.e. low carb, no rice-pasta-bread. You will need a blood test to check what your blood glucose is in the morning, no food or drink for 12 hrs before.

I went on to develop type 2 diabetes. It took me a while to figure out why I got this, and my consultant explained that if you have a protracted period of extreme stress (I'm talking years & years of unremitting awfulness), the stress increases the cortisol level in your blood and it stays elevated. This will eventually naff up your endocrine system and cause you to become either insulin-resistant or a full diabetic because cortisol interferes with metabolism of food. Eventually you will gain weight generally, not just on the belly.

Unfortunately GPs and others have got it stuck in their heads that ALL type 2 diabetes is caused by obesity, and that is absolutely not the case. They see insulin resistance being caused by being overweight, when in fact it can be the other way around - the I.R. has caused the extra weight.

I did have a thorough medical a couple of months ago as I had an 'over 40' mot. Glucose / cholesterol all good then, so seems unlikely that I would be insulin resistant?

I have very little visceral fat. I am 5'4'' and BMI is 23.6, so am generally pretty healthy.

I haven't been going hungry, as allegedly you can eat unlimited amounts of 'zero points' foods, and I am quite greedy! I suspect the awful truth is I am simply still eating too many calories. Maybe WW isn't for me and I should do it the old fashioned way of calorie counting. I will have to have a rethink. Thanks all for your comments.

Just to point out, that if you're eating things like lentils and chickpeas, you're not really eating a low carb diet!

You don't have much to lose, so sadly it will come off slowly.