What am I doing wrong?

[Bobbiepin]

Started 10 days ago, lost 3lbs in the first few days and was happy and literally nothing since (went up one lb and back down).

I am monitoring calories - my BMR is 1580 approx. so I'm trying to eat around 1200, and making a lot of that veg, I'm drinking a ton of water, cycling (on a stationary bike) between 10-20km per day and running three times a week, plus running around after a 2 year old and daily walks with her. I've cut down massively on sugar and definitely feeling the sugar crash.

I'm not hungry as such, just around meal times so not starving myself or doing anything drastic. Why is the scale not shifting even a little? I have measured myself but I'm expecting that to take longer to show a difference.

Doesn’t work that way I’m afraid. Old science. You are completely ignoring the fact that sugar triggers insulin which is the fat storing hormone. A calorie is not a calorie is not a calorie.

It’s not about not having treats. It’s about eating in a way that firsbtvtrigger insulin. It’s the crux of the whole thing. Personally I don’t eat keto but many people do abs swear by it. I would happily eat melon and potato but I would do it within a meal. I wouldn’t snack on melon or any fruit but I also wouldn’t say you can’t eat it.

*doesnt trigger

@justanotherneighinparadise If you can provide me with a link to something that says you can put weight on whilst eating below your daily calorie needs, I will eat all my hats, and I've got quite a lot of hats, including a bowler which would probably be hideously chewy.

I'm ignoring 'the fact that sugar triggers insulin which is the fat storing hormone' because it's not relevant. You can have all the fat storing hormone you like, but you can't make fat out of nothing.

I don't disagree that insulin resistance can be a thing - cutting down in carbs certainly helped me shift weight! But my very active other half eats a plate of pasta and cheese for lunch every single day, 2 bowls of Special K for breakfast and then half a baguette every day with dinner. It's not unusual for him to have another bowl of Special K for a snack after dinner.

But he doesn't snack between meals and never eats chocolate or any junk food. Dinner is always lean meat and vegetables and yoghurt for dessert.

He is 6'1 and weighs 10 and a half stone and hasn't got a scrap of fat on him. So carbs aren't necessarily the enemy as part of a balanced diet.

But @kersh33 that’s your OH’s genetic and metabolic make up. Assuming he is male he won’t have the same hormone profile as a woman. We are designed to store fat. You can’t sweep insulin resistance to one side as that’s the exact thing that is causing weight gain for most people. You e said yourself directly you controlled carbs you lost weight. That’s because you reduced one of the dietary insulin triggers. So you reduced your fat storing hormone and you lost fat. Go figure!

@Eckhart I’m happy for you to disagree with me. I have to go and pick up my weeks click and collect shopping so I don’t have time to sit and collect links for you. If you want to continue believing what you believe that’s fine with me 👌

Well that's exactly it. I think it works for some but not necessarily others. I suspect that some may be more sensitive than others.

Though I reduced carbs I also cut out breakfast and did 16:8, had 3 days a week where I ate under 800 calories and was running 10k 3 times a week. But I still ate bread 4 times a week. Ate pasta at least once a week and still had fruit for desserts. So I wasn't doing keto by any stretch of the imagination.

justanotherneigh

www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325328

Here's a quote from the above article:

'Eating too many calories can lead to excess blood glucose levels and increased fat storage. This may be especially true while taking insulin.

Premeasuring portions and keeping a food log can prevent a person from eating more calories than their body needs'

Here is another article:
www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/in-depth/insulin-and-weight-gain/art-20047836

And another, with a pertinent quote below:

www.thespikeapp.com/blog/will-insulin-make-me-gain-weight

'To sum it up, the best way to avoid weight gain is to keep your diet, physical activity [and diabetes] always working hand in hand, and focusing on improving your lifestyle and eating habits in favor of your health rather than blaming insulin [therapy] for weight changes.'

When you get time, if you can provide an article disproving physics, and stating that the energy needed to produce fat can come from thin air, that'd be good. Otherwise, it looks a lot like you're talking balderdash and misleading OP (and others)

I forgot to include the relevant quote from the Mayo Clinic. Here it is:

'But if you take in more calories than you need to maintain a healthy weight — given your level of activity — your cells will get more glucose than they need. Glucose that your cells don't use accumulates as fat.'

I think low carb works well for some and less well for others. I couldn’t do it myself as I have tried before and felt awful. It just doesn’t agree with me and I’d be much better off with potatoes and melon. For those who are insulin resistant and enjoy eating that way, it’s fine. But if you hate it and make yourself do it just to lose the weight and then go back to your old way of eating, you’re likely to pile it back on. It’s also the case that some people will thrive on a high carb diet and will not gain fat on it.

And remember that until Atkins, the main advice was low fat, high carb. No diet has a high rate of success and I am afraid that that includes low carb. Most who diet will regain weight, whatever method they used. It’s not like success rates have gone through the roof since the advent of low carb diets.

It’s not like success rates have gone through the roof since the advent of low carb diets

That's a good point, Shed There's such peddling of nonsense and part science that people rarely seem to understand the basic facts. Before the diet industry came along, one partner worked in the field and was all muscle, and the other stayed in the house, also working very hard, but less physically, and got a bit portly. The reason so many people are overweight is because in current society, there's a dearth of exercise, and it's so easy to eat more than you need. It's so lacking in complication.

Oh I've missed a lot here. I'm not doing keto or cutting out sugar completely. I'm trying to cut down calories and cutting down on sugar in some places helped that. I had pasta last night and loved it. I love my food (clearly a little too much) and I know banning things I love will not work.

I am human, I can't control my insulin or the laws of physics but I can control what goes in my body. If I want 3 squares of chocolate after a meal, I will have it, but believe me when I say prior to this I would have eaten the whole family sized bar. Keto, IF, insulin/glucose etc aside, that is a better choice that will support weight loss.

Bobbiespin definitely sounds like a big improvement. Same with me. I was overweight because I overate. I am losing now because I am cutting down. I am not doing low carb but the weight is coming off.

Eckhart agree that exercise is key. In the past there were fewer obese people but people did not eat low carb. They ate bread and potatoes and even sugar but they were more active and burned it off. It does annoy me a bit when people say weight loss has nothing to do with exercise because the level of physical activity is the one thing that is different between now and say the 1950s. I think that long term, unless you’re prepared to watch your diet like a hawk, the only realistic chance you have of keeping it off is having an active lifestyle.

Also in the 50s, you bought sweet treats (like sherbet lemons!) by the quarter pound, and that was for the week. And Mum might make a cake once a week, and everybody got to have ONE slice. Avoiding calories now is like avoiding gnats on a summer evening by a lake!

My mum has always had issues with her weight and I do remember that being a key feature of my childhood. Even now my super slim grandmother is on at her to lose weight. She used to hide sweets and biscuits etc and I remember thinking that when I was buying my own food I would get whatever I wanted, maybe I took that too far!

I used to run and weight train and that combined with an extended period of illness meant I was in the best shape of my life but severe morning sickness in my pregnancy and a damaged nerve in my back (thanks DD) put the exercise on the back burner for too long.

My friend has been doing keto for as long as its been a thing. She has stuck to it religiously for the whole lock down. She has been so honest and tracked everything she has eaten. She does keto baking etc.. She has nit had anything that is not allowed on keto.... She has put on weight.

I have been eating as normal, I have tracked calories on a diet app and most of my calories are made up of carbs and fat (I'm trying to eat more protein but find it hard). I eat chocolate every day. I have lost a stone during lock down.

So just based on us two I'd say keto is a load of rubbish

How did you both work out how many calories you need, @metronome1?

@metronome1 are you vegetarian? Maybe we could help with finding some more protein for you

To OP, I personally found when I am dieting, I normally also attempt exercising, and find the weight does drop as expected. I've found for myself that post exercise muscles retain water and especially the day after exercise, so best to weigh not the day after exercise but some days later. Maybe different for all but definitely the case for me.

@Eckhart I use my fitbit to look at calories. Not sure what my friend does.

@Bobbiepin I'm not vegetarian but I don't eat a lot of meat. My mum is vegetarian so I was brought up only eating meat occasionally and have stuck to it out of habit.