No starchy carbs for 8 weeks

[maxiboo]

But I haven't lost a single pound. Not one. Every morning I tell myself it's bound to work at some point. But it's just not making any difference at all. Surely I should have lost some weight? What am I doing wrong?? I've replaced bread, pasta, potatoes with only fruit and veg and keeping calories down to 1200.

[quote maxiboo]@ketowinnie thanks will look i to this again. I tried AF last year with again, no success 😩[/quote]
You might find it easier now that you've cut back on carbs! I was surprised.

Yeh, the first time, I got to 17.00 and I felt hungry and cracked and had something to eat. I regretted it immediately! So I tried again in a couple of days and just rode out that 17.00 pang. It passed. It was easy.

And it has got me through a plateau.

Like you, my body has adjusted to fewer calories than I would ideally like. My TDEE is lower than the recommendation I'd be given if I did a ''calculate my calorie intake'' kind of quiz.

I don't want my body to get used to eating even less but if you do not fast alternative days, it won't. You eat about 150 more calories the following day allow that it's all part of the process.

I want to lose weight without training my body to get by on 1100 cals per day!!!

Some days I have 1700, maybe once a week, I relax, then a mix of , 1450 , and a couple of days 1200 but with the 36 hour fast in the middle it has been taking the weight off slowly.

@wowfudge I get what you're saying and you are right. I'm sure I can make other changes but I'm just so confused as to why reducing starchy carbs has made no difference. On the whole my diet/exercise has been the same as always, but now I've just taken out the carbs.

@KetoWinnie as above, so perhaps low carb doesn't work for me? I dunno, it's so disheartening having been so strict throughout lockdown with no results!

Honestly at this point @maxiboo I'd say fuck the diet for a while. Don't go mad. But your body has gotten used to 1200 cals per day. Take it up a bit. If you were able to fast twice a week you could still be able to eat 1500 cals a day, and still have an overall weekly calorie intake that was less than what it is now, but you'd be training your body that it needs 1500 cals a day on an eating day.

Try it!!

@KetoWinnie ok fuck the diet You may be right... thanks! xx

So much tosh on this thread!! Seriously, it is as simple as calories in vs. calories out. There have been myriad studies and experiments carried out proving the calories in/out thing - e.g. the twinkies diet. What's more complex is how you get those calories - for some low-carbing works to help curb appetite and therefore keep to a lower calorie intake. For others it's something else.

Where did you get the 1200 calories from as what you need to eat to lose weight? It sounds incredibly low (unless you're very short or already very light). As a point of reference. I'm 5'7" and have gone from about 10st (142lbs) to just over 9lbs (127lbs) in the past year or so through pretty religiously tracking what I eat/ counting macros. I've never eaten below 1450 cals a day (but my protein is around 120g a day) and I eat bread and chocolate every day. On weekends I eat more. For me it's really important that no food is labelled 'bad' or 'forbidden' (e.g. starchy carbs), otherwise I end up wanting them just because I can't have them. Adjusting my mental approach to food by not making anything off limits has been a huge game changer for me.

First thing is to properly work out what you need to eat to lose weight. If you set your cals too low it's impossible to stick to. You need them just low enough... Don't rely on MFP's calculator - it's notoriously inaccurate. I highly recommend the facebook forum 'Macros Inc.' It's very US -focused and can get a bit full-on, but it's hosted by nutritionists who know what they're talking about. They have a website too with a very useful macros calculator which will help you work out what you need to eat to lose fat. If you're on Instagram follow 'Thefitnesschef' (Graeme Tomlinson). He published a book recently that debunks a lot of the 'diet' myths being spouted above.

Secondly, don't add back in calories for exercise. It's really unlikely you burn 200-250 cals per day walking with the kids.

Good luck! It's demoralising when you feel you've been making sacrifices but not getting results. But what I've learnt on my journey of trying to get 'leaner' is that you have to be accurate - both in terms of your daily macro/calorie goals and also in tracking what you eat.

Glendora - I wholeheartedly agree with you. One of the PTs at the gym I'm a member of writes a weekly blog. He often posts that the way to lose weight is by being in calorie deficit.

Secondly, don't add back in calories for exercise. It's really unlikely you burn 200-250 cals per day walking with the kids.

Agree with this. Exercise should be a bonus for well being etc not a way to eat more food. Especially when trying to lose weight.

I think I have read before that FitBit is not that accurate with calorie burn for walking. So agree with previous posters don't add in the calories you have walked. However it is more accurate with calorie burn for running, so you could try running!

[quote maxiboo]@KetoWinnie ok fuck the diet You may be right... thanks! xx[/quote]
You need a new plan!

@Glendora {facepalm}, it isn't as simple as calories in calories out. That is a part of it but to say that 'a part' is all of it is ridiculous especially given all of the studies that show that it's not that simple. what ancient studies are you clinging to?

Although simply reducing calories may work (not always though clearly) for losing weight in the short term, 95% of people fail to keep off the weight if this was the basis of their weight loss strategy.

The standard wisdom has moved on but some people are clinging to calories in calories out quite stubbornly.

@maxiboo few good people to follow on youtube, Dr Becky Gallaspy, Dr Eric Berg - they all low carb or keto plus fasting channels. They both produce clips quicker than I can watch them!

Not churning out videos on a youtube channel but Dr Jason Fung, all of his books very interesting. I don't even have diabetes but I'm going to get that one next having read his books on fasting and obesity.

What are you basing your claims on @KetoWinnie?

Simple fact is that a varied diet which includes all food groups will work for weight loss providing the calories in are fewer than the calories expended.

Diets which cut out major food groups are unnecessary and can lead to disordered eating. Similarly referring to "clean eating" and demonising some foods is not a healthy approach to food.

Btw - far too many of us have lost sight of what portion sizes we should be eating for healthy eating and eat far too much food high in sugar and fat.

Science

@wowfudge

What are you basing your claims on *@KetoWinnie*?

Simple fact is that a varied diet which includes all food groups will work for weight loss providing the calories in are fewer than the calories expended.

Diets which cut out major food groups are unnecessary and can lead to disordered eating. Similarly referring to "clean eating" and demonising some foods is not a healthy approach to food.

The OP's goal is weightloss. Just reminding you. Low carb is not cutting out carbs. Although people have lost sight of normal portions, if op only eating 1200 pd, that is not her slip up.

There is a lot to look at in the face of a plateau. But continuing endlessly with calorie deficit when your body has adapted to that is pointless and frustrating.

@Glendora how to you manage to eat 120g protein a day? What are your typical meals and snacks? Thanks

Cut the fruit, they are high in Carbs. Eat veg only.

Is your smoothy made from fruit ?

So you aren't eating 1200 calories you are eating 1400-1500?
That's still pretty low if you are genuinely 3 stone overweight (not 3 stone above where you would like to be) and it's very strange that you haven't lost weight. Have you weighed every morsel? Have you worked out your TDEE?

@AnaViaSalamanca

Today:
Breakfast: eggs (2 + extra whites) w/ spinach and mushrooms on toast
Morning snack: protein bar + coffee w/ milk (other days this is usually toast and jam and coffee with protein powder added to the milk)
Lunch: homemade pita bread with a kind of beetroot slaw with leftover lean roast pork and some other bits and bobs. Some cherries. A mini Chomp bar
Dinner: pesto baked cod with a kind of white bean and leek and pea mash thing
Later on: non-fat Greek Yoghurt with berries and maple syrup
That’s 115g protein and 1380ish cals so far. So I’ve got a bit of wiggle room to have more yoghurt/ add some nuts later or have a bit of chocolate.

That’s a typical weekday, on which I currently aim for about 1450 cals, 120g of which protein. I’ll stick with this for another month or so until I go into ‘maintenance’ mode for the rest of the summer.

Because of thyroid/age/ whatever I have to keep quite low carb plus low calorie (1400) to shift the weight.

I tried cutting carbs to under 20g a day but was having too much fat so didnt work for me. I am on the go most of the day but atm not doing many steps (4k max) but it is shifting slowly. 1-2lbs a week .

Worth a try OP!

@Glendora thanks, very helpful

I don't believe the OP has plateaued - there's a lot of rubbish talked about this - she's consuming more calories than she thinks/realises and is therefore maintaining her current weight.

You don't need to remind me the OP wants to lose weight KetoWinnie.