I'm not losing weight and according to Reddit it isn't body recomposition

[Onlyrainbows]

I have an average calorie deficit of 500cals (that includes cheat days), workout regularly and in the past month I think I've lost 100g (if that). I know I look fit/toned and I'm losing inches here and there, but considering I don't lift it's not like I'm gaining muscle. I don't think I can reduce my calorie intake much more , I already feel fairly tired due to my iron deficiency. Shall I just do full cardio for that hour and try to see how that goes?

I don't think this OP needs to become even more obsessed with restricting what she eats. She's healthy apart from her iron deficiency. Calorie counting does work, doesn't matter how you achieve it, but you have to do it properly. Not by guess work.

OP - re-read what you have posted. Here's a snippet: They're the least accurate things in this world, but I would say give you a good ballpark figure.

How can you say that and believe it? It's totally contradictory! The very most you can logically say is that give a guide. But if you believe they are the least accurate thing in the world, why would pay them any attention at all? Your lack of logic shows your thinking is skewed.

It all comes from the simple fact that I'm naturally heavy. Nobody would be able to believe that somebody who isn't an elite athlete fits in a size 6 jumpsuit (although it's Gap which are the worse for vanity sizing) and has an "overweight" BMI. I prefer myself skinny (but within a healthy BMi) I've achieved this twice (the first one I kept 2/3) of my weight off, and the second I kept 40% of the second loss off. Both followed exactly the same logic in terms of food yet, it was way easier to lose weight. One thing this time is that I'm clearly heavier but at the same time I'm smaller than if I had been the same weight a year ago.

My guess is that regardless that I don't lift, even the body weight exercises are working and doing a similar job

This sounds odd though. To me, hummus and a carrot, counted out grapes, a slice of toast and some yoghurt is snacking. Why not make an actual meal?

If you eat your Skyr in 4 days, do you replace it with something else, or do you just go hungry?

If your current method of eating the same food every day isn’t working, why not try a range of different foods (whilst still tracking).

Your body needs good nutrition to work effectively. Eating too little is not good, nor is eating a limited range of the same foods. Yes you need a calorie deficit to lose weight, but you also need energy to perform. You say you already have poor energy due to an iron problem, you need to think about fuelling yourself a bit better.

Your body doesn't want to be a size 6. You're abusing it massively and if you don't get a hold of yourself, you're storing up trouble for your elderly years OP.

Chuck out the scales and get a tape measure. Scales mean fuck all.

Honestly, people counting out grapes and tracking every movement in order to go down from a size eight to a size six need a specialist forum. I can't see that mumsnet is the place for this.

How many times are you going to post about being 'heavy', running, not running, not being slim enough, not being able to see differences in the photos of your body, etc, in different places on mumsnet before a) you see your gp about a potential ED and b) before MNers stop telling people they're eating too much/they need to lose weight without thinking this could be an ED?

Believe it or not I'm not classified as to have an ED because I don't binge eat, and I don't starve myself and have a healthy a BMI (technically overweight). And believe it or not I don't obsess about it, I'm just puzzled, but it is what it is, and just keep doing what I'm doing as it keeps me healthy. Hopefully one day I'll be able to go back to competitive running.

Pilates is amazing for body recomp. I started it due to back problems and never meant to lose weight, I've always been thin. After 6 months my weight is exactly the same but I honestly look very different. I just saw an old and a recent pic of me in swimwear the other day and I was really surprised. I wasn't doing it for a particular lean look but it's a nice bonus! I don't do weights. However you do have to commit to it and do it properly and at the beginning it's hard. Also I must confess I never grew to love it in the way people claim you will. Its a chore to me. But my back has improved so much.

You post quite a lot about weight and nutrition etc etc. and there's nothing wrong with that of course but when you're as obsessed as you appear to be, I m not sure that it's good for you.

It's also not good for you to be counting out grapes and aspiring to be a size 6 and the answer probably lies somewhere in some sort of therapy to try and break this obsessive cycle

Looking at your post history, I’d say it’s clear that you DO obsess about it.

Including this thread, you have six threads open about your weight in the last few weeks.That’s pretty obsessive.

In response to a pp's post upthread I've just checked your posting history OP. You seem obsessed with weight loss in a really unhealthy way. It would do you more good to change what you are eating and get your digestive system working better. In your shoes I would concentrate on that.

Good point @WeAreTheHeroes - I hadn't checked the OP's posting history. Just saw the obsession with calories

So much this. There is no talk on your posts about nutrition and a healthy body, you are counting out grapes and eating dry lettuce for dinner. This isn't a healthy attitude to have. Seek professional help instead of shopping for 'advice' on various forums.

It’s not your cardio, it’s your cheat days.

In that case your daily average is 1400 cals.

But I can't make my digestive system to work any better :( it took 10 years and genomic sequencing to actually figuring out what I have. Two doctors ended up coming up with that conclusion which is why I ended up having to get my DNA tested. Which showed it was true and I have that very rare condition. It's so rare that one of the doctors offered to write a paper about me. Basically changes in my diet (in terms of nutritional value) will have little to no effect.

I'm not entirely sure it's the cheat days, as for the first month I was considerably more laxe about my calorie intake and still lost weight, that's sort of the mystery.

But since I've lost inches, does it really matter? Which is the way I'm trying to look at it.

There are so many things in my life I can't control (including my syndrome which is a much bigger blow than possible cancer as at least that's curable).

In the past I've been able to control my weight much more effectively, I can't (or at least not on a way that's not going to cause me even more stress) do I think that I'll just have to chuck it to the bucket of things I can't control.

@Onlyrainbows i listened to this YouTube last night and thought of your thread.
hopefully it’s helpful. The topic is female weight loss and training.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=FfNXJt4_MoQ

I don't loose weight either. I run 6 days a week. 45-50 miles a week. Lift weights once.

I was logging and weighing everything I ate. 1,350 calories a day. Zero cheat days.

Now I've given up. I eat when I'm hungry and just make sensible food choices 95% of the time.

I've not gained any weight. The more I obsessed over it, the worse I felt tbh.

I need to up my weights to twice a week really.

I'm 5ft 3" the same as you. And not all cancer is curable and even the ones that are can leave with you with side effects.

I've not been the same since 2020 when I had cancer.

It’s not uncommon to lose a lot more weight in the first few weeks of a diet. That’s because the initial loss is not just fat, it’s also glycogen, which is stored in your body with water. So when you lose the glycogen + you lose the water = a bigger loss than you’re likely to get later on in your diet.

You may find an app like Happy Scales useful as that creates a graph for you that shows trends, not individual measurements which can vary day to day. I’d also consider taking a hammer to your phone camera, or just stop taking all these selfies. You look fine. Just keep working on accepting that.

Finally, your comment about cancer is so ignorant. I don’t even know where to start with that, but I see @Chesneyhawkes1 has already got that covered.

@CrimsonAlligator I wanted to say more 🤦‍♀️

I'm sure my friend aged 33, with stage 4 breast cancer would take any syndrome going just to have a few more years with her young child.

She wouldn't care what size her body was.

That comment really pissed me off and you are right - so blood ignorant.

I made the cancer comment, because I AM under cancer investigation and hasn't made me feel as bad as the syndrome diagnosis. It's not our of ignorance it comes from my own experience with the (sure early stages) of what could be a cancer journey.

When I first saw the oncologist yeah I had a cry and everything, but the more I understood about a syndrome that has basically meant that I'll never feel myself again (and that nobody cares about because it's so rare) I was like fantastic! Not only that, but because of the low iron, I also develop neurological symptoms, I'm at a higher risk of a heart attack, and my hypothyroidism (which is a by-product) can go out of whack too. And the only "cure" can cause anaphylaxis the more I use it, but that's the only thing that get me back to normal. So the more I thought about it, the more I thought that of the two "evils" knowing that I can have cancer never made me feel as low.

So I'm terribly sorry I didn't specify that the one with having to also go through the cancer diagnostic journey wasn't me. I was talking from my very own POV.

@Onlyrainbows so you have an oncologist? So you have cancer then?