Why am I not losing any weight?

[fortifiedwithtea]

I am hoovering just under 16 stone. I am 5’7” and aged 56.

Three weeks ago I signed up to my fitness pal. According to app with my sedentary lifestyle if I aim for 1530 calories a day I should lose 1.5 per week.

Back story I always feel hungry, have done for as long as I can remember. I always say I don’t deserve to be this fat and this proves it. I am not following a diet as such. Just being more accountable for my choices.

I have lost zero weight and feel constipated.

What I have learned in the last 3 weeks is Heinz soup is not a good choice because of the salt content and that my daily protein is too low. Some days my carbs are too high. But if I am in calorie deficit wouldn’t I lose weight regardless of calorie distribution?

Am I missing something obvious?

If you are in a calorie deficit then yes, you would lose weight regardless of what you eat.

I can eat a family sized bag of m&m’s but, as long as I stick to my calorie target, I still lose weight.

Are you exercising at all and logging it on MFP? That gives you calories to eat back and stalls progress.

Are you accurately weighing and logging everything you consume? Are you checking the data that you are logging has accurate calorie amounts and hasn’t been stored in the app incorrectly?

According to your tdee your weight loss target is 1732 calories so you are likely eating more calories than you think.

I am doing no exercise at all. Not even doing the 10,000 recommended steps a day.

I have arthritis in both knees, moving hurts. Although I had a steroid injection before Christmas. The idea was to lose weight to take the pressure off my knees.

I tried to join a gym in September but the coach did not feel I was fit enough. Turned out I had a chest infection. Given a form for doctor to sign saying I could join the gym, But asthma and 2 long lasting chest infections meant I could only collect the form this week. Gym induction now booked for next week.

I think I am recording as accurately as I can. Where there are several entries For the same item I am playing safe and recording the highest amount.

Not everyone will lose purely through calorie restriction. For some of us it’s a bit more complicated. Especially if you are at all insulin resistant. So low carb, low gi, lots of protein.

The book Why We Eat (Too Much) by Andrew Jenkinson is good and there are threads in here with people following his advice. Dr Jason Fung is also worth a read about insulin.

@Peridot1 thank you for the book recommendation. Insulin resistance had crossed my mind.

i am not diabetic nor do I have a thyroid problem. Multiple bloods tests over the years as I have no energy and feel totally zapped after lunch.

I know you said you have some physical limitations to exercising, however you won't lose weight simply by eating less at your age. Weight training is a good way to burn calories without putting a lot of stress on your knees. Perhaps a personal trainer is a good idea?

After over 30 years of trying every sodding diet under the sun I started Ozempic last February and have lost 3 stone. I wasn’t diabetic but was definitely on the way. I’d fall asleep regularly after lunch but haven’t for ages now.

People can lose weight on bed rest so the exercise thing isn't true IMO.
It's your calories. You are eating more than 1500cals each day. There was a woman posting something similar turned out she relaxed on the weekend and didn't calorie count on Saturdays and Sundays - well duh!

Sounds like you are expecting too much too soon. OK you have adjusted your diet a bit and thats about it.

Do stuff. Walk as much as you can. Take stairs instead of lifts. Try to be a little more active in everything you do. This, along with your better eating will eventually start to make a difference. The gym membership, whilst a good idea is not the thing that will suddenly start the pounds falling off.

If all you do is change your eating habits for a month or so you will soon fall back into the old routine or worse. Get walking/moving/exercising and keep trying to eat well.

How many calories do you think you were consuming per day before you started logging? And are you definitely coming in at 1500 per day now? Including every coffee, sugar, milk, wine, sauces, condiments, cooking oil etc?

Your not losing weight because you aren’t in a calorie deficit. If you claim you are either your TDEE is wrong or you are recording food and drink and coffees inaccurately.
Also don’t log exercise in MFP.

you need to accurately get your TDEE
have weighing scales and weigh food and log
aim for TDEE - 500kcal per day.
make sure you get enough protein.
think someone on another thread said should be 120g of protein for women.
drink 3 litres of water / day. Dilute it with Robinsons it helps to drink it.

You say you are constipated so it makes we wonder if you are getting enough fluids. I know I need to drink extra when I’m dieting.

A few people have said TDEE.

What does TDEE mean please?

I sympathise! I'm 52 and have lost no weight since 10th january but apparently a gp would not consider it a weight loss plateau until you had failed to lose weight for three weeks.

So I just keep going. I'm still experimenting. My calorie allowance per day is about 1266 per day not not all the same every day, I'm going to go under that roungly 3 days and maybe go over it 2 days to stop my metabolism getting used to 1200

I'll see if that works!

I have started to mix 3 grams of psyllium husk in a bit of water and then add it to a bit of plain no usgars alpro plain yoghurt. That is v low carbs, no sugar.

That stuff swells up and fills you up, so a cup of that gloop will fill u up and sort out your iregularity

i'm giving you this advice here but praying that when i step on the scales tomorrow i'll have lost a bit of weight!

Are you choosing low carb where possible? I'm not keto but I try to make the lowest carb choice possible but still eat lots of salads and veg.

I'm on Tier 3 of the NHS programme. I started at a similar weight to you.

They put me on a high protein (60g/day) low calorie (1200/day) diet, which is probably too severe for someone who is not being closely monitored. It was hard at first, but I'm managing. I weigh all my food carefully and read labels all the time. I only drink water unless I have 100 calories left for a hot chocolate at bedtime.

They tell me the protein stops you feeling hungry, and that exercise makes you feel good but it's not the most important thing in losing weight.

TDEE seems to stand for Total Daily Energy Expenditure. I got that from Google, but haven't found a good link I'd trust, eg an NHS one, to explain it.

If you want to add in exercise which will strengthen the muscles around your knees but not give you crippling pain then an exercise bike is the thing. My knee consultant recommended it because it is low impact but really beneficial to knees. After a few months you'll find normal walking and stairs (especially climbing them) much easier. Start at a low resistance and then raise it as it gets easier. Good luck.

@NoExpectationsAtAll thank you. Will go back and read posts again now that I know what it means. So it s the number of calories I use a day just to function . I am seeing the importance of protein. Consistently I am low on protein.

@SleepingisanArt DH converted his bike to a static during lockdown. So if the garage isn’t too clustered I could try that.

Yes definitely up your protein. Lentil soup instead of tomato. Eggs. Get on the exercise bike. Drinks lots of water. Read up about glucose too. Try to avoid too much sugar/fruit as it makes your glucose levels spike.

I’m 50 and at our age we need to up protein, walk (cycle will be good for you) and lift weights. Can you afford a personal trainer?

here's a calculator

To lose weight I have to go down to 1266 per day approx as per this calculator but that's ebcause i'm quite sedentary. I could walk to the moon and back and some days I do! but it just makes me hungry.

And although it's hard to get hold of, full fat greek plain yoghurt, add some frozen raspberries (it's expensive otherwise) and then you can bring that to work, it's so much more filling than a sugary low fat yoghurt. Manufacturers ahven't cottened on that people want fat in their yoghurt now.

Try reading Michael Mosley and about fasting or keto. Sugar and carbs are your enemy

Google James Smith TDEE and use his calculator to get accurate calorie allowance. I found it to be hugely different to my fitness pal, although I use that to log calories. Px

I'm the same weight and height and sedentary and am losing on around 1200-1500 calories a day. This includes crisps and chocolates as long as I count them in.

Breakfast for me is 200g of Skyr - other brands are available. 126 Kcal, 21.2g protein.

That's 1/3 of my protein for the day on 10% of the calories.

Carbs are not the enemy.