Aibu to ask why I'm not losing weight

[memesndmoreme]

Just that really. I'm eating less and healthier, no crisps, the odd sweet treat, walking more and exercising and no weight what so ever is coming off. Really don't know what I'm doing wrong? Any suggestions. Typical days food consists of porridge, wrap for lunch and then dinner things like spaghetti bol, stir fry, pasta, chicken. Drink plenty of water.

Your diet sounds extremely high carb. Its worth mentioning that the low fat, high carb diet that's been pushed since the late 80s has been totally discredited as health, and is a major reason why western populations have ballooned in size. Before our wedding my husband and I adopted a low carb diet (no low fat food, full fat milk etc and very little carbs like pasta). The first 2 to 3 months were hard as your body gets used to a traditional diet again, but after that you dont really feel hungry anymore as the weight continues to drop off.

Thankyou, what would your typical day look like with the diet you described? X

How heavy/tall are you OP? I think a lot of it depends on how much you have to lose. And are you menopausal? If so, that could explain a lot. The other thing to watch out for is portion size. I'm also struggling to lose weight but am menopausal and that's totally changed my ability to shed the pounds. I'm not massively overweight but have gained a stone over the last year. I'm doing resistance training 4 days a week and trying to up the protein and reduce the carbs (especially in the evenings). Could you swap your evening meal for lunchtime as then you'll potentially burn off the pasta etc with exercise during the afternoon? Good luck - it's so hard and demotivating when you don't see results, but my muscle tone has definitely improved so that's something.

I'm mid thirties, 5 foot 9 and 14 stone. So I don't look massively overweight but I can see it and the BMI puts me in the overweight category. I'd like to lose 2 stone I would be happy with that. That's a good idea about changing around evening meal. As I try to save calories throughout the day to have a decent sized evening meal, although I'm not strict on calories counting, I do try to be mindful. God its hard.

Agree its so demotivating, in the past I have been able to lose weight with small changes and then seeing the pounds go off the scales really motivates me to do more. But seeing nothing and then the odd pound on and off really makes me think nothings happening so may as well eat what I want.

I think your evening meals are the problem here

My typical day is 3 boiled eggs
A quinoa salad with cucumber red onion parsley mint a little bit of feta and some lemon juice

Evening meal could be homemade chicken curry no rice/bread. Roast chicken with ceasar salad. Vegetable chillie with a handful of nachos crushed on top. Mince bolognese with vegetable pasta replacement(courgette ribbons etc)

Resistance 3/4x a week cardio 3x a week its really helped

Get on youtube and watch a video or two by Jason Fung. He explains the science behind weight gain and weight loss very well.

What would you have alongside the curry? I'll try cutting the cards down, hadn't really realised how much there was until I wrote it down.

You say you are monitoring calories but not that closely. So I would guess you are eating the amount of calories you need to maintain your weight.

You have have cut down, but the calories you were eating before were enough to gain weight. So over your Maintenance calories.

A bowl of porridge can be really guava calorie depending on how much you have, do you have anything in it. A wrap could be fairly healthy or not depends on its size, ingredients etc.

Again, Spag Bol doesn’t need a huge portion to be a lot of calories.

Your food does seem carb heavy. But you could also be eating quite a bit more than you think

When we did low carb, we were recommended an app called Mealime. There are paid for extra recipes but the free version has tonnes and it's worth it even without paying. We basically selected the low carb filter and started trying things. I'd recommend before starting properly, just trying some out until you find 5 or 6 ones you like, as with anything, they won't all be to your taste.

As for an average day, it would be cereal, such as museli, with full fat milk. Lunch would be sandwiches and (full fat) yogurt, and maybe some crisps. Tea would be a mealime recipe. Once a week we'd eat whatever we wanted (but don't go crazy while you're still actively trying to reduce weight.)

I should also say it was so successful that my husband was having pub meals on Fridays for lunch at work, including a pint of Coke, just to try to slow the weight loss, much to the envy of a friend who was always wanting, but failing, to lose weight. We were both eating the exact same things but being a man he had a higher base calorie requirement, so the weight dropped off quicker and eventually he was less than he wanted to be. He didn't want to increase the number of non-low carb meals and hurt my weight loss so tried to eat crap away from me to slow his loss down.

I agree that I would start with a big reduction in carbs and upping your protein to keep you satiated.

If you are someone who prefers a larger meal in the evening/last meal of the day - I would consider intermittent fasting starting with cutting out breakfast & any kind of calorie intake (ie milky coffee, sugary tea etc, any juices) and try to hold off until later in the day, breaking your 'fast' with a combination of healthy fat & protein. Eggs, salmon, spinach etc.

Oh, and with any diet you choose to do, don't go at it too hard, too quickly or your body will go into starvation mode. You won't lose weight very fast but you'll be really lethargic as your body tries to limit the calories you expend by trying to stop you moving around. It's a miserable feeling, I've fallen into that trap in the past. It doesn't help and it doesn't need to be like that.

Literally just a veg packed curry with chickpeas in it, no sides at all! I don't miss bread/rice now at all I'm just used to veggie packed curry in a bowl!

Easy answer
You are still eating too much.

Thanks so much for all the advice. Actually feeling a bit silly, I stupidly assumed wraps had less carbs than bread, hence a wrap instead of a sandwich for lunch, oh dear. Have downloaded mealime app.

What a helpful answer 🙄

What would you have alongside the curry? I'll try cutting the cards down, hadn't really realised how much there was until I wrote it down.

Cauliflower Rice works well as a low carb substitute for normal rice, especially with curry.

Some other lowcarb alternatives i do are:

Replace Mashed Potato with Pureed Celeriac, or Pureed Cauliflower
(Great for cottage pies etc)

Spiralised Courgette or courgette ribbons mixed with your usual spaghetti to bulk out a smaller portion

Try cutting portion sizes by a third and only eating carbs once a day. Roasted vegetables can be a good substitute for rice/bread/potato.

I'd like to see the evidence you mention @MumsTheWordFact that low fat diets have been "totally discredited" and responsible for obesity problems in the Western world? Because everything I have seen that has a proper scientific basis says you can lose weight perfectly well on either a low fat OR a low carb diet, or indeed on a balanced diet with some of both and just a general/overall reduction in calories. And I don't think "science" has proven one way or another what has caused the rise in obesity, other than to indicate it's likely extremely complex and due to a huge number of different factors including huge socioeconomic changes over the last century, changes in working and leisure habits, the rise of globalisation, the rise in availability of convenience and ready prepared foods (NB which was a hugely good thing overall and factor in women's liberation) etc etc. I don't think you can really blame the whole thing on people eating Muller lights because some woman at WeightWatchers told them to. If you are going to be reductive and oversimplistic I'd say the single dietary issue is people eating too much fat AND simple/white carbohydrates, not just carbs in general, often in the form of very highly processed junk and convenience foods that are designed to be delicious and not particularly filling so keep you coming back over and over m.

I'm not trying to be aggie at you personally, it just annoys me when people speak of carbs like they're some kind of poison rather than a very important nutritional element, or imply you have to cut them out totally to stand a chance of losing weight, which is just not true. The diet you and your DH followed sounds really sensible and actually contains quite a good amount of carbs (muesli for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch etc). OP, why not try what Mums did and just reduce/remove the carbs at one meal a day, if dinner is too difficult (personally I love my carb based dinners), try having greek yoghurt and fruit or an omelette rather than cereal or porridge for breakfast, or a chunky vegetable soup or salad for lunch. Or just stick as you are and reduce the portion sizes down a bit, particularly of your sweet treats (sorry!)?

Counting calories will always be the best way to lose weight. It's a PITA, especially when cooking homemade family meals. I lost close to 5 stone counting calories but ate a nice balanced diet inc treats, without cutting out essential nutrients from carbs and fats.

This is why I don't record calories strictly it's simply when I'm making the family dinner, I honestly don't know how I would calculate the calories. Its easier throughout the day when it's just me and I can make my breakfast and lunch to suit me. But it would be a huge pain to have to make a separate dinner for me and then something else for the kids if that makes sense. Also huge well done on losing 5 stone, that is amazing and must have taken a lot of dedication x

Are you eating much fruit veg and salad?

Use these food groups as much as you can to snack on and bill out your meals.

So if you're having spag Bol, first put 1/3 of salad or veg on your plate. Then add the spag Bol.

Im essentially describing slimming world but this is a good healthy starting point.

So for lunch I'm having 2 boiled eggs, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, onion and a little squeeze of mayo does that sound OK? It will take up just less than half of a dinner plate. Reading all these replies has shown just how little I really know regarding food and nutrition with a view to lose weight. I always thought eat less, move more. But that isn't doing the trick these days like it used to. I always found it easy to lose weight. After my last child I lost 2 stone loosely following slimming world, but not attending the classes.

I'd still be hungry if I had that for my lunch. Would have to add some ham or chicken too maybe.

@mermerlinpass I love salad and do tend to factor a good bit of that into meals. Veg I do eat, but admittedly it could be more. The same with fruit.