Please help I need to know why I am not loosing weight

[Sp3849]

I was hoping somebody here may be able to advise me on where the hell I am going wrong?
Since changing my line of work from being in my feet all day to a desk job I have struggled with my weight. In a year I had put in 2 and a half stone and I feel gross. So in September I thought I need to sort myself out. I have arthritis quite bad and the extra pounds is not helping at all and I am a 36 year old woman 5ft 3 and currently 12st 8 and It is really knocking my confidence.
So I started slimming world ( which had worked years previously) I stuck to it and followed it religiously after a month and only loosing 2 pound I thought okay it's not for me. I have never really been able to eat carbs It bloats me terribly and I put on weight quickly if I do and it tends to really tamper with weight loss efforts. I thought maybe a different diet would better suit.
So I tried my own method of staying under 1200 calories a day limiting carbs and ensuring I reach my 10,000 steps a day. Which when you are sat on your but from 8am til 6pm is hard. But I have managed it. 10 weeks on and all I have lost is 3 pound! I am tracking everything I eat in my fitness pal and I am weighing it so I know portions are correct. I am so frustrated I have started fasting this week 18hours out of 24 and eating between 1pm and 7pm and only consuming 1000 calories I have not lost a thing!
I am mostly eating porridge fruit veg eggs and lean meat. I was having a treat day once a week and having a takeaway but stopped that before Christmas.
Am I being unreasonable? I haven't dieted in years and when I did need to shed a few pounds they always came off so easily!
Any advice is welcome I am at a loss! I have just ordered an exercise bike to do half hour before bed. I have no time to go to the gym I work full time have two children and my husband works away. It's really getting me down. I have never been this big I am ashamed.
Has anyone tried anything that helped? I would be happy with loosing a pound or two a week.

@Sunshinealways8 yes! I take sulfasalazine for my arthritis (I have an autoimmune disease my joints are crumbling) and codiene at night for the pain so I can try to sleep. It wreaks havoc with my stomach. I am always bloated but I have tried so many different painkillers it's the only thing that helps my back for me to sleep at night. I don't sleep alot but without it I don't sleep at all

Anyone who tells you not to drink non nutritive beverages like coke zero is an idiot they are completely fine to drink and in every study when people swap sugar sweetened drinks to artificial sweetened drinks they lose weight!

If you are having takeaways etc there is your problem. . You need to eat less than your bmr x 7 . You can't ignore meals as they add up and mean you aren't in a deficit for the week .

Honestly you are eating too much

Watch team RH videos online . He explains it really well

You still need to check that the bar code is registering the per 100g number of calories and that you know how much the item weighs so that you can work out how many grams you had

Not all packaging does this and thats why you have to pay attention to what you put in and not get scan happy

@soupfiend yes definitely, that's what I do because it's usually 100g and I might eat 20g of say, honey, with my yogurt. It's easy enough to get used to but to the unsuspecting it could catch you out as can the amounts sone people input and claim are the right numbers. Sometimes it's 300 calories less that they have inputted!

Very much so

It makes sense when you read these threads that people have no idea what levels they are eating at, some of the numbers I see are laughable.

Well I have made a discovery this morning that probably explains why I am not having the desired effects. I looked at team Rh as someone recommended after watching his videos and reviews I thought sod it what have I got to loose so I joined and they team up.with my fitness pal so I synced my account and my calories have been wrong every day! Not sure how. Yesterday for.example I had a very busy day didn't eat as much as I should.have my fitness pal said I had 846 calories. When the diary transferred over to team Rh and they calculated I actually had 1200! Which is obviously fine but obviously days where I thought I have been eating 1200 I have eaten alot more. I don't understand it if anyone knows how that works and could enlighten me 😳 I can't understand how they are different but I suspect this is the issue

That's pretty shocking but at least it's better news than finding out you have a long term condition that makes losing weight very difficult or something like that.

Slimming world is a con. I used to go and both instructors were obese and telling me off for using 1syn microwave rice instead of boiled rice. Or telling people who had put on weight that they weren't eating enough which is just ridiculous. I wasn't overweight just wanted to lose a stone. I ended up doing my own thing and just used the weigh in at classes for motivation.

Ultimately you need to be in a calorie deficit. If you set your calories too low you're more likely to binge and overeat on your "cheat" day. Also bear in mind that one takeaway can easily be 3000/4000 calories which can wipe out your deficit for the rest of the week which is why you don't lose.

I've heard great things about Team RH. They work out your calories, macros and steps for you and you have coaches available to help you whenever you need them. I know a few friends who've lost a lot with it when everything else has failed. Some people don't like the guy who runs is because he's pretty honest and blunt but I feel like that probably what most people need.

But if you're eating 4 takeaways a month like the OP of course it's not baffling,that could be a huge number of extra calories.

How were you tracking in MFP? Were you using standard entries (e.g. cornflakes and milk) or were you weighing out your cornflakes, and measuring your milk before entering it?

@Illpickthatup as soon as I watched his videos I thought I need you in my life 🤣 yes he is blunt but he speaks truth and I need it. I have been all set up this morning everything has been worked out for me in terms of what is would be eating. Basically I need to move more and they can accommodate my joint problems with some of Thier programmes. I have learnt so much already, so I am hopeful I will no longer be a fat head 🤣

@VeganNugsNotDrugs I was weighing some things when at home and then using measurements like cups or counting individual things like 10 strawberries. I don't carry a scales everywhere so found it easier at times when at work or out and about to do this but. I was also using the entries people had created and I don't think alot of them are correct by the looks of it. I was also scanning alot and not checking the packet against mfp. I can only think this is where it's gone wrong. I have ordered a new small scales this morning to take to work in my bag

Pleased you feel that you are on the right track OP. Things like MFP, Fitbit etc. are really hard to get accurate.

This is absolutely why you haven't been losing weight. You've been under estimating your calorie intake (potentially by quite a lot). I'm glad you've found your answer and hope you start to see the changes you want soon!