Anyone else lose weight slowly?

[kirinm]

I'm on another thread where people are losing serious weight every week but that just isn't how my body works. I'm 45, peri menopausal with a history of PCOS. I do a lot of strength training and am doing C25k - as an ex runner I'm hoping to get back to regular running to increase my cardio. I feel like I have DOMS pretty much all the time and / or hormonal fluctuations so I can jump up and down on the scale by 2-3lb either way and never really know what I've lost (or gained).

I have an incredibly sedentary job which is stressful and long hours, I have a 5 year old DD that takes up the remainder of time when I'm not working and frankly fitting in what I'm fitting in is as much as I can do.

So far this month I've lost either 4 or 5lb which I know isn't terrible but I've got a lot to lose. Anyone else see the scales moving slowly?

How I did it was by cutting down not cutting out . Things like cutting fat from bacon . Sugar free custard . Sweeteners instead of sugar etc . Ate what I wanted for a main meal but had a sensible portion . No snacking in between except for fruit .

Try the Happy Scale app which makes sense of fluctuating daily weights and shows your trend of weight loss over time. You can set a target weekly weight loss on it and it will calculate milestones to your end goal and let you know whether you are meeting those and if not how long it will take you to get there.

I also find my ability to lose weight has changed as I’ve got older and that approaches which worked for me in the past no longer work. So you may need to think of trying something new to shock your body into losing weight again. I’m currently doing the Human Being diet which is working - in the past I’ve also had success with Lean for Life, Harcombe diet and calorie counting but none of these have worked as well for me in last few years as the first time I tried them (as you will have gathered I’m also a bit of a yo-yo dieter - tend to lose about 20lbs, keep it off for a couple f years then slowly creep back up and have to start again. This time around I’m going to think of a strategy to avoid that!

I appreciate your reply but I know how to lose weight and despite the whole calorie deficit argument, it absolutely isn't that basic.

I don't need guidance on how to cut calories.

Thanks. I'll take a look. I lost over 3 stone but after I had my non sleeping daughter I survived on coffee and sugar until going straight in to lockdown and basically sat still for 2 years! I ran half marathons after I had my daughter but never lost weight - maybe the odd few pounds here and there.

I'm a week away from AF and I already feel bloated. I feel like I have about 10 days of not feeling pre menstrual. My cycle has become much shorter too.

I’ve now cut out breakfast, am eating a salad for lunch and a very small portion at dinner. This is the only way I lose weight. When I tried Weightwatchers I actually put on weight. If hungry, I have an apple in the afternoon. You do get used to it. That said, I’m off to visit friends in Florida so will probably have to start all over again when I get back!

I used to be able to lose weight pretty quickly and consistently eating a low carb diet.
Now at 46 it’s definitely slower and I tend not to lose the 10-14 days before my period. I used to weigh daily but find even weekly weighing demoralising.

I just need to keep at it and think about much better I feel when eating well.

@kirinm

You came on here for advice . There is no magic pill or wand that will make you lose weight . I did it by cutting down. No one is going to do it for you but you . It's thinking about what you are eating and planning ahead and yes a bit of will power . It's not easy but only you decide to have that slice of cake or that bar of chocolate. It's down to YOU.

No I didn't come on here for advice. I came here looking for other people who lose weight slowly. Please don't patronise me.

Well she definitely didn’t come on for a demotivating lecture like that!

Her question was actually quite straightforward and related to the impact of age and hormones on rate of weight loss. Nothing you have posted responds to that question so perhaps wind your neck in and stop judging the OP because she doesn’t want to eat ultra processed crap like you do.

Name changed . Thread hidden . Bye Bye 👋 No fucks Given .

Starting weight can make a big difference, I lose faster are the beginning of a diet then it slows right down to around 1lb a week which seems to be what you're losing and is the recommended amount to lose.

The thing is it goes on over a long period and it comes off in the same way. Crash diets can make it faster but not sustainable.

I can't do crash diets even if I wanted to. I have a daughter and don't want her seeing me living off milkshakes - plus some of those diets where you eat 800 calories would see me pass out and definitely not capable of exercising.

This is my weight loss 7 years ago. I didn't have a small child, had lots of free time (although didn't realise it at the time) and was still drinking at weekends. I ate very well but was always having 'treats'.

It just doesn't work like that for me now. I don't really drink much anyway so sadly cutting out booze doesn't have the same impact as it does for some.

I do feel that realistically I'd need to be eating 1000-1200 calories to lose but that really isn't enough.

I can show you my graph if you like 😆
Losing 4lb a month would make me very happy! I am lucky to lose 1kg a month! (2lb)

1lb a week is sustainable and normal weight loss. You obviously are losing and it’s not a race. Don’t compare yourself to others. Yes I also lost 10lbs in the first month I went on a calorie deficit but that’s not going to be realistic forever!

However. I think it’s really easy to blame hormones and external forces for some of the food decisions we make when we aren’t feeling great. You will weigh more at certain times due to water, salt, sleep, periods so you could weigh daily then do an average loss of the whole month or week. Take 7 weights in a row and divide them by 7, that’s probably what you weigh. and Just keep going. You are doing well

This first graph is a year
looks good

the second one is a month of daily weights. It’s clearly going down but it’s crazy fluctuating. It’s normal

I strongly feel, like you, that it’s about more than calories in vs calories out. I lose better when I’m not calorie counting but am eating nutritiously and portion controlled.

This was my food intake yesterday

B - yoghurt and mixed berry pot from Pret Black coffee
L - 2 sausages, 130g of mashed carrot and swede
S - Black coffee
D - lemon crusted cod with sautéed green beans. Coffee

No idea how many calories but fuelled me to do Week 3 run of C25K this morning and I’m averaging about 2lbs a week eating like this with one treat meal per week (where literally anything goes) and a couple of glasses of wine/squares of chocolate over the week.

Your previous before and after pics are inspiring by the way. You clearly can do this just need to find a way to get your fat burning mechanisms firing as they previously did.

Well everyone is different but weight loss is definitely harder as I get older.

Long term losing 1lb a week or even a month is excellent when you think about it.

I am a slow loser, and just have to tell myself that it's fine to lose one pound, or even less a week. I'm sure it's the menopause (early fifties) as when I was much younger, I'd only skp a meal or eat cereal once or twice and it'd fall off. I also have a very sedentary job and that doesn't help. That said- I'm pretty good at maintaining! So once I get to a weight, I often sit or plateau on it for ages. This is quite helpful when I'm not trying to lose weight.

I guess my body just doesn't like change! I have accepted I'm not going to lose fast and I also enjoy the benefits of that, I reckon my skin shrinks slowly too, I take collagen and even though I'm older I don't have sagging skin so far.

Try to see it as resetting your steady state, just a tiny bit, rather than a failure, I think losing slowly is absolutely fine it's just frustrating when other people seem to lose much more (plus you don't know their starting weight and you can lose much faster initially if you are at a higher weight).

@Katrinawaves apart from the sausages which are a lot of cals if pork and very sugary breakfast, that’s not really very much food in terms of volume? I would struggle to run 5k and manage all day on low volume of food

Slow weight loss is so much better than rapid and much more sustainable. I lost weight quickly last year and had a body scan and found 50% was lean mass which I am now struggling to regain. If you are exercising you will be helping to retain lean mass which is really important. I would stop weighing and take measurements instead which is a much better indicator of progress.

The Pret pot was exceptional because I was out and about but if I was having that breakfast at home it would be 160g natural yoghurt and a handful of fresh berries - so a full cereal bowl in terms of volume and minimal sugar.

The sausages were about 250 cals per the pack details and the root mash wouldn’t have added much to that.

Lunch and dinner both covered the surface area of a normal dinner plate so again no volume issues. I also had an apple after dinner which I had forgotten about.

Its horses for courses and different things work for different people. I’m not suggesting that my way is the right way or the only way just agreeing with the OP that calories in vs calories out is not the only (or even necessarily the best) way to think about this.

Calories in calories out is a very rudimentary way of looking at it but it’s fundamentally correct. Science has shown that there is a finite amount of calories burnt in exercise (unless you have an extreme amount of muscle mass like an athlete) and that exercise never burns as much as you think it does via wearable tech or MFP calculators. One common mistake is that people see their exercise calories and make that count as part of a deficit when it’s probably not correct. Not tracking food is the other most common mistake - every time you just guess something or forget to account for it, it’s calories that don’t get considered. You could eat a great diet of just 50 calories surplus too many a day and not be able to lose weight easily or gain weight over a long period of time. Eating sugar and UPF’s creates havoc with hormones. Unless you have a metabolic health condition that is not within your control (type 2 diabetes can be reversed by diet) then the basics of science apply.

A pound a week post forty is brilliant. Hormones go a bit crazy, water retention and digestion follow suit. Post menopause it does all calm down again (eventually).

Keep up the moving and eat healthily and that's 52lb a year you are losing.

Don't let anyone con you into a mad fad diet or manic calorie counting. More veg, enough protein and less crap generally works. Slow and steady will allow you to do 5 mile hilly hikes when you are sixty.

Sounds like you are doing really well OP .. slow weight loss is the best way

Thaa as ya great advice