Totally fed up. 57 and can't lose weight on 1000 cals a day! Is there any point dieting if you don't want injections!

[Suenami]

I am feeling totally miserable about my weight and wondering what the point of trying to diet is when everyone seems to be on the injections and losing tons of weight.

At Christmas I was about 2 stone overweight. I'm 57 and menopausal. Since then I've lost 10lbs through calorie counting and upping my exercise - I broke my shoulder last year and then cracked a bone in my foot, so I've been limited in what I can do.

For the last 2 months I have - as evidenced by MFP - eaten between 800 and 1200 calories a day and I've started walking briskly for 30 mins a day. I've lost 1lb.

I keep gaining and losing the same pound, I'm eating very little and not eating until 12.30pm. I don't drink during the week and often not at the weekend.

And I've just seen photos of myself and I look huge.

My friend is on Wegovy and has lost nearly 3 stone in the last few months. I dont want and can't afford injections but feel totally miserable.

Why is my body doing this??? I've kept a log of MFP and about 8 years ago I did a few months at 1400 cals a day and lost a stone! If I ate 1400 calories a day now I would put on weight. I'm on HRT.

I eat healthily, loads of green veg, protein etc. Ironically I am happier and more energetic than I've been for ages, until I think about my weight!

I wonder why people do usually lose weight on a low calorie diet then?

You are wasting your life away counting calories and using stupid apps. I couldn't be arsed with any of that and decided to just stop eating anything ultra processed, just eating whole foods. Nothing from a box or packet! No exercise, another waste of time for weight loss. Then I found the bootcamps for Low Carb - High Fat on here and followed that way of eating. I have lost 2 stone 5lbs in total with minimal effort. Fell off the wagon many times, but just carried on. You get used to it. Come join us in the chat threads. Plenty of support! 😍
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/low_carb_bootcamp/5068919-may-24-low-carb-bootcamp-the-prep-thread

If you’re sure your calories on MFP are genuine, sometimes when I’m in a plateau, I stop for a week: just eat normally, not go mad or anything, just have exactly what I fancy etc.

the next week, back on it with gusto and it kind of resets it all and I start losing again.

good luck!

Because they don’t go straight in at 1200, you reduce gradually.

If you’re all in at 1200 you’ve nowhere to go to lose more when you need fewer cals at your new lower weight.

you can do to some extent, obviously, but you are fighting your metabolism the whole way, and almost everybody regains weight, and ends up heavier than when they started.

Work with your metaobolism, not against it. Lower your weight set point, don't raise it

Well this isn't necessarily true.

Look at all the people doing the fast 800, losing weight straight away?

Are you strength training to build muscle? There is research showing that a lot of menopausal weight gain is due to the loss of muscle as we age (3-8% per decade). This will naturally lower your TDEE.

I have been strength training a year and the amount of calories I can eat to maintain weight has increased from 1600 to 2000.

I've done bootcamp. It did work, but tbh I found that way of eating a bit gross and the not being able to eat certain veg like peas and carrots and squash really restrictive. My cholesterol level soared as well. Just don't like plates of bacon and creamy sauces and endless meat.

No I am not but probably should be.

😂😂Fair enough. We have just finished the current bootcamp and I'm having a few weeks of grapes, potatoes and bananas added back in, then back to strict.

It honestly did work, but I'm convinced that it's because it actually makes you feel so sick you don't want to eat lol 😂

I also plateaued on it because once I started adding stuff in I think I was eating too many calories

😂😂I dread to think how many calories I eat doing LCHF but for me it works. Hope you find something that will help you. Have you tried Paleo? Although that again is a lot of meat. 😂

Yes they do lose weight at 800. You’ll lose 1lb per week if you reduce by 500 cals a day. But not continuously and not comfortably.

But after 6 months of always eating at 800, the body is much more efficient at working at low calories and won’t lose so much. And where do you go then? 400? Eek. If you lower gradually in tune with your current weight rather than slashing it dramatically, you have some wiggle room for further down the line when you plateau.

^ and also that’s how you reset a plateau. Create a new normal of (I dunno, whatever you are comfortable with) and get your body used to that so that 1000 cals becomes a real reduction and is effective again.

But after 6 months of always eating at 800,

@SisterAgatha the max amount of time is 12 weeks and only if you are really overweight, a lot of people with less weight to lose do it for 8 weeks. You can actually eat quite a lot of really healthy food on 800 calories, remember that on Fast 800 you don't count most non starchy vegetables in your calorie number and are encouraged to fill your plate with these. In reality you are eating more than 800 calories but no-one got fat eating Kale

Hi OP, this is my story. I'm 54. At the start of Feb this year I was 13:12. Now I am 11st.

I lost about 5lbs slowly by counting calories and then got stuck. Decided to do the Fast 800 for 12 weeks from the end of Feb. I did have some cheat days such as Easter but got straight back into it.

Got down to just under 12st that way, and now having about 1400 a day since end May. 10:12 is my final goal weight.

Also exercising 5 days a week.

And also to add that I am on HRT and did gain weight on it but in truth I was doing nothing to help myself, no exercise, too many UPFs etc and too many calories.

Amazing 👏

I firmly believe the cheat days do some good! 😂It's like a carb refeed and then resets the body. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. 😂

Are you possibly not eating enough calories? Might be worth looking up Mindy Pelz as she has done a lot of work with hormones, menopause and women's weight.

I lost 5 stone at 1200 my lowest so I’m always a little shocked at the 800 cal diets tbh. But the concept is the same, you cannot lower your intake when you’re already at the lowest bracket. There’s no “eating a little less” at those low margins.

I myself have actually never lowered mine past 1200, I increase my exercise or strength training instead. I’ve maintained for 4 years now.

@MissBeckIsAtWork I think there is something in that! I do put weight on after the cheat day(s) but then it seems to come off quick + more the following week !

Hope that is boding well as I switch to maintenance which I'm expecting to be a challenge!

@SisterAgatha do you count all your calories including veg and salad ? As I mentioned on Fast 800 you don't count a wide range of veg ( mainly green ones ) and you are encouraged to eat a lot of these with each meal. I probably eat at least 100 calories of green veg with each of my two meals, but I really love veg, other people don't seem to eat as many. I am not doing the diet strictly, sort of sticking to the principles. I might start it properly once I get back from holiday though
Previously my diet was very processed carb heavy, loads of white bread, huge portions of pasta, a lot of potatoes in the form of chips and buttery mash, crisps, pies, some cakes, biscuits etc Cutting these out and increasing my water consumption has definitely reduced my appetite.

I don’t count anymore, unless I can feel I have put a little on and want to lose - maintaining, I just know now from so long doing it. Also same, I don’t eat any pasta or potatoes either as portions can be wildly variable depending on the eye and how hungry you are - when I do I still weigh them; to this day I still do! I really just eat greens and protein and my treat is butter which is the only thing I properly count. I always have a dessert, berries with a meringue or a wispa yoghurt (prepackaged and determinable calories so there’s no debate with portion size) If we go for a meal out I count or just decide I don’t give a crap, and run or walk a little more.

I really am never hungry so sometimes I find I’ve forgotten lunch (more calories for dinner ie call me three steak Pam) which never used to happen before, I was always starving.

That's not true at all. They also slow down the transfer of food through the digestive system. And used correctly, they are incredibly safe and effective. They impact the whole metabolism and longer term, do change your mindset. I didn't need to lose much but lost it slowly and on a tiny dose now, the only way I can explain it is my feelings toward food generally is like the difference between doing a Tesco shop when you are ravenous hungry on your period and feeling satisfied. It allows me to be mindful and is like a little voice just checking my choices before I eat. I have never felt better, peri menopause, PCOS and anxiety greatly relieved. MN tends to be snooty about the strangest things.