Why an I not loaing weight?

[Croissantsfordinner]

Sorry for the long post.

Have changed my eating and lifestyle habits for the past month. I have gained a few kg over the past couple of years due to lack of exercise and eating pretty much whatever I fancied and I am now determined to get my life back on track.

I haven’t however noticed a big change on the scale (although tbf my scale is very unreliable and seems to fluctuate a lot, even within the same minute) as it seems I have only lost 500 grams, which is disappointing. I do notice some of my clothes fit better and I can close a pair of jeans I couldn’t wear until last months, which is a good sign but I thought I had lost more.

For reference, I am 5ft3 and 10.8 stones. I’d like to get to 9.4 stones – don’t want drastic diets as I know they are not sustainable for me and am not in a rush to lose weight, I just want to change my lifestyle for good, get back in shape, be healthy and age well etc.

Here is what an average week would look like before vs what it looks like now:

Before Mon to Fri average day:

• Porridge or overnight oats with banana or 3 ricecakes with peanut butter and banana + cappuccino
• Lunch when in the office was pretty much anything I fancied, like a falafel wrap or a pret baguette
• Dinner would usually be a big plate of pasta (150 grams probably) or something like meat or vegetarian burget with bread bun and some roasted potatoes or curry with rice
• Snacks would change depending on days but would sometimes eat out of boredom even when not hungry

At least 1 take away over the weekend and a coffee with cake or pastry on Sunday
Pretty much no exercise, sedentary job during the week. Average of 5K steps mon-fri and then longer walks during the weekend hitting 10K steps or more.

Now Mon to Fri average day:

• Porridge or overnight oats with banana or 3 ricecakes with peanut butter and banana + cappuccino
• Salad with some protein for lunch, often 1 or 2 eggs or some feta and other veg; might add a slice of bread occasionally. Alternatively grains and veg salad pot from M&S
• Dinner varies every day but generally speaking I am being much more careful about portion sizes (i.e. not more than 100 gr of pasta) and eating much more veg. For example might have a mixed bowl with a cup of legumes, salad, some other cooked veg, a spoon of hummus
• Limiting snacks as much as possible and mostly eating them when genuinely hungry: either a fruit, some nuts or a peanut and cocoa bar with good ingredients (like the Ella ones)

Still having 1 take away over the weekend, avoiding cakes and other sweet things though.

At least 1 take away over the weekend and a coffee with cake or pastry on Sunday
Pretty much no exercise, sedentary job during the week. Average of 5K steps mon-fri and then longer walks during the weekend hitting 10K steps or more.

Averaging 10K steps mon-fri now and more over the weekend (for example last sat I walked 23K steps). Aiming to go to the gym x2 a week, although admittedly this is still a challenge due to work and childcare. Need to be more consistent.

I don’t think alcohol and no sugar in my coffee.

Generally aiming for 1600 kcal a day (less than this is simply not sustainable for me) and a bit more over the weekend but still trying to eat healthy things (with the exception of the 1 take away).
Why am I not losing weight?

Sorry for the typos- Not losing weight

Hello, Sounds very similar to me. You are hitting maintenance calories and that's why you're not seeing much of a drop. I'm 5.3 and started at 10st 5lbs in January - also minimal exercise. My maintenance calories are 1660 so I have to eat less than that to lose weight. Google tdee calculator to work out what your maintenance calories are. I'm probably eating around 1400 calories a day, so my weight loss has been coming in at around 0.5lbs a week (I'm now down to 9st 7lbs 6oz). Remember that each lb of fat is 3500calories, so to lose a lb a week you need to be in a deficit of 3500 across that week.

Thank you. My maintenance calories seem closer to 1800 based on what I see.
But if I was eating more before, shouldn’t ai at least lose a few kg before hitting maintenance?

You're shortish and already quite light, so your TDEE will be fairly low. You have lost weight, just over a pound in a month. You don't mention calorie tracking so the reason your weight loss is slow is because you aren't creating a very big calorie deficit. If you're finding your current way of eating is working for you then carry on :) or you can work out your TDEE and start tracking if you want to be more precise.

At your weight there will only be a few dozen calories between maintenance now and maintenance at your goal weight.

Because you’re not eating in a calorie deficit

I don’t think you need to create a calorie deficit, you just need to increase your activity levels seeing as you’re working in a sedentary job. Increasing steps, taking the stairs, perhaps going to the gym once a week, might be all you need. You have a lot less to lose so it will take longer compared to those who have a lot more weight.

Not sure if you read all my post but I did say I am moving much more and going to the gym now

Never really understood how these things work.
So before I was eating more and moving less and I wasn’t obb losing anything, if something gaining slowly.
Now I am eating less and moving more I though I’d be at least losing some weight before starting to maintain.
So does it mean I have to cut even just 100kcal a day to lose and once I hit my goal weight I can Increase kcals again to 1600ish? Won’t that make me gain though?

If you want to lose a pound a week you need to be in a 3500 calorie deficit a week, or 500 a day- so for you, it’s 1300 calories a day

TDEE, BMR & NEAT calculations are wildly inaccurate. They are a ballpark but all I see on forums like MN are people fixated on the numbers, convinced they are accurate and wondering why they aren’t losing weight.

there are far too many variables involved to be accurate. They are hundreds of calories out. 2 people of the same age, weight and height describing the same levels of activity will not respond to the same caloric intake.

If the amount of calories you need to maintain your current weight is approx 1800 a day, then prior to this month you would have been eating on average that much or slightly more per day. You've now started eating on average slightly less than 1800 a day which leads to fat loss. You are likely eating around 1650 a day on average which will lead to around 1/4 lb loss per week.
If you want to lose more quickly then you need to track your calorie intake and aim for somewhere between 1300 and 1600 a day. Much less than that and you won't have enough energy to function well.

I would honestly struggle with anything less than 1500 a day, especially now that I am walking much more. I get hungry and lightheaded when I eat so little unless I truly spend the day sitting on the sofa.

That's fine! That will give you around half a lb a week loss. That's more than fine at your current weight. It's only people with a lot to lose who can easily manage 1-2lbs a week weight loss regularly.

Have you actually religiously measured every single thing you eat over a week and added up all the calories? I am calorie counting currently and barely just about losing a 1200 cal a day after initial high losses and I am taller than you. What you are describing to me in your new eating plan could very easily be exceeding or maintaining your required calories and not giving you a deficit at all. I know this is not what you want to hear because it probably feels like much less food but the truth and the sad truth is that weseriously underestimate how much a portion is and we overestimate how much deficit we are apparently getting.

What are those 1500 made up of?

I was the same and I've come to recognise that I need to choose what I eat more carefully. So I eat, for example, masses of purple sprouting broccoli (100g @ 40cal) and spinach (100g @20cals) with 2 poached eggs and only one slice of bread (no butter) for lunch. I watch every single calorie - down to measuring out the tablespoon of milk in my coffee - a 'splash' can be triple the calories. I will have an egg sandwich for lunch which carries more calories than I'd like but is beneficial as it keeps me full for longer. I drink hot marmite as it suppresses my appetite at 10 cals. I eat loads of mini clementines at 18 cals each. Prunes 30g @ 48cals are a filling snack. Raw carrots and celery are v v low calories and great for snacking and so good for you. Bananas have loads of calories so I avoid them. You can bulk up on low calories foods and eat more.

See original post

I am logging everything into an app but of course I understand there is margin for error.
I don’t think 1200 calories is healthy or sustainable, at least for me so I do not want to eat so little and then regain all the weight with an interest once I will (inevitably) stop. But obv that’s me, if it works well for you that’s great

I think 1 month is still a bit early to judge, but I would dig into a few things based on what you wrote:

1. are you tracking the calories in the takeaway? This can be very easily underestimated in calories.
2. Can you make your breakfast more protein focused? It's very carb heavy, and it will make you crave more snacks later on.
3. I think in general your protein intake is quite low, I would increase this so that you feel fuller for longer.
4. I would try to focus your calories more on your main meals than on snacks, so have more for lunch or dinner but less than 100 calories of snacks.

I don't think you necessarily have to cut calories but I would really look at that takeaway and see if you can have it once a month instead, or eliminate, because it's such a big variable. If you've done all of these things and nothing changes then you might want to reduce by 100.

You might be walking more than you were before but in reality you're still doing very little exercise - just walking and then "trying" to get to the gym 2x a week isn't going to do much.

Why not start c25k? In itself it won't make a huge difference but once you can easily and comfortably run 5k (and more), doing that a few times a week will really help. Also weights- building muscle will help you burn far more calories, so you can eat as you are now and burn more off.

@FeelinTwentySixPointTwo I have tried to run many times in my life and have always hated it, I know I will never stick to it.
Yes I want to get back to do more weights as I used to. I will try to increase that between gym and home exercise, need to buy the equipment though

@safetyzone yes take away can and should be reduced to once a month. It's just a comforting routine and a way for DH and I to "celebrate" on a friday evening given we can't go out due to small DC. But I agree it's a lot of calories and it isn't healthy anyway. Maybe we can do it twice a month as a start.

Re the protein, my "problem" is that I am almost fully vegetarian, I don't like meat and don't want to introduce meat and poultry into my diet on a daily basis as I don't think it's good for you. Fish a bit similar imo so I only have meat/pountry/fish more or less once or twice a week and the rest of the time my protein intake is made of eggs, dairy or legumes (which are also carb).
Any tips on how to balance this would be welcome

If your clothes are fitting better I would really be checking to see if your scales are actually working. Can you weigh yourself at the gym?

On the protein how about greek yoghurt with nuts, seeds and maybe berries for breakfast or something egg based if you have the time to prepare it.

Protein suggestions - do you eat tofu? Great source of protein. You mentioned pulses and legumes, but yes they have carbs too. Otherwise low fat cottage cheese, Greek yoghurt and quark for cooking or mixing in sauces. I know it might be controversial but since you don’t eat much meat I would consider protein powders. It’s not necessary but can be useful.