Cannot lose weight

[Morello339]

I'm losing all enthusiasm.

I've always been around 62kg. I'm 5'4 and quite top heavy.

Around 2 year ago I start to put on weight and it was impossible to lose it.
7 weeks ago I decided I had enough and started going to the gym daily, cutting out fizzy drinks and only stacking very sporadically.

In that 7 weeks of working out ( which is a huge increase is movement compares to not going at all) I have lost nothing at all. Including measurements, all the same.

I have a PT created plan, that I follow strictly.

Even if I had lost a tiny amount, of toned up slightly I wouldn't feel so lost...but nothing.

The only thing I can think of is I have a large nodule on my thyroid, which is causing low level hypothyroidism. I am symptomatic, but the doctor said my levels are low enough for it to be the reason I gained weight and can't lose it. They don't even want to deal with the issue at all.

Any advice ?

No idea about the thyroid issue I'm afraid but I could have written your post about everything else. The only thing that has worked for me which I have started recently is track everything I eat with Nutracheck and stick to the calories it suggests for losing 1lb a week. I don't eat any of the extra calories it allows for exercise. The only exercise I do is walking which I didn't really do before, I walk 40 minutes each way to work when I can or go on a long walk at another time if I can't. Exercises in the gym never did anything for me even if I was sweating buckets and knackered.

Depends on how much you eat. If your food consumption balances your energy expenditure you will not lose weight. Do you eat large meals? Do you cook mostly from scratch? Do you eat a lot of carbs, fat and sugar? Do you eat a good amount of veg and salad?

Thanks for your replies.

Always cook from scratch, always have. Don't fry any food unless it's airfried, but that's not really my type of food.

I do eat pasta and rice, but not really bread as I don't feel great after bread.
According to my smasung health App I'm eating about 1700 calories a day maximum. I got to the gym every day except for Wednesday. Walk my dog every day and do some stretches at home.

I'm starting to think its something in my diet that just doesn't work for me.
I also have PCOS, and am insulin resistant, but I've always had that, and only piled this weight on in the last few years.

With pcos and insulin resistance low carb works best. I'm prediabetic or was, so far lost 2st 9lbs and I'm bmi 25.9 all with mounjaro which also reduces inflammation and has resolved my ibs.
If you don't want to try it then focus on high protein and drinking water, which switches body into fat burning rather than glucose which comes from carbs. I've not touched pasta in 8 months.
Also work out your tdee on a calculator online so you know how much calories you need to lose weight. For me at the moment it's 1150 a day for a 1lb loss a week, that's without exercise and an office job and I do it all through food.
The 1700 may be your maintenance calories plus it depends how much your burning at the gym.

If your muscles feel tired, you may be holding some water retention which can mask the effect of fat loss on the scales.

Have you used a calculator to work out your BMR and TDEE. They're not going to be 100% accurate especially if thyroid issues are in the equation, but they will give a guide as to if you're in the right league.

There's a chat thread of petites looking to lose subtle amounts of weight for comfort and health maintainence- it tends to be frustratingly slow for us.

How old are you? 1700 calories is quite a lot if you're even approaching middle-age. I'm 47 and 5 ft 5, and basically have to eat 1500 calories or less and exercise quite a lot in order to lose anything at all...

1700 calories is also quite a bit if you're only 5ft 4.

I'm 5ft 8 and try and stick to 1500 calories (5 or 6 days a week)
Although I'm sat WFH during the day, I do exercise a lot (gym, weights, PT) but find it difficult to lose/maintain weight unless I stick to this calorie intake now I'm late 40s.

Weight is lost in the kitchen, not the gym. However good exercise is for you. Calculate TDEE, minus 300-400 daily and see how you get on.

I have (moderate) hypothyroidism. I don't think it's the issue here.

What is your TSH level? The NHS “normal” range is far too high. PCOS often goes hand in hand with hypothyroid so it’s quite likely. My metabolism dropped off a cliff in my 30s when I went hypothyroid.

However I have to say that although I am now on thyroxine, my metabolism hasn’t come back ☹️ could be age related too. Building muscle has helped somewhat though.

To sum up: let’s look at your TSH - but even if you are hypothyroid and can manage to get that medicated, it may not solve the weight issue.

Thanks everyone.

My TSH level is 1.01, which they aren't concerned about, but my T4 and T3 are below range, which is apparently strange when TSH is that low.

I'm 40. I'm following a PT plan of 42000 steps a week average, cardio 3 times a week ( I do 30 minutes on treadmill, 2 walking and 1.5 running ok various inclines) and weights 3 times a week. It was my PT who recommended 1700 calories a day.

I took measurements but they also haven't changed.

I think I need to look into eliminating things from my diet.