Help with weight loss - frustrated.

[chocolateforthewin]

I’m hoping someone might be able to offer some insight.

I’m 5ft 1, weigh around 62.6 kg, and my BMI is about 25. I am wanting to be around 58kg which I know I can get too as been there before although this was during a point of intense stress. I’ve been tracking my calories and eating roughly 1,400-1,500 a day. I also exercise about four days a week, usually running or doing reformer Pilates, and I’ve been keeping this up for around six weeks now.

Recently I’ve also started eating three proper meals a day, including breakfast, after years of skipping it. I’m vegetarian and try to have a cooked meal in the evening, with something like a pitta and Quorn for lunch.

What’s frustrating me is that my weight doesn’t seem to be trending down. It might drop slightly for a day or two, but then it jumps straight back up again and I feel like I’m stuck around the same weight.

It’s gotten to the point where I’ve even thought about the weight-loss injections, although I doubt I’d qualify for them and I’m not sure they’re really right for me. It just feels like my metabolism needs a bit of a kick-start.

One thing I don't do at the moment is drink enough water but that's because there is currently an issue with the toilets at work. Once sorted I will be trying to drink more.

I'm getting frustrated as seeing everyone else dropping. Does anyone have any idea what I might be doing wrong, or what I should look at changing?

@applescentedcandle funny you should mention that, I have already had one of these about 10 years ago and whilst they are better I dont think I went small enough the first time. I'm not brave enough to put myself through the recovery again unfortunately and could have more issues during the surgery.

That sounds sensible, but very difficult for you. Hopefully they will shrink when you lose the last bit of weight.

There's a petite support thread here https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight_loss_chat/5430717-petite-support-thread-continued?page=1 if you'd like to join

@applescentedcandle Thank you very much, will have a look.

@NamingNoNames I wondered if you might be able to share a normal day for you eating wise?

Your routine actually sounds quite healthy, and six weeks is still a relatively short time for consistent fat loss. Small weight fluctuations are very normal and can be caused by water retention, hormones, salt intake, or muscle gain from exercise, so the scale may not show a steady drop even if progress is happening. At 5'1 and around 62 kg, weight loss can also be slower because your calorie needs are lower, so a small deficit takes longer to show. It might help to focus on weekly averages instead of daily weigh-ins, make sure you’re getting enough protein and water, and give it a bit more time before making big changes, slow progress at your size is actually quite common. 😊

It's worth checking your TDEE number for losing weight - given your height I wouldn't be surprised if your 'cutting' number ended up being around 1000 cal a day (depressingly)!

I'm also dieting at the moment but much taller and heavier than you, so my cutting number is around 1500.

Agreed. Work out your TDEE.

You can use an online calculator like this one: https://tdeecalculator.net/

According to that calculator I should be having cutting calories of 1,245

Good lord.

I eat one meal usually, and it will be mid-late morning,

Typically it will be something like boiled veg with protein (e,g, egg, lentils/beans) +cheese in a tortilla wrap or
salad + protein (e.g, hummus, nut butter)in a tortilla wrap.
I'd probably eat about 3 or 4 of those.

Or I might eat a big bowl of home-made curry.

Try the 5:2 diet, it's the only thing that worked for me (although I know do every second day so 3:4 one week 4:3 the next) but was still losing when i was doing 5:2 (just slower) i also find on the fast days I can go up to 900 calories and still lose but do try to stick to no more than 1600 on my higher calorie days x

It's your breakfast I'd change. That looks healthy but it could be quite high calorie. A quick google puts a retailer branded granola at 30g at about 120 calories. Greek yogurt, I love because it's high protein (don't get Greek style as it's not) but that could be 150 calories if it's Greek 5% but some supermarket own brand versions are actually 10% and so that would be c. 185 calories. Switch to 0% and it's 75 calories. Cinnamon, calorie free obviously but honey, that could easily be 2 tsp. Have you measured it? Possibly another 40 calories added and with the granola a huge blood sugar spike which will make you feel hungry again later.

So if you go for full fat everything that could be 185 + 120 + 40 = 345 kcal. A big part of your daily amount. Dropped though if you go for 0% but it might not fill you up as much.

What might work is more protein at breakfast (if you choose to eat it). I often have chicken sausages (surprisingly low calories) and mushrooms fried in spray oil or boiled eggs (only about 75 calories per egg) or Bircher muesli with a very small amount of oats (c. 15g) and lots of grated apples and cinnamon. I also use kefir because I'm trying to increase my probiotic foods.

I fast once a week rather than daily but the importance of breakfast has often been overstated by (gasp) breakfast cereal manufacturers. (Quelle surprise!) If you do want to go down a time restricted eating route but are snacking before your eating window opens, then that won't work and maybe having breakfast is the right thing for you. But if you can stick to say, black coffee and water before lunch, you might find that is helpful.