Want to cry, nothing works

[Pusstachio]

I am 160cm and weigh 145lb. My waist is just under half my height in the morning but just over in the evening. I am overweight on my BMI.

Before my second child (now 5yo) I was a clear stone lighter.

I’ve tried everything except drugs. PT, health coach, various diets. Health coach did work but was crazy expensive, I couldn’t sustain the expense. She basically checked my MFP weekly and gave me workouts to do through the week.

I strength train once a week with a PT and for the past month have been running 5x a week and sticking to 1600-1700 cals. Just replaced the batteries in the scale and I’m 2lb heavier.

What do I do. Why is this so fucking hard. It wasn’t like this before my second child. I’m 40, is that it? How do I lose even some of this weight.

Mounjaro?

Mounjaro

Mounjaro

Have you taken into account that you’ll have gained muscle and that will make you weigh more? And yes - mounjaro?

I am / was you.

Mounjaro was the only thing that has worked and is actually cheaper than the gym, PT, nutrition coach, protein, supplements etc.

it’s not the bad thing that it’s painted to be. It took so much stress away from me. It’s there for a reason.

My daily calories were 1250 to lose weight though so it’s worth checking again to see how much you need.

I started at 155cm and 171 lbs, so your cals seem very high.

Can I get mounjaro? My bmi is 25.5?

Mounjaro won't be prescribed by the majority of the online pharmacies at a BMI of 25.7, because you're not significantly overweight or obese. That's not to say that it's not legally available to you from some sources, but it's an indicator that it's a bit of an extreme response to being slightly overweight.

2lbs is possibly a normal fluctuation. I'd weigh daily for a while and see what the overall trend is. Does your PT know that you want to lose weight? Strength training and losing weight at the same time strikes me as difficult to achieve.

I can’t lose weight on 1600/1700 calories. I would try to drop to 1500 and also take measurements as you could be gaining muscle too.

I think 1600 may be a little high as well sorry. That's what I'm on at 5ft6 and I run 3x a week and go to the gym 3 X a week. I do 10k steps a day as well. I'm losing around 1lb a week.

I'd use ai or a website to work out your actual calories.

Nothing actually wrong with your weight.

BMI is a very rough population level metric and shouldn't really be used for prescribing. There's a lot of individual variation.

Yes you weighed less previously but people change over time. You're probably a size 12? Completely normal. If you are living healthily, eating well and working out then at that height and weight you are healthy so I'm going to suggest maybe working on some self acceptance.

I mean this is also sound advice. You're just barely overweight by BMI. Definitely not worth getting distraught over. Especially if you're physically fit and well

I mean I have to be honest - it’s like you said, the health coach works. So you need to continue what worked then - what were they changing in your eating? What workouts did she give?

@Myanna but it’s going up. I don’t understand why. I had my bloods and thyroid tested in November and they’re all ok.

I’m training for a half marathon and worried mounjaro would fuck with that- does anyone have experience of that?

I think I’ll try dropping calories but this will be challenging- does anyone have a sustainable plan at about 1200-1400 that would let me eat with the kids?

It was £300 a month and I lost 4lb in 6 months, I didn’t feel I could justify it.

I think the analysing my MFP kept me on track, the workouts were strength training daily to up my metabolism.

Also the health coach was who suggested 1600, she was really uncomfortable with trying anything below that.

As other have said - if you aren't losing weight on your current calorie level, you need to lower it.

For the most part, all mounjaro does is make it easier to lower your caloric intake. So if you can set your intake lower and stick to it without mounjaro, that will be better (as you avoid the side effects).

Just drop it by 100 cals and see how it goes, don't go crazy and drop to 1200!

It is very difficult to get fitter and lose weight at the same time though. If you're training for a half, why not prioritise that for now and making sure you're fueled properly?

I know the science suggest strength training is best for long term weight management, but I have always find I lose weight best when I'm doing significant (at least 1 hour a day) moderate level cardio.

You are only a bit taller than me and I would expect to maintain or gain weight on 1600-1700 cals unless I was insanely active.

Honestly it doesn’t sound low enough - I would be expecting 1400-1500 for weight loss.

I cannot believe that people are seriously recommending WLIs to you! How sick are we becoming.

I think you should step away from the scales and stop obsessing about this. You may be marginally overweight, but you are clearly fit and healthy, and as PPs have said this may be down to building muscle. We do pork up a bit as we age, and this is now thought to not be a negative thing, and BMI recommendations are being adjusted accordingly

Keep exercising and eating well, and stop worrying. Putting on a couple of inches or a couple of pounds a day is nothing.

I make your TDEE to be around 1700 cals, which would indicate why you’re not able to lose weight, or lose weight consistently and noticeably.

Thankyou. I am indeed freaking out. I think I’ve been trying to lose this weight for four years and have seen no progress at all: it didn’t seem to be this hard in the past.

I will drop 100 and see what happens, and start doing 10k steps aswell as that was something the health coach insisted on that has also slipped.

If I’m still here in a month I’m surprised to see how easy it is to get jabs, and how cheap.

You are only marginally overweight - you don’t need WLIs. If what your health coach recommended worked for you, just keep on doing this.

1600 calories may be fine to maintain but not enough to lose. Also, it is more difficult to lose weight if one is already close to a reasonable weight. (I am 163cm and find that I gain weight if I eat more than 1400-1500. I need to reduce to 1200-1300 to lose weight.)

I would recommend Dr Michael Moseley’s The Fast 800, which includes some easy recipes for the 800 calories days. Dr Mark Hyman’s The Blood Sugar Solution Diet Book also includes a lot of healthy low-calorie recipes.

YouTube Trainers that I’ve found excellent for working out with dumbbells include Growingannanas, Heather Robertson and Caroline Girvan. I also found that abs work is very important to help with weight training. Try Rebecca Louise’s Best Abs and the Bowflex 3-minute plank. I do the latter every single day and it really helps.

It's tricky catering to multiple diets, especially at the same sitting. Don't cook one pot stuff because you will need a different protein:carb ratio to them. Have the veg, protein, carbs, sauce separate, have smaller portions of anything too calorific and bigger portions of veg and lean protein. Also, have cooked chicken breast in the fridge to add to dishes or have as a snack (I really like it with balsamic vinegar or a table spoon of jazzed up lite mayo) to increase your protein intake.

At your height and weight, depending on how long/far you are running, it’s possible that eating 1700 calories is around maintenance for you.

You will probably need to drop the calories or increase the exercise to lose.