Slow metabolism, crazy swings and losing more than 2 pounds per week

Gilligan11

Looking for some advice: I am eating roughly 1000-1200 calories per day, maybe a bit less but eating quite healthy with 2 eggs for breakfast (sometimes salsa or cheese on top), dark green salads and steak/chicken/tuna for lunch (sometimes a Greek yogurt or a fruit too if I am not satisfied) and whatever meat and vegetable my husband makes for dinner. Occasionally I will have a few chips, ice cream or a carb with dinner, and often have a glass of wine at night. I am trying not to snack either which has been surprisingly easy. I do weight training twice per week and at least 60 minutes of cardio 5 days a week - walk/run intervals or run, 5-9 km (300-600 calorie burns). I feel stronger, and my muscles are tired after the weight sessions. My weight fluctuates from 205-190 weekly and I am a 5 foot 3 female. Last week Monday I was 202, today I am 194, my ring fits better but clothes fit the same. I am not hungry and portion sizes are about 2-3 cups of lettuce, with some tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots on top, protein is about a full palm. I can't seem to steadily lose weight and been off antidepressants and an antipsychotic for 3 months, I know they can cause metabolism issues. Because I am exercising and eating well and will see a 10 pound upswing, I am hesitant to add more calories though I think I am on the low side and worry about losing muscle or losing weight too fast on the off week where I drop 10 pounds even though the week before I put that much on. I am not manipulating what I eat or drink the night before weighting, it seems truly random. I am not noticing much change in my body, weighing at the same time, same scale, I only drink water (sometimes with lemon) and green tea except for the wine so my salt shouldn't be high or storing water. I am trying to make life changes with food choices and exercise but it's so frustrating not seeing regular improvements when I have so much to lose that I don't know what else I can do and gaining or losing 10 pounds a week seems so unhealthy. I have seen my doctor, she says be patient, no concern from blood labs, and that I am doing great having started at 220 in April but based on my food and exercise, shouldn't I be seeing more basic calorie deficit weight loss? I am at a loss - can someone's metabolism really be so low that my diet and exercise isn't making enough calorie deficit to see regular weight loss? Can someone in the obese range lose more than 2 pounds per week and it not be mostly muscle loss (thinking of my 10 pound swings)? I've sadly started Saxsenda hoping it will give me a boost but I don't want to be on drugs, I want to hit 130 with diet and exercise. I feel like a failure resorting to drugs. Ugh, I am defeated.

StaciMarie1974

My first thought: 10-15 pound weight shifts in a week's time, even for water weight, seems odd. How reliable is your scale? When were the batteries last changed? Does anyone else in the house use the same scale and if so - do they have wildly swinging weight patterns? I suspect the scale is wonky.

I'm no expert on the meds you mention. You understand they affect metabolism but do you have any information on how long til they are completely out of your system?

nutmegoreo

Couple things that pop into my mind reading this:
1) depending on how you are measuring your food, you may be eating more than you think (this is good, you are aiming too low add in the workouts and you are going to burn out and risk malnutrition)
2) you are making good progress, so have some patience (26 lbs in 3-4 months is awesome, and as you get closer to your goal weight it should slow down)
3) weight fluctuations happen a lot for a number of reasons which all lead to water fluctuations
4) consider using a weight trend app, that way you can see the overall trend, rather than the fluctuations (there are several, HappyScale, Libra, TrendWeight are just a few)

Gilligan11

Thanks for your comment StaciMarie - I've never changed the batteries, I will do that! I have verified certain weights with my doctors scale and one at the gym and they were consistent so I hadn't thought the scale was wrong... but it is worth a try for sure! There seems to be surprisingly little true data on the meds - I only seem to find others in message boards asking the same questions and hear extreme battles to lose each pound up to a year. I don't know if it gets better after that, that's just all I found from other peoples accounts. The only medical journal I found talked about the serotonin diet where you add more carbs and eat them without protein which I added a graham cracker before dinner a few times and then had a 10 pound swing so that didn't continue. Maybe I just have to wait it out and hope for better results eventually.

BillMcKay1

Looking for some advice: I am eating roughly 1000-1200 calories per day

You need to turn roughly into: I am weighing/measuring and tracking my intake at....


There are too many variables in what you listed.

Glass of wine per night. 5oz?6oz?8oz? Varies by varietal but on average 5 oz of white wine is 116 cal, 8oz is 186 calories.

Ice cream, 1/2c serving? Eyeball a scoop into the bowl? Ben and Jerry's Half backed is 270cal for a 1/2 cup serving. Halo is 120 calories for a 1/2 cup serving.

My advice would be to tighten up your logging of your intake so you have a much better idea of how many calories you're actually eating. Eat the 1200 calories at a minimum for a month and track your weight over that time.