Understanding Metabolism?

HarryMJ

I've struggled for years with dieting.
I have friends and family who just eat what they want, sit around doing little or zero exercise and remain the same size days/months/years later.
I've worked so hard for the last 3 years on here and got down from over 18 stone to 12 stone 10lb. I stopped the MFP for about 8 month, but kept my eating under control(or so I thought) I stay away from snacks, limit takeaways to a very rare treat, and actually opt for salads in restaurants. I was exercising almost every day (cycling, gym, or swimming, for an hour). I weighed myself last October and i'd gone back up to 15st 10lb.
Since then I've gone back to MFP, kept to a mere 1200 cals and just stayed miserable while watching everyone else just enjoy food. But the weight is back down to 14st 4lb this morning.
Is this my life now? Because if it is, it's just not fair!

Unknown

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malibu927

Without logging, you ate more than you thought.

You're miserable because 1200 is too low...I'm female and I can't even eat that little.

jemhh

Eat at a moderate deficit, be active, and accept that this is your life. Your friends may appear to eat what they want and not gain but you have no idea if they are actually healthy or what they eat when you are not around. It's truly not so terrible to exercise one measly hour a day if it means good health, is it?

CharlieBeansmomTracey

never compare yourself to anyone else, you will just disappoint yourself. the least a man should take in is 1500 and that is the very least.its also not about what you eat but about how much. even salads and other "healthy" food if eaten in excess can cause weight gain(if you eat more than you burn)

HarryMJ

I literally work next door to a company that supplies broken or misshapen biscuits. I watch as the staff I work with (all 4 of them) get bags of free samples every day. No exaggeration. Every day. I don't have a single one. Broken kit Kats etc. I just don't get it how I'm squeezing every calorie out of an apple while they just eat biscuits all day at work and then a full English breakfast sandwich and then maybe a pie for dinner. Then I hit the gym so I can eat a 'proper' meal for my tea. If I deviate from this routine my weight just goes up.

HippySkoppy

Honestly unless you are with these people 24/7 over an extended period your calculations on what they eating as well as expending is going to be off the mark. For your sake you need to let go of the comparing otherwise it will eat you up.

Baring medical conditions there really is scant difference between people's metabolisms and most likely you have NOT been cursed with a dodgey one but age, sex, height, muscle mass, people's variances with NEAT can mean that yes they can eat a little more or less than you.

I'm sorry you have gained weight that's a bummer but like @Noel_57 many of us here have recognised the need to log regularly to keep our weight in check, it sounds as though you too would benefit from returning to regular logging and insight into intake.

I can imagine the frustration you are feeling over having to do this 'weightloss' thing all over again and reactively you have chosen 1200 calories to lose weight as fast as possible but in all seriousness this is unwise.

As you would probably be aware, the min. calories recommended for men is 1500. Such a low amount is going to see you get tired and crash and burn. I eat more than this and I'm a sedentary 54 year old woman.....

If you are convinced that your body is not functioning normally ie: 'squeezing' out every calorie in a different way to others then go to your Dr. and speak about your concerns. Get some blood tests done to check out your thyroid and sugar levels et al....There may be an underlying medical reason as to why you are struggling.

I wish you all the best.

HarryMJ

Thanks for the input Hippy, maybe a blood test is in order? Honestly, and I really stress this point, when I wasn't logging I wasn't just eating cake etc., I thought I'd achieved a correct eating habit/routine that for other people was the norm. I was still exercising at least 4 times a week way beyond what my workmates were doing. I just wasn't logging my food as I thought I had it down to routine. Obviously it wasn't the case.

I look at the calories in an Indian meal, and it makes me feel ill to even consider having one. And yet my workmates seem to have these a couple of times a week. I have a biscuit, and that's me done for - honestly, that's how bad it is for me.

jemhh

So many mysteries in life.

I've always wondered why, if both Goofy and Pluto are dogs, one can talk and the other can't.

Seriously, though, you don't know exactly what these people eat or the calories they burn 24/7.You admitted in your first post that you gained 42 lbs (3st) over an 8 month period when you thought your eating was on point. Your perceptions are skewed. Stop wondering about them and focus on yourself.

HarryMJ

Thanks Jemhh - nail / head. Thanks.

HippySkoppy

@HarryMJ

Yeah, to me you have hit the nail/head to in saying about hitting the right amount of food portions according to your perceptions of what 'others' eat....There in lies a huge issue.

It is all about what YOU can eat. Including the amount of calories is right for you.

In your profile, you admit to struggling with being overweight all your life, your perceptions about portions are not going to be able to serve you well. It is going to be natural for you I think to revert to the way you have eaten and in the amounts that sustained and overweight body. For many, not just you this constitutes a life long retraining and a need for vigilance as your eyes, hunger cues and brain may not be as reliable as you need them to be.

This is NOT a fault, it is reality. Does it suck? Yeah, sometimes it does. I'll give myself here again as an example, for me I developed an ED in my teenage years along with body dysmorphia. My mentality, even with counselling has led me down the path of restriction and a real issue of feeling fat despite reality. After years of obesity (ironically weighing as high as 278 lbs) I now weigh 110 lbs at 5'4". No way am I big but my brain sometimes isn't on the right page hence I continue to log here in an effort to make sure I eat enough.

Harry you aren't alone in your feelings of frustration but your idea that you are shall I say almost 'screwed' if you eat a biscuit and it's downhill from then on is incorrect.

Maybe you too would get some benefit from talking to someone about these issues too. Just a thought.

jemhh

It really is a lifelong effort. Believe me, I feel you on that. I've been at this for 3 years and while I am good at eyeballing portions, I still want the bigger portions a lot of the time. I love the feeling of being really full so I have to manage it by doing stuff like eating a lot of raw produce, which gives me that feeling for relatively few calories.

psychgirl_02

I would see a doctor and get some testing. If you gain weight super easily, it could be a metabolic disorder. Diabetes is always a suspect. It makes losing weight hard as hell. Trust me on that! Otherwise, I say keep counting calories. But a man needs minimum 1500 a day. And treat yourself sometimes. Just log those calories and get in a workout. But first, get that blood work done.

CharlieBeansmomTracey

psychgirl_02 wrote: »

I would see a doctor and get some testing. If you gain weight super easily, it could be a metabolic disorder. Diabetes is always a suspect. It makes losing weight hard as hell. Trust me on that! Otherwise, I say keep counting calories. But a man needs minimum 1500 a day. And treat yourself sometimes. Just log those calories and get in a workout. But first, get that blood work done.

even with a metabolic disorder CICO still works. you just have to find the right amount of calories in vs calories out to lose.I have a metabolic disorder and I still lost weight,although a lot slower than most people I still lose weight. I just have to adjust my calories in compared to what MFP and calculators give me. I lost weight at first not weighing anything;using measuring cups,eyeballing and guessing,but then it slowly started to creep back on and I gained half of what I lost. once I started weighing everything it started coming back off again.even those with diabetes they can lose the weight with CICO for some it just may be slower or it may be they need to adjust their calorie intake. it could also be he gains water weight and holds on to it a long time and thinks hes gaining.
hard to tell.

leanjogreen18

They probably don't gain weight because there are no calories in broken KitKats ... wait that's Oreos my bad.