HELP ME LOSE WEIGHT PLEASE!!!

blondebeauty500

Hey everyone! I have Hashimoto's. At first when I was diagnosed 5 years ago, I could not gain weight. I could eat and eat and eat and not gain weight. It was extremely difficult. I was down at 102 pounds. Now I can't lose weight! I'm 136 pounds. A healthy weight for me is 122. I'm small so the excess weight on me looks like a 30 pound weight gain. My thyroid numbers were just checked and are very good since going gluten free. I'm not on any thyroid medication. Going gluten free has helped me with so many issues I was having, but I'm still not losing weight. It just won't come off.

For 2 weeks, I have done exercising on a stationary bike for nearly an hour and burning anywhere from 350-410 calories depending on the day as well as cutting back on calories. There were a couple days where I barely ate and fell on the stairs and scraped my knee and almost ran into a wall. I suffer from hypoglycemia so not eating much is not an option for me. My weight went down to 134.5 at the lowest and now I'm right back where I started at 136. Even when I lose a pound, I can't maintain the weight loss. Can you PLEASE help me? I know Hashimoto's causes weight gain but my numbers look good, I'm gluten free, there's no reason I shouldn't be losing weight. It says on here I need to eat 1,200 calories a day to lose 2 pounds a week, but it is very hard for me to eat that less having hypoglycemia. Also, I need to lose this weight fast. My graduation is coming up and this is VERY important to me. I can't lose 2 pounds a week. I need it faster than that. And I know it's possible because people on the Biggest Loser are dropping 5-10 pounds a week. I know they do excessive exercise, but still they lose way more than 2 pounds a week. So I'm not sure I believe this 3,500 calories = a pound and all this. There are people who go on low carb diets like keto and lose weight instantly without even cutting back on calories. And when my mom lost a lot of weight, she lost way more than 2 pounds a week. And she didn't exercise at all. Just reduced what she was eating.

For breakfast, I have Honey Nut Cheerios or Lucky Charms with milk and sometimes, a banana. I was just pouring a bowl of cereal before. Now I measure EXACTLY 2 servings on the scale and most days have cut out the banana with it. Still no weight loss that actually lasted.

For lunch, I have turkey and cheese roll-ups with 2 pickles (2 pickles = 10 calories), ruffle chips - I don't measure the chip serving but probably a little over one serving, and fruit. I also sometimes have a salad with turkey, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, and Italian dressing instead of the roll-ups.

Snacks include popcorn whether it's the low calorie popcorn or the cheddar one from the bag. If it's the cheddar one, I measure it. Also candy so 2 fun size snickers which equals like 84 calories. Or m&ms. If I have ice cream, I measure it.

Dinner is usually meat and a veggie. So meatloaf and green beans for example. Sometimes I'll eat half the meatloaf which I'm guessing is too much. Also, tacos with hard taco shells. And then dessert.



I know my diet isn't the healthiest, but this is the kind of diet I've eaten all my life. Actually healthier now than before I was gluten free. And I've NEVER had any kind of problem losing weight. So please don't say "Oh, you're eating crap and that's why you're not losing weight." I used to weigh 120 pounds eating 3 pieces of pizza and oreos. I'm 25 now and that was when I was 22 so it's not getting older that's causing my problem. I've heard weight loss is related to calories and also carbs. So a person can eat McDonald's for dinner and that's all they eat all day and still lose weight. So just because it isn't healthy doesn't mean anything.

I just don't get it. Gluten free means no bread like I used to have. I have gluten free pasta sometimes but not often so hardly any pasta when I used to eat pasta all the time. Probably 2 or 3 servings. Most of the time it's meat with a veggie for dinner now. But no weight loss. I would say my biggest problem is snacking. It still doesn't explain the inability to lose weight, but because of the hypoglycemia, I'm sure I snack more than most. Could you please help me? 15 pounds may not seem like a lot but when you're short, it makes a huge difference. I want to fit into my graduation dress. Please help! Thank you!

kommodevaran

Noone can help you lose weight. We can't tell you what to do or make you do it. We can only provide information. We're not going to say "Oh, you're eating crap and that's why you're not losing weight", we're going to say that you're not in a calorie deficit, and that you have unrealistic expectations.

When you stopped eating something that made you sick, you could absorb more nutrients from what you ate, and when you absorb more of the calories than before, you can gain weight on the same amount of food.
It's hard to determine if your weight goals are realistic/healthy without your height. Short can be anything.
You can't lose 2 pounds per week at your weight. BL contestants weigh twice as much as you.
You can't discern a week's loss, your water weight fluctuations are bigger than that. You need several weeks of consistent calorie deficit.
You can eat whatever you want. Nobody here cares, and your weight only reacts to the calories it gets or doesn't get.
Carbs is just one of the nutrients that provide calories.
You have to use the food scale correctly, and pick valid entries, and log everything, and hit your calorie goal without exceeding it, and doing it consistently and for a long time, if your goal is weight loss.

Deviette

Oh boy, where to begin.

Ignore shows like the biggest looser. Those people have hundreds of pounds to lose. The bigger you are, the easier it is to lose. You have barely anything to lose, so you wont find it suddenly coming off in anything near those numbers. Heck, for most people on here, take months to get rid of those last 15lbs.

Being gluten free has nothing to do with weight loss.

Fat loss is not the same as weight loss. I can gain weight on the scales by drinking a big glass of water, or lose it by going for a massive pee. I haven't lost any actual fat. I am just carrying more water. This is essentially what is happening when you go on super low carb diets. Your body initially gets rid a lot of the water weight that it's carrying so the number on the scale dramatically drops. If at this point you go back to eating a higher carb diet, then you will instantly see the number on the scale increase and all that "progress" you think you will have made, will instantly reverse. This is because you haven't actually lost any fat. Only water.

Yes your diet is rubbish, but a calorie is a calorie. 100kcal of lettuce is the same as 100kcal of oreos. You may not like the "3500kcal = 1lb of fat" thing. But as estimates go, it's pretty accurate. You seem to be assuming that you can lose fat one day to the next, whereas in reality you should be looking at long term treads. Many people will have weeks on end when they don't see the numbers on the scale move, then they'll suddenly see a sudden big drop which accounts for all the weight they would have expected to have lost over that time, in one go. Weight loss is not linear. I goes up and down all over the place. Accept it.

If you can't fit into your dress, go and buy a new dress, and look fabulous in that new one instead.

I know this isn't what you want to hear. But you have completely unrealistic expectations. And you seem to be completely misinformed about how diet and weightloss works (actually it sounds like you are informed, but you don't really want to believe it)

If you have health issues that could be affecting your weight. Maybe you should speak to your doctor who will be able to give you more tailored advise.


Also, how are you measuring your expendature? Most methods overestimate burn.

And from what you're saying, tbh your logging sounds a little bit lax. Weight everything. Every little thing that goes into your mouth. No "about a serving"s. Weigh it.

blondebeauty500

Thank you for the advice!

Yes I was very sick prior to gluten free. I was not absorbing my nutrients, my vitamin levels were very low, my hair was falling out, and I looked sick. But prior to gluten free, I was 134. I should be 122 so I had already gained 12 pounds prior to giving it up.

I'm 5'1. I weighed 122 for the longest which is a healthy weight for me and then just started packing on the weight and haven't stopped. 136 is considered overweight for my height.

So what's the most amount of weight I could lose a month by going on a stationary bike for 50 minutes 4-5 times a week and burning 350-410 calories each time as well as eating 1,200 calories a day?

kommodevaran

You must have been so scared, hugs. But you can do this. If you really eat 1200 calories per day, a realistic/healthy monthly loss will be around two pounds.

blondebeauty500

Thank you for the advice!

So a low carb diet only makes you lose water weight? I do appear to have some swelling, most of it went away when I went gluten free. But I have a little bit left. So would losing water weight actually be good for me? Or are you saying if I go down to 122 pounds on a low carb diet and then eat a high carb diet again, I'll go right back up? How come I've heard of people losing over 100 pounds on keto? That can't all be water weight.

That makes sense about people on the Biggest Loser being able to lose weight easier cause they have a lot to lose.

What I meant about the gluten free is...I know it doesn't cause weight loss by itself but hypothyroidism does cause weight gain. My endocrinologist recommended a gluten free diet not only because I have a bad allergy to it (it causes severe stomach bloating and I can't absorb my nutrients on it) but also because he said it would help my Hashimoto's. And it did. It significantly lowered my antibodies and improved my thyroid numbers a lot. So what I was saying is with improved thyroid numbers, how could I not have lost weight when hypothyroidism causes weight gain?

I have a stationary bike that tells me how many calories I've burned on it. I have no idea if it's accurate or not. I was actually wondering if it may be off. But it does seem like on days I exercise, the scale moves more. I'm just not holding onto the weight loss when it happens. I gain it right back after a couple days.

I will start weighing everything. I'm guessing I can't weigh milk right? My scale only weighs grams. So realistically speaking, what's the most amount of weight I could lose a month by going on a stationary bike for 50 minutes 4-5 times a week and burning 350-410 calories each time as well as eating 1,200 calories a day?

kommodevaran

blondebeauty500 wrote: »

So a low carb diet only makes you lose water weight? I do appear to have some swelling, most of it went away when I went gluten free. But I have a little bit left. So would losing water weight actually be good for me? Or are you saying if I go down to 122 pounds on a low carb diet and then eat a high carb diet again, I'll go right back up? How come I've heard of people losing over 100 pounds on keto? That can't all be water weight.

Keto makes you lose water weight, calorie deficit makes you lose fat.

What I meant about the gluten free is...I know it doesn't cause weight loss by itself but hypothyroidism does cause weight gain. My endocrinologist recommended a gluten free diet not only because I have a bad allergy to it (it causes severe stomach bloating and I can't absorb my nutrients on it) but also because he said it would help my Hashimoto's. And it did. It significantly lowered my antibodies and improved my thyroid numbers a lot. So what I was saying is with improved thyroid numbers, how could I not have lost weight when hypothyroidism causes weight gain?

Hypothyroidism doesn't make you gain weight. Eating more calories than you burn, makes you gain weight. Hypothyroidism makes you burn less. Healthy people gain weight too, by eating more than they burn.

I have a stationary bike that tells me how many calories I've burned on it. I have no idea if it's accurate or not. I was actually wondering if it may be off. But it does seem like on days I exercise, the scale moves more. I'm just not holding onto the weight loss when it happens. I gain it right back after a couple days.

You can't see weight loss and gain in the course of a few days. It takes weeks.

I will start weighing everything. I'm guessing I can't weigh milk right? My scale only weighs grams.

Scales only weighs grams, ounces, pounds etc, but you can weigh milk.

motivatedmartha

1. Keep it simple. Eat the number of calories mfp suggests and you will lose weight. Mfp gives you a deficit so you don't have to worry about it. Some people choose to control their calorie intake by eating low carb, some choose low fat and some people just eat a broad range of food, including the good, nutritional stuff and some treats. You can eat a little bit of rubbish and lose weight - it is simply a case of sticking to your calorie goal given by mfp. The more calories you 'spend' on rubbish food the less you have on stuff to fill you up. One Mars bar = a whole plate full of veggies
2. There is no quick fix - the higher your weight the faster you lose to start with - the last 10 lbs or so may feel as though it is taking forever - be patient. This is a lifetime thing, no point in starving the weight off to gain back rapidly when you 'finish' your diet. Plan to eat the way you want to eat forever to be fit and healthy.
3. Just as a guide, you can either measure your milk by volume (accurate) or, as with all non viscous, runny type of fluids, roughly 1ml = 1g. So if you want 100ml of milk, water, wine or whatever, and don't have a suitable measuring jug, 100g will be close to100ml. Obviously this does not work for syrups!!
4. I thought there was a group somewhere on here for Hashimotos sufferers - I seem to recall many have succeeded in getting to healthy weights.

Good Luck

Deviette

blondebeauty500 wrote: »

Thank you for the advice!

So a low carb diet only makes you lose water weight? I do appear to have some swelling, most of it went away when I went gluten free. But I have a little bit left. So would losing water weight actually be good for me? Or are you saying if I go down to 122 pounds on a low carb diet and then eat a high carb diet again, I'll go right back up? How come I've heard of people losing over 100 pounds on keto? That can't all be water weight.

That makes sense about people on the Biggest Loser being able to lose weight easier cause they have a lot to lose.

What I meant about the gluten free is...I know it doesn't cause weight loss by itself but hypothyroidism does cause weight gain. My endocrinologist recommended a gluten free diet not only because I have a bad allergy to it (it causes severe stomach bloating and I can't absorb my nutrients on it) but also because he said it would help my Hashimoto's. And it did. It significantly lowered my antibodies and improved my thyroid numbers a lot. So what I was saying is with improved thyroid numbers, how could I not have lost weight when hypothyroidism causes weight gain?

I have a stationary bike that tells me how many calories I've burned on it. I have no idea if it's accurate or not. I was actually wondering if it may be off. But it does seem like on days I exercise, the scale moves more. I'm just not holding onto the weight loss when it happens. I gain it right back after a couple days.

I will start weighing everything. I'm guessing I can't weigh milk right? My scale only weighs grams. So realistically speaking, what's the most amount of weight I could lose a month by going on a stationary bike for 50 minutes 4-5 times a week and burning 350-410 calories each time as well as eating 1,200 calories a day?

The initial weight loss on keto is water weight. If you continue losing weight after the first 2 to 4 weeks, then you should be losing fat. Keto works because people are eating less calories than they consume. That's it. It's just the initial water weight loss is very motivating to see the numbers change so dramatically on the scale. I think this is one of the reasons it's so popular right now. For long time ketoers, it's very much a way of life and a long term way of eating (a opposed to a diet). If you do keto, then after some time you swap to a higher carb diet, you should expect to see a rise in the numbers on the scale. This is the water re-balancing itself back in your body to deal with carbs again. You won't be gaining any fat back, but your scale number will rise. Lets put it this way, for example: Say you start keto and you lose 5lbs of water weight in the first week (I have no idea if this number is even close to being accurate, this is just an example). In addition to that you also lose 40lbs over the next several months by eating less calories than you burn. If you then decide that you don't really like keto as a long term way of eating, and decide to swap to another way of eating, you could expect to regain that 5lbs water weight. Although it might look like you've gained weight, you've still lost 40lbs of fat, you've only regained the water you lost at the beginning.

Without really knowing how hypothyroidism affects you (and not really knowing anything much about it in general), I can't really make a decent estimation on how much you would lose. If you have a problem with gluten, and cutting it out makes you feel better and helps you manage your condition, good for you. All I was saying is that gluten doesn't actually have an effect on fat loss (because there is a common misconception that somehow becoming gluten free will make pound somehow melt away) however, if you already know this, feel free to ignore me

Use a measuring jug or measuring cups/spoons for measuring liquids.

You will probably not see any meaningful change on scale because of exercise for day to day. If you work really hard, you can actually see a rise on the scales the next morning thanks to your muscles retaining (you guessed it) water to aid with repair.

May I make a suggestion? Try not to fixate so much on the number on the scale. For you, it may be better to instead focus on how you look and feel. Most people find that it takes at least a month to see any real benefit in the way that they think they look (and longer for others to notice). Sometimes when you have so little to lose, it's not really beneficial to fixate on the scale because it doesn't reflect the changes that are going on around your body. Some people in this situation do a body recomp, where they stay the same weight, but try and change the way their body looks (aka, lose fat, gain muscle)

kshama2001

Yes, weigh your milk (and potato chips). If you get the syntax from the USDA database and plug that into MFP, you should have an options with grams.

DarkNightBrightDays

Hi blondebeauty500

Congratulations on your upcoming graduation

It all gets really confusing doesn't it? Especially when you mix gluten and thyroids in with everything. I am 5 feet tall and you are correct even a few pounds can really show which sucks. I stalled in my weight loss after about 28lbs for weeks, dropping a pound and then going back up again it's very disheartening. I didn't start losing weight again until I began giving my body what it needed...enough calories. I worked out exactly what my body needed using an accurate calculator (I'll put the link at the bottom) and trusted the science because it told me I could eat more and exercise less if I wanted to. Crazy right!?! I've been doing this for the last two weeks and have lost 4.5lbs easily, previously I was eating too little and working out too much so the last two weeks have felt like a holiday.

Now I'm eating 1331 cals a day and doing 1-3 hrs of exercise.

Take no notice of The Biggest Loser it's just entertainment it's not real, the weight lose methods they use are really unhealthy, normal people just aren't meant to lose that amount of weight every week.

Just make sure you weigh everything you consume, stick to your calories and don't overdo it on the exercise bike because you'll get sick of it.

Good luck

http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

viajera99

OP, you've gotten some good advice. Take a deep breath and relax. First of all, the chance that you burned 400+ calories in 50 min. on a bike at your weight is about zero. From one 5"1' person to another, it sucks, but that's a fact. To lose weight, you need to concentrate on your caloric deficit. If you really and truly eat 1200 kcal/day -- and this means you have to weigh and log EVERYTHING-- a half a pound/week is what you can expect AND you probably won't see it on your scale for 3 or 4 weeks because it will be hidden by water fluctuations. But as many wise people here like to say "Would you rather lose ½ a pound a week consistently, or 2 pounds a week never?"

Just think, by the end of the year, you'll be back where you want!

DarkNightBrightDays

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Psychgrrl

blondebeauty500 wrote: »

Thank you for the advice!

Yes I was very sick prior to gluten free. I was not absorbing my nutrients, my vitamin levels were very low, my hair was falling out, and I looked sick. But prior to gluten free, I was 134. I should be 122 so I had already gained 12 pounds prior to giving it up.

I'm 5'1. I weighed 122 for the longest which is a healthy weight for me and then just started packing on the weight and haven't stopped. 136 is considered overweight for my height.

So what's the most amount of weight I could lose a month by going on a stationary bike for 50 minutes 4-5 times a week and burning 350-410 calories each time as well as eating 1,200 calories a day?

If you are exercising, you should eat back at least half the exercise calories on those days. In general, women should not eat less than 1200 calories a day to make sure you get all the nutrients you need.

If your body had been nutrient deprived because of the gluten intolerance, be sure and give it time to bounce back and heal. Putting it right into a deficit could be hard on it.

Your weight loss should be .5-1 pounds per week with how little you have to lose. I know if feels like a lot to you, but it’s really not. There are people here with literally hundreds of pounds to lose. Like I did. Hypothyroid and down 117 pounds.

Be patient. The advice to get another beautiful dress for graduation and rock that one was spot on!

Be good to yourself!