Discouraged :(

Inspiration15

I think that because I have lost and gained a lot of weight over my teen:adult life I can’t lose weight at all anymore unless I eat 800 calories a day or do some crazy Medifast diet. I have logged and weighed my food. I set my goal for 1200 calories just Incase I under estimate my calories. I am 5’6” and weigh 158lbs. That is too much. I want to weigh 140-143. I always gain back. No matter what. I have been doing this for 38 days. Lost maybe one to two pounds. What to do? I feel eating like this is maintenance for me. I drink 8-10 water a day. Could being 56 and peri-menopause be an issue? If I stop doing this I will gain so I am not giving up. Maybe more time. Suggestions?

kommodevaran

Everybody loses weight in the same way - through a calorie deficit over time.

You're barely overweight. Any weightloss will be slow and need a high degree of accuracy and patience.

If you weigh and log correctly, you don't need to undercut your calories, becasue there will be no estimation.

I think you regain because you're too strict and too hard on yourself. Something's gotta give.

If you can't accept this, go see your doctor.

jsb0726

Patience is the key here. You don’t have much to lose so I’d recommend setting your goal to 1/2 a lb a week. Slow and steady wins the day here. If you do it too quickly it will likely be gained back. This time next year you could be at your target weight and have set the lifestyle habits to maintain it there.

Cassandraw3

Since you have lost during that time, that means you are in a deficit. Are you weighing all your food? Are you including every single calorie that you eat including the oil you cook foods in? Any condiments like ketchup, mayo, ranch, etc? If you are sedentary (<6000 steps a day), I'm guessing your maintenance calories are somewhere between 1550-1700. This means at 1200 calories, you would be in about a 350-500 calorie deficit a day which is .75-1 lb a week. The more you move, walk, and exercise, the more that number will go up.

It sounds like you set your weight loss goal too strict and your expectations too high. MFP will not set your goal lower than 1200 calories, so even if you set it to lose 2 lbs/week, that will not be the calorie deficit created. Weight loss takes time. It takes being in a calorie deficit for an extended period of time. Keep at it and be patient.

nancyvazquez7796

I was at the Doctor recently and she flat out said, “It is harder for women to lose weight when they are Peri & Menopausal.” I am smaller than you and weigh way more. If I saw you I would probably not see what you see in yourself. Just take it one day at a time. I say the same, “Do not beat yourself up.” Good luck.

LivingtheLeanDream

Look at the bigger picture here, you have lost weight - that means you are eating in calorie deficit. You are at quite a healthy weight for your height so any loss will be slow.
You're losing approx 0.5 a week so that means your calorie deficit is small, 250 cals less than you burn a day so you are eating more than you think i.e more than 1200 calories.

Crochetluvr

The less you have to lose, the longer it generally takes to get it off. When I was getting down to my goal weight, I might not lose anything for several weeks, then lose a 1/2 pound. It can be frustrating but your body is not going to give it up just because you want it too. And your diet is most likely not sustainable.

I am 5'6" and currently weight 177. I DID get down to 159 before all hell in my life broke loose (and I was about 10 pounds from my goal) and I then back gained 20 pounds. My highest weight when I was in my 40's was 238.

Patience. That is what you need to have. I would LOVE to be your weight and I darn well WILL get there, even if it takes a year.

CharlieBeansmomTracey

dont get discouraged. Im 44 and 5'6 1/2 . The first 3 years(I did take diet breaks) I lost 45 lbs(yes it took that long) but the last 2(5 altogether) Ive gained some(not sure if some is muscle or not. doesnt appear to be fat though as Im losing that) and lost little. I have health issues and a metabolic disorder and for me I can burn a lot of calories and still not lose what most calculators tell me. even when I should be losing a 1lb a week Im lucky if I lose half a lb a month. I weigh and log everything.

for me my weight loss was so slow I was ready to give up but I noticed I was losing fat. but I was maintaining my weight even with not eating exercise calories back so I said to heck with it and decided since Im maintaining I will just do whats called a recomp. which is gain muscle and lose fat while maintaining my weight(weight lifting). Im eating back my calories and Im not losing but im not gaining and I am seeing a difference in my body. On the BMI Im overweight by 30 lbs but I was driving myself crazy trying to lose. I had blood work done and everything and there is no reason why my weight loss should be so slow.

for me what IM doing is working and I can see a difference in how I look. my clothes even when bloated and its that TOM(Im peri menopausal according to my dr) fit better than even before. I notice that I dont retain as much water weight and my weight doesnt fluctuate as much. I could probably eat less than 1200(which I dont recommend or condone unless you are under a drs strict care) and still not lose weight. what I would be is hangry though. my body seems to do better on more food. while Im not losing weight or it doesnt show on the scale Im losing fat so for me thats a plus.

AnnPT77

Inspiration15 wrote: »

I think that because I have lost and gained a lot of weight over my teen:adult life I can’t lose weight at all anymore unless I eat 800 calories a day or do some crazy Medifast diet. I have logged and weighed my food. I set my goal for 1200 calories just Incase I under estimate my calories. I am 5’6” and weigh 158lbs. That is too much. I want to weigh 140-143. I always gain back. No matter what. I have been doing this for 38 days. Lost maybe one to two pounds. What to do? I feel eating like this is maintenance for me. I drink 8-10 water a day. Could being 56 and peri-menopause be an issue? If I stop doing this I will gain so I am not giving up. Maybe more time. Suggestions?

Menopause-related issues are sometimes over-inflated, especially for those of us who are carefully calorie counting.

Much of our menopausal/perimenopausal issues with weight management come down to one of these things:

* Fluctuating hormone levels affecting appetite or fatigue/activity. Calorie counting as a weight loss method can help us recognize this, and manage it.

* We tend to lose muscle mass as we age, and each pound of muscle burns about 4 calories per day more than a pound of fat, even when just sitting around doing nothing. It's a tiny difference, but 50 calories a day surplus is all that's required to gain 5 pounds a year. Happily, with appropriate exercise, we can improve our muscle mass at any age, and the things we do to accomplish that will also burn some calories, for the double win.

* We tend to become more inactive as we age, not just exercise, but choices of hobbies, household chores, home improvement projects, social events, and daily life in general. That accounts for some more calorie-needs reduction as we age. Again, that's something we have influence or control over. Moving more can help; even fidgeting (per research studies) can burn in the low hundreds of calories daily.

I joined MFP in July 2015 at age 59, around your height (I'm 5'5") and weight (I was then at 154, having lost a bit of weight pre-MFP, actual starting weight 183). Before the end of the year, I was in the 130s (I'm narrowly built). I'm still in the 130s today, at age 62. Age and menopausal status are not insurmountable barriers. (I'm hypothyroid, too, BTW. ).

Patience is the answer. Also, it's important to realize that your scale weight will go up sometimes, and it's not necessarily fat gain. We gain water weight temporarily if we start a new exercise routine (for muscle repair), because of hormonal fluctuations, because of stress levels/lack of sleep, when healing (potentially even from minor things like sunburn), from eating more salt or carbs than normal (even if a perfectly healthy, sensible amount), and many more things. Water weight isn't fat, so we don't need to worry about it.

We also see a scale weight increase if we eat physically more food on some given day, or drink more: That stuff has weight while it's still in our digestive system. But it's also not fat gain, so we don't need to worry about it. It'll be gone in a few days, if we return to our normal routine.

It isn't unusual for someone to be on a dangerously low calorie level (like 800), then add back some reasonable modest number of daily calories (up to 1200 or so, say), and immediately see what seems like a big scale jump. They think they're regaining fat, but they're not: It's water weight and digestive contents, so temporary and not a big deal. That added 400 calories inevitably included a little extra salt/sodium (so water weight), extra carbs (so water weight), and more physical volume (so extra digestive system contents). Since they think they've gained, they panic and go back to unhealthfully low calories again. It's a bad cycle, for people who get into it.

Best wishes: You can lose the weight you want to lose, even when peri-/post-menopausal, and at the "advanced age" ( ) of 56. Patience and smart strategies are the way to go!

AnnPT77

P.S. You might like this thread:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10254997/40-year-old-women-and-older-who-has-lost-40-or-more-lbs-how-the-heck-did-you-do-it