Struggling

helenbenzie75

Hi all,

So I'm struggling. I've successfully managed to lose and maintain a 6.5 stone loss over the past few years however I seem to have hit a brick wall recently and it's getting me down big time.

I'm 5ft 9", currently weight 170 lbs and am eating at 1410 calories, plus I go to the gym three times a week and don't eat back those calories. I religiously weight everything however since maybe August last year I've put on almost a stone! I had some blood tests around that time and my thyroid came back a bit funny however my doctor didn't seem concerned.

I went back to my doctor last week to voice my concerns and he basically said that I'm fighting my genetics (all of my family are very overweight) and that it's more difficult to lose weight in the winter and to wait until spring. Whilst I don't doubt what he has said, surely it's just a case of calories in vs calories out?

I'm really struggling mentally, I don't know where to go or what to do. Every week when I jump on the scales I see I've gained another pound despite being so strict with myself. I've never struggled like this before, I'm doing everything right but getting absolutely nowhere. Does anyone have any advice?

thanks in advance

Muscleflex79

are you weighing everything you eat??

ceiswyn

If you open your diary people may be able to help you better. It sounds like there may be a problem somewhere in your logging - even if you weigh everything, you may be choosing bad DB entries for things you eat a lot, for example.

L1zardQueen

Portion creep? What Muscleflex said^^^

TavistockToad

i second opening your diary.

have you taken a diet break since losing all that weight?

RoxieDawn

Did you lose any of your weight in the colder/winter months? We can be less active, moving around less in the winter months but with consistent activity and exercise you can combat that.

Gaining weight comes down to eating more than our daily total expenditure needs. If it were me, I would go back to the basics. Review my food diary for logging inaccuracies, do you have meals or days not logged? Are you weighing everything that has calories? I would also reset my goal to the appropriate deficit depending on how much you have to lose. I would also make sure that I am eating back some of my exercise calories, not doing that following MFP's method to lose weight actually puts you in a larger deficit, so there is definitely some things off with what you are currently doing.

cmriverside

I have thyroid issues and when I'm not properly medicated it can quickly spiral with my weight.

I would find a second opinion, ask for a referral to an endocrinologist. It could be thyroid if you are tracking as accurately as you think you are.

Don't give up. You'll get to the bottom of this!

cmriverside

Why does everyone keep asking her about weighing food when she said it right in her OP?

L1zardQueen

Maybe she stopped using it?

KNoceros

Because often people claim to be weighing but when asked admit to measuring or “eyeballing”/ guessing on the grounds that they’ve weighed for so long they just know what a given portion looks like.

ETA I’m not saying that’s the case here, just a response to the previous post.

RoxieDawn

cmriverside wrote: »

Why does everyone keep asking her about weighing food when she said it right in her OP?

I've peaked in a lot of diaries over the years when threads like this come up, usually things come down to weighing and logging inaccuracies, wrong database entries, missed meals, missed days, I even seen lots of quick add calories, etc etc. A person can lose weight for a certain amount of time doing it that way, but when it comes down to the last weight it can come down to being more precise to get as close a 100% accuracy as possible.

If OP would temporarily open the diary, a quick review will answer this question.

Dilvish

change your exercise routine. Add more time and add more weight/resistance. Building or maintaining muscle as you age is critical for weight maintenance.

Typically our bodies tend to get used to the exercise over time so even though we feel like we are getting enough, we are actually not.

Your metabolism tends to slow down as you get older too so add enough protein (for metabolism and muscles) to make it count. Try eating more often (every 2.5 - 3 hours) but smaller meals to help boost your metabolism.

TavistockToad

Dilvish wrote: »

change your exercise routine. Add more time and add more weight/resistance. Building or maintaining muscle as you age is critical for weight maintenance.

Typically our bodies tend to get used to the exercise over time so even though we feel like we are getting enough, we are actually not.

Your metabolism tends to slow down as you get older too so add enough protein (for metabolism and muscles) to make it count. Try eating more often (every 2.5 - 3 hours) but smaller meals to help boost your metabolism.

can you explain how eating protein affects your metabolism? that's not something i have heard before?

cheryldumais

I feel your pain. I have gone through exactly the same thing. I am 5'5" and weigh between 147 and 150. I want to weigh 135. I have low thyroid but am medicated so shouldn't have trouble but it just doesn't seem to matter. Here's what I found helped me a bit: Accept you aren't going to get back to your high school weight, be very careful about tasting food and a bite here and there of snacks lying around. Start lifting weight to build some muscle, move as much as you can.

I have realized that I sit way too much. Both my husband and I sit almost constantly even on weekends. I am trying to find a hobby we can take up to get us moving.

My maintenance calories right now are around 1300. In fact lately I'm eating about 1100 and not losing but I still think there are too many tastes here and there while cooking and whether I log them or not my body counts them. For 3 weeks I absolutely kept on top of it and ate around 1000 calories and dropped a couple pounds but I couldn't keep it up. Frankly at some point I think I have to accept I am staying where I am. Your weight sounds like it's not so bad for your height. Why don't you consider a recomp? Try to build some muscle and maybe it will tone you to the place where you feel better about yourself.

As for the thyroid... I went through that for years. I had migraines, I was chronically constipated, my hair and skin were dry yet the doc told me I was normal. Then I went on a long trip where I drove for hours and I thought I had a minor stroke. Turned out it was my thyroid and the doc said he hadn't seen one that bad in years! I had to push myself to get to a point where it showed up on the tests. Anyway getting on meds got rid of the issues BUT... I didn't lose any weight. All it did was make me feel better so while being low reduces your energy getting it medicated doesn't always result in weight loss. If you have the other symptoms of low thyroid I would continue to push for help but don't expect it to be magic.

Make sure you watch your intake and log absolutely every bite, mint piece of gum etc. for a bit just to see if you are eating more than you think. Old habits die hard. Good luck, I know it's frustrating.

RoxieDawn

Dilvish wrote: »

change your exercise routine. Add more time and add more weight/resistance. Building or maintaining muscle as you age is critical for weight maintenance.

Typically our bodies tend to get used to the exercise over time so even though we feel like we are getting enough, we are actually not.

Your metabolism tends to slow down as you get older too so add enough protein (for metabolism and muscles) to make it count. Try eating more often (every 2.5 - 3 hours) but smaller meals to help boost your metabolism.

True that metabolism can/does change as we get older. I fit the older classification at 50. Diet and regular exercise helps with this

What classifies as not getting enough exercise? And protein to make what count? Eating every 2.5 to 3 hours, nah.