What am I doing wrong?

Penny_Harrison

Hi. I'm 55, diabetic, in menopause, had bariatric surgery 10 years ago, have 20k (40lbs) extra weight. Recently had camplobacter food poisoning so I'm trying veggie based meals till I feel better. I fought to lose every pound I have lost but I'm thinking I'm not going to lose any more. If anyone wants to look at my food diary and let me know what I'm doing wrong id be so grateful.

WeatherJane

It doesn't appear that you are using a food scale.

TeshaRamer

Just a suggestion but you could try doing your bariatric pre op diet again. A friend of mine had bariatric surgery and when she would get stuck she would do the pre op diet and it would get her weight loss started again.

mikhnpaitsmum

Diabetic- does your endo team have a dietician? You could ask there for some insight if they do.

Strudders67

WeatherJane wrote: »

It doesn't appear that you are using a food scale.

This ^ ^ ^

Weigh everything solid, even if it's pre-packaged, as what's actually in the packet can differ to what it states. Measure every liquid, be that milk or cooking oil. I see plenty of scoops of this, tsp of that, 1/2 a tomato etc. in your diary. Your entry for half a tomato gave you 11 cals. How big was it? The whole salad tomato (92g) that I had for breakfast this morning gave me 41 cals.

And check that the nutritional info for the diary entry you're using actually matches what it says on the package in front of you. Many database entries in MFP are user-entered and many are wrong or the nutritional info has changed over the years but the entry in MFP hasn't been updated.

Also, are you really logging every single thing you eat and drink? If so, you appear to be under-eating, which also isn't good. Stress on your body can result in short term weight retention.

It's also possible that the pre-packaged foods are high in salt / sodium, which can result in water retention.

FitAgainBy55

It looks like you've only been tracking your food consistently for 10 days. How often have you weighed yourself during that time and what were the results ?

AnnPT77

Penny_Harrison wrote: »

Hi. I'm 55, diabetic, in menopause, had bariatric surgery 10 years ago, have 20k (40lbs) extra weight. Recently had camplobacter food poisoning so I'm trying veggie based meals till I feel better. I fought to lose every pound I have lost but I'm thinking I'm not going to lose any more. If anyone wants to look at my food diary and let me know what I'm doing wrong id be so grateful.

Hi, Penny. I'm Ann. I sympathize: I'm also older (65) and in menopause, but not diabetic or post-WLS (just hypothyroid).

It sounds to me like you're under a lot of stress: Recently ill, feeling stressed about the weight management it sounds like, and similar to others, I think you're undereating (and maybe getting sub-ideal nutrition because of the low calories?), which is also a stressor. Stress increases the probability of water retention. Undereating tends to bleed calorie expenditure out of our daily life via fatigue, perhaps subtle fatigue, and slow fat loss vs. what we'd expect, besides.

I don't know whether this is true for you, but it's common - maybe extra much so among us older women, because we anticipate difficult weight loss? - to interpret some scale-weight jumps as fat regain, so cut calories further, when what's really happening is some water retention. In those cases, that cut can further increase water retention and fatigue, thus fuel a negative cycle.

I understand that you have 20 kg/40 pounds you'd like to lose, but it would help me interpret your current nutrition levels to know at least how tall you are, and what your current weight is if you feel comfortable sharing that? (I'm 5'5", which is pretty average, but I don't want to assume, about you.)

I agree that if your medical team has a registered dietitian, or your primary care doctor could refer you to one, that could be a help, because your situation has multiple health factors, thus is a little more complicated than average.

I will say that, personally, I don't think either age or menopause are certain doom to weight loss, nor (not applicable in your case, I think) hypothyroidism: I was able to lose almost 1/3 of my body weight at age 59 (by calorie counting), obese to healthy weight, and have stayed at a healthy weight since. I've seen older diabetics here accomplish weight management goals, too.

What can happen, though, is that we may need to be more conscious of lifestyle factors (not just exercise, but daily life activity, and things like nutrition or sleep that influence energy level, plus efforts to regain muscle mass we may've lost in past rounds of dieting or during other health challenges).

Beyond that, patient attention to calorie levels is useful, in case we do have some such adaptations. Patient, because the pesky water weight fluctuations can obscure fat loss progress on the bodyweight scale, so it takes time to clearly see that fat loss is happening. Attentive, so that we can really hone in on our individualized needs.

It's in that latter connection that I found a food scale really helpful, at making my calorie counting as accurate as possible, letting me get a very clear idea what my personal calorie needs really were. As a bonus, it turned out that using a food scale was not only more accurate than eyeballing portions, it was easier and quicker than using cups and spoons, once I learned the tricks.

Wishing you a path to success!

Penny_Harrison

Thanks so much everyone, all comments very helpful. I haven't logged with myfitnesspal for a very long time, just started this week while I was doing without meat as I have to get enough protein due to my bariatric surgery. I couldn't figure out how to answer each person separately, im so sorry, but Weather Jane, you're right, bought one this afternoon and weighed my peanuts. Chandlertesha, good idea, think ill do that. Fitagainby55, only weighed myself once. Annpt77, I'm 5.0 tall and currently weigh 76.2 kilos. I am under eating, still not completely over the camplobacter poisoning. All your advice is amazing thank you.

yirara

With an infection ongoing your body might be holding onto additional water weight from the infection. Give yourself time to get better. And yes, everything the others have said: log, be consistent, use a food scale for everything, and don't give up after just a week.

cmriverside

You can absolutely lose that weight with consistency and time. There is a calorie number for everyone, and it is just tracking good data and making adjustments.

I agree with yirara, too. Any infection is going to increase systemic inflammation.

Just give it time, and good job buying that food scale. It's an invaluable tool not only for staying within calories but in making sure to eat enough. Under-eating comes with its own set of problems.