What am I missing?

tablefor5now

I am a 45 year old mother of 3.

I have already lost 30kg slowly over two years in 2018-2019 from 107kg to 77kg. I did IF with calorie counting, MFP and upped my exercise from zero to walking 6km or bike riding 20+km three times a week. Yay me.

Then I became a bit complacent and my weight crept up 1 or 2kg.
Then covid hit and while we in NZ have had control and freedoms that most other countries have not had, that 1 or 2kg spiralled to 8 or 9kg. I am 164cm and currently weigh about 85kg.

So in May 2021 I began working on things again. I joined the gym and started to focus on strength training and weights as well as cardio. I was always doing IF (I'm just not a breakfast eater) but went back to counting calories as well, setting 1200 calories as the goal and trying to eat more protein. I sit at a desk for work, 3 days a week but exercise usually 3 times per week for at least an hour.

Should be easy, right? It's not like I haven't done this before.
But I have had zero success in achieving any weight loss. And zero success achieving any reduction in measurements. My weight just Yo-Yos 1-2kg and measurements are static even after consistency for 6-8 weeks.

I've had TSH checks done and they're fine. I have no medical issues except perhaps chronic insomnia since my teens.

I'm 45 so it is possible that perimenopause is at play, but Dr tells me that is not worth testing for because of the Mirena and that I'm probably too young (that's debatable).

I don't drink alcohol at all and only occasionally drink Coke Zero. Tea or coffee with just a splash of milk and no sugar are my usual drinks choice. I'm not much of a water drinker unless I'm exercising but I'm working on it.

What am I missing?
Should I have a higher calorie goal?

Should I always eat back exercise calories? (Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't).

Should I do more/less lifting or cardio? The current ratio is about 50/50

Should I reduce carbs? Increase protein? (Keto is not a sustainable option for me). These are just currently set at the mfp default.

Any helpful suggestions?

thisvickyruns

do you weigh your food?

callsitlikeiseeit

learn how to weigh (on a food scale) your food properly and find ACCURATE database entries, if you are not already doing so.

cardio + strength training very good combination

You are not to young to begin to go into menopause or perimenopause. im 43 and havent had a cycle in at least 2 months. I'm not on any form of birth control and havent been for years. I am typically a pretty regular 21 day cycle. every woman is different.

you should be eating back exercise calories. Eat back roughly half, as the MFP database over estimates for most people. you can adjust as needed (eat more if losing too fast, less if losing slower than anticipated- gauge this after several weeks of watching the overall trend and weighing/logging food accurately)

the MFP default macros are fine. if you want to play with them you can, but its not necessary. 1200 calories is very low. I dont speak french (as I call the metric system, lol) so i dont know your height off the top of my head but assuming you are not super short, you can probably eat a fair bit more and still lose. What I would do is go back to my first point, and make sure you are weighing your food accurately and using accurate database entries.

The chart below almost always has the answer in it somewhere

cmriverside

Well, then you're still eating too much.

Can you open your FOOD diary?

FOOD > Settings, scroll down and change the privacy setting at the bottom and "save."



The last few pounds for me required extreme focus, commitment and healthy eating. I made all my own meals and used a food scale. I was hungry frequently. The last few pounds are a Commitment!

SnifterPug

Others have made the obvious points about calories, weighing food etc.

But you are absolutely NOT too young to be in peri menopause. The Mirena will be giving progesterone but it's the oestrogen fluctuations that typically cause the problems. That said, I've successfully lost and maintained weight through this period with a similar approach to you bar the actual calorie numbers.

Insomnia will not be helping you. That must be causing some level of stress, which will probably elevate your cortisol levels. That in turn can cause weight gain.

kshama2001

There are mistakes that people commonly make that cause them to not lose weight that we might be able to spot if you change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings