What if I am just meant to be fat?

Scooter_99

No I am not looking for a quick fix. This didn't happen overnight, but it did happen fast. I went to 9 doctors of all different kinds trying to solve this. It's sad when you almost hope there is an issue just so you finally know why.

Mario_Az

you mean phat

Pretty Hot And Tempting

charlotteeeyyy

I know exactly how you feel. It's hard to change years of bad habits though, wish I had gotten into exercise when I was younger so it would be easier for myself now.

martinel2099

No I am not looking for a quick fix. This didn't happen overnight, but it did happen fast. I went to 9 doctors of all different kinds trying to solve this. It's sad when you almost hope there is an issue just so you finally know why.

If you go to 9 different doctors hoping to find out your broken then I think you have a different problem here.

Trust me, re-evaluate what you are doing to lose weight now and consider taking my advice and the advice of the others here.

Always track/measure your calories, Consider following IIFYM and enjoy food.

beritrocksmyuniverse

Scooter are you weighing and measuring everything you consume everyday of the week? Do you have cheat days where you don't record your meals? One unrecorded cheat day and drastically impact your calorie deficit and even put you over.

I don't know your height / weight, but 1,400 calories isn't all that low for a sedentary female trying to lose weight. And if you exercise you need to eat more than that.

My guess outside of some medical issue you might have is that you are gaining weight because you are not actually eating at a calorie deficit. Nobody is a special snowflake when it comes to weight loss, it's as simple as calories in and calories out.
[/quote]

Yes, this. You shouldn't have a cheat day that you don't record. You can ruin your diet completely.

bergpa

That's something I often wondered to myself, I tried everything I knew how to do and nothing worked. Until now. Forget everything you "think" you know about weight loss.

Firstly your body is made to store fat when you eat at a calorie surplus. This was vital for the survival of our species during our evolution because there wasn't always a guaranteed meal. It's not a curse, it's a biological advantage that doesn't have much of a purpose now that there's a grocery store every few blocks away.

To lose wight, it's a simple matter of calories in and calories out. I don't care how "healthy" you think you are eating or how much exercise you do, you will gain weight if you do not eat at a calorie deficit. To lose weight properly I have a few tips

1. Take the guess work out of measuring your food, measure and weigh everything. Buy an electronic scale that weighs in grams. Call me geeky or whatever, but I have one at my desk at work and one in my kitchen at home, I hate guesswork.

2. If you eat at a restaurant you are essentially guessing how many calories you food contains. Just because a restaurant posts nutritent facts on their website doesn't mean the cook won't be heavy handed on the butter and oils and other ingredients.

3. When you prepare you meals you need to weigh and measure everything. Did you know that if you measure peanut butter that you are actually dong it wrong? Peanut butter and items liek it should be weighed,and the difference in calories when you compare the two are significantly different.

4. Weight loss can be achieved in the kitchen, you don't need exercise. This is true, you can lose weight not going to the gym at all if you eat at a calorie deficit, remember points 1-3.

5. Though going to the gym is not required, it can help improve your general health and help mitigate muscle loss while on a weight loss diet. I don't want you to get into the mindset that you have to bust your butt at the gym in order to enjoy food, that's not a healthy relationship. By picking up a heavy lifting program like Ice Cream fitness (you can youtube it) you can improve muscle strength, mitigate muscle loss while at a calorie deficit and it will give you extra calories to enjoy per day.

6. When recording exercise you need to be careful. My fitness pal is not very accurate in my opinion. If I lift weights, I generally cut the calories by at least 30%. My fitness pal gives you an estimate and it's impossible to know the actual number, but I feel cutting the estimate by 30 to 50% helps. If you over-estimate the calories burnt while exercising and under-estimate the calories consumed in food you are in for a world of trouble.

I would add to this that if you are not losing you should actually log your calories in some way each day. Counting in your head can easily lead to inaccuracies plus you don't have information that you can refer back to. Also it is important to check the foods you regularly eat for caloric changes. There is one item I eat that has changed 3 times in the past year from 300 to 290 to 310 now.

farmers_daughter

I think like that too, but I'm also told that I'm wrong.

1. You must eat perfectly. Edit: meaning no red lines.
2. Whatever you set your macros to, you have to stick to it. budget a cheat meal.
3. And that should work.
4. Move at least 30 minutes a day - get your heart rate up

I however fail at the first step. I do not eat perfectly. That is the only explanation I can logically and factually come up with Everything else, I've got hardcore.

morethanthis0

A professor once told me that your body will fight you to stay in homeostasis (your current weight) for awhile but it can change, it just takes effort and knowledge on your part. And then once you lose weight it takes about a year for it to make the new weight it's homeostasis. I don't know if that's accurate but it sounds legit.

parkscs

You don't have to eat perfectly... you do have to eat less. There's a big difference.

martinel2099

That's something I often wondered to myself, I tried everything I knew how to do and nothing worked. Until now. Forget everything you "think" you know about weight loss.

Firstly your body is made to store fat when you eat at a calorie surplus. This was vital for the survival of our species during our evolution because there wasn't always a guaranteed meal. It's not a curse, it's a biological advantage that doesn't have much of a purpose now that there's a grocery store every few blocks away.

To lose wight, it's a simple matter of calories in and calories out. I don't care how "healthy" you think you are eating or how much exercise you do, you will gain weight if you do not eat at a calorie deficit. To lose weight properly I have a few tips

1. Take the guess work out of measuring your food, measure and weigh everything. Buy an electronic scale that weighs in grams. Call me geeky or whatever, but I have one at my desk at work and one in my kitchen at home, I hate guesswork.

2. If you eat at a restaurant you are essentially guessing how many calories you food contains. Just because a restaurant posts nutritent facts on their website doesn't mean the cook won't be heavy handed on the butter and oils and other ingredients.

3. When you prepare you meals you need to weigh and measure everything. Did you know that if you measure peanut butter that you are actually dong it wrong? Peanut butter and items liek it should be weighed,and the difference in calories when you compare the two are significantly different.

4. Weight loss can be achieved in the kitchen, you don't need exercise. This is true, you can lose weight not going to the gym at all if you eat at a calorie deficit, remember points 1-3.

5. Though going to the gym is not required, it can help improve your general health and help mitigate muscle loss while on a weight loss diet. I don't want you to get into the mindset that you have to bust your butt at the gym in order to enjoy food, that's not a healthy relationship. By picking up a heavy lifting program like Ice Cream fitness (you can youtube it) you can improve muscle strength, mitigate muscle loss while at a calorie deficit and it will give you extra calories to enjoy per day.

6. When recording exercise you need to be careful. My fitness pal is not very accurate in my opinion. If I lift weights, I generally cut the calories by at least 30%. My fitness pal gives you an estimate and it's impossible to know the actual number, but I feel cutting the estimate by 30 to 50% helps. If you over-estimate the calories burnt while exercising and under-estimate the calories consumed in food you are in for a world of trouble.

I would add to this that if you are not losing you should actually log your calories in some way each day. Counting in your head can easily lead to inaccuracies plus you don't have information that you can refer back to. Also it is important to check the foods you regularly eat for caloric changes. There is one item I eat that has changed 3 times in the past year from 300 to 290 to 310 now.

Right on, great points. I've noticed several items that I eat have changed regularly.

bwogilvie

Rather than reinvent the wheel, I'll refer you to three excellent posts here that will lay out an effective way to lose weight and discuss some of the pitfalls to which people are prone:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819925-the-basics-don-t-complicate-it
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

After you've digested those, some of the other links on this page are useful:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/833026-important-posts-to-read

Finally, Dr. Yoni Freedhoff's recent book The Diet Fix might be useful; he emphasizes calorie restriction, but with an emphasis on developing new habits and on being satisfied with what you eat. One of his recurring questions to ask yourself is, "How much [i.e., how little] of this do I need to be satisfied?" The ten-day reset is a bit gimmicky, but other than that, it's one of the three best diet books I have read. The other two are John Walker, The Hacker's Diet (free online at http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/e4/), and Richard Watson, The Philosopher's Diet which despite its title is not so much about losing weight as it is about how hard it is to make any major change, and also how rewarding it can be.

DonnaRe2012

You said your counting your calories and keeping them around 1400? But what are you eating? Are you eating clean? Fruit veg lean protein etc?

Mr_Knight

Is this even possible??? Can your body just like where it is and that is why you don't lose? I am so sad that nothing changes despite my effort. I feel defeated. Depressed. Disgusting.

If you feel "disgusting", then it doesn't sound like "it is meant to be".

Slasher09

Weigh everything. Stick to your calorie goals. Get a good burn at the gym or at home (or wherever you can) 5-6 days a week for 30-60mins a day (wear a HRM to see what you are burning). If you have done all of this for a month and STILL there is no change (and I mean REALLY stuck to this for a month then get your thyroid/etc levels checked. Some people don't lose weight as easily as others, but many many people are not fully aware just how much they are overeating.

Scooter_99

I log what I eat. I don't guess. Food is not a weakness for me. I can control that pretty well. I don't use it as a coping mechanism if that is how this came off. I went to different types of doctors because I was and still am baffled as to how I could be this big when I am so disciplined. I even had food allergy testing done. Saw a GI doctor. A kinesiologist, a hormone specialist, an endocrinologist and on and on...I was looking for something that could medically be in the way. I would bring in my food diary and show these doctors and it's just a mystery still. I have had tons of labs. Some say maybe its PCOS. Some say I must have a bad thyroid. These things check out find. Estrogen dominance is the only thing i clearly had an issue with.

Scooter_99

Yes, typically i start with eggs in the morning that I make as mini quiches, I will add berries to this meal sometimes. I eat almonds as a snack, or half of a small avocado. Mid day is usually lettuce wraps with tuna, chicken or turkey in them. Or a salad with the meat in it. I do not pack on the dressing, just saying that now before someone is quick to say that must be why. Afternoon snack is usually baby bel light cheese, or a tbsp of organic peanut butter. Dinner is almost always 5-6 oz chicken, grilled, or fish with a veggie.

daphnec1994

There is actually a lot of support on the set point theory. Basically, most people have a small range in weight where there body is "set" at. Not that you can't become smaller, its just that it takes a whole lot more work to change your body in either direction, above or bellow your set point. This sounds like a made up excuse for people who don't want to put the work in but I honestly learned this in university.

opalescentmirage

A fitness trainer friend of mine told me that losing weight is 80% diet and 20% exercise. Be aware (as others have mentioned in this topic) that the calories MFP calculates that you burn during exercise is an estimate. I purchased a Polar FT4 heart rate monitor to use during my workouts. It consists of a chest strap Added bonus - it gives a calories burned reading on it (you input your height, age, weight into the wrist "watch" monitor). In my experience, the calories burned during my workouts (based on my heart rate monitor) is way lower than what the MFP preset says. I definitely don't think that 1,400 calories per day is too many. Less process (boxed/packaged/etc) food and fewer carbs is generally prescribed. And, yes, more vegetables! (I am "preaching" to myself here too as I have recently gotten serious about this whole thing again.)

Just stick with it! Perseverance is key!

deansdad101

To be honest I don't work out as hard as I could be because I know that the working out is not going to be the game changer. I don't know what is. Sometimes I wonder if I am eating too little other times I wonder if 1400/day is too high. Every calorie calculator out there says something different. I ate a paleo diet last year for 3 months and didn't lose but I didn't gain during that time either. I make good choices and I like healthy food. I also drink a gallon of water a day. Could it be the 2 glasses of wine I have on Saturday night? I am just lost on why this happened.

Skooter;

So far you have received just about every myth, pearl of "conventional wisdom", "opinon" (based on nothing more than "I heard it on the internets"), and dogma one must espouse if they are to be "accepted into the club".

My favorite is "it's all your own fault, you just don't have enough willpower, you're a morally bankrupt person and if you don't agree with me that just proves my point".

Everyone is (of course), entitled to their own opinion, entitled to base that opinion on that which "works" for them but, in the end, what "worked" for someone else, may or may not "work" for YOU - we are all individuals, each of us unique, but at the same time, all members of the same species.

Differences notwithstanding (and medical irregularities excluded), our bodies are all composed of the same "systems" that function in essentially the same way (if not to the same degree) - this is why it's the "science" that matters, not what one "wants" to believe.

As someone much smarter than I once said, "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but NOT their own facts".

Opinions based not on solid science might be valid for the particular individual holding them but they fall into the category of "opinions are like xxxxxx - everybody has one".

Most of those you see here are just that.

There is NO science upon which the whole USDA / low cal, low fat, exercise more, eat less, was based when it was originally mandated.

No science that "proves" that exercise is a "necessary" component of any weight reduction plan.

No science that demonstrates that one "must" engage the services of a dietitian, personal trainer, or any other "expert" to achieve their goals.

No science that shows that "the only reason you're not succeeding is because you don't have the willpower."

NONE!

In fact, there is a vast body of knowledge (studies, research, documented results, etc) that shows exactly the opposite - not the least of which is the alarming increase in obesity, diabetes, heart disease and others that so closely mirrors the time period (the last 40 years) during which we've been admonished to "eat less, exercise more, don't eat meat, don't eat butter, etc, etc".

Does this mean that exercise is a bad thing?
Of course not, it IS a vital component of overall "fitness" most should include as an important part of overall good health, but, it can be that, and at the same time NOT be a "required" component of weight loss (or gain).

As to your original question, yes, individuals ARE predisposed (by their genetic makeup) to certain "ranges" of things like body type - just like they are predetermined to things like eye color and height.

A "small frame/small boned" person at any given weight might have a "healthy weight range" of 125 - 145. Another person of the exact same height, sex, age, etc but "big boned" might have a range of 140 - 160 (for example).

You can't "will" yourself to be 6'3" if you are 5'6" no matter how hard you try and it's NOT because you are lacking in willpower.

Does this mean that "some" people don't use it as an "excuse" for that extra cupcake or that "some" others actually don't have a physiological "urge" (addiction, whatever one wants to call it)?

Nope, both can be (and are) true for "some" people - just like "some" people can tolerate dairy and others can't, or some people can have "just one" scoop of ice cream and others can't stop without eating the whole half gallon.

But does it mean that you (or anyone else) has a "set point", over which you have no control?

Nope - there IS a "range" beyond which you likely can't exceed (either above or below) AND remain healthy.
I haven't followed your details specifically, but if your current goal is a weight which you previously maintained as an adult it IS one which should be achievable again (assuming no significant medical "issues" that might prevent your doing so).

Reaching that goal does NOT "require" ANY (let alone all) of the "myths" so righteously bandied about by the "my way is the ONLY way" crowd.

You have received some good advice regarding specific approaches to diet choices (and macro composition) with which I agree and that I would encourage you to investigate and consider if they might be for you, BUT,
in the end, the decisions have to be YOURS.

How many gallons of water you drink, those 2 glasses of wine, and whether you exercise 15 minutes, 4 hours, or not at all, WILL NOT determine if you succeed in achieving your goal - finding the "right" combination of macros WILL.

It has nothing to do with "willpower" and everything to do with Science. (including the effects of any medical "condition" you may or may not have).