Confused and kinda freaking out!

indiechickuk

So... Over the last 5 years my weight has very slowly increased by about 15-20lbs, with about 4lbs in the last year (taking me to 151lbs, at 5'7"). I have tracked my food pretty consistently over that time, and generally averaged around 1400 cals per day, I also exercise between 3 and 5 days a week, a mix of running and things like 30 day shred, or spin classes or NROLFW. As a teenager I suffered from anorexia and was severely underweight, but that hasn't been the case for over 10 years now and I've not relapsed at any stage, so that's not a fear here.

It's difficult for me to weigh everything precisely as I have a staff canteen at work where my food is provided, but I weigh things when at home and always err on the side of caution with the figures I log, and choose pre-packed/labelled items if I can (i.e. yogurts) to try to keep it accurate. I also focus on making healthy choices, lots of veg, adequate protein etc.

I'm now confused as to what to do next.

I've tried eating less, and it's just not sustainable- I'm way too hungry (stomach grumbling, unable to concentrate etc) which makes me think lower isn't the right option.

I've tried exercising more (I completed insanity back in June- no weight or measurement change at all), and due to commitments in life (work, church etc) it's tricky to fit in a great deal more exercise. I already aim to get close to my 10,000steps on top of other workouts (I know, I could fit in more if I REALLY tried, but I'm just saying it's not always feasible)

Do I therefore try eating more? That seems like the next possible solution (I'm reaching the end of week one of c.1600). I'm just freaking out a little because what if I'm just wrong. What if I've never been at 1400 like I thought so now I'm just overeating and will gain even more but then can't lose it because I get used to eating more? Or what if the only solution is to cut back to that point where I'm constantly tired and hungry and can't have a life?

I know no one can really tell me the answer, but I would be so grateful for any advice/suggestions- I feel like I've been stuck here forever!

karenj_m

Lets start with some stats, so others can look up your info.

Gender
age
weight now
goal weight
height

girlwithcurls2

I'm 5'7" and haven't weighed 151 since my freshman year of college. Stuck at 163. But I'm not freaking out about it

_Waffle_

It's difficult for me to weigh everything precisely as I have a staff canteen at work where my food is provided,

You're in prison? (Kidding)

Just start somewhere. Weigh what you can at home as accurately as possible. Track your exercise as much as possible. You're not going to be able to track everything all the time. I guess at dinner half the time but I track breakfast and lunch pretty close along with exercise and that actually does a pretty good job of hitting my calories and keeping the weight were I want it to be.

I'd say keep eating what you're eating now, try to log everything as much as possible. You can get a scale for next to nothing and that helps a great deal. Once you're tracking everything for a month or so then you will for sure have enough information to make adjustments. You're trying to be healthy for the rest of your life so taking a few weeks to analyze what you're doing isn't a big deal.

Once you track enough stuff you'll find that you generally eat a lot of the same things and it's going to get easier and easier to track it.

Edit: This is the calorie calculator that I use.
http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

juliec33

Sounds like you are really busy and active. Are you getting enough sleep? I know that has had a serious effect on my weightloss in the past. I wasn't losing but I was only getting about 5 hours of sleep. I got up at 5:30 in the morning to do a quick run or walk before work. Doc told me to skip it a few days a week and get that extra hour of sleep and to aim for at least 7 hours a night. Not only did I start losing again it felt so much better during the day.

LaurenAOK

So according to your profile and post, you're a 29 year old female who weighs 151 at 5'7". Okay, here are my thoughts.

First of all, you are already at a healthy weight. That doesn't mean you can't lose any, but be cautious. Your body might just be happy where it is! For example, I'm 5'4", meaning a healthy weight is about 110-145 for me. I find that I do best at about 130. Anything less than that is NOT sustainable for me, and I start to look and feel sickly. I got down to 125 once and was just unhappy - I can't imagine going down to 110!

Since you're already at a good weight, you might want to focus more on body recomposition than weight loss. That would mean a lot more NROL4W or other lifting programs, and less cardio (maybe some HIIT for fat burning). Your weight might not change, but your measurements eventually should, and you can "look" better without losing weight.

Next, I calculated your TDEE (http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/) and it says your TDEE without any exercise is between 1900-2000 calories per day! Again, that's with NO exercise. So if you've been eating about 1400 a day and exercising, I hate to say it but chances are you've screwed up your metabolism. I don't believe in "starvation mode" (a buzz word around MFP) but I do believe that under-eating for a long time can slow your metabolism down. The only way to really fix it is to slowly increase your calories, and it will be frustrating at first. There's a great link around here about that; if I can find it, I'll post it later. But my point is, you should probably be eating more.

Finally, have you looked into medical reasons? I do find it odd that you completed Insanity with absolutely no changes. PCOS and other disorders can make it impossible to lose weight unless you follow certain guidelines.

I hope at least one of these things is helpful! Good luck.

RCRuhl

Whenever possible, please avoid the prepackaged foods. I know it's easier to track things that way, but the best thing I ever did was give up processed food. It means I spend a lot of time on the weekend or in the evening (sometimes) preparing, but it has been so worth it for me. And for my husband. Between us we lost 80 pounds. And relatively quickly.... you know a pound or two a week, but very consistently. I too had a little rebound so now I am eating clean (the no processed part, as well as no white flour and no sugar) but have also started tracking my carbs. By keeping them low, I am very steadily losing. I was doing everything right and starting to go up again and this has given me hope!

MKEgal

Over the last 5 years my weight has very slowly increased by about 15-20lbs, with about 4lbs in the last year (taking me to 151lbs, at 5'7").

"Most weight loss occurs because of decreased caloric intake.
However, evidence shows the only way to maintain weight loss is to be engaged in regular physical activity."
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/physical_activity/index.html

Going by BMI, you should be 120-155, so you're still OK, but should start paying attention to calories in to prevent a problem.
http://www.shapeup.org/bmi/bmi6.pdf

I have tracked my food pretty consistently over that time, and generally averaged around 1400 cals per day, I also exercise between 3 and 5 days a week, a mix of running and things like 30 day shred, or spin classes or NROLFW. ... I'm now confused as to what to do next.
I've tried eating less, and it's just not sustainable- I'm way too hungry (stomach grumbling, unable to concentrate etc) which makes me think lower isn't the right option.
Do I therefore try eating more?

If you're gaining weight with what you're eating now (which may not really be 1400, just because of measuring error) then no, you don't want to eat more.
When you eat more than you need, you gain weight.

Suggestions:
be the most accurate you can with measuring & logging
maybe you'll need to bring lunch to work
increase veggies & fruits to give bulk & feel full longer with fewer calories
add intensity to your exercise (intervals, hills, speed, another day, more time)

MKEgal

And Julie has a point about sleeping enough.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/MKEgal/view/2014-08-27-sleep-weight-control-690492

One of the easiest things you can do to help control your weight is sleep enough.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20921542
Insufficient sleep undermines dietary efforts to reduce adiposity
"Sleep curtailment [5.5 hours instead of 8.5] decreased the proportion of weight lost as fat by 55% and increased the loss of fat-free body mass by 60%"

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24051052
Sleep patterns, diet quality and energy balance
"Short sleep duration, poor sleep quality, and later bedtimes are all associated with increased food intake, poor diet quality, and excess body weight."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22372985
"self-reported sleep apnea, sleep dissatisfaction and low amounts of sleep are associated with a higher body mass index."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24892893
"A number of ... studies have found that insufficient sleep and possibly longer sleep are associated with obesity and related eating patterns."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23805261
"Chronic lack of sleep appears to be associated to higher BMI even in middle childhood"

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21784678
"While shorter sleep duration consistently predicts subsequent weight gain in children, the relationship is not clear in adults."

As always, feel free to locate more research on your own on PubMed:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed

indiechickuk

Thanks all for the suggestions, really appreciated! am still a bit unsure as to my next step, as I've had a 'do nothing', an 'eat less' and an 'eat more'! I guess I just have to keep trying things until something works!

I'd say keep eating what you're eating now, try to log everything as much as possible. You can get a scale for next to nothing and that helps a great deal. Once you're tracking everything for a month or so then you will for sure have enough information to make adjustments. You're trying to be healthy for the rest of your life so taking a few weeks to analyze what you're doing isn't a big deal.

Once you track enough stuff you'll find that you generally eat a lot of the same things and it's going to get easier and easier to track it.

This pretty much is what I'm already doing- I have a good, digital scale and weigh everything at home.

Avoid pre-packaged foods

Sorry, I didn't explain that well- I just meant things that come in portioned packs, like a pot of greek yogurt or an individual serving of nut or similar, as opposed to processed foods. Stuff where the weighing has already been done. I don't eat much white flour at all and do my best to avoid too much sugar.

Add intensity to your workouts

Maybe some HIIT

I thought that Insanity would deliver on this- it was pretty intense and I felt stronger/fitter by the end, but still no change to weight or measurements after the 2 months.


Julie and MKEgal- good point on sleep- I get about 6-6.5 hours. I get up just before 6am for work and home at 7pm, so by the time I've done exercise and dinner it doesn't leave much evening left. I go to bed at 10/10:30 most nights but always struggle to fall asleep for 40minutes or so. I'm going to give it a go trying to go to bed at 9- means I'll only see my fiancée for an hour in the evening but I'm sure he'll cope with that! :-)

I do have polycystic ovaries (but not full blown PCOS)- I asked my GP and she didn't think that would be causing an issue as it's not that severe, but I will investigate further. She's run thyroid tests and things but nothing weird there. she's also referring me to see a dietician so hoping that might help.

Am going to stick with the small calorie increase for a bit, as 'doing the same' isn't getting me very far, and will have a go at taking in my own breakfasts and lunches so I can be as sure as possible what I'm getting (although not an ideal long term solution as the canteens fantastic with lots of healthy options anyway- salad bar, fruit, lots of protein choices etc...), and am going to book in some personal training sessions. Plus early nights. Will review in 4-6 weeks and see if anythings changed.

Thank you all again for the suggestions!

indiechickuk

And sorry if I sounded like I think I'm somehow a medical marvel and the normal rules don't apply- I don't at all- I just can't work out *which* rules I'm dealing with!

DMRinehardt

How much water are you drinking? In the canteen, I would shave off 1/3rd of each portion and trash it. Drink a huge glass of water to fill you up. When you feel hungry, drink more water.

There may be more calories in the canteen food than you are counting.

Not sure where you work, but why can't you bring your own lunch?

indiechickuk

I can bring my own lunch, but I would likely bring in the same foods as are available in the canteen, so would rather not pay for something that's provided to me for free- that just seems a bit of a waste of money to be doing every day. It's a self serve canteen and they have things like a salad bar (with plain, no-dressing veggies, cous cous, roasted veg etc) and pots of protein like plain tuna or grilled chicken- so it's not like I'm choosing food with sauces or lots of oil or anything. The only factor I don't know is exactly how many grams of tuna or whatever I'm eating, so that's where the margin for error comes in. What I might do is take one home with me some time so I can weigh it, and perhaps find some containers at home which I can use to work out more accurate portions for things like grains. I know that's not as perfect as weighing but might help.

And yes, I definitely do need to drink more water- will work on that, thanks!