Destined to be overweight forever???

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Bex_2584
Bex_2584 Posts: 47 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi,

So I have been a member of MFP on and off for a while but 10 weeks ago I had a conversation with my PT about weight loss as I had fallen off the waggon.
He suggested dropping my calories down to 1200 for a while to see if that helped.

I have been eating loads better than I ever have, making better choices etc (still not 'clean' but MASSIVE improvement!)

I also go to his classes a couple of times a week as well as walking and have recently started running and training for Tough Mudder.

So here is my dilemma - I cannot seem to lose any weight (or inches for that matter!)

I am classed as overweight and ideally need to lose about 2stone.

Its very rare that I will eat my exercise calories back.

The classes I do are a mix of cardio, free weights and body weight exercises. I try to walk 5k a couple of times a week and have been running about 2k. I have found running really difficult but everyone has got to start somewhere right?

I am NOT looking for a quick fix nor am I requiring a 'clean' eating lecture. I KNOW what I should be doing with regards to that but I just cannot do it 100%. I have found the way I eat at the minute is easy to maintain as a lifestyle.

All I am asking is some words of encouragement and advice if you pick up on something I am doing that could be stalling my weight loss????

Thanks

:)
«134

Replies

  • mikevandewetering
    mikevandewetering Posts: 155 Member
    Options
    Every one can lose weight (unless you have a rare medical condition, which you probaly do not have). Just calculate your BMR and TDEE using a online calculator like (IIFYM calculator). The most important thing to do is weight your food!!!!! Then log everything (also log drinks). To be honest there is no such thing as eating clean (only when you wash your food). It is all about balance, for example if i would eat a heathly food source like chicken and i eat 4kg of it a day i will still gain weight. It is about eating less then your maintaince, this will make you lose weight, nothing more nothing less.

    Example:
    - I eat 2300 cals to lose weight (cause my maintaince is 2600-2700)
    I need to eat minimal 160 grams of protein (1 gram of protein is 4 cals so total would be 4x160 = 640 cals of protein)
    And my minimal fats are 60 grams (1 gram of fat is 9 cals, so total would be 9 x 60 = 540)
    Carbs are optional (i often fill alot of my leftover cals with complex carbs)
    My minimal proteins and fat i will try to fill with high density foods and ''healthy food'' sources.
    I would have 1120 cals left to fill in freely, i often use 0-400 of these cals for any food i like (even chocolate or ice cream)
    This creates balance in my diet between ''healthy food'' and ''junk food''.

    1 healthy meal won't make you healthy, like 1 ''unhealthy meal'' won't make you unhealthy. But i would recommend using 10-20% of you cals to fill in with any food you like, this will make it easier for you to stick to your meal plan.

    I use the 80-20 rule when cutting, i try to fill in 80% of my cals with healthy food sources, leaving me 20% i can spend freely.

    For any qeustions feel free to ask

    Tips:
    - lift hard and heavy (you won't get bulky)
    - Eat 10-15 % bellow maintaince
    - Drink a lot of water
    - take it slow
    - Be honest with yourself
    - Weigth your food! it is a must
    - Balance is key
  • BlackPup
    BlackPup Posts: 242 Member
    Options
    Are you weighing/ measuring food and logging everything?
    Don't worry about eating clean just eat food that fits into your calories and still fills you up which it sounds like you are doing.

    Also get enough sleep. It helps you to lose weight due to decreased cortisol production.

    How long has this plateau been going for?

    I wouldn't be recommending dropping to 1200 cal if you are exercising regularly.
  • calithulu
    calithulu Posts: 25 Member
    Options
    Hello there,

    You say you've been on and off and haven't had much success but let me ask you, how long have you been losing weight? If you just started, what exercise(s) have you started up?

    Diet is the major contributor to weight loss but my personal experience (and bear in mind that 'anecdote' is not plural for 'data') is that I can cut as many calories as I want but I won't lose much weight until I engage in at least moderate cardio exercise. From reading that particular issue is fairly common in the endomorphic body type.

    Assuming you started this 10 weeks ago your profile shows that you've lost 6 pounds. That is nothing to scoff at! You're doing well so just keep it up. Sometime a plateau can just be your metabolism resiting the change in diet, exercise, and the new demands on your stored energy reserves (fat).

    If, after a couple of months, you're eating right and engaging in exercise you could seek out a nutritionist if you still aren't losing weight. They could look at your diet (that you're tracking here on MFP) and use that to let you know where you could make changes to your diet.

    However, once you reach your goal you're going to look back at this post and laugh. Keep it up, you're doing great!
  • catcalledjinx
    catcalledjinx Posts: 85
    Options
    No, you are not destined to be overweight forever. First of all, you need to change that mindset. You can do it and you will succeed if it is what you really want.

    I have looked at your Food Diary and the sad reality is that you cannot have undereaten your calorie allowance for the last 2 weeks without losing any weight at all. You are not recording honestly. What you eat does not make any difference to your weight, only how many calories you consume in a day/over a week. You need to weigh and measure everything that you eat and drink with 100% honesty, if you cheat, you are only cheating yourself.

    Don't give up hope, just start afresh. I have slowly and gradually lost 24lb over the last 18 months without doing any exercise (other than normal activity - fairly busy) and without giving up the foods that I love.....but if I want pizza and a glass or two of wine, then that's pretty much it for that day!

    You can do this and you can do it right now. Good luck.
  • Bex_2584
    Bex_2584 Posts: 47 Member
    Options
    Every one can lose weight (unless you have a rare medical condition, which you probaly do not have). Just calculate your BMR and TDEE using a online calculator like (IIFYM calculator). The most important thing to do is weight your food!!!!! Then log everything (also log drinks). To be honest there is no such thing as eating clean (only when you wash your food). It is all about balance, for example if i would eat a heathly food source like chicken and i eat 4kg of it a day i will still gain weight. It is about eating less then your maintaince, this will make you lose weight, nothing more nothing less.

    Example:
    - I eat 2300 cals to lose weight (cause my maintaince is 2600-2700)
    I need to eat minimal 160 grams of protein (1 gram of protein is 4 cals so total would be 4x160 = 640 cals of protein)
    And my minimal fats are 60 grams (1 gram of fat is 9 cals, so total would be 9 x 60 = 540)
    Carbs are optional (i often fill alot of my leftover cals with complex carbs)
    My minimal proteins and fat i will try to fill with high density foods and ''healthy food'' sources.
    I would have 1120 cals left to fill in freely, i often use 0-400 of these cals for any food i like (even chocolate or ice cream)
    This creates balance in my diet between ''healthy food'' and ''junk food''.

    1 healthy meal won't make you healthy, like 1 ''unhealthy meal'' won't make you unhealthy. But i would recommend using 10-20% of you cals to fill in with any food you like, this will make it easier for you to stick to your meal plan.

    I use the 80-20 rule when cutting, i try to fill in 80% of my cals with healthy food sources, leaving me 20% i can spend freely.

    For any qeustions feel free to ask

    Tips:
    - lift hard and heavy (you won't get bulky)
    - Eat 10-15 % bellow maintaince
    - Drink a lot of water
    - take it slow
    - Be honest with yourself
    - Weigth your food! it is a must
    - Balance is key

    Thank you for your reply which I found interesting.
    I will definitely take the tips on board :)
  • Bex_2584
    Bex_2584 Posts: 47 Member
    Options
    Are you weighing/ measuring food and logging everything?
    Don't worry about eating clean just eat food that fits into your calories and still fills you up which it sounds like you are doing.

    Also get enough sleep. It helps you to lose weight due to decreased cortisol production.

    How long has this plateau been going for?

    I wouldn't be recommending dropping to 1200 cal if you are exercising regularly.

    I could be more accurate with weighing but I log everything apart from the sugar free gum and sugar free cordial I have in my water...

    I have fluctuated between 12st7 and 12st for the past year...currently hovering around 12.2/12.4 for the past 3 weeks
  • Bex_2584
    Bex_2584 Posts: 47 Member
    Options
    Hello there,

    You say you've been on and off and haven't had much success but let me ask you, how long have you been losing weight? If you just started, what exercise(s) have you started up?

    Diet is the major contributor to weight loss but my personal experience (and bear in mind that 'anecdote' is not plural for 'data') is that I can cut as many calories as I want but I won't lose much weight until I engage in at least moderate cardio exercise. From reading that particular issue is fairly common in the endomorphic body type.

    Assuming you started this 10 weeks ago your profile shows that you've lost 6 pounds. That is nothing to scoff at! You're doing well so just keep it up. Sometime a plateau can just be your metabolism resiting the change in diet, exercise, and the new demands on your stored energy reserves (fat).

    If, after a couple of months, you're eating right and engaging in exercise you could seek out a nutritionist if you still aren't losing weight. They could look at your diet (that you're tracking here on MFP) and use that to let you know where you could make changes to your diet.

    However, once you reach your goal you're going to look back at this post and laugh. Keep it up, you're doing great!

    I started exercising about 6 months after my son was born and he is about to turn 4!
    I managed to get down to 11st5 which was half way to my goal but then stopped with the PT and decided to try and 'maintain' on my own. This resulted in me ballooning back up to 12st13 at the end of last year.
    If you look at my weight progress you will see that that weight loss of 6lbs is over a long period of time which has gone up and down A LOT! :/
    Thank you for the encouragement. I will keep going and hopefully my body will soon twig that it has to let go of the fat!
  • skinnyinnotime
    skinnyinnotime Posts: 4,141 Member
    Options
    Anyone that eats a a deficit should be losing weight..are you sure you're not forgetting to log things? I do this sometimes, I'll remember late at night, that yoghurt or ice cream etc I had earlier and totally forgot to log it.

    Also, don't believe in packaged information...2 chicken breast in a pack will say it's 300g, it's unlikely that they will both weigh 150g each...sometimes one is 180g, the other 120g...I hope you see what I'm saying. Sometimes we think we are logging accurately but we're not!

    Good luck hon : )
  • Moses101
    Moses101 Posts: 26 Member
    Options
    You have been offered some great advice, I have no more to add but just wanted to encourage you to keep going and not give up! Everytime you get on the scale and it hasn't gone down don't be disappointed, celebrate that it hasn't gone up! You sound determined to do this so you will!! Good luck!!
  • Booda101
    Booda101 Posts: 161 Member
    Options
    I would recommend diligently weighing everything on a food scale. It really does make a difference. Log honestly and accurately and have patience.

    Good luck to you!
  • Bex_2584
    Bex_2584 Posts: 47 Member
    Options
    No, you are not destined to be overweight forever. First of all, you need to change that mindset. You can do it and you will succeed if it is what you really want.

    I have looked at your Food Diary and the sad reality is that you cannot have undereaten your calorie allowance for the last 2 weeks without losing any weight at all. You are not recording honestly. What you eat does not make any difference to your weight, only how many calories you consume in a day/over a week. You need to weigh and measure everything that you eat and drink with 100% honesty, if you cheat, you are only cheating yourself.

    Don't give up hope, just start afresh. I have slowly and gradually lost 24lb over the last 18 months without doing any exercise (other than normal activity - fairly busy) and without giving up the foods that I love.....but if I want pizza and a glass or two of wine, then that's pretty much it for that day!

    You can do this and you can do it right now. Good luck.

    Please do not say I am being dishonest. I will admit I am not always 100% of weighing the food but I swear that I log everything baring sugar free gum and sugar free cordial. I use the barcode scanner on my phone and the only thing I do not weight accurately is veg and fruit.
    Even that teaspoon of nutella that shovel in whilst watching tv at night goes in my diary!
    This is why I am so frustrated :(
  • Bex_2584
    Bex_2584 Posts: 47 Member
    Options
    Thank you everyone that has replied. I appreciate all of what you are saying.

    I am wondering whether to up my calories a little after reading some negative threads on 1200 cal eating plans??

    Or maybe I make sure I eat back my exercise calories??

    I am going to give it another 8 weeks and if still no changes I am going to book in with my GP for some advice.

    Thanks again
  • Holly_k88
    Holly_k88 Posts: 59 Member
    Options
    Im not sure if this will help but this is what happened to me... after new year I weighed 12st 7 so decided to start eating healthy and exercising again. I was at the gym a minimum of 4 times a week (spinning classes, strength) and I cut all white flour and sugar from my diet, and was eating clean - my calories were between 1000-1300 I lost no weight! By March I was down 1lbs :(

    In May I felt discouraged because I was working so hard at the gym and my diet was really good but no weight loss. Id heard about the blood type diet off a friend of mine and it just made sense to me foods (things I'm intolerant to) like MSG, wheat and certain dairy's were off limits and "poison" foods. So I decided to give it a go low carbing - very similar to the blood type diet, since the end of may I've lost 18-19 lbs and never felt better.

    Im not suggesting you go to extremes or follow a low carb diet, but maybe there are certain foods you might be intolerant to stopping your weight loss?
    Good luck

    Just edited to say I tried slimming world but the "all you can eat pasta and potatoes" - although I lost a couple of lbs made me sick and bloated this is what made me turn to a lower carb diet.
  • Bex_2584
    Bex_2584 Posts: 47 Member
    Options
    Im not sure if this will help but this is what happened to me... after new year I weighed 12st 7 so decided to start eating healthy and exercising again. I was at the gym a minimum of 4 times a week (spinning classes, strength) and I cut all white flour and sugar from my diet, and was eating clean - my calories were between 1000-1300 I lost no weight! By March I was down 1lbs :(

    In May I felt discouraged because I was working so hard at the gym and my diet was really good but no weight loss. Id heard about the blood type diet off a friend of mine and it just made sense to me foods (things I'm intolerant to) like MSG, wheat and certain dairy's were off limits and "poison" foods. So I decided to give it a go low carbing - very similar to the blood type diet, since the end of may I've lost 18-19 lbs and never felt better.

    Im not suggesting you go to extremes or follow a low carb diet, but maybe there are certain foods you might be intolerant to stopping your weight loss?
    Good luck

    I tried Keto last year before my holidays and lost a fair bit but as soon as I started back eating a few carbs it piled back on. I couldn't stick at Keto as I felt completely awful and struggled with training.
    I am going to try cutting carbs after 5pm to see if that helps...

    Just out of interest, how many cals do you stick to now?
  • Holly_k88
    Holly_k88 Posts: 59 Member
    Options
    I don't really watch cals anymore because of my high fat diet I've noticed I struggle to eat more than 1000 most days, I just log for reference now.

    I know I'm never going to be able to eat the higher carb foods again but like I said, I don't think I should be doing if they make me sick. But when I reach goal ill see about introducing other foods into my diet to get the right balance.

    How long did you stay in keto? you do get 'Atkins flu" which makes you feel unwell but that goes away if you stick with it.
  • Bex_2584
    Bex_2584 Posts: 47 Member
    Options
    I don't really watch cals anymore because of my high fat diet I've noticed I struggle to eat more than 1000 most days, I just log for reference now.

    I know I'm never going to be able to eat the higher carb foods again but like I said, I don't think I should be doing if they make me sick. But when I reach goal ill see about introducing other foods into my diet to get the right balance.

    How long did you stay in keto? you do get 'Atkins flu" which makes you feel unwell but that goes away if you stick with it.
    I did it for about 3 weeks but honestly felt like I had been hit by a bus. Couldn't find any energy to train so had to stop. I just couldn't face feeling like that any longer and I was so close to coming out of the other side.

    I have to be careful with some things I eat as they upset my stomach. I can only eat the sausages my butcher makes as shop bought ones give me cramps :(
    I know this is going to be a long journey and I am determined to reach my goal this time. No point in giving up now is there?!

    You have done really well and I admire your determination and commitment! Keep it up!
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
    Options
    Thank you everyone that has replied. I appreciate all of what you are saying.

    I am wondering whether to up my calories a little after reading some negative threads on 1200 cal eating plans??

    Or maybe I make sure I eat back my exercise calories??

    I am going to give it another 8 weeks and if still no changes I am going to book in with my GP for some advice.

    Thanks again

    No it's not too little food..if you were really eating so liittle you would be losing weight even if you had a medical issue.

    1200 calories and not eating back exercise calories would indicate a vlcd...which is not healthy.

    Logging accurately and consistently and being in a reasonable deficit...that is what helps with weight loss...if you aren't doing that that explains why you aren't losing.

    Weighing that nutella would be a good start...because I can guarantee it wasn't a serving and is logged inaccurately...
  • Holly_k88
    Holly_k88 Posts: 59 Member
    Options
    I don't really watch cals anymore because of my high fat diet I've noticed I struggle to eat more than 1000 most days, I just log for reference now.

    I know I'm never going to be able to eat the higher carb foods again but like I said, I don't think I should be doing if they make me sick. But when I reach goal ill see about introducing other foods into my diet to get the right balance.

    How long did you stay in keto? you do get 'Atkins flu" which makes you feel unwell but that goes away if you stick with it.
    I did it for about 3 weeks but honestly felt like I had been hit by a bus. Couldn't find any energy to train so had to stop. I just couldn't face feeling like that any longer and I was so close to coming out of the other side.

    I have to be careful with some things I eat as they upset my stomach. I can only eat the sausages my butcher makes as shop bought ones give me cramps :(
    I know this is going to be a long journey and I am determined to reach my goal this time. No point in giving up now is there?!

    You have done really well and I admire your determination and commitment! Keep it up!

    Thank you :)
    I really hope you find something that works for you. Its all trial and error anyway. Your welcome to add me as a friend if you wanted some support
  • Bex_2584
    Bex_2584 Posts: 47 Member
    Options
    Thanks for your reply Stef :)
    I have logged it as 30g which is 2 tsps..am I doing this incorrectly?
    I am losing one week but then putting back on the week after..I don't understand what is going wrong with my body?
    I am not eating anywhere near maintenance cals even if my weighing are a couple of grams out..

    I am going to try and increase my cals to 1400 and eat back some of my exercise cals and see how that goes for me...it may help improve my mood and skin too!

    Hopefully I will be posting huge thank yous to you all in a few weeks!
  • Bex_2584
    Bex_2584 Posts: 47 Member
    Options
    Thank you everyone that has replied. I appreciate all of what you are saying.

    I am wondering whether to up my calories a little after reading some negative threads on 1200 cal eating plans??

    Or maybe I make sure I eat back my exercise calories??

    I am going to give it another 8 weeks and if still no changes I am going to book in with my GP for some advice.

    Thanks again

    No it's not too little food..if you were really eating so liittle you would be losing weight even if you had a medical issue.

    1200 calories and not eating back exercise calories would indicate a vlcd...which is not healthy.

    Logging accurately and consistently and being in a reasonable deficit...that is what helps with weight loss...if you aren't doing that that explains why you aren't losing.

    Weighing that nutella would be a good start...because I can guarantee it wasn't a serving and is logged inaccurately...

    This was on the nutella website...I have over estimated with 30gs if this is correct??
    How much is a serving?


    A 15g serving , which is equivalent to around 2 heaped teaspoons, is the recommended serving on a piece of wholemeal, seeded or granary toast.

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