Can't lose weight!

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kalrosie394
kalrosie394 Posts: 9 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
After recovering from anorexia, developing metabolic issues, trying to repair them by eating a proper amount of calories (at least I stopped gaining weight and maintained for about 1.5 weeks), I am at a place where I am very uncomfortable in my body physically and not ED related. I don't hate my body, I just don't feel confident and strong in it.

For the past 5 months I have gained 9 pounds through the metabolic issues (I am 5'1" and 113 pounds currently) and I have been working out consistently. I have built a pretty decent amount of muscle and especially on my short stature, it feels like enough to me. I am now trying to lose some of the fat that is laying over my muscle which is resulting in a very puffy, fluffy look that I am not fond of and makes me feel bulkier than I know I am. I have been a vegetarian all my life and recently have began to transition into veganism. I eat around 1200-1300 calories to lose, but the problem is... I haven't lost! I have been dieting for exactly 4 weeks now and at first I gained 2 pounds, dropped them the next week, and have been stalled for weeks now. I am trying to up my cardio to see if that helps but I am just so so confused. I don't want to lose a lot of weight, just the 10 pounds I gained. Does anyone have any advice?

I work out 5-6 times a week for 45-60 minutes, doing circuit training, HIIT, and recently been trying fasted morning cardio (running 3-5 miles).
I am 5'1" and 113 pounds.

Replies

  • bendis2007
    bendis2007 Posts: 82 Member
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    Do you have a food scale?
    This is an excellent youtube video highlighting the difference between measuring cups and an actual food scale.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI9ZSGeBkqc

    If you are not weighing your food, then you probably aren't eating at 1200-1300 calories. You're very petite with very little to lose which means that your logging needs to be accurate or you will be eating at maintenance for your body.

    Are the metabolic issues being addressed by your MD? If there's a puffiness or water retention then you may need some sort of medical intervention to address why water is being retained and what is altering yuour body's homeostatic balance and causing odd water retention.

    Are you eating back exercise calories? This is a study performed by Ball State University that highlights how fitness trackers can overestimate as much as 77% calories burned which will drastically effect your weight loss if you are eating those calories back. Do you have a heart rate monitor? Are you hitting cardiac fitness goals (75-85% of heart rate max when you work out? You're extremely sweaty at the end and have trouble holding a conversation while you work out?

    http://www.wthr.com/story/31285468/sometimes-your-fitness-tracker-lies-a-lot-fitbit-jawbone-garmin-ifit-misfit-accuracy

    If you are cleared by your doc, and the metabolic issues are being addressed then you need to look into how you are measuring your food consumption. If there's no food scale - start there. If you have a food scale, is it calibrated properly? Are you getting your calories from a reputable source (a lot of entries here are incorrect).

    Are you eating back any exercise calories? Are you taking into account the errors with different devices on how calories burned are estimated?
    If you are doing everything right, I still hesitate to tell you to restrict food any further because of your recovery from anorexia. I would recommend talking to your doctor about a nutritional consult to help you create a realistic and sustainable menu ( especially with the new trek into veganism) - that takes into account the protein you need in order to maintain/repair/gain muscle mass from all the workouts and allows you to lose weight.

    Lastly, it's easy to become obsessed with the number on the scale - I think it's important to set other goals for yourself (1. fitness goals 2. body measurements 3.nutritional goals - today I will eat X number of servings of leafy vegetables, I will drink X number cups of water) If you focus on reaching other goals then I'm quite certain the weight will start to fall off as you lean towards a healthier lifestyle.
    Best of luck
  • kalrosie394
    kalrosie394 Posts: 9 Member
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    Thank you! I do have a food scale, I just always forget to use it because the measuring cups are so much easier. I eat very healthy, no processed food, very little packaged anything unless it's a salad on the go or something. I had my metabolism tested, thyroid tested, and blood ran and nothing was out of sorts. I do feel bloated a lot which is part of why I am transitioning into a vegan diet to see it no diary helps.

    I'm not sure if I'm really retening a bunch of water, the puffiness is just how I look because of the fat on top of the muscle because I wasn't losing fat as I gained the muscle (my brother is a bodybuilder and he also told me that is the case). I gained 2 pounds in the beginning of my diet but they dropped the next. Research told me that this was possibly due to a large drop in calories too quickly?

    Thank you for your response, I'm beginning to feel like I will never lose weight.
  • bendis2007
    bendis2007 Posts: 82 Member
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    I think you should spend a week consistently weighing everything you eat. I weigh my fruits and veggies. I'm obsessed with tomatoes at the moment. It highlights that 2 campari tomatoes are 85 grams and 50 calories. Well, when I weigh the tomatoes sometimes 1 tomato is 79 grams! So if I eat two of them I'm already a little bit over 50 calories.
    Obviously it's still all healthy food - but at the end of the day even all your healthy foods not being weighed may be adding a few extra hundred calories to your daily intake.
    The bloat will hopefully go away - unless maybe you are eating a lot of stuff that promotes bloating (ie things like brussel sprouts will make me feel like I'm going to pop the button on my pants for most of the day)

    Don't get discouraged - there's nothing linear about weight loss - and there's a lot of factors playing into it, salt and water consumption each day, how much sleep you get, current cortisol and other hormonal levels, damage to the muscles from the previous workout, what your bowel movement was like that morning.

    I do believe that if you weigh your food a few weeks - without cheating- you will note that you may have been over estimating and will start to see the weight come off. Sadly with so little to lose, you're probably looking at a minimal weight loss each week maybe 1/2 to 1 pound.
  • kalrosie394
    kalrosie394 Posts: 9 Member
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    Ok, I will definitely do that. I have seen my brother use it and it's so interesting when the package says 3 potatoes per serving, but the measurements show him that it's actually 1.5 potatoes. Crazy!

    I have also been very stressed lately and other hormonal things which you are right, probably played a part in my weight loss.

    Thanks!
  • Alluminati
    Alluminati Posts: 6,208 Member
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    You had a history of ED, and you're on here trying to lose? Have you talked to your doctor about this?
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,750 Member
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    I don't know that counting calories and weighing food makes ANY sense for someone who is managing an ED disorder.

    I found this article to be quite interesting. And I would certainly suggest discussing it with whoever helped you initially recover.

    https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/hunger-artist/201402/recovering-anorexia-how-and-why-not-stop-halfway
  • kalrosie394
    kalrosie394 Posts: 9 Member
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    @Alluminati Yes. Also my team and parents. An ED doesn't define your entire life. I don't hate my body, and it's taken me almost 12 years to accept that. Just because you have a past that involves an ED doesn't mean that all of the sudden you have to accept whatever weight your body is at. I am very short and 5 pounds looks like 10 pounds on me. I don't feel confident in my physical form and that is ok. I am allowed to lose weight as long as it's in a healthy range and a healthy way.
  • kristysaurus
    kristysaurus Posts: 91 Member
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    First, congratulations on your recovery. It takes a lot of strength to recover and you should be proud of yourself for coming this far :smile:

    Second, since it has only been four weeks, you need to be patient, especially if you are exercising. I found when I first started there was some weight retention that dropped off quickly. If you have some metabolic issues going on your progress may even be slower as a result.

    Third, Make sure you are accurately weighing your food. If you don't have a lot to lose to begin with tightening your logging becomes even more essential. You don't have a lot of "wiggle" room to make errors so measure everything and log it carefully.
  • kalrosie394
    kalrosie394 Posts: 9 Member
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    @PAV8888

    I don't usually count calories, I was forced to in recovery because I had to make sure I was getting enough. Now I do the same thing. It is not a way to restrict but I way to make sure I am not.

    I have actually read that article! Thank you for bringing it back up. I have been dealing with my ED for almost 4 years now and I have a full supportive team around me. My doctor, parents, nutritionist, and therapist all know me and know that, while disordered thoughts are still there occasionally, do not run my life or my choices anymore. I am allowed to lose weight as long as they are involved, which they are.

    While I appreciate the help, I posted here for advice on my weight loss, not my disorder. I only included it in my information because I wasn't sure it was relevant to my stats for not.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    OP, many in recovery from an ED are told by their doctor not to count calories, so it is a legit question to ask. The internet is anonymous and plenty of ED sufferers come here saying they are fine now, but as they answer questions, it becomes clear they are not, so no one here wants to risk that.

    Having said all that, you are at a healthy weight, so any fat loss will be very slow if you want to remain healthy. My advice would be what others have said - commit to the food scale for a couple of weeks to make sure you are eating the amount you think you are, double check the database entries you are using to make sure they are accurate, and be patient.

    Best of luck!
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,750 Member
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    kalrosie394 wrote: »
    @PAV8888
    While I appreciate the help, I posted here for advice on my weight loss, not my disorder. I only included it in my information because I wasn't sure it was relevant to my stats for not.

    More often than not people posting in this section and discussing their unhappiness with their body are not blessed with access to a supportive team.

    Your original post makes it sound, to me, like your recovery was relatively recent or still in progress.

    Having said that, the standard answer to someone who is in the bottom half of their normal weight range yet justifiably feels that they carry too much fat is to continue to eat at maintenance while growing muscle mass and slowly losing fat. If I recall I calculated your BMI to be 21.3, which is in the bottom half of the normal weight range for your height

    I am very glad to hear you're counting calories to make sure you have enough! and hopefully that you're not overexercising at the same time.

    But, I am also having some trouble picturing a recovery team giving someone at a BMI of 21.3 and with a history of anorexia the green light to lose weight.
  • kalrosie394
    kalrosie394 Posts: 9 Member
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    @kimny72 of course it is! I took no offense in it, counting calories is a very common questions, ED or not. I understand that as well and I'm not trying to sneak around anything. My ED took an immense toll on my family and would never want to have that happen again, wether my mind tells me to or not.
  • kalrosie394
    kalrosie394 Posts: 9 Member
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    @PAV8888 my ED is a very long story with many twists and turns and my recovery has been ongoing.

    Thank you for the advice! I hope I didn't offend you in anyway.

    They are helping me and have access to my MFP and know my exercise routines.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,456 Member
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    kalrosie394 wrote: »
    Thank you! I do have a food scale, I just always forget to use it because the measuring cups are so much easier. I eat very healthy, no processed food, very little packaged anything unless it's a salad on the go or something. I had my metabolism tested, thyroid tested, and blood ran and nothing was out of sorts. I do feel bloated a lot which is part of why I am transitioning into a vegan diet to see it no diary helps.

    I'm not sure if I'm really retening a bunch of water, the puffiness is just how I look because of the fat on top of the muscle because I wasn't losing fat as I gained the muscle (my brother is a bodybuilder and he also told me that is the case). I gained 2 pounds in the beginning of my diet but they dropped the next. Research told me that this was possibly due to a large drop in calories too quickly?

    Thank you for your response, I'm beginning to feel like I will never lose weight.

    I'd argue that point (bolded), frankly.

    With a few tricks, it adds less time to meal prep to weigh than measure, IMO, at least after a short (week?) learning period. For example:

    For yogurt (peanut butter, bag of nuts, block of cheese, etc.), put the whole jar/container/bag on the scale, zero (tare) it, take out some, and read the negative value on the scale to get the amount to log. If you want to match the serving size on the container, just make sure to take that much out.

    For things like salad ingredients (or soup/casserole/etc ingredients you're assembling in a pan or baking dish), put the dish or pan on the scale, zero it, add an ingredient to the dish, note the amount, zero again, add the next ingredient, zero, etc., until everything's in the dish or pan.

    Also, I keep a few recycled plastic yogurt-tub lids on hand to toss on the scale if I want to weigh a small amount of something, so I don't have to keep washing little bowls or whatever, or wipe the scale platform. Put a lid on the scale, zero, put the item on the lid, record the weight. The lid is just a quick rinse under the faucet to clean.

    Truly, once you get in a routine, this is so much easier (and only measuring cups to wash from liquids)!

    P.S. I'd encourage you to be sure you're getting enough protein - perhaps you already are, but some of the vegan blogs & such seem to really low-ball the requirement. There is solid research suggesting that in calorie deficit, one needs more protein (to preserve muscle while losing fat), and while working out vigorously, one also needs more protein (for muscle repair).

    You're doing both. I'd suggest trying for at least 0.8g per pound (yes, I mean pound, not kg) of goal body weight under these conditions - and I'm saying that as someone who's been ovo-lacto veg for over 40 years. While it's challenging with plant sources, it is possible.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
    edited July 2016
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    kalrosie394 wrote: »
    @kimny72 of course it is! I took no offense in it, counting calories is a very common questions, ED or not. I understand that as well and I'm not trying to sneak around anything. My ED took an immense toll on my family and would never want to have that happen again, wether my mind tells me to or not.

    :drinker: Just wanted to make sure, sometimes the tone of voice a person uses in their head as they're typing doesn't come out in what they typed, LOL. Congrats on your recovery
  • kalrosie394
    kalrosie394 Posts: 9 Member
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    @AnnPT77 I never thought of that! Ha. That is a really good idea and seems way easier, plus less dishes. Thanks!

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