Help me understand please

habwill wrote: »

So some basic vitals: I am a 49 year old woman who is insulin resistant and started at 292. I am tracking and exercising daily (walking about 4.5 miles in about 70 minutes not great but a start) and I gradually lowered my calories so that I am now keeping my calories at 1200 per day. Since I began this almost 4 weeks ago I have gained 2 pounds and I am tracking everything I eat down to the lettuce leaf. I am not seeing a change in my clothes or inches for the most part. I know I am older but what could possibly be going wrong. I do not eat refined carbs at all so no white rice, potatoes, pasta etc because of the insulin issues. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I hope/assume your thyroid levels have been tested? The effect from that is not typically huge, but it can be meaningful. Hypothyroidism is common as we age.

You say you're tracking your food, are you using a digital scale and weighing it (at least when you can, at home)? Weighing food isn't essential for everyone, but it can be a great aid if you're not getting the results you expect, just to pin things down more precisely. (A digital scale only costs $15-20 and is totally worth it.)

habwill wrote: »

So some basic vitals: I am a 49 year old woman who is insulin resistant and started at 292. I am tracking and exercising daily (walking about 4.5 miles in about 70 minutes not great but a start) and I gradually lowered my calories so that I am now keeping my calories at 1200 per day. Since I began this almost 4 weeks ago I have gained 2 pounds and I am tracking everything I eat down to the lettuce leaf. I am not seeing a change in my clothes or inches for the most part. I know I am older but what could possibly be going wrong. I do not eat refined carbs at all so no white rice, potatoes, pasta etc because of the insulin issues. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Rest assured: this experience is not all that uncommon -- if you have gone from no exercise to the daily walk, it is possible your muscles are retaining water (which they do when you start out). Just to share my experience: when I start weight lifting after some time off, my weight goes up about 3 lbs and stays up for about a month. Then, woosh -- I'll drop the weight all at once. Like you, I track to the lettuce leaf, as you say .

Another thing to share, I started at 230 (5' 1/2", F, 46) and lost weight very slowly even though I weighed and measured everything, kept to 1200 calories, and exercised a lot. I had to wear the same pants until I got to the 150s. Then, wham -- I shrank over night it seemed, and I had to get new pants. The difference between 135 and 130 was huge, and between 130 and 120 is like night and day. I hope it doesn't go that way for you, but I'm just sharing because, well, bodies are weird. Who knows what's going on inside? Losing fat around our organs? Creating new capillaries? Etc. Anyway, the point is: keep doing what you're doing and you'll see results. Hope this helps.

habwill wrote: »

I have a digital scale that I use when I measure meats. My last thyroid test was low normal and I have a cyst on my thyroid that is monitored. I am really being as diligent as I can, especially because of my age. I have lost weight without issue before but as the age goes up I know it gets harder.

Maybe try using the scale for everything else and make sure you are measuring correctly?

Are you on any medications? Some will cause weight gain.

The thyroid issue is also a possibility. I had trouble losing weight before I started on thyroid meds.

Age alone shouldn't be that big a factor, especially since you are increasing your activity level. I'm 60 and have had no problem the past 10 years in losing weight when I needed/wanted to. I am pretty active (runner and walker).

AnnPT77 wrote: »

habwill wrote: »

I have a digital scale that I use when I measure meats. My last thyroid test was low normal and I have a cyst on my thyroid that is monitored. I am really being as diligent as I can, especially because of my age. I have lost weight without issue before but as the age goes up I know it gets harder.

Not typically that much harder, though. (I'm 61 now, hypothyroid, lost 63 pounds (183 to 120 at 5'5") in 10-11 months starting at age 59, virtually all of it above 1200 calories.)

I think there must be something else going on for you. Have you shown your doctor your food diary, and discussed the situation with him/her?

This. It really isn't significantly harder to lose weight when you're older.

I started when I was 52, and like Ann, I'm also hypothyroid. I've lost almost 95 pounds over the past 2 years, with 70 pounds coming off in the first year. And I ate back exercise calories.

OP, I noticed that you said you used the food scale to weigh meat. You need to use that food scale for EVERYTHING or you are not logging accurately. The one thing I have noticed that makes a big difference is very accurate tracking. Every bite, everything you eat.

To start out, you are tracking and exercising which is great but also can drive you crazy when you begin. If I were you, I would look at your normal previous eating pattern and see what was wrong with it that made you gain. Was it just too much (quantity), was it that you used to exercise but stopped and didn't adjust your intake lower, was it that you just didn't know what you were eating and always over ate? That's most of us here. We just didn't know. Because at 290lbs 1200 is pretty low calorie wise and you likely are trying to cut down too drastically and are probably eating more tha you think. Take a look at your old normal pattern before you started and see what small changes you could make. Skip dessert, cut down on soda, have one helping instead of two, don't grab a latte, don't have that cake at every birthday party, bake food instead of frying. It's all up to you to decide what can be eliminated to make your deficit. Obviously those are all lifestyle dependent and I don't know if you are hard core vegan or a Krispy Kreme fan like myself. But just see what small things you can change to get the process started.

Are you drinking enough water?

habwill wrote: »

Mini_Medic wrote: »

To start out, you are tracking and exercising which is great but also can drive you crazy when you begin. If I were you, I would look at your normal previous eating pattern and see what was wrong with it that made you gain. Was it just too much (quantity), was it that you used to exercise but stopped and didn't adjust your intake lower, was it that you just didn't know what you were eating and always over ate? That's most of us here. We just didn't know. Because at 290lbs 1200 is pretty low calorie wise and you likely are trying to cut down too drastically and are probably eating more tha you think. Take a look at your old normal pattern before you started and see what small changes you could make. Skip dessert, cut down on soda, have one helping instead of two, don't grab a latte, don't have that cake at every birthday party, bake food instead of frying. It's all up to you to decide what can be eliminated to make your deficit. Obviously those are all lifestyle dependent and I don't know if you are hard core vegan or a Krispy Kreme fan like myself. But just see what small things you can change to get the process started.

I had already cut out carbs like pizza and sweets because I am insulin resistant so those are a no no anyway. I started at 1700 Cals and dropped it over the course of a month. I have made some big changes but because they were required for my health. I am not a vegan by any stretch and I do allow myself a treat now and then but I am sure to track them. I think that's what making me crazy. I will keep at it.

I'm about 285, back into pre-diabetic (I make a horrible diabetic), so I know those challenges pretty well. I'm admittedly younger than you, but I agree that 1200 seems awfully low as I'm at around 1600 with a sedentary life (thanks surgery recovery), and I don't recall you saying if you eat back at least some of your exercise calories, which if you're at 1200, you really want to do to properly fuel your body. Was there a reason you dropped 500 calories in a month? I did 1200 for awhile when I snapped and went a little insane, it was horrible and I felt like garbage.

As was already covered, weigh all your food, not just your meat. I've shown my mom repeatedly how much a difference there was between her measuring and weighing her cereal. It's a pain in the tush, but it gives you an accurate reading as to what you're eating and can make a good deal of difference that you don't even realize.