Lost 108lbs 3 yrs ago gained it all back now I cant lose. Help!

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3yrs ago I started my weight loss journey and lost 108lbs. Needless to say I fell off the wagon hard. I gained it all back. I am now trying to lose the weight again the same way I lost it the first time with no luck. I am religious about counting everything, weighing food, not going over, and excercising when i can. I also work a very active job and use a fitbit to see how my overall days are going. I do not eat my calories back from my fitbit step counts and only eat a few calories back from work outs. I have been doing this over a month and i will not make my diary public but trust that i am meticulous about my calorie counts. Last time i did this i had great sucess and relatively quickly. Nothing this time. Im beginning to think something is wrong and a dr visit is in order. Any advice welcome!

Replies

  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,754 Member
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    If everything you say is true, yep, make an appointment with your primary doctor. Or give what you are doing more time.
  • whiplashy
    whiplashy Posts: 52 Member
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    There's obviously a problem or you would be losing. Why won't you open your diary? Doesn't really give people much to work with. If your not losing, you either aren't in a calorie deficit or you need to visit the doctor. Simple. You'll have to decide which is the reason and act on it.
  • Rusty740
    Rusty740 Posts: 749 Member
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    How long have you been trying to lose the weight?
  • comogirl
    comogirl Posts: 154 Member
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    Rusty740 wrote: »
    How long have you been trying to lose the weight?

    About 40 days.
  • comogirl
    comogirl Posts: 154 Member
    edited February 2017
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    whiplashy wrote: »
    There's obviously a problem or you would be losing. Why won't you open your diary? Doesn't really give people much to work with. If your not losing, you either aren't in a calorie deficit or you need to visit the doctor. Simple. You'll have to decide which is the reason and act on it.

    Just for some privacy. If it truly is calories in vs calories out then it shouldnt matter what im eating as long as it fits in my 1500 calories a day (although i do eat mostly home cooked healthy foods, meat and veggies primarily). I do not think i am eating over my calories. I am doing things exactly the way I did it before with sucess only this time no sucess. I have a digital food scale and I measure everything. I wont eat something until i know the calorie count in it. Its very frustrating but i have no idea what could be causing this physically.
  • misskarne
    misskarne Posts: 1,765 Member
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    Have you truly lost "nothing" or is it that you've "only" lost a few pounds and think you should have lost more? This is no slight on you, but it's quite common for people to complain they're "not losing" or "lost practically nothing" when actually they have, just not fast enough for their liking.
  • comogirl
    comogirl Posts: 154 Member
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    The reason people ask to view logs isnt because they wanna tell you not to eat this or that, its to make sure the database entries you are using are the right ones... if youre logging 100g of chicken cooked as 120 calories and its actually 165.. these small errors can actually prevent people from losing and could leave them eating to maintenance.

    Yes that may be why you look at it but ive been on my fitness pal 3 yrs. There are many people that use it to criticize what you are eating. I appreciate your response!!!
  • comogirl
    comogirl Posts: 154 Member
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    misskarne wrote: »
    Have you truly lost "nothing" or is it that you've "only" lost a few pounds and think you should have lost more? This is no slight on you, but it's quite common for people to complain they're "not losing" or "lost practically nothing" when actually they have, just not fast enough for their liking.

    Good point. I suppose I have lost a few pounds but then i fluctuate back and forth from my starting weight to a few pounds lower. But perhaps I should be more patient. Thank you for your insight!!!
  • spideywebb77
    spideywebb77 Posts: 126 Member
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    Comogirl,

    I lost 120 lbs and then gained about 100 back. Since Oct I lost the same 10 lbs 4 times. I have finally broken through that repeating roller coaster. The one big thing that was going on with me was eating on the weekends. Not only would I not log but I would be eating way over what I needed to be.

    I hope you track down our issue whatever it may be. Best of luck!
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,579 Member
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    Regaining the weight also MAY have affected hormonal output. Personally I'd have you get checked by an endocrinologist to eliminate that as an issue.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png
  • comogirl
    comogirl Posts: 154 Member
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    ninerbuff wrote: »
    Regaining the weight also MAY have affected hormonal output. Personally I'd have you get checked by an endocrinologist to eliminate that as an issue.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

    Thank you!
  • locoloon
    locoloon Posts: 29 Member
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    Since you lost 100+ before, is it possible you've hit an early plateau? If all else is right, possibly the body is just using water as a place holder until it gets to a point where it really has to let that go. Be patient , keep at it and wait for the loss to occur.

  • NinjaChinchillaNZ
    NinjaChinchillaNZ Posts: 56 Member
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    40 days is just enough time for you to see fluctuations due to other factors - you may well have lost weight but things like *that time* of the month can cause weight gain due to water retention. I can gain anywhere from 1-2 kg due to water retention at that time. Also if you've had any days where you've eaten a lot of salt that may cause fluctuations. Some people also experience a whoosh effect where it seems like you've lost nothing but then suddenly your weight will go down. I understand your frustration though, I reached my goal weight 2 years ago then put back on 6kg and I've really struggled with losing and gaining the same few kilos, I've found it much harder this time around so I've had to lower my calorie allowance to get things moving again. Have you been through your goals and re-evaluated your calorie needs? I found it helpful to use multiple calculators before setting your calorie allowance as they can vary a lot.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
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    Maybe your job isn't as active as you think it is. In any case, if you aren't losing weight then you aren't eating less than you burn. I tend to favor the brute force method when I can't figure something out. Some people will tell you to weigh your food more accurately. My approach, if I were having trouble losing weight would be to take whatever I think I am eating and reduce the calories. I would probably put an entry of 500 calories for each day of a week, so that it would look like I reached my calorie goal sooner. At the end of the week I would look at how much I had lost and reevaluate.