Seriously depressed with lack of progress

I honestly think I defy science. I haven't had a good weight loss for over a month now. I had a weeks holiday end of May and gained 1lb. I lost this last week and gained .5lb this week. So I now weigh the same as I did on 20/05. I am consistently logging, exercise is the same (3x 1hr cardio a week + 10k steps). I am averaging 1400 cals a day. Rarely over 1600. I feel like crying as I am eating hardly anything which is such a massive change to my diet 6 months ago. It's not TOM. I am 5'8", 188lbs and have no thyroid but on meds to control it. I can't keep this up, it's making me so depressed that the progress is either non existent or just so tiny it's barely noticeable. 7lb in 3 months. I see people losing this and more in 1 month. I am worried that if I can't lose on 1400 a day what will I have to go down to lose and how realistic is that to maintain long term.
Can anyone offer any advice or look at my diary and see where I am going wrong? I do weigh things, drink plenty, have made changes like switching to almond milk, dropping the artificial sweeteners etc.
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Replies

  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,345 Member
    You don't eat lunch? from what I see in your diary for a few days, didn't go back more than that.
    If you are eating what you have logged you should be losing weight. At your height your maintenance cals will be in excess of 2200 calories so if you eat at deficit you will lose.
    Are you being really truthful about logging every single thing you eat?
    It does look as if you are hardly eating anything.
    But be positive, you are in the right place, logging food is a great place to start. Keep tracking your intake, it takes time to lose but you will be glad you stuck with it.

    All the best.
  • theledger5
    theledger5 Posts: 63 Member
    Where I have entered 100g for example if you go into the entry you will see I have allowed for example 2/3 of the portion so it's closest to my actual weighed item. I always round up. So if I have 80g of something I generally log 100g to be sure.
    They days I haven't eaten lunch are few and far between - we've had a heatwave and it's been so hot I have no appetite so skipped the meal.
    I would say I am accurately logging and truthful 99% of the time, this is why I eat a little under my cals to account for the 1% I might miss.
    Exercise consists of 1 hour dance fitness class on Mon, 1 hour boxing circuits on Wed and Fri. In between I do weights at home and average 10k steps most days.
    I feel like crying as I don't honestly know what more I can do to get the weight loss to show. I have never had so much trouble losing weight. In the past when I have done slimming world for example I have lost well. However the last time I tried to follow the plan it didn't work hence i turned to exercise and MFP.
    I tend to avoid fruit to some degree because of the sugar and my teeth. I eat loads of veg though. One thing I have noticed is my bowels are not as consistent as before. On my old diet I was as regular as clockwork and daily, now it's maybe 3 times a week, I wouldn't say I was constipated but I would imagine it's because I am eating substantially less. I do think I need to see a GP and investigate any other reason as I am sure with my diet being so low in cals that I should be losing weight.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    edited June 2017
    Or you could just follow the advice we gave you?

    Please ask if something is unclear!
  • theledger5
    theledger5 Posts: 63 Member
    Or you could just follow the advice we gave you?

    Please ask if something is unclear!
    I am already doing those things- accurately logging- daily. Eating fruit and veg, treating myself occasionally to the odd cookie and logging that. I will try adding more protein as someone else suggested. The majority of foods I log I use the bar code scanner to be sure, I also check the label to make sure it matches.
    Is there anything else you think I am not doing?
  • mhwitt74
    mhwitt74 Posts: 159 Member
    You shouldn't worry so much about the plateau you are on. It is currently happening to me as well. I haven't lost a single pound in a month but I keep exercising and measuring my intake. It will start to go down again soon enough. I'm not depressed about it but I am annoyed about it. But try to focus on the positives. Like I still feel better than ever, I can run farther now than I when I started and have made great progress in my nutrition. Sometimes being too focused on the weight number can be a bad thing. How do you feel physically now compared to when you first started?
  • bogwoppt1
    bogwoppt1 Posts: 159 Member
    edited June 2017
    Using the bar code scanner is not a good method unless you weigh it to check the portion size is accurate. Use the bar code scanner, then weight then work out how much your portion is calorie wise.

    In the end it does not matter if you eat 1200 calories of doughnuts or 1200 calories of cauliflower. You just have to eat less than you burn. Though looking at your diary some vegetables would really help with nutrition and to fill you up, you rarely seem to eat anything not packaged, which is totally fine, but veg really do make a huge difference nutritionally. Now I sound like your mum. Hahaha!

    You must log everything you eat and drink, you also must log accurately. No eyeballing or guessing.

    Be careful eating back exercise calories, burns are hugely overestimated.

    If you are doing all of the above and honestly can say you never forget to log, then go to your doctor and ask for testing. It is very rare that people cannot lose weight through diet alone, it is very, very common that people do not log properly.
  • motivatekait
    motivatekait Posts: 90 Member
    edited June 2017
    That sounds so frustrating! It really sounds like you're doing everything right. For me personally, I went a few months without losing much at all, and then all of a sudden weight just started to fall off of me like crazy. Don't give up yet, you might be on the edge of a big drop!
    The only thing I could maybe recommend would be to try cycling your carbs/calories and see if that revs your metabolism up i.e. eating higher calorie/higher carb on days where you workout and otherwise eating around 1400 on days you don't work out. Sometimes the body plateaus when either your calories or workouts haven't changed in a while, so it might be worth just fiddling around with it and see if anything happens.

    Also I found I started losing more weight when I started drinking a bunch of water, so maybe try incorporating that if you don't drink much as it is. Best of luck!

    **edit: After looking at your diary, I think you might be struggling so much because you're opting for only a couple huge meals. If you feel like you're not eating a lot, check out my diary to see how much food I get for 1200 cals. Opting for smaller healthier meals lets me eat a ton throughout the day, maybe that will help you mentally!
  • MrStabbems
    MrStabbems Posts: 3,110 Member
    Trial and error. You need to play around with things until it works. Try reducing some carbs and replace with protein. (although to be honest imo your calories are quite low for someone doing that much cardio) you could try upping fats or reducing sugar (I'm not a big chocolate fan so find this easy to cut out).

    You said you lift at home but what does this mean? Those silly coloured tiny dumbbells or something more substantial? remember more muscle = increased bmr.

    Other things to consider is quality sleep, relaxing, adequate water intake. Make these daily habits, hell I add them to workouts!
  • ckf76
    ckf76 Posts: 9 Member
    I know everyone on here is quick to say that you are not logging correctly. I am guessing that you are and have just hit a plateau. They are maddening! One thing I have tried when I hit a plateau such as you are on is the 5-2 plan. I cannot do this long term but it kick starts my metabolism for two weeks to get me started again. It is HARD! basically you are eating 500 calories for two days and what you want for the other 5. I do not eat "what I want" for the other five I eat my normal 1,200-1,400. This never fails to get me off my plateau. Get the magazine or cookbook though so when you do the 500 calories you actually are eating interesting food and you feel okay about it. Good luck!
  • dhawthorne1973
    dhawthorne1973 Posts: 1 Member
    Hiya. You just need to switch your amounts around. Have a bigger breakfast and a smaller dinner. Aim to eat most (80%) of your daily carbs for breakfast and lunch. Have protein with lunch to fill you up and a high protein low/no carb dinner.
    Keep one eye on your snacking. Drink a pint of water every time you feel like a snack.
    Hope this helps you.

    Best wishes. x
  • rianneonamission
    rianneonamission Posts: 854 Member
    It looks like you are eating quite considerably under your calorie target on most days. Could you be suffering from metabolic adaptation? I don't know what you were doing before your holiday?

    I'm only saying that because it's one of the problems with shake/crash/long term keto diets. Your body will gradually adapt, which is why those who then revert to normal eating patterns put the weight back on. If I were you I'd look at your calories over the last 14-21 days, total them and divide them by the number od days to an average calorie intake per day. Then compare that to your BMR. If it is below your BMR then you are likely suffering from metabolic adaptation and would need to gradually reverse diet to get back to normal maintenance calories.

    Also, reduce the cardio and replace some of it with weight/resistance training. Muscle requires more calories to keep going, so it will help you with the calories in vs calories out.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,345 Member
    theledger5 wrote: »
    Where I have entered 100g for example if you go into the entry you will see I have allowed for example 2/3 of the portion so it's closest to my actual weighed item. I always round up. So if I have 80g of something I generally log 100g to be sure.
    They days I haven't eaten lunch are few and far between - we've had a heatwave and it's been so hot I have no appetite so skipped the meal.
    I would say I am accurately logging and truthful 99% of the time, this is why I eat a little under my cals to account for the 1% I might miss.
    Exercise consists of 1 hour dance fitness class on Mon, 1 hour boxing circuits on Wed and Fri. In between I do weights at home and average 10k steps most days.
    I feel like crying as I don't honestly know what more I can do to get the weight loss to show. I have never had so much trouble losing weight. In the past when I have done slimming world for example I have lost well. However the last time I tried to follow the plan it didn't work hence i turned to exercise and MFP.
    I tend to avoid fruit to some degree because of the sugar and my teeth. I eat loads of veg though. One thing I have noticed is my bowels are not as consistent as before. On my old diet I was as regular as clockwork and daily, now it's maybe 3 times a week, I wouldn't say I was constipated but I would imagine it's because I am eating substantially less. I do think I need to see a GP and investigate any other reason as I am sure with my diet being so low in cals that I should be losing weight.

    If you're not going to the loo as much that will mask any loss on the scale for sure. More fibre will help with that issue - or try prunes! they work a treat.
    You are active, I'm not actually sure how you aren't fainting eating as little as you are - I'm only 5ft 2 and I ate more than that when I was losing (I'm active too).
  • Zinka61
    Zinka61 Posts: 522 Member
    I looked back a month or two in your diary and saw more veggies and healthy choices. Not sure what difference that would make, but why not try picking a time when you were losing well, go to that week's diary entries, and copy what you ate then to see if you do better on that again? I'm sort of in the same boat; I've regained 8 lbs after hitting my goal and now seem stuck. Thinking of doing what I just advised you to do.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    edited June 2017
    Water retention a factor from this very non-English heat wave?

    7lbs in 3 months is something though, another 3 months and you will have lost a stone.....