4 weeks - no movement on the scales

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  • BarneyRubbleMD
    BarneyRubbleMD Posts: 1,092 Member
    edited July 2017
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    laurendunlop83 wrote: »
    Thanks for your comments everyone. I have been reviewing my food diary with my trainer and although I've been recording everything she feels that my carb intake is probably too high given that I suffer from insulin resistance. She suggested an increase in calories and a decrease in carbs. I've lost 2lbs in 2 days of doing this and feel much more satiated.

    @laurendunlop83 ,

    The key points (info) I got from your postings:
    1. you said you have have "plenty to lose". (so it's not just a small amount of weight you want to lose)
    2. you are insulin resistant. (which is pre-diabetic)...this is very important!
    3. you are "much more satiated" when you increased your calorie intake & decreased your carb intake...important!
    4. you said you've been "recording everything" but I'm not sure if that means that you've been weighing/measuring what you've been eating or just estimating (it's easy to underestimate & why it's so important to weigh/measure everything). So, as others have mentioned, if you don't have a digital scales for weighing food items, I'd recommend getting one.

    Being "much more satiated" is very important in being able to stick to any diet (& maintaining a deficit). If one can't stick to their diet either because it's too low in calories or too restrictive in other ways, it can be difficult to maintain a calorie deficit long term while dieting. I don't think I could last on any diet for more than a month if I didn't feel satiated after my meals.

    I also think 1200 calories is not enough for you with the info you provided in your posts & with all that exercise & since you also mentioned you're insulin resistant (i.e. pre-diabetes) I think it would be best to watch your carb intake or better yet, to get a glucometer (blood sugar meter) to monitor your blood sugars before & 2 hrs after meals and how various foods your affect blood sugar readings. Things like bread, noodles, rice, mashed potatoes (especially the instant or quick-cooking kind) drive my blood sugars up very high & very quickly. I know for myself (a diabetic), if my blood sugars get above the 140-150 mg/dl range, I get hungry and if my blood sugars get above the 180-200 mg/dl range, I get extremely hungry (i.e. I feel like I'm starving which can easily trigger an eating binge) and don't feel satiated even after eating.
  • laurendunlop83
    laurendunlop83 Posts: 7 Member
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    Actually just to 'weigh' in here I am tracking and weighing everything unless it's packaged foods in which case I'm just scanning the barcode
  • GrumpyHeadmistress
    GrumpyHeadmistress Posts: 666 Member
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    Muscleflex79 wrote: »
    laurendunlop83 wrote: »
    Actually just to 'weigh' in here I am tracking and weighing everything unless it's packaged foods in which case I'm just scanning the barcode

    right - which means you aren't accurately tracking everything you eat (packaged foods can be way off - up to 20% I think it is?) this is a much more likely explanation than muscle gain or some sort of metabolic damage or snowflake syndrome alluded to by some on this thread.

    Up to 9% in the UK, with the variance decreasing as the weight increases.
  • brznhabits
    brznhabits Posts: 126 Member
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    As noted above you are underestimating your food intake or overestimating your activity, possibly both.

    Scanning bar codes isn't accurate, you still have to weight.

    At 1200 cals (which is probably too low when it is accurate) and the activity you describe you should be nearly miserably hungry. Are you? If not, then you likely know you are eating more than you think.

    Also, don't forget to do body measurements, instead of just the scale.
  • laurendunlop83
    laurendunlop83 Posts: 7 Member
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    Interesting point about the packaged foods and I will need to watch this. this is quite a small part of my diet looking back over eight days I've probably consumed about 3200 kcals from scanned food so there is a chance here that I've gone over my allowance by 640 kcals but it's unlikely to be that high overall and would only be 80 kcals a day at worse so still sufficient to keep me in a calorie deficit for my size. Think for the time being I'll continue with my trainers advice (she is a qualified nutritionist) for the next four weeks and see what the difference is then. If at that point I'm not seeing any weightloss then I think an appointment at the docs would be worthwhile. On the bright side, I know I'm eating better, I'm exercising more than I ever have and I feel stronger and happier as a result. If only the damn scales were reflecting that!
  • veganbaum
    veganbaum Posts: 1,865 Member
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    laurendunlop83 wrote: »
    Interesting point about the packaged foods and I will need to watch this. this is quite a small part of my diet looking back over eight days I've probably consumed about 3200 kcals from scanned food so there is a chance here that I've gone over my allowance by 640 kcals but it's unlikely to be that high overall and would only be 80 kcals a day at worse so still sufficient to keep me in a calorie deficit for my size. Think for the time being I'll continue with my trainers advice (she is a qualified nutritionist) for the next four weeks and see what the difference is then. If at that point I'm not seeing any weightloss then I think an appointment at the docs would be worthwhile. On the bright side, I know I'm eating better, I'm exercising more than I ever have and I feel stronger and happier as a result. If only the damn scales were reflecting that!

    Just so that you are aware, assuming you are in the U.S., a person can be a "nutritionist" with very, very little knowledge of nutrition. It's actually a little scary, given the number of people who will go to a nutritionist for advice. A dietitian is a different story, and if one really needs to see someone for advice about their diet, a dietitian would be the best choice.

    As has been mentioned, lower carbs will lead to some water-weight loss. You may find such a diet more satiating, which is obviously good, and perhaps necessary due to a medical condition, but it is not necessary for weight loss. If your trainer did not explain why you should increase calories and reduce carbs when you have lost "no" weight (if the NO weight is actually true), I wouldn't follow that trainer's diet advice.

    You didn't respond to several questions and maybe you won't come back to this thread. But since it got bumped, if you do come back or if there are lurkers - please go back and reread the responses that are saying the same thing - start with being accurate in logging food (including choosing from the database as many entries are incorrect). Look at your weight loss trend - this will require more patience if you only weigh once a week, which you did not answer. Weighing once a week can mask a loss. If you are weighing once a week, even four weeks may not be enough data. If you are seeing "no" loss - actually no loss - logging is likely inaccurate, but six weeks of data would be a bit better (especially with hormonal fluctuations women can experience).

    Two months of data does not call for a doctor's appointment, in my opinion. Did you read the flowchart? Making things more complicated than they have to be is part of the reason a lot of people fail to lose the weight they want to, or maintain the loss after they have. It doesn't have to be complicated and it kind of seems that's the direction you're headed rather than looking at the likeliest possibilities first.

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