Discouraged :(

Patience is the key here. You don’t have much to lose so I’d recommend setting your goal to 1/2 a lb a week. Slow and steady wins the day here. If you do it too quickly it will likely be gained back. This time next year you could be at your target weight and have set the lifestyle habits to maintain it there.

The less you have to lose, the longer it generally takes to get it off. When I was getting down to my goal weight, I might not lose anything for several weeks, then lose a 1/2 pound. It can be frustrating but your body is not going to give it up just because you want it too. And your diet is most likely not sustainable.

I am 5'6" and currently weight 177. I DID get down to 159 before all hell in my life broke loose (and I was about 10 pounds from my goal) and I then back gained 20 pounds. My highest weight when I was in my 40's was 238.

Patience. That is what you need to have. I would LOVE to be your weight and I darn well WILL get there, even if it takes a year.

Inspiration15 wrote: »

I think that because I have lost and gained a lot of weight over my teen:adult life I can’t lose weight at all anymore unless I eat 800 calories a day or do some crazy Medifast diet. I have logged and weighed my food. I set my goal for 1200 calories just Incase I under estimate my calories. I am 5’6” and weigh 158lbs. That is too much. I want to weigh 140-143. I always gain back. No matter what. I have been doing this for 38 days. Lost maybe one to two pounds. What to do? I feel eating like this is maintenance for me. I drink 8-10 water a day. Could being 56 and peri-menopause be an issue? If I stop doing this I will gain so I am not giving up. Maybe more time. Suggestions?

Menopause-related issues are sometimes over-inflated, especially for those of us who are carefully calorie counting.

Much of our menopausal/perimenopausal issues with weight management come down to one of these things:

* Fluctuating hormone levels affecting appetite or fatigue/activity. Calorie counting as a weight loss method can help us recognize this, and manage it.

* We tend to lose muscle mass as we age, and each pound of muscle burns about 4 calories per day more than a pound of fat, even when just sitting around doing nothing. It's a tiny difference, but 50 calories a day surplus is all that's required to gain 5 pounds a year. Happily, with appropriate exercise, we can improve our muscle mass at any age, and the things we do to accomplish that will also burn some calories, for the double win.

* We tend to become more inactive as we age, not just exercise, but choices of hobbies, household chores, home improvement projects, social events, and daily life in general. That accounts for some more calorie-needs reduction as we age. Again, that's something we have influence or control over. Moving more can help; even fidgeting (per research studies) can burn in the low hundreds of calories daily.

I joined MFP in July 2015 at age 59, around your height (I'm 5'5") and weight (I was then at 154, having lost a bit of weight pre-MFP, actual starting weight 183). Before the end of the year, I was in the 130s (I'm narrowly built). I'm still in the 130s today, at age 62. Age and menopausal status are not insurmountable barriers. (I'm hypothyroid, too, BTW. ).

Patience is the answer. Also, it's important to realize that your scale weight will go up sometimes, and it's not necessarily fat gain. We gain water weight temporarily if we start a new exercise routine (for muscle repair), because of hormonal fluctuations, because of stress levels/lack of sleep, when healing (potentially even from minor things like sunburn), from eating more salt or carbs than normal (even if a perfectly healthy, sensible amount), and many more things. Water weight isn't fat, so we don't need to worry about it.

We also see a scale weight increase if we eat physically more food on some given day, or drink more: That stuff has weight while it's still in our digestive system. But it's also not fat gain, so we don't need to worry about it. It'll be gone in a few days, if we return to our normal routine.

It isn't unusual for someone to be on a dangerously low calorie level (like 800), then add back some reasonable modest number of daily calories (up to 1200 or so, say), and immediately see what seems like a big scale jump. They think they're regaining fat, but they're not: It's water weight and digestive contents, so temporary and not a big deal. That added 400 calories inevitably included a little extra salt/sodium (so water weight), extra carbs (so water weight), and more physical volume (so extra digestive system contents). Since they think they've gained, they panic and go back to unhealthfully low calories again. It's a bad cycle, for people who get into it.

Best wishes: You can lose the weight you want to lose, even when peri-/post-menopausal, and at the "advanced age" ( ) of 56. Patience and smart strategies are the way to go!