Rant: struggling with very slow metabolism
PersonMcSelf
Posts: 7 Member
I'm about to claw my eyes out. First off let me give you my details: I'm female in my mid-30s, without any physical disability, and I just had a full blood panel done less than three weeks ago (yes, including thyroid) and everything came back fairly normal except that my LDL was high. I'm on a medication for my anxiety which is notorious for slowing your metabolism, and switching to a different medication is not an option since it's the only one that works for me.
I have gained a good deal of weight since I started on the medication, without any change in diet or exercise habits. I had never been overweight before but I am now, and my doctor told me to lose weight since my blood lipid profile, which used to be perfect, is now bad; plus I'm starting to crawl toward prediabetes.
The problem is this: I did what she told me and initiated a strict diet and exercise regime, cutting calories significantly and walking 12 miles per week. I tried at different calorie levels, first a little, then a lot, then I experimented to figure out at what number of calories my weight stayed exactly stable over the course of a few weeks. To my dismay, even with 12 miles of walking per week, and otherwise being on my feet 1/3-1/2 of the day every day, I burn the number of calories that is supposed to be my BMR!!! Literally I burn about 1400 calories a day.
It's very weird because like I said, my thyroid is fine, my energy levels are fine, I don't have any random disorders, I'm not a couch potato, I CERTAINLY don't eat hidden calories (I'm a Nazi about what I eat, weighing everything down to the gram and reading every label exhaustively.)
I don't know what to do. My weight is barely budging on my weight loss regimen, but I can't exactly go to a spin class or something, since there are none right now. And if I burn 1400/day including exercise, eating 1200/day puts me at a deficit of 200/day, at which rate I'd be losing ... drumroll please... 1.7 lb per month. Yes, one point seven. That's three quarters of a kilogram. So it would take me one year to lose the 20 lbs/10 kg that my doctor wants me to lose.
Advice, support, anecdotes, etc. are appreciated, to keep me from going insane.
I have gained a good deal of weight since I started on the medication, without any change in diet or exercise habits. I had never been overweight before but I am now, and my doctor told me to lose weight since my blood lipid profile, which used to be perfect, is now bad; plus I'm starting to crawl toward prediabetes.
The problem is this: I did what she told me and initiated a strict diet and exercise regime, cutting calories significantly and walking 12 miles per week. I tried at different calorie levels, first a little, then a lot, then I experimented to figure out at what number of calories my weight stayed exactly stable over the course of a few weeks. To my dismay, even with 12 miles of walking per week, and otherwise being on my feet 1/3-1/2 of the day every day, I burn the number of calories that is supposed to be my BMR!!! Literally I burn about 1400 calories a day.
It's very weird because like I said, my thyroid is fine, my energy levels are fine, I don't have any random disorders, I'm not a couch potato, I CERTAINLY don't eat hidden calories (I'm a Nazi about what I eat, weighing everything down to the gram and reading every label exhaustively.)
I don't know what to do. My weight is barely budging on my weight loss regimen, but I can't exactly go to a spin class or something, since there are none right now. And if I burn 1400/day including exercise, eating 1200/day puts me at a deficit of 200/day, at which rate I'd be losing ... drumroll please... 1.7 lb per month. Yes, one point seven. That's three quarters of a kilogram. So it would take me one year to lose the 20 lbs/10 kg that my doctor wants me to lose.
Advice, support, anecdotes, etc. are appreciated, to keep me from going insane.
3
Replies
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If you only need to lose 20 lbs healthy weight loss is .5 lbs a week. Keep logging your food, exercise, and eat back your exercise calories. Weight loss isn't linear. Keep the focus and you'll continue to see results.9
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With 20 pounds to lose, and all that exercise, you should be able to eat a whole lot more than 1200.
How tall are you?
Also, for how long have you been logging food with your food scale? It says you just joined this site today...so, how have you been tracking food and for how long?8 -
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cmriverside wrote: »With 20 pounds to lose, and all that exercise, you should be able to eat a whole lot more than 1200.
How tall are you?
Also, for how long have you been logging food with your food scale? It says you just joined this site today...so, how have you been tracking food and for how long?
I'm 5'7" and I log with a journal and a calculator. Been tracking for over four months now. I agree that I should be able to eat at least 1700 calories, even with a normal shade of slow metabolism, without gaining weight. That's my point
But for some infuriating, baffling reason this medication magically has me running on caloric fumes... 3 -
PersonMcSelf wrote: »cmriverside wrote: »With 20 pounds to lose, and all that exercise, you should be able to eat a whole lot more than 1200.
How tall are you?
Also, for how long have you been logging food with your food scale? It says you just joined this site today...so, how have you been tracking food and for how long?
I'm 5'7" and I log with a journal and a calculator. Been tracking for over four months now. I agree that I should be able to eat at least 1700 calories, even with a normal shade of slow metabolism, without gaining weight. That's my point But for some infuriating, baffling reason this medication magically has me running on caloric fumes...
Are you using a food scale?8 -
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]If you only need to lose 20 lbs healthy weight loss is .5 lbs a week. Keep logging your food, exercise, and eat back your exercise calories. Weight loss isn't linear. Keep the focus and you'll continue to see results.
This^^^. It’s taken me a year to lose my last twenty pounds. The closer you are to goal, the harder it is. The last twenty are hard, the last ten are pretty brutal. It’s enchanting to see people on here who are losing ten or twenty pounds a month, but it’s unrealistic unless you are obese, which you aren’t.
I’m afraid it’s a matter of patience and careful measuring and weighing. It’s not so bad, if you are motivated.9 -
PersonMcSelf wrote: »
You said you lost 1.7lbs. So you're pretty much on track if your deficit is 200 calories as it takes 3500 calories to lose 1lbs.10 -
springlering62 wrote: »]If you only need to lose 20 lbs healthy weight loss is .5 lbs a week. Keep logging your food, exercise, and eat back your exercise calories. Weight loss isn't linear. Keep the focus and you'll continue to see results.
This^^^. It’s taken me a year to lose my last twenty pounds. The closer you are to goal, the harder it is. The last twenty are hard, the last ten are pretty brutal. It’s enchanting to see people on here who are losing ten or twenty pounds a month, but it’s unrealistic unless you are obese, which you aren’t.
I’m afraid it’s a matter of patience and careful measuring and weighing. It’s not so bad, if you are motivated.
The last 10 took me a year and a half!!!!5 -
You could do more exercise without purchasing any equipment. 12 miles of walking per week isn't really a lot, but it's a fine place to start. YouTube is full of workouts and channels. I follow Jenny Ford, freedom fitness, fitoutsidethebox, Sydney Cummings, and Yvette Bachman, just to name a few. Les Mills also has a free at home workout page. Try something new!9
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It is also very possible that the medication is causing water retention which could be masking your weight loss efforts, especially since you have so little to lose.
When you said he checked thyroid - did they do a full thyroid panel or just check TSH?7 -
Just saying I'm on meds too and I feel your pain. I'm used to weight coming off pretty easily and now its a struggle.1
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From what I have read about this type of medication, what they suspect it of doing isn’t exactly slowing your metabolism - studies measuring people’s metabolism directly have mostly found it’s as expected - it’s reducing the amount of non-exercise activity you do. In other words, you fidget less, you swing your feet less when you sit, you might think about getting something from the other room and just decide not to bother, which adds up over time to a substantial drop in calories burned.
Which means you can work on adding to your exercise calories. As mentioned above, 12 miles walking a week is a fine start, but not all that much activity. That’s three miles (an hour of casual walking) four days a week. You could make that 12 miles running a week without buying anything except a pair of good shoes. The much vaunted 10,000 steps is about five miles a day. If you aren’t getting that through non-exercise activity, you have to do it purposefully.
Or you can come to terms with eating 1400 calories a day, if that’s where you maintain now.
Look, I get it, this sucks. I’m a type 2 diabetic controlled mainly through exercise and timing my diet to my exercise. If I don’t work out every day, I basically don’t get to eat anything with carbs in it, unless I want to see my blood glucose spike. Feeling tired, too busy, skip two days in a row? I will definitely not be able to eat the way I want, and the glucose meter will let me know. But if I do work out every day (which includes low impact stuff on rest days) I get to eat in a way that makes me happy. And the thing is, all humans should be active at least an hour a day. The fact that this has come to seem extreme is a sign of how messed up our culture is. One hour out of every twenty-four, move your *kitten*, and your body will function much better.
8 -
I second the increased walking program. Moderate walking should accumulate a good 2.5+ miles an hour, so we're looking at a minimum of 17.5 a week if indoor activity is not sufficient.
My last 11.2lbs I lost over 12 months to drop within the normal range..
Time will pass whether you're getting closer or further from your goals. Moving closer is a win!3 -
PersonMcSelf wrote: »cmriverside wrote: »With 20 pounds to lose, and all that exercise, you should be able to eat a whole lot more than 1200.
How tall are you?
Also, for how long have you been logging food with your food scale? It says you just joined this site today...so, how have you been tracking food and for how long?
I'm 5'7" and I log with a journal and a calculator. Been tracking for over four months now. I agree that I should be able to eat at least 1700 calories, even with a normal shade of slow metabolism, without gaining weight. That's my point But for some infuriating, baffling reason this medication magically has me running on caloric fumes...
So you’re saying that you’re been in a 200 calorie deficit for the past 4 months and have lost nothing?
That seems impossible...I mean here’s my story for you:
I’m an impatient person and I will admit it. I have been trying to lose 33 lbs since last September after my weight crept up to 166lbs. I started at a 500 calorie deficit from September to December but it back fired on me because I developed thyroid like issues such as fatigue, cold hand and feet and muscle pain to name a few. I took a break over Christmas then went back on to it in January with a smaller deficit of 250-300 calories. My weight loss started of at an initial drop of 6 lbs in September then it plateaued. I got frustrated. I cried. Then I lost another 4 lbs. Then gained some weight when I went on holiday for 2 weeks in February and I was back at 160lbs. I went back into my deficit on March 1st. I lost weight and I was at around 158 lbs until 2 weeks ago I dropped down to 154lbs! My weight was going between 160-156lbs for 9 weeks before I suddenly dropped 4 lbs. I’m so proud of myself for being consistent for 9 weeks. And I’ve physically lost fat too. I look much slimmer. The key has been consistency. If you aren’t consistent you won’t see results. I would get impatient after 4-6 weeks of no losses but then I decided to stick with it and it works. Let me tell you: do not rely on just the scale! Please use a measuring tape too or some clothes. The scale is a bad way to measure progress at this point. I feel positive during this quarantine because all I can focus on is my weightloss and make sure all my food logging is on point.6 -
12miles a week is less than an hour a day. Add some time. Up your pace. 3miles an hour is not very fast if you are not very over weight. I have 20lbs to go(have for a long time) and my calories have to be spot on to lose. I am hungry with as active as I am and many many weeks I just maintain or even gain and ruin the lbs lost in past weeks. I have to track closely. It is a fine balance when I love to lift and hike and run and move. Maybe get an activity tracker and see if that helps motivate you a bit?
ETA: I also have some metabolism slowing issues. Low thyroid function “fixed” with meds, and a migraine med that apparently lowers metabolism. I don’t give them weight towards my journey and just work hard and eat appropriately when I can/want to, keep very active, and rest as my body needs. I am far more happy seeing what my body can do as opposed to how small it can be.4 -
bmeadows380 wrote: »It is also very possible that the medication is causing water retention which could be masking your weight loss efforts, especially since you have so little to lose.
When you said he checked thyroid - did they do a full thyroid panel or just check TSH?
Full panel because my doc was concerned about my weight gain. Water retention isn't it, as I'm on a diuretic for my blood pressure.0 -
DancingMoosie wrote: »You could do more exercise without purchasing any equipment. 12 miles of walking per week isn't really a lot, but it's a fine place to start. YouTube is full of workouts and channels. I follow Jenny Ford, freedom fitness, fitoutsidethebox, Sydney Cummings, and Yvette Bachman, just to name a few. Les Mills also has a free at home workout page. Try something new!
This was also my thought, now you are doing under 2 miles a day. If you can add a little more movement and make sure your food logging is as accurate as possible, the weight will come off!3 -
PersonMcSelf wrote: »bmeadows380 wrote: »It is also very possible that the medication is causing water retention which could be masking your weight loss efforts, especially since you have so little to lose.
When you said he checked thyroid - did they do a full thyroid panel or just check TSH?
Full panel because my doc was concerned about my weight gain. Water retention isn't it, as I'm on a diuretic for my blood pressure.
A diuretic is not necessarily going to stop all water retention or fluctuations. If it did, you'd die, because the body needs more water at some times than others for healthy functioning. What type are you taking? Some of those reportedly have weight-gain side effects for some people, too.5 -
And water weight fluctuations can be persistent and larger than fat losses based on reasonable deficits...2
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Do you know what your thyroid levels are? You mentioned they were fine but some doctors go by an outdated chart.2
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