What nobody tells you about losing weight

Lolinloggen · May 4

ritaknowles1 wrote: »

Big battle with constipation.
I have tried many remedies, kiwi, linseed/flaxseed, magnesium, opti constipation but it seems that it works to start with and then I am back to being constipated. According to my nutritionist, I eat enough vegetables and fibres but still never comfortable and feeling bloated. I suppose if you eat less there is less to pass out.

While is certainly is true that if you eat less there is less to pass, this does not sound too nice. I was the same after my weight loss. Ended up seeing a specialist and in the end was found to have IBS. With FODMAP diet (use a dietician, not a nutritionist as this is specialist work!) determined what caused the bloat and what made me constipated and adjusted diet. As I constipate badly I have to use an old people med (macrogol) to help things along on a regular basis.
I still have the odd flare when I eat something I know I should not but love. Just last week I did have two dates - I needed 4 days to fully recover, but that was worth it and I knew what I was doing. That helps too

PS Difference nutritionist vs dietician. In most countries; everybody can call themselves a nutritionist, for a dietician you need to be licensed and have a specific education

sequimtrim · May 5

My appetite weirdly tamed down after eating less. I can get used to this!

JB_ACC · May 5

obscuremusicreference wrote: »

-Some "friends" get weirdly competitive or passive aggressive

Your "tighter" appearance can cause others to feel threatened. It can get difficult in the workplace when your line manager, a compulsive over-eater, begins to frequently verbalizes his athletic accomplishments - something that never happened before your began the myfitnesspal journey.

lisakatz2 · May 5

JB_ACC wrote: »

obscuremusicreference wrote: »

-Some "friends" get weirdly competitive or passive aggressive

Your "tighter" appearance can cause others to feel threatened. It can get difficult in the workplace when your line manager, a compulsive over-eater, begins to frequently verbalizes his athletic accomplishments - something that never happened before your began the myfitnesspal journey.

This happened to me last time I lost a lot of weight. I had one person in my place of work continually harp at me "you're too thin! you're too thin!" every time she saw me. At the time, I was a healthy 120 pounds (I'm five foot four).

JB_ACC · May 5

JenniferInCt wrote: »

All that protein! Lol

In my experience its not the protein, but all the extra hydration & fiber. I can have a very low protein day and still cause the digestive gas problem by having 2L of water & a small bag of dried apricots.

takinitalloff · May 5

JB_ACC wrote: »

JenniferInCt wrote: »

All that protein! Lol

In my experience its not the protein, but all the extra hydration & fiber. I can have a very low protein day and still cause the digestive gas problem by having 2L of water & a small bag of dried apricots.

In my experience it's not the fiber, it's the refined carbs and sugar. I used to get horrible gas whenever I ate pasta with roasted/pan-fried Brussels sprouts (one of my favorite dishes at the time). I blamed the Brussels sprouts, of course.

Only after I switched to eating a low-carb, no-refined-carbs, no-added-sugar diet did I realize that it was the refined carbs in the pasta that were causing the issue. I eat plenty of "gassy foods" now without a problem: I can eat Brussels sprouts and cabbage all day long. But if I eat a bit of extra fruit, or if I were to eat foods made with sugar/flour, all bets are off. I've been eating this whole-foods, low-carb way for ten months now (with plenty of veggies), and bloating/gas is just not a part of my life anymore.

mae1658 · May 13

I've noticed a lot of people telling me not to lose any more weight. I am not underweight and know I usually feel better with another 10 lbs off. But it's just weird that people either feel self-conscious or if they don't like me being smaller than I was, or if they've only known me while I was at my heaviest? I've come across 3 people now who actively tell me "not to lose anymore weight".
I've lost 27 lbs in 4 months on carnivore and feel great.

sollyn23l2 · May 13

mae1658 wrote: »

I've noticed a lot of people telling me not to lose any more weight. I am not underweight and know I usually feel better with another 10 lbs off. But it's just weird that people either feel self-conscious or if they don't like me being smaller than I was, or if they've only known me while I was at my heaviest? I've come across 3 people now who actively tell me "not to lose anymore weight".
I've lost 27 lbs in 4 months on carnivore and feel great.

I don't know. 1 person saying don't lose more weight... I'd say just shrug it off, they're not used to seeing you smaller. But 3? That would give me pause. But I can't say, because I don't know your stats nor can I see how thin you are. So, in the end, do what works for you.

mae1658 · May 13

sollyn23l2 wrote: »

mae1658 wrote: »

I've noticed a lot of people telling me not to lose any more weight. I am not underweight and know I usually feel better with another 10 lbs off. But it's just weird that people either feel self-conscious or if they don't like me being smaller than I was, or if they've only known me while I was at my heaviest? I've come across 3 people now who actively tell me "not to lose anymore weight".
I've lost 27 lbs in 4 months on carnivore and feel great.

I don't know. 1 person saying don't lose more weight... I'd say just shrug it off, they're not used to seeing you smaller. But 3? That would give me pause. But I can't say, because I don't know your stats nor can I see how thin you are. So, in the end, do what works for you.

I'm 5'8" and 33yrs old. Starting weight was 167 and I'm now 140lbs. I was 123lbs back about 5 years ago, I'm only planning on trying to get to 130 or so as I know I feel my best around that weight. I carry more in my hips. I've taken measurements, and I've lost 13.5 inches overall, pretty evenly from all over (waist, hips, thigh, arms, chest). I would say I'm leaner now, but not underweight.

pony4us · May 13

You posted great pics in the photo section, you look great!!! Since you are active and are at the lower end of "normal" I can see why you are getting comments. !30 puts you about on the edge, try a trial run of "maintenance calories" at 130 and see if that's what you want to do for the reast of your life compared to Maintenance calories" at 140. That should help you decide.

mae1658 · May 13

pony4us wrote: »

You posted great pics in the photo section, you look great!!! Since you are active and are at the lower end of "normal" I can see why you are getting comments. !30 puts you about on the edge, try a trial run of "maintenance calories" at 130 and see if that's what you want to do for the reast of your life compared to Maintenance calories" at 140. That should help you decide.

Thanks so much! I'm very happy with my results so far, and feel great. I live in the far north (Yukon, Canada), so I'm not wearing the bathing suit out in public - we're still in sweaters and pants and had snow yesterday lol.

Thanks for the tips on the maintenance calories once I hit my goal. I'll definitely try that. I know I need to add in lifting some weights to put on some muscle, so I'll be upping my calories to gain in that way a little when muscle is added. I know not to base where I want to be solely on the number on the scale, but rather how I feel and my strength.

AnnPT77 · May 14

mae1658 wrote: »

I've noticed a lot of people telling me not to lose any more weight. I am not underweight and know I usually feel better with another 10 lbs off. But it's just weird that people either feel self-conscious or if they don't like me being smaller than I was, or if they've only known me while I was at my heaviest? I've come across 3 people now who actively tell me "not to lose anymore weight".
I've lost 27 lbs in 4 months on carnivore and feel great.

sollyn23l2 wrote: »

mae1658 wrote: »

I've noticed a lot of people telling me not to lose any more weight. I am not underweight and know I usually feel better with another 10 lbs off. But it's just weird that people either feel self-conscious or if they don't like me being smaller than I was, or if they've only known me while I was at my heaviest? I've come across 3 people now who actively tell me "not to lose anymore weight".
I've lost 27 lbs in 4 months on carnivore and feel great.

I don't know. 1 person saying don't lose more weight... I'd say just shrug it off, they're not used to seeing you smaller. But 3? That would give me pause. But I can't say, because I don't know your stats nor can I see how thin you are. So, in the end, do what works for you.

IME that's pretty normal. I had multiple people tell me that. I think they were just used to seeing fat me, weren't used to seeing people steadily lose weight and get down to a healthy weight, and over-reacted to the major change. I've been around BMI 21-22, so mid-normal range. After a while, thin me became the me they were used to seeing, and no one paid any attention any more.

Now, if anything, I'm more likely to get the "you're so lucky to be naturally thin and not have to worry about what you eat".

(I'm heading into year 8 of maintaining around my current weight.)

takinitalloff · May 14

@mae1658 As long as you feel good and there are no concerns other than a few comments, I wouldn’t worry about it. I think we are all so used to seeing overweight/obese people that a lot of us don’t even know what a normal, healthy human being looks like. I always notice this when I look at photos from the 1970’s or earlier… everyone looks ridiculously thin, but that used to be the norm. Our perception is severely skewed I think.

4Aon · May 14

Waking up to the feeling of an empty stomach somehow hits the "I did it again! Yeah" button.

EliseTK1 · May 14

4Aon wrote: »

Waking up to the feeling of an empty stomach somehow hits the "I did it again! Yeah" button.

Agreed! It’s an accomplishment to wake up feeling a normal hunger for breakfast rather than being bloated and uncomfortable from eating too much the night before. It reminds me of alcohol in that eating too much gives me a “hangover,” but if I do it too often my body will still crave the extra food even though I feel awful in the morning.

I previously had an issue with getting stomach pain when I was hungry. It made me extremely averse to ever letting myself get hungry. Turns out I had gastritis caused by too many NSAID medications. Now that my migraines are under control, I don’t have to take them and my stomach has healed. I don’t get painful hunger anymore, just normal hunger. It’s still a challenge to remind myself that it’s OK to get hungry. I don’t have to overeat to stop the pain.

I7300 · May 21

The Body Dysmorphia is real, and looking in the mirror or photos I can't help but still see the bigger version of me.. Even though I've gone down a size in clothes, and I'm sure clothes don't lie !

Some work colleagues (especially those who say they are trying to lose weight but clearly aren't) get envious and then love to make backhanded comments about the weightloss, or be nasty towards you.

Being treated different in society, for me I just get more elderly people (mostly women!) talk to me 😂.
But the opposite sex (who aren't pensioners haha) never approach me, so that doesn't help my confidence 🙃.

But it's not all doom and gloom, being able to have more energy to do activities you couldn't do before is a bonus, and not feeling pain in the body because you're lighter!

DonaStrong · May 21

Trying to lose weight - again... all members of my household are eating out-of-control portions & Candy. Even special runs at night for candy bars. I have to be strong and eat what I know is going to help me lose these 100 pounds. Not partaking of the candy bars. Write down everything I eat so I see where I might be slipping. Try to figure out why one day I am down and the next day up. I do drink all the fluids. At this stage, due to a damaged lung from Covid and a knee that needs Ortho work, I am not getting workouts. But, I am starting to walk a bit more.

Dontkillbill1509 · May 21

The most surprising thing I found that was negative ... My identity was the "big guy" and now its just Bill looking a little more jacked than a few months ago.. I am retired now so my identity is tied to being alive and well

AnnPT77 · May 21

DonaStrong wrote: »

Trying to lose weight - again... all members of my household are eating out-of-control portions & Candy. Even special runs at night for candy bars. I have to be strong and eat what I know is going to help me lose these 100 pounds. Not partaking of the candy bars. Write down everything I eat so I see where I might be slipping. Try to figure out why one day I am down and the next day up. I do drink all the fluids. At this stage, due to a damaged lung from Covid and a knee that needs Ortho work, I am not getting workouts. But, I am starting to walk a bit more.

@DonaStrong, that part (bolded) is 100% normal. If the overall trend (multi-week) is downward, you're doing great.

If you want to figure out some of the reasons, this thread (especially the article linked in the first post) is really informative, IMO:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10683010/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-fluctuations/p1

springlering62 · May 21

I7300 wrote: »

The Body Dysmorphia is real, and looking in the mirror or photos I can't help but still see the bigger version of me.. Even though I've gone down a size in clothes, and I'm sure clothes don't lie !

Some work colleagues (especially those who say they are trying to lose weight but clearly aren't) get envious and then love to make backhanded comments about the weightloss, or be nasty towards you.

Being treated different in society, for me I just get more elderly people (mostly women!) talk to me 😂.
But the opposite sex (who aren't pensioners haha) never approach me, so that doesn't help my confidence 🙃.

But it's not all doom and gloom, being able to have more energy to do activities you couldn't do before is a bonus, and not feeling pain in the body because you're lighter!

Body dysmorphia can rear its ugly head, even in maintenance, with small weight gains or other events.

I’ve been in maintenance nearly four years now.

I’m in the process of whittling down, sorting and moving 30,000 family photos to a new device. It’s taken dozens of hours over the course of the past few weeks. I’m shocked to see that I was overweight far longer than I’d thought. I had fooled myself for so long. I find myself resting on photos with me in it, criticizing that person and wondering how “she” could justify letting herself go for so long, ashamed at her appearance, and how she could let her family down like that.

I’m far harder on myself in the third person viewing than I would be on a random person on the street. At least I’d have empathy for that person, ya know?

Being immersed in these “fat” photos, along with a few pounds temporary water weight gain from an injury, I find myself looking at, if not fat, a larger woman in the mirror. I know it’s temporary (the swelling’s finally going down a bit) but I am overwhelmed at how easily my brain can fall back in to old, self critical, self deceitful views of myself.

And yet I know, this too shall pass. I’m still on plan, undereating if truth be told, due to anxiety. This is my brain tricking me, my beautiful body healing rather than swelling to mock me.

But it’s interesting as well. Body dysmorphia is a total mind f*** at any time.

What nobody tells you about losing weight

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