I fear I am going to be fat FOREVER - vent/advice-seeking

[Anonymous]

What the hell.

I’m 39 for a few more days. I have three kids: 11, 8, and 2. Outside of pregnancy, and since my youngest was born, I was always within the same ten-pound range and wore a size 6. Sometimes a 4, sometimes an 8, but I was pretty much the same size. I ate normally - did not exclude anything but didn’t eat to excess - and was active but was never a gym rat. It was, in hindsight, easy for me to maintain this weight.

My last pregnancy wrecked me 100%. Baby was born in March 2023. I gained an ungodly amount of weight, developed gestational diabetes, and to this day I weigh 30 pounds more than I did when I got pregnant with him.

I counted calories: sub-1600, sub-1400, sub-1200. Eliminated sugar. Eliminated gluten/grains. Quit alcohol. Intermittent fasted. Worked out 3-5 times a week for a YEAR (July 2024-July 2025, cardio and weights). And my weight has barely budged. Oh and before anyone suggests it, I have been on both tirzepitide and semaglutide and neither worked. WTF.

I am now trying the last-ditch effort of a carnivore diet. It’s been 2.5 weeks, and after an initial drop of water weight I haven’t lost anything. My panels are normal, my blood glucose is normal, and I am so plucking depressed at the notion of being perpetually chubby/overweight. I have tried EVERYTHING. Will carnivore/keto be the answer to my problems? Or should I just get used to being FAT!?

[Anonymous]

I’m so sorry. I’ve struggled since my mid-thirties as well. No advice, just commiseration.

[Anonymous]

Ugh, sorry— am also twenty lbs over my pre-spring 2023 baby. Also almost 40. I barely gained any weight in that pregnancy, and I now weigh exactly what I’d weighed when I left the hospital post birth.

My BMI is 24-something, but with HTN I’d thought I cld quality for GLPs but no.

I have no advice, just commiserating. I’ve thought about getting a personal trainer/dietitian and really putting a lot of $$$ and effort into it, but I also don’t wanna be a weirdly food focused person either. It’s annoying.

[Anonymous]

Have you been to an endocrinologist to discuss potential insulin resistance?

[Anonymous]

I also have 3 kids, and I’ll say that it varied for me when I was able to start losing the weight. With my 3rd it was the hardest (with my middle was the easiest so not just an age thing). I think the hormone rebound can vary.

[Anonymous]

GLPs didn’t work for me either. Not the miracles some say they are.

[Anonymous]

try the 700 cal diet in another thread. the op was able to lose ~35% of her weight in a few month with that, plus waking a ton everyday.

[Anonymous]

go to an end- it might be a thyroid issue, insulin resistance and lift weights. id try a mostly plants diet before keto though. ppl who emotionally eat also dont benefit from the glp-1s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:try the 700 cal diet in another thread. the op was able to lose ~35% of her weight in a few month with that, plus waking a ton everyday.

NP here, 20lb overweight. I would rather remain heavy than subsist on 700 calories a day. That seems so cruel for someone who is also walking a ton every day.

[Anonymous]

If you were stranded on a deserted island and had to forage for your food...how long would you still be fat?

There is something you aren't being honest about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What the hell.

I’m 39 for a few more days. I have three kids: 11, 8, and 2. Outside of pregnancy, and since my youngest was born, I was always within the same ten-pound range and wore a size 6. Sometimes a 4, sometimes an 8, but I was pretty much the same size. I ate normally - did not exclude anything but didn’t eat to excess - and was active but was never a gym rat. It was, in hindsight, easy for me to maintain this weight.

My last pregnancy wrecked me 100%. Baby was born in March 2023. I gained an ungodly amount of weight, developed gestational diabetes, and to this day I weigh 30 pounds more than I did when I got pregnant with him.

I counted calories: sub-1600, sub-1400, sub-1200. Eliminated sugar. Eliminated gluten/grains. Quit alcohol. Intermittent fasted. Worked out 3-5 times a week for a YEAR (July 2024-July 2025, cardio and weights). And my weight has barely budged. Oh and before anyone suggests it, I have been on both tirzepitide and semaglutide and neither worked. WTF.

I am now trying the last-ditch effort of a carnivore diet. It’s been 2.5 weeks, and after an initial drop of water weight I haven’t lost anything. My panels are normal, my blood glucose is normal, and I am so plucking depressed at the notion of being perpetually chubby/overweight. I have tried EVERYTHING. Will carnivore/keto be the answer to my problems? Or should I just get used to being FAT!?

Yes, unfortunately it sounds like you probably need to make peace with your new, permanent appearance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you were stranded on a deserted island and had to forage for your food...how long would you still be fat?

There is something you aren't being honest about.

Thanks? I’ve tracked my macros and calories religiously for a year and a half. NOTHING crosses my lips that I don’t assess and document. I am not out here eating whatever, whenever. I am MUCH more vigilant about what I eat than I was when I was smaller. So it is indeed quizzical.

I’ve been doing a lazy/dirty carnivore to include dairy. I’m going to cut the dairy and hope to god some progress comes from it. I have been in tears many times because I feel betrayed by my body.

[Anonymous]

How much do you weigh and how tall are you?

I also have 3 kids (11, 9 and 5) and it took a lot longer to lose the weight from kid 3. And I am still probably 20 pounds heavier than when I got married and 10 pounds heavier than when I started having kids. But I am 5’7” and 145 and am 42 years old. I don’t really have it in me to heavily diet anymore. I walk a lot and don’t look really overweight so I just stopped caring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:go to an end- it might be a thyroid issue, insulin resistance and lift weights. id try a mostly plants diet before keto though. ppl who emotionally eat also dont benefit from the glp-1s.

Thank you. I did have a bingeing issue - but this was true even when I was thinner. Carnivore has cured me of that! lol. But yes, I see my GP next month and will ask for a referral. Thank you so much.

Keto - from what I’ve read - relies on fat rather than sugar/carbs for an energy source. So seems like it could be ideal for my situation? Time will tell….

Thank you. I see my GP in about three weeks and would love to be down at least a few more pounds.

This whole experience has given me so much empathy for people who are overweight and obese. Not just the judgement and poorer treatment - of which there is plenty - but people everywhere squawking “CICO! Heavy weights! More cardio!” Or whatever. As though we haven’t tried.

Sigh

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:GLPs didn’t work for me either. Not the miracles some say they are.

Did OP try glp?