Very Discouraged with Failure to Lose Weight -- help!
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Anonymous
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Anonymous
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How much do you move outside of the 30 minutes cardio/ lifting you do? I had an “aha” moment a few years ago- I thought because I ran and worked out regularly I was golden, and wondered why it was hard to lose weight. Then I started paying more attention to my fitness tracker and realized that I wasn’t moving enough when I WASN’T working out: desk job, binging shows, scrollling, sitting.
I now make the conscious effort to move more, on top of my workouts. It’s made a world of difference. Just much more walking, manual work. That and a 6-7 hour eating window, but you’re already doing that. |
Anonymous
| You should not have to rely on all those workouts to get your weight down. Rest more, workout less, and eat less carbs and more protein/green veggies. I’m guessing all that workout is adding to stress hormones. |
Anonymous
I suggest reading the post. IF is already part of her program. |
Anonymous
| Talk to a professional. |
Anonymous
| I second the advise to look hard at your carb intake. It's possible you get too much sugar from fruits |
Anonymous
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OP here. Weight currently 155, would like to get back to 140 (I'm very muscular, so that's thin for me). I probably could move a lot more in addition to the workouts, that's a good point. Not sure what my macros are; usually I get 80-100 grams of protein a day, which should be plenty. I don't weigh my food, but I track every bite!
Other than that, I guess this is my new reality--watch my diet like a hawk, move more, as few carbs as possible. So depressing. |
Anonymous
OK so your " I eat 1500 cal" is really an estimate. To get to 140 you need to eat between 1400 and 1680 calories. track everything you eat (weight, measure) for a full month, Also track how consistently you stay in this range. You should be hitting this range 90% of the time so no more than going over 1 days a week. If you don't see any movement on the scale (i recommend weighting daily and tracking the trend line over the course of the month) after doing this for a full month adjust down by 100 cal on each end. |
Anonymous
you don't need to cut carbs. but you do need to know how much you are really eating. People are pretty terrible at eyeballing food and calories add up quickly. It tend to go like this.. track 4 oz of wine because that is the default serving in MFP. In really you drank more like 6-8 oz. Track 1 tbsp of peanut butter, in reality it was 2 tbsp. All these calories add up quickly. |
Anonymous
Oh stuff it. No one on this board is “qualified” to give any advice on anything…. We’re not licensed dieticians, therapists, college counselors. And yet here we f@@king are. |
Anonymous
| My Dr told me to exercise (cardio) at least 45 mins /day, 4-5 days per week. Said 30 mins was not enough to lose weight. |
Anonymous
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Honestly, reading this makes me happy I am fat now. Usually I hate it, but thinking about having to worry if I eat an extra apple... I spent my teens and my twenties doing that. No way to live.
Fifteen pounds isn't that much weight. If you lose it, your face will look even more drawn. Relax. Eat a peach. |
Anonymous
| Have you had an pelvic ultrasound recently? PCOS has made me gain weight quickly, especially in the stomach. Just a thought. |
Anonymous
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Honestly I would go see a doctor and get a check up. With your diet that healthy you should not be stacking on weight especially if you are exercising every day. I would maybe get your hormones checked.
I am wondering if during COVID times you are snacking more than you realise and exercising less. Perhaps you need to add some incidental exercise. Sitting at a desk all day and just doing 30 mins is probably not enough. Perhaps mix up your exercise, do something different to what you normally do or increase it to cardio of 45-60 mins a day. I wouldn't think eating a couple extra pieces of fruit would matter and the carbs you are eating are healthy. I wonder if your portions are getting bigger for each meal. |
Anonymous
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It's a myth that at 50 metabolism dies. Maybe slows but not dies. Unless you have some thyroid disorder. After consulting with doc to rule out anything like medical, this is my advice. (Coming from a 49 year old woman with two older children. Same weight as age 17, metabolically healthy, no meds yet, I see doc annually. And I also work full time and don't have time or inclination to spend hours at gym. My BMI is normal at 19.0. I am pesco-vegetarian and eat seafood once a week. I have a typical so-called Mediterranean diet.
1 You are doing a marathon for weight loss. Plan on not losing more than two pounds a month. But it will stay off. 2 Stop counting calories and stop weighing food. The time you spent doing this, instead, meal plan and cook for the week. All calories are not equal. The human body is not a closed system. 100 cals of cauliflower is processed very differently than 100 cals of gummy bears. Weight gain or loss is controlled by hormones and biochemistry. Not calories. The processed food industry is the one that pushed "all calories are equal" propoganda and that all foods, even coca-cola can be part of a balanced diet. I don't agree with this sentiment of all calories are equal. 3 Eat three square meals a day, no snacks. I personally eat at 7:30am, 12:00pm and 6:00pm. It's healthy and good to build an appetite for dinner. I do enjoy a cup of tea or coffee in the afternoon. With real cream or whole milk. But no flavoured creamers. None of this 6 meals a day thing. If you graze your insulin stays high which keeps you in storage mode. Drop insulin between meals and you will burn fat. If you do get extra hungry in the afternoon, eat a little more for lunch the next day or an earlier dinner. But let your appetite build and have some tea or water. Btw I sometimes have a biscotti with my afternoon tea, maybe a couple times or three times a week. But if I'm trying to drop some post-holiday vanity pounds, I skip afternoon snacks completely. 4 Evening herbal tea and no night time snacks either. 5 Cook foods from scratch, no ultra-processed foods at all. Make everything. You don't need to be a chef but do basic cooking and meal prep. Sit down for meals and enjoy, eating mindfully, and take your time for dinner. 6 Avoid pre made packaged food even if it pretends to be healthy. Consider premade factory foods with labels a warning label. Even standard whole wheat bread has added sugars. Eat Ezekiel bread instead. 7 Meal prep on weekend, prepack lunches etc. 8 Daily 2 mile brisk walk, 5 days a week. Get an audiobook or good music to pass the time. Walking at a brisk rate is a fat burner. No need to jog or run. You want your exercise to be aerobic. You don't want anaerobic (lactic acid etc) to kick in, if your focus is fat burning. Aerobic exercise where you can still somewhat have a conversation is best for fat burning. Do some old fashioned pushups too for upper body. Btw I'm not anti anaerobic exercise if you are trying to build muscle. But it sounds like you want to shrink some fat cells. 9 Avoid hidden sugars, make your own yoghurt, salad dressings etc. Even potato chips and whole wheat bread have added sugars. Read labels. Sugar has 56 names. 10 No liquid calories like soda, alcohol, fancy coffee drinks. Even diet soda will spike insulin. 11 Allow snacks, popcorn (avoid microwave fake butter popcorn, homemade only with real melted butter) even some crisps or one dessert on a once a week occasion, e.g. Fri night. Enjoy but don't binge. 12 No white flour. All carbs should be high fiber, e.g. barley, beans, einkorn etc. Lots of veggies too. Don't count calories, just eat real, high fiber food prepared by you. Don't feel the need to "go keto". Carbs are good if accompanied in their natural high fiber state. 13 Watch out for foods that are marketed as healthy but are not, e.g. flavoured yoghurt, vitamin waters, smoothies etc. 14 Avoid artificial sweeteners BC they spike insulin. In a high insulin state you will not burn fat. Avoid low fat non fat stuff. Eat full fat yoghurt etc. Fat does not spike insulin. 15 Weigh frequently and use an app like Libra to plot trends. You may not drop weight every week but you will progress down over time and that helps encourage. Slow and steady. Focus on your average overall weight progress. I weigh myself about 3 times a week. 16 Avoid sugars. Unless it is accompanied by natural fiber. E.g., you can have real whole fruit but not juice. 17 When you get back from say a one week holiday, don't weigh yourself for a week. Give a few days to adjust and perhaps lighten up portions. But after a week get back on scale. Never weigh yourself the day after takeout or restaurant food. Sodium will give you artificial higher weight. Just wait a day. 18 Check out Dr. Robert Lustig on YouTube. Protect the liver, feed the gut. |