Can't lose weight and trying hard

[Puggirl]

I am tracking everything I eat. I eat between 1000 and upped cal to 1200. It has been 3 weeks and doubt I would plateau so soon. Very frustrated!

[Nutritionista]

Hi. Your body is conserving weight because you are not consuming enough calories especially if you are exercising everyday. I would suggest looking into the Smarter Science of Slim by Jonathon Bailor or his most recent book The Calorie Myth

[Puggirl]

I log and weigh everything meticulously. I only walk about 6000 steps a day. I also have a strivv pedometer It is hard to add food to my days as that is how the weight is going back on. I have previously lost a lot of weight and kept it off. I slowly gained a bit back. I need to loose 15 lbs and it is like my body has just shut down. I don't struggle with hunger at least

[Puggirl]

I cked J. Bailors, Calorie Myth. This is how I am eating. Cards are from veg. Some fruit. Majority of meal. The protein is lean. Fruits are the balance of my diet.

[mairi_5]

I'm just starting to lose weight as well. My doctor has put me on an anti-inflammatory diet and recommended me reading "Grain Brain" by Dr. Perlmutter. It's very interesting and looking forward to seeing how it will work for me.

[Puggirl]

I am going to look into that. Thank you.

[Snowflakepdx]

I agree that your calorie level is very low.  It is very difficult to lose weight if your activity level is low as well.  

[Puggirl]

I have fibro and there is only so much I can do. Weight loss is going to happen in the kitchen. Exercise can make you healthier and stronger but not cause you to loose weight. I was much fitter when I was fatter. The most muscle a girl can put on in a year is about 5 lbs if she is a dedicated body builder. Just frustrated.

[Puggirl]

Exercise makes you stronger but weight is lost on calorie intake. I was much fitter when I was fatter.

Sent from my iPad

[Snowflakepdx]

Yes Fibro will limit what you can do comfortably with exercise.   I hope there is a modification that you can attempt like working out with a physical therapist or in a warm pool. 

[josephz2va]

6,000 steps is more sedentary than trying to work to lose weight. I would recommend adding walk exercises in your spare time. There's plenty of space during work if there's nothing to do. A nearby stairwell, laps around the office cubical system, maybe a goal you can achieve like walking out of the office up to 1 mile away to a Coffee Shop.

During your off time if your family is looked after and you can open time for a 30 minute walk, it's only 30 minutes. Walk around your block. Or if you happen to go to the amusement park with the family (it is summer time afterall), you can spend lots of walk time there up to 10,000 steps or more in one day.

Like any Saturday, I could drive down to Fredericksburg, VA 3 hours away from home and enjoy a tour seeing all the attractions and get 20,000+ steps if I don't even bother sitting.

[Puggirl]

Unfortunately I have mixed connective tissue disease. It is an auto immune disease where your body attracts you connective tissue. It produces chronic pain. I can do all that walking but recovery is the problem. I am doing the best I can. My understanding is that exercise will make you fitter but not cause you to loose weight. Loosing weight happens in the kitchen. I should loose 12 lbs. I have been very heavy and lost the weight about 4 years ago. The scale was creeping up. I am using myfittnesspal. Measure and weigh everything. Obviously I am doing something wrong.
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[CoachCheri]

Tell me more about what you are eating? How frequent are you eating? Are you eating breakfast? How much water are you drinking? How many hours of sleep? Do you feel rested when you wake up? Give me a typical day from rising to bedtime okay?

[Mary · Accepted solution]

Puggirl- I went from 187 to 137 with zero exercise.  It's not a requirement.  

When you say, "It's been three weeks and you didn't expect to plateau so soon", what are you considering a plateau?  If you're like me, you lost 3 lbs. the first week, 2 lbs. the second and nothing since and you're annoyed and sure you're 'broken' and/or doing something wrong.  With me, what I'm doing wrong is not being patient.  Weight loss is never perfectly linear and when you don't have a lot to lose, I think it's even more jagged.  Unless you're 4'8" and 80 years old, you will lose weight at 1000-1200 calories, though it might be slow.  If it's been a month of 100% plan adherence and no loss, I would triple-check your calorie counting habits.  

Good luck!  

[Heybales]

With only 15 lbs to lose, I sure hope you picked a reasonable weight loss goal.

I'm guessing not though based on results.

1 lb weekly should be reasonable - unless your body has a lot of stresses it is dealing with.

Oh wait - it is indeed. Body dealing with disease is already under stress. Sleep good or bad? Guess which is additional stress.

You might lower your goal to 1/2 lb weekly to actually see success - since you are logging food so well.

How much daily on average does Fitbit say you burn?

How reasonable does the deficit appear now comparing what you burn to what you were attempting to eat?

[Mary]

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@Heybales wrote:

With only 15 lbs to lose, I sure hope you picked a reasonable weight loss goal.

I'm guessing not though based on results.

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Did MFP finally kick you out or what?  

[Heybales]

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@Mary wrote:

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@Heybales wrote:

With only 15 lbs to lose, I sure hope you picked a reasonable weight loss goal.

I'm guessing not though based on results.

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Did MFP finally kick you out or what?  

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Not at all. Was actually asked to be a mod during their last expansion, but it was bad timing. Over 200 using the spreadsheet and losing weight that I know of specifically, and 21 that recovered their metabolism back to prior levels, but the whole EM2WL group is doing that too, among many others out there in the fitness sites advocating reasonable deficits for successful weight loss and maintenance. I'm hardly alone.

[Puggirl]

Thanks. I will keep on plugging away. 😌

[SunsetRunner]

Hi Puggirl,

I would recommend experimenting with a high saturated fat diet. There's lots of amazing research on how high fat, low carb nutritional protocols reverse disease, especially with regard to auto-immune disorders where chronic inflammation due to high carb consumption is so damaging. When you start eating high fat, there's really no need for calorie counting or excessive exercise. Your body will start to auto-regulate to a normal weight without any exercise as it up-regulates fat metabolism and body fat mobilization for fuel. Your hunger goes away too as your body becomes adapted to eating the fat on one's hips as well as the fat one eats.

Blogs, books, and videos to kick off your self-research:

Body.io (body.io fm podcast on iTunes)
Carb Nite Solution by John Kiefer

Cereal Killers documentary

Body by Science by Doug McGuff

bulletproofexec.com (bulletproof radio podcast on iTunes) - Dave Aspery

Best of Luck!