End my suffering please

[lex69]

Ok a slightly dramatic subject tittle but i need help : 

I have been on this journey for 18 months and I'm not liking it. 

I am 33 years old, 5ft 4 , 147 lbs i have PCOS making my struggle slightly more difficult. I aim to tobe 135 lb which is a 14 lb lose. 

So what am i doing wrong or right. MFP is set to 0.5 lb a week lose as i dont have a huge amount to lose, I'm also on fitbit set to the same. 

my TDEE is 1972 

BMR 1357 

Calorie set at 1650 

I swim and where possible walk 10,000 steps each day, slacking slightly recently due to a new job. 

My fitbit states my calorie deficit on recent weeks a - 2000 or more - what does this mean ?? is this good or bad ? 

My MFP states for the past few weeks that i have only been slightly over with my calories each week maybe a 100 or so 

I welcome any help or advice as to what is going wrong why am i not losing weight ?? 

Many many thanks in advance

[Inga]

I know it looks like it should work mathwise, BUT... in my experience, no woman is going to lose weight consuming 1600 cals. Try keeping your cals between 900 & 1000 for a few weeks as an experiment and see if you start losing. That is where I need to be to lose weight and I am taller than you are. Best of luck 🙂

[amyb68]

Hi!  Also, (and pardon my confusion at your post -  I'm not sure of what all the abbreviations stand for),  are you saying that you are consistantly over you calorie intake by 100 calories every week?  If so, this is probably why you are not losing weight.  Weight loss is not easy, but it is fairly simple math.  Your calorie intake must be less than the calories you burn.  (I'm not making light of this - I have about 15/20 lbs to lose and it is hard!)    Also, it might help to not focus on the scale so much and focus on how you feel and how your clothes fit.  That is a better indication of your overall health.  You've been doing this awhile, so you have probably made some really significant changes that healthy and that you are able to incorporate into the rest of your life!  That's awesome!  Keep up the good work and try what the other poster said for a little while (keeping calorie count low) to see if this takes a few pounds off.  That may be new motivation for you.  Best of luck!

[indiri]

It's a common problem that people eat more than they think they do, mainly because they estimate or use measuring cups instead of weighing their food.  This post on MFP explains it really well:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

This video is mentioned in the post but I'll add it here as well as it is really good info:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY

And yes, women can absolutely lose weight eating 1600 calories a day and I would not suggest taking your weekly average under your BMR.

[StefK]

I agree with Indiri. Do not go under your BMR as you need those calories for maintaining your body functions. If you consume between your BMR and your TDEE you should lose weight.

It is very easy though to go over your TDEE! You need to log every food you put into your mouth including sauces such as salad dressings.

You might want to look into intermittent fasting such as the 5:2 diet. Just google it. I have lost 15.4lbs in ten weeks by doing 5:2 and I am 48 female.

It can be done but you really have to look at what and how much you are eating.

Best of luck,
Stef.

[KJScarp]

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@Inga wrote:

I know it looks like it should work mathwise, BUT... in my experience, no woman is going to lose weight consuming 1600 cals. Try keeping your cals between 900 & 1000 for a few weeks as an experiment and see if you start losing. That is where I need to be to lose weight and I am taller than you are. Best of luck 🙂

---

Uh, I've lost 75 pounds by eating NO LESS than 2000 calories per day (when I started my budget was just under 2500 per day).  Sounds to me like you wrecked your metabolism through chronic undereating. 

You should be eating 150-200 calories above your BMR.  Think of your BMR as the floor (the least amount of calories you should be eating) and your maintenance calories as the ceiling.  Eat between the 2 numbers and you should be on track to HEALTHILY lose weight.

[KJScarp]

Oh, I forgot to add that PCOS is a result of metabolic derangement.  Chances are you are carbohydrate sensitive and probably need to limit your carb intake:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1334192/

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Endocrinology/GeneralEndocrinology/39302

Women diagnosed with PCOS are insulin-resistant, and a signficant number of them will go on to develop diabetes over the course of their lifetime, which is why it is especially important to cut back on the carbohydrates.   Diabetes runs in my family, so I switched over to a low carbohydrate diet 3 years ago so that I (fingers crossed) won't develop the disease.  At first I thought that it would be a very restrictive diet, but with sites like this, I happily found that it can be delicious and healthy:

http://peaceloveandlowcarb.com/recipes

And as a bonus, my LDL and triglycerides dropped like a rock (both of which tend to be higher in those diagnosed with PCOS), while my HDL went up.  Both my HDL/total cholesterol and my triglyceride/HDL ratios both now fall into the "ideal" range.  Here's an article that discusses these ratios:

http://www.journal-advocate.com/ci_20054451

[Del678]

I've heard from numerous trainers that swimming is not a good weight-loss sport (I'm from Australia so we do a lot of swimming). It is fantastic for many things like cardio, fitness, muscles, low impact etc, just not losing fat. You only have to look at Olympic swimmers vs athletics, you can easily visually see they're strong & fit but not lean. And I imagine they put in equal hours training for their sport.

Perhaps try a different type of exercise? Also swmming is very repetative so your body may have gotten used to it and needs a shock.

[Inga]

75 pounds is a considerable amount to lose, when one is over 50, hypothyroid and has a much smaller amount to lose, it may just take more of a calorie deficit at first. It certainly did for me. 

[gerrymcd]

Do people give a reason why they consider swimming to be bad for weight loss?  I mean, an hours swimming probably burns 700 to 1000 calories.  Any time i go swimming I'm ravenously hungry when I come out of the pool -- In my case swimming would lead to a weight gain, unless I stayed in the pool all day! 

[Inga]

What's the best exercise?

The one that you'll do!

Whatever workout or combination of workouts keeps you interested and moving is good. Some days you'll want a shorter, more intense workout, other days you'll want a longer, more leisurely walk with friends. Change it up, keep trying new things, Have fun and make exercise part of your life. 

[Del678]

On swimming compared to other exercise:

http://www.abc.net.au/health/talkinghealth/factbuster/stories/2010/02/18/2822633.htm

but as the other poster said, if it's what you enjoy, go for it! It's not a waste of time, and far better than nothing or little exercise. Swimming is a great sport with many other benefits. 🙂

It's mnay say it's not the most bang for your buck when talking weight loss and the OP was after some tips to kick up weight loss.

Calories burned in an hour is highly unlikly to be 700-1000, unless you're doing an hour of butterfly.

[KJScarp]

---

@Inga wrote:

75 pounds is a considerable amount to lose, when one is over 50, hypothyroid and has a much smaller amount to lose, it may just take more of a calorie deficit at first. It certainly did for me. 

---

Well that is *very* different from your original advice:  "BUT... in my experience, no woman is going to lose weight consuming 1600 cals. Try keeping your cals between 900 & 1000 for a few weeks as an experiment and see if you start losing."

Because YOU have a medical condition like hypothryoid that makes it difficult to lose weight does not mean that a recommendation to drop the calorie budget to below BMR is advisable, or to advise that no woman can lose weight consuming 1600 calories.  Maybe she should drop her calories a bit.  But to a caloric level that is too low for even a child?  No.

There's also a chicken/egg thing going on with hypothyroid.  I am aware that there are many causes of hypothyroid (cancer, autoimmune, aging, etc.).  But chronic undereating can be a direct cause of thyroid down-regulation, and can negatively impact thyroid function further. 

http://www.sheknows.com/health-and-wellness/articles/835443/hypothyroidism-dieting-can-damage-your-t...

"Dr. Lyster says stress caused by disease and even calorie restriction, as in dieting, can cause an upset in thelevels of thyroid hormones. She explains that when the inactive form of thyroid hormone (thyroxine or T4) is not converting to the active form of the hormone (triiodithyronine or T3), and instead converts to reverse T3, it blocks the T3 receptors as well as blocking the proper T4 to T3 conversion, causing hypothyroidism.  Though you may need to lose a few (or many) pounds, keep in mind that restrictive dieting or dropping entire food groups from your diet can actually hinder your weight loss efforts by impairing your thyroid function. 'Prolonged calorie restriction should be avoided,' says Dr. Lyster."

As I've gotten older (I'll be 49 this year), my thryoid function has deteriorated.  My latest thryoid test last April shows that my thryoid is functioning on the low side of normal.  It's something that my doctor is concerned about and is closely monitoring.  But I will not reduce my calorie budget to below my BMR.  I am keenly aware that to do so will likely result in loss of lean muscle mass, which in turn will lower my BMR and metabolism even further.  I don't want to make a potential medical problem worse than it already is.

To refer back to the OP's situation, PCOS is a problem related to insulin regulation (although many women with PCOS are also affected by autoimmune thryoiditis).  Insulin regulation is directly related to the types of food one eats, rather than the amounts.  Autoimmune thyroiditis is also directly affected by the types of foods one eats - foods in the nightshade family being a known contributor to the condition.  So the first thing I would recommend to the OP is to change the types of foods that she eats to see if that will jump start her weight loss.  If not, I would recommend that, in addition to changing the types of food that she eats, she may want to slightly reduce her calorie intake (but stay above her BMR).

[Inga]

No, not different at all. By all means try all the experiments. I did.

I was just trying to be helpful by telling the OP what had finally worked for me, not trying to add to her frustration.

[Hats26]

900 & 1000 calories? Isn't that starving yourself? 

[KJScarp]

Yes. Hats26, it is.  I've been on other weight loss forums where advice like that would have caused the thread to be shut down.  There are no moderators here, so it's up to us to point out the unhealthy nature of that advice so that those unfamiliar with nutrition and how it affects bodily functions won't be duped into something that will likely have negative repercussions that can last for years.

[Hats26]

Thank you for confirming that. I would be so hungry if I ate that little. I love logging how much I eat as it helps increase awareness. Oh I did not realise there were no moderators on this part, again good to know. So new to all of this but learning fast-ish I think. Calorie stuff may take me a while, but it seems a hard achievement to get in the green zone! I think I've achieved it once.. Then did more steps and it went 'over'. I probably won't pay attention too much for now.. Main thing is to build up on cardio, which is why Fitbit is so good! Initially I had my meal plan to extreme and then realised it was out my league and changed it to the easiest one instead, a lot more realistic for me too. 

[Inga]

I remember my mom coming home from the doctor decade after decade with 1000 calorie diets, all the old books recommend eating 8-10 calories per pound of your ideal weight for weight loss. Watch old TV shows, people were thinner then. Katharine Hepburn and Linsay Wagner were obviously not eating modern calorie recommendations. most women weren't. 

[gerrymcd]

When my mother was young, doctors also gave women 'diet pills' (aka amphetamines) and recommended smoking as a way to keep weight down! 

[KJScarp]

In a similar thread on another board, this article was posted, which I think people on this board may appreciate. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sophia-herbst/1200-calories_b_4816597.html

If someone want to tank their metabolism by an extensive calorie restriction during a weight loss period, it can take years to rebuild their metabolism.  Because their metabolism is damaged, they cannot eat at normal maintenance levels once weight loss is finished, and the weight comes back on again.  So, by restricting caloric intake for an extended period, gaining the weight and attempting to lose weight again, the person must restrict even further to take the newly gained weight back off.  It's a vicious circle that's known as yo-yo dieting. 

For some months prior to my mother's wedding in 1964 she subsisted on a can of soup per day.  Her metabolism never really recovered - she's fought weight gain her entire life since then.  Eating disorders were rare back in those days as well.  When counting calories came into play in the early 60's I think it's had some serious repercussions that continue now in the 21st century.  I once asked my grandmother how her generation kept so slim.  Her answer was that when the weight started to creep up, they would cut out the fattening foods:  breads, pasta, rice, potatoes and desserts.  There was no calorie counting for her generation - just an elimination/cutting back on the same foods that are the #1 contributors to obesity today, carbohydrates.