Help! what am I doing wrong?

[ladyarcher]

Hi, I am hoping that someone here might have the same problem as me, I am a 48 year old female 5ft2 and 106kg and about 10 years into menopause. Last year I stuck to 1200 cal a day, low fat, low sugar, low carb, tired to have more protein, took Xenical fat absorbing medication and hit the treadmill every night and I work where I do a lot of walking as well and only managed to lose 7kg. I have been stuck on 106kg for the last 8 months now I have a fit bit I am on 1300cal per day and doing the 10,000 steps per day and I have been doing this for the last 3 weeks and still no change in my weight. I would be gratefull for any new ideas that can help thanks.

[stepho44]

Hey, ladyarcher!  Sometimes it takes a long few months to have your good habits kick in, and to see results on the scale. I've studied food and nutrition and been a personal trainer for most of the past 20 years, and your story sounds very familiar. I'd suggest cutting added sugar out entirely (it's EVIL, and we all get hooked once we have ANY, sad but true) and upping your step count by 500-1000 steps each week, till you get to 14 or 15,000. (You can go back to 10,000 later) Also, add in some faster paced intervals during your walks. Aging female bodies, with all the hormonal fluctuations, are a lot of work! And always appreciate your body for doing all it does for you. Skinny is not attractive or desireable from a health standpoint. You might check out The Whole 30 online, and the eponymous book is EXcellent. It's a great method, and you can do anything for 30 days, right?? Just about 🙂 And they say NO weighing yourself for the entire month. Very instructive 🙂 Good luck!

[SunsetRunner]

Leave out any supplements like fat absorbing pills cause it can interfere with how your precious body works.. 

Unless needing medication to heal or needing to take for medical reasons longer term that's something else.. 

It's no diet, it's about changing food habits. Eating healthy foods overall (which foods nature intend to eat when hungry in its purest form if possible). Foods which can be prepackaged but need to be consumed in a few days instead of still be able to eat in x years.. 

When eating notice how hungry your body is feeling, it may not always be easy but if possible which foods your body is truly asking for and how much? Telling not needing more.. wanting a bit more or satisfied with food left on the plate..?

True hunger is a sensation in the mouth and troat..

Today found this Video (Credit to Author of the video) explaining what true hunger is.. 

It's your precious bodies signals telling when true hunger occurs.. We mostly go with appetite / satisfied feelings.. eating when it's time to eat, or believing needing to eat more even if not really hungry yet.. it's okay to eat this way. True hunger can take a long time anyway but its nice to know the body tells with a sensation in the troat rather than the tummy.. 😽

Listen to the body how truly feeling before, during and after eating can be important. 

https://youtube.com/watch?v=4Bc34YcCCb4

It's about being healthier, healthier foods support the body with most nutrients it needs with less calories overall.. don't deny any food though, that can lead to binge eating.

With weight loss we want to decrease overall body fat as it's possible to compensate the loss in body fat with increase in muscle mass being leaner at possible the same weight.. being leaner, looking more toned.. 

Actually wanting to change body composition.. not weight loss in itself..

[Upsie]

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@ladyarcher wrote:

Hi, I am hoping that someone here might have the same problem as me, I am a 48 year old female 5ft2 and 106kg and about 10 years into menopause. Last year I stuck to 1200 cal a day, low fat, low sugar, low carb, tired to have more protein, took Xenical fat absorbing medication and hit the treadmill every night and I work where I do a lot of walking as well and only managed to lose 7kg. I have been stuck on 106kg for the last 8 months now I have a fit bit I am on 1300cal per day and doing the 10,000 steps per day and I have been doing this for the last 3 weeks and still no change in my weight. I would be gratefull for any new ideas that can help thanks.

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In my experience, it's pretty difficult to do low fat & low carb at the same time. That only leaves protein for the rest of your calories, and protein that doesn't have fat or carbs with it gets pretty boring (think plain chicken breast).

Have you thought about trying either just "low fat" or just "low carb" for a while and seeing if you do better on one than the other? I personally do better on low carb but some people do better on low fat. Either way, avoid added sugars.

[Dominique]

No personal experience with menopause for obvious reasons, but I don’t think it invalidates the rule of energy balance: if you expend more than you burn, you should lose weight. Now, your calculated BMR alone is 1643 calories. If you were moderately active, your TDEE would be about 2500 calories. You could therefore afford to eat a lot more than 1300 calories and still be in a deficit.

Now, you say you’ve been getting 10k steps for three weeks, but your profile shows you have only reached that on a limited number of days (6 out of 20):

Weight loss is a long-distance race. You will need to do the right things consistently for long enough in order to see results.

I have no idea what the "Xenical fat absorbing medication" is, but I would skip it as it’s not needed and can only mess with your body. 

[Ukase]

What is your BMR? That will tell us if you're eating enough or too much. 

[Dominique]

@Ukase: her BMR (as calculated using the Mifflin St Jeor formula, the same Fitbit uses) is 1643 calories. @ladyarcher provided all the necessary data (sex, age, weight, height).

[Ukase]

Must have missed that. I tend to look at the post for that information. I'm not going to do the math. I don't have enough toes. 

[Dominique]

Someone new to Fitbit & nutrition may not be familiar with things like BMR, TDEE etc., so here is a link to an online calculator that provides explanations about these.

BMR isn’t displayed explicitly in one’s Fitbit account, nor does Fitbit state what activity level the calories burned goal it sets correspond to.

[KevinCT]

Fat is not the problem!

Good fat is the solution.

Read what Dr. Mark Hyman has put out on this topic. Also, watch his special on PBS.

[elderwanda]

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@Dominique wrote:

No personal experience with menopause for obvious reasons, but I don’t think it invalidates the rule of energy balance: if you expend more than you burn, you should lose weight. Now, your calculated BMR alone is 1643 calories. If you were moderately active, your TDEE would be about 2500 calories. You could therefore afford to eat a lot more than 1300 calories and still be in a deficit.

Now, you say you’ve been getting 10k steps for three weeks, but your profile shows you have only reached that on a limited number of days (6 out of 20):

Weight loss is a long-distance race. You will need to do the right things consistently for long enough in order to see results.

I have no idea what the "Xenical fat absorbing medication" is, but I would skip it as it’s not needed and can only mess with your body. 

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I agree with everything you said, except I very much doubt that her BMR is really 1643.  Those BMI calculators (and what's the other one, TDEE?) only are accurate if your body fat percentage is within a certain range.  I'm 5' 3", 143 pounds, at 33% BF (so 95 pounds of lean body mass), and 1643 is pretty much exactly what I burn on couch-potato days.  My daily goal is to burn 2000, and I have to exercise quite a lot throughout the day in order to acheive that.   I'm thinking that the OP's BMR is probably more like 1300.  

Maybe I'm wrong.  I don't recall what her weight is, other than in the "obese" range, but as a short, post menopausal woman, her lean body mass probably is somewhere close to my own, I would think.  

[Allotmeter]

Hi I'm glad you voiced this issue, I too am static, I put it down to having surgery but that was seven months ago now, it was total hysterectomy, so was less than active for a while. But I'm up to full strength now, doing Pilates with a physiotherapist to build up, I have an active job an allotment and active lifestyle, I do between 7 and 15,000 steps daily. Average 9 flights of stairs, and yet my weight has remained the same since before my op, and I've gained two English dress sizes. I'm confused.