Losing my mind but no weight! Please help!

[Zukashiru]

Hi there!

I apologise for the long post – I wanted to be as accurate as possible so please bear with me – I really need help!

I am 24, 5'0" and weigh 137 pounds. My goal weight is 112 pounds which will put me in the middle of a the healthy BMI range. I’ve read lots of other posts and people always answer with “Eat more! You’re starving yourself! What’s your TDEE?” – but remember, I’m very short! My TDEE and BMR are low figures!

My BMR is roughly 1250 calories (it varies a bit with different calculators). Admittedly, I don't do a lot of cardio because I hate running and have bad knees, and can't afford to join a gym or a netball/ badminton/ squash team... but I DO do lots of weight training (two days on, one day off) as I understand that the body will try to get rid of muscle before fat which is no good for my metabolic rate. I swim twice a week (short sessions) in the residential pool but I'm moving house soon so that will be gone. I walk everywhere and average about 6,000 steps a day – I know that sounds low but I have an office job that I have to drive to. I find excuses to walk around but I work at a computer so there’s only so much I can get away with!

I track my food with obsessive accuracy using the online food diary connected to the Flex. I drink one cup of tea in the morning with half a sugar but after that I drink water ONLY… except at weekends when I splurge on a sugar free fizzy drink or a naughty cider (or two).

I eat 1200-1350 calories a day during the working week. My TDEE, calculated without counting my weight training, is 1553. I can’t eat any fewer calories, it’s just not sustainable.

At weekends, I up that to 1600-1800 a day as I tend to go out or see family. Life is for living!

I eat food that I can afford to buy which means that my diet tends to be about 55-60% carbs but I make sure to eat fruit and veg. I rarely snack and eat very little chocolate but I don’t cut out junk food completely otherwise I end up binging.

I’ve tried eating a more protein rich diet and cutting carbs to a 100-150g per day max, but this is expensive and made no difference AT ALL in 2 months.

At present, I eat:
- a cup of tea with half a sugar (at 08:45ish)
- a banana as a late breakfast (around 10:00)
- a normal sized, hot lunch (around 12:15)
- an apple if I get hungry in the afternoon
- a small dinner – usually nothing more than something the size of half a can of beans on one slice of bread with butter… but I always include veg.
- sometimes I’ll then eat a small amount of cheese, chocolate or crisps if I have any calories left

And that’s it. I stop eating by 18:30 which means I fast for 15.5 hours as suggested to me. It’s meant to be 16-17 hours but I begin to feel faint! Especially as I have to eat a small dinner.

As you may be able to tell, I’ve been trying to make gradual, sustainable changes that I can stick to for the long term.

But yet, I linger at 137 pounds and have done for a year.
Any ideas?

Please help! Thank you!

[Friendly_Advice]

Zukashiru user,

First off I admire your great efforts and everything you have been doing and your knowledge on the subject. There are a number of things you are already doing correctly. However, the difference between fat loss and what you are experiencing can be in just a couple of factors. In your case, it looks like 3 factors to be exact:
1- Type of food and macros. You need to cut out all bread, sugar, processed food of all kinds, and keep your fruit to 1 serving, such as one apple, etc. I took special note that you listed out your typical diet but neglected to be specific on the two biggest meals of your day (lunch and dinner). The content of these two meals can certainly attribute to most of your struggle. You need to make sure you have a large amount of lean protein- fish, chicken, etc., a low glycemic index carb, and green vegetables.
For example: baked chicken breast (6oz), baked sweet potato (6oz), and broccoli (5oz).
All your macronutrients (macros) need to be from good clean sources and in the right ratio. Everyone's body has a different magic formula for macro ratio, however I recommend 40% protein, 30% carbs, and 30% fats (healthy fats). Healthy fats are avocados, egg yolks, olive oil, coconut oil, nuts and nut butters, organic butter, even fat from mostly lean meats, etc.

2- Total calories consumed is too low. Your body is in starvation mode. It depends entirely on carbs for energy, stores all fat consumed, and frequently breaks down muscle to get what it needs. You need to break this cycle by increasing your calories consumed to actually match your true TDEE (this includes all exercise activity). Yes, I know this goes against conventional wisdom, but it sounds like conventional wisdom hasn't worked out for you (so what do you have to lose?). In general, if you feel tired, and like you are starving yourself every day then your body is producing large amounts of cortisol hormone. In order to get your body to decrease that hormone production you need to convince it that it is not starving. You can only do this by eating enough calories. Not only will you feel better and have more energy, your body's hormones will change and get your metabolism to start releasing stored body fat and BUILD muscle instead of continuously break it down. Your current weight training and small amount of cardio are already perfect to take advantage of that situation once you change your diet.

For your weight training do only compound exercises- squats, deadlifts, bench press, clean and press, etc. Do not do any isolation excersises. Compund movements will build more muscle and ignite your metabolism. Also, please don't think that weight training will make you "big" or "muscle bound" or any of that. Without getting into specifics, in order to accomplish that you need to eat massive amounts of calories as a woman and other things that you will not be doing. Men and women that want to acheive that "look" have to work hard for that specific goal for years. It isn't something that just "happens" by lifting alone. Take my word for it, I am a bodybuilder.

3- Lastly . .  weigh yourself once a week- no more than that. When you weigh yourself do it on the same day of the week after you have woken up in the morning and used the bathroom. Try to get body fat calipers and measure your body fat right after you weigh in. Remember that regardless of what the scale says, it does not tell you if you've gained muscle mass and lost body fat, which is ideally what you want. This can only be determined by also taking body fat measurements. Also, never aim for a specific weight on the scale. Don't aim for 112lbs. Aim for a certain balance of body fat and muscle mass. Namely, find a picture of someone that has the ideal look you want, and strive to acheive a similar look. Forget what the scale says. For all you know, 112lbs might not be what you think is ideal.

I do hope all this information helps you and I wish you the best of luck. 

[DominicJ]

BMI doesnt apply to you as individual

Its ONLY validity is when applied to populations of 100k+ people

If you want some science on *your* body, its getting a tape measure out and doping hip to waist to arm leg measurements.

Replacing 1500cals of carbs with 1500cals of protein isnt going to do anything for weight loss, calories are calories.

I dont agree with much of what the other replyer says, but

*Don't aim for 112lbs. Aim for a certain balance of body fat and muscle mass. Namely, find a picture of someone that has the ideal look you want, and strive to acheive a similar look. Forget what the scale says. For all you know, 112lbs might not be what you think is ideal.*

Thats the answer.

I'd go for increasing your weights.

I could squat you and I dont look "bulky"

Low fat greek yoghurt is a good cheat food

[Friendly_Advice]

Not all calories are created equal. Not in the slightest. Also don't follow
the calories in minus calories out principle.

1500 calories of junk food is not equivalent to 1500 calories of clean
non-processed food, just like1500 calories of carbs is not equivalent to
1500 calories of protein. Not even close. There are a plethora of books
written on this subject and pretty much any website will debunk any such
statement. The body requires a ratio of all 3 macros.

Quality/type of food matters and quantity of food matters (broken down into
their macronutrients) about the same amount.

[TBC]

Hi there

Check out a peice i did on BMR and TDEE it might help, i think you may need to raise your calories. 

TBC - Meals day 9

Also what could help if your calorie intake is coming from various food stuffs in the following ranges:

Protein 10-35%

Fat 20-35%

Carbs 45-65%

This will only work as part of a calorie controlled diet. 

Good luck

[PamelaHazelton]

My two cents:

Install the My Fitness Pal app. It has a nutrition chart to show you how you're doing with carbs / protein / fat. Try to stay within that recommended range. This is similar to the Zone method, and, in my experience, provides the best results.

A few other notes.

1. STOP dieting. Once you find the right "diet" method, you'll lose the weight, then you'll gain it again. Instead, focus on how you plan to eat long term.

2. Intake more at breakfast and lunch. A big, healthy breakfast can go a LONG way for your day and long term goals.

3. When you snack, intake protein and fat with those carbs. A banana is great for energy, but you know who eats lots of them? People who want to gain weight. Bananas aren't bad, but eating them on their own with no plan to exercise soonafter isn't helpful.

4. Quit denying yourself. Your frustration and stress over this plays a role in whether your gain or lose. BE HAPPY. If you're hungry, EAT. I often eat a snack at 11 p.m. - because I'm hungry. And I still lose.

5. Scour the stores for deals, especially BOGOS. Grab them when you see protein rich foods on sale. (I just picked up 60 pieces of lightly breaded cod and tilapia for just $1 / serving.) Many grocery stores now take printed coupons. Have a friend who's a warehouse club member? I get 10 pounds of chicken breasts at BJs for only $20!

Best of luck. And, don't forget what you said - LIFE IS FOR LIVING!

[Zukashiru]

Thank you to everyone for taking the time to read through all of that and reply!

From the advice you've given I will try to doing the unthinkable (haha!) and increase my calories to closer to 1500 and get a better breakfast. @Friendly_Advice I was wondering, you said that I should be eating my TDEE, but if this is my total energy expenditure, will I not just maintain weight?

@TBC what do you think my calories should be? I wouldn't want to over estimate the exercise I do... I wouldn't call it intense... I lift weights, do squats, stomach exercises etc. for about 30mins in front of the TV - my muscles feel a burn but I don't end up sweating a huge amount. My TDEE it's just over 1500 at sedentry at the moment. 

I will also go back to paying more attention to cutting down on processed foods but, as I mentioned before, I've tried eating a higher percentage of protein and all it did was burn a hole in my pocket. I will certainly cut down on the bread and watch out for sugar though and add more compound exercises to my weight training... oh and get the tape measure out more often than the scales!

Wish me luck and thanks again! ^_^

[TBC]

From what I've read you take on less calories than you TDEE which equals your BMR plus activity calories burned. Creating a deficit between 15 and 30% of your TDEE is what you should aim for depending on how aggressively you want to lose weight, my TDEE is around 4000 cal per day because I am a big chubber so realistically I should be aiming for an intake of 2700 cal per day for aggressive weight loss at 30% off my TDEE, I go into detail in my blog here
http://baggycantona.blogspot.com/2015/02/meals-day-9.html

[TBC]

I replied with a link so you can work out your own deficit, your TDEE is
not set at sedetary this is your BMR see here
http://baggycantona.blogspot.com/2015/02/meals-day-9.html

Cheers

Andrew

Sent from Gmail for Android

[Zukashiru]

Ok if I assume a realistic TDEE somewhere between sedentary and lightly active then that's about 1670. 30% less is 1170... so maybe I should be reducing calories even further? Can that be right? I think I'd keel over.

Maybe a less agressive reduction? 20% is 1336...

Darn my small stature...

[TBC]

No surely that's impossible, what's your age, height and weight in imperial or metric it doesn't matter which.

[Zukashiru]

24 5"0' 137lbs

I have attached screenshots of my calculated TDEEs. As you can see, 1670 is midway between sedentary and lightly active TDEE which I feel is correct for me. 

It's just because I'm so small. People are always surprised at my low calorie allowance.

[Zukashiru]

Ok I've just used your manual equation (see below) but I still get a daily calorie goal of 1253 which, as I mentioned in my initial post, is already what I eat.

Do you still think I need to increase my calories? Help!

[PamelaHazelton]

Have you considered ditching the calculations altogether, and just let either the FB app or My Fitness Pal TELL YOU what your intake should be? I think part of the problem is you are over thinking it. 

To lose weight, you have to burn more than you take in. Couple that with cleaner eating, and some walking (yes, not just weights and strength training), and you should see a difference. You should try to walk the 10k a day whether your perform other exercises or not. 

Your brain needs a certain amount of calories just to function. That's why if you're feeling hungry or not functioning your best, you should eat. 

By the way, eating better is not more expensive. Get savvy with your shopping. I have actually cut our grocery bill down by a third by ditching those bad foods and eating healthier options. BOGOs, coupons and a warehouse club are your friends. (Like I said, I pay $2/lb of chicken vs $4 in the grocery store.)

[PamelaHazelton]

BTW, I'm not saying all that calculating is bad. I just think that you are stressing yourself out with all the math. 

[Friendly_Advice]

Awesome advice PamelaHazelton! I also use the MyFitnessPal to track all my macros and calories. It links in as a third party app seamlessly with the fitbit dashboard. I use the two together.

[Friendly_Advice]

To answer your question let me give you a quick example:

I was doing a cutting diet before January and I did slowly lost body fat over time. I went from 155 to 146 in about 3 months. I then got a personal trainer and I started a mass gain/bulking program in January. I have been taking in about 600 calories more than my BMR caloric expenditure since then, and have since increased that. Let me say this, I lost more body fat in the first two weeks of doing that then I did in almost 3 months of cutting diet! Why/how? Because my body started building muscle when I increased all most protein and macros intake. When the body has more muscle it expends more energy to maintain it. It also stopped thinking that I was low in food so it increased my metabolism to burn fat. I eat a lot more than I ever have, and I easily stay at a lean 14% body fat. My body's primary source of fuel is fat, carbs are secondary (or a combination thereof) and it doesn't break down any muscle. All due to increasing my macronutrients. The point is, you want to make sure your body builds some muscle and burns the fat. There's a book out there called "Burn the Fat. Feed the Muscle". Go read it to learn all the science behind it, but it is 100% true. My body is living proof of that. Remember what I said before, everybody's marconutrient ratio is slightly different. You have to fine tune it until you find that sweet spot. Reading that book, should help and you will understand why it will work.

One more thing, frozen chicken and canned salmon are very cheap and can make millions of dishes. I can get a family size pack of frozen broccoli at the store for about a dollar. The best part is none of these foods go bad while in storage. I can eat clean and spend less than the snackers and bad eaters out there. You just have to know where to look.

Good luck to you.

[TBC]

ok so with your figures that you gave me your BMR is 1389.17!  Your TDEE if taken as lightly active (i am sure you are doing more though) is 1389.17 x 1.375 = 1910.11

So you have to create a deficit of:

Conservative 15% 286.52 cal

Moderate 21% 401.12 cal

Aggressive 30% 573.03 cal

But if i was you i would go back to your activity levels and work out your METs per exercise to determine what you think your activity level is, i have it in a blog here:  http://baggycantona.blogspot.com/2015/03/exercise-day-21.html  

If you take your BMR @ 1389.17 calories this means over a 24 hour period in a sedetary state you are burning 0.96 cal/minute, by being lightly active which you say you are you are adding an extra 0.36 cal/minute for every minute you are lightly active, there are 1440 minutes per day of which on average you burn 0.96 + 0.36 cal/minute = 1900.08 TDEE per/day but i think your weight training and swimming add more than 1.3 x BMR per/minute and have to be taken into account, 

https://sites.google.com/site/compendiumofphysicalactivities/Activity-Categories/water-activities

https://sites.google.com/site/compendiumofphysicalactivities/Activity-Categories/conditioning-exerci...

The lowest MET for swimming is 3.5 this is light swimming with not much effort

The lowest for weights of any kind is MET of 3.0 again light weights no effort so to get a realistic TDEE i would recommend you add and extra:

Swimming add an extra 1.08 calories for every minute swam

Weights add an extra 0.6 calories for every minute weight lifting

So to sum up and hopefully simplify:

Your BMR is 1389.17 Cal/per day

Your Activity level is lightly active @ 1.375

Your TDEE is therefore 1900.08 Cal/per day

Your moderate deficit can be as much as 401.12 Cal/per day

Daily allowance of Calories is now 1498.96 Cal/per day

Total calorie deficit per week is 2807.84 Cal/week which is equal to a loss of 5.62lb per week, (500 cal = 1lb of weight fat)

Swimming per minute add 1.08 to your daily calorie allowance

Weights per minute add 0.6 calories to your daily calorie allowance

So for example if you swim for 1 hour per week (=64.8 cal/week) and weights for 1.5 hours per week, 3 days x 30 minutes (54 Cal/week) you can add an extra 16.97 calories per day to you allowance and still lose 5.62lb per week at peak metabolism.  16.97 per day extra does not sound a lot but when you are on a tight allowance every extra calorie allowed counts. 

So realistically for you with a BMI of 26.75 who should be aiming for a BMI of 21.5 your ideal weight is around 110lb, if you are losing on average 5lb/week it should in theory take you 5-6 weeks to lose the weight even if you are not swimming or doing the weights. 

There may be grounds for the weights and swimming adding extra muscle weight (lean tissue) but as a rough guide keep swimming for 1 hour per week and weights 3 x 30 minutes per week and limit your daily calories to 1515 Cal/day and you should see the weight come off properly... If you combine this goal with a proper food diary like the one on the fitbit dash and be honest about what you are eating by the beginning of may you will see results.

[Zukashiru]

Wow ok then! I'll definetly follow that and up my calories. I have to admit I'm thoroughly looking forward to it 😛 Thanks for going through all the calculations with me, TBC.

I currently use the FitBit online diary which gives me my macros and tracks the calories I earn with movement through the Flex. It takes those calories and gives me a daily deficit which I can set to 250, 500 or more. So far 1200 has been the average of what it thinks I should eat. I did MFP for a while about 3 years ago. It also caculated 1200... but as it's not been working, what do I have to lose by upping them, like you all say 🙂 

I'm from the UK which sadly means that meat is very expensive Chicken can be ok, working out at about $2.50/ lb, but they pump it full of water to increase the weight. If you want the fresh stuff you pay a min of £3/$4.43 for just two breasts. All other meats are expensive unless you can catch a Sunday trade market in the summer. HOWEVER, I will stop making excuses and find a way to add more protein!

Thank you for all your help guys.

[TBC]

Hi 

Thanks and good luck

Check out my fitbit dashboard everything is public.

I have my meals prepared weekly by a nutritionalist chef, i am lucky i can do that, he prepares me 1500 cal per day and balances the macro and micro nutrients, i then add around 500/600 my self with fresh fruit, nuts, cereals and seeds.   If you look at my food diary you can see what sort of things i am eating, if yuo check the first months worth of meal blogs at The Baggy Cantona you can see i list my meals every day, the main meals breakfast, mid morning snack, lunch, dinner and desert are all controlled to 1500, the extras like fruit on the mid morning snack and the afternoon apple or any evening snacks or nuts/seeds popcorn are the extra 500 i add. 

It seams the main food groups the chef is preparing me are:

Chicken, skinless 3-4 meals per week

Tuna - canned 1/2 can per week

Carrots

Celery

Corguettes

Onion

Cabbage

Fatless pork - once a week

Lean beef - once a week

Granola - 3/4 cup twice a week

Yogurts - 1/2 cup twice a week

Bran flakes - 1/2 cup twice a week

Smoothies - 1/2 cup 3 times a week

Wholewheat pasta - 2 x 150g per week

Italian dressings - basil especially

Buck wheat noodles - 1/2 cup twice a week

Pita breads - 1 large once a week

lo fat custard - 1/2 cup once a week

lean beef jerky - 1/2 cup once a week

trail mix - 1/2 cup once a week

Organic carrot, ginger, orange juice - 1/2 cup once a week

Organic beatroot, apple, pineapple juice - 1/2 cup once a week

stewed apples - 1 a week 

stewed pears - 1 a week

mixed beans - 1 cup per week

Eggs - 1 x 2 egg omellete once a week

Spinach - 5 leaves 3 time a week

Chedder cheese - 1 cubic inch per week

Haloumi cheese - 1 slice per week

Feta cheese - 1/2 cup per week

Above gives you an idea of the sort of foods the chef uses, and shows you what he stays away from, if you do a bit off digging you may be able to come up with a meal plan of your own which is not too expensive, the meals are more veg than anything else. 

Remember to drink water, at least 1900ml per day.

Remember to mix up your carbs, protiens and fats.

Stay away from any saturated fats.

Stay away from diet drinks. 

Check out some of my best bets here which have worked for me this 1st month. 

http://baggycantona.blogspot.com/2015/03/meals-days-34-36.html

Good luck !

Good luck.