Hi everyone! Being so incredibly frustrated with my lack of weight loss lead me to do some online searching where I ran accross 3 fat chicks. I've been reading this forum for several days and I'm hoping someone here can help me look at my weight loss efforts objectively and help me see something I may be missing or what I am doing wrong..

I lost 70 pounds on weight watchers 2+ years ago and kept it all off until I moved to California in June. As of January 1, I was up about 8 pounds from my comfortable weight. I've been working on it since then. I have lost all of 2 pounds. About three weeks ago I was in the hospital and had no appetite so in the following two weeks I lost 3 more pounds. Weighing myself today, 3 weeks after I left the hospital, I'm back UP those three pounds, for a net gain of still only 2 pounds. There is no way I ate over 9000 excess calories to gain that back!

Here's some more info. I am doing weight watchers. I get 19 points per day. If I don't exercise, I only eat those 19 points. I run 3+ miles 5 days a week. On days that I run, I eat two of my activity points for a total of 21 points per day. I try not to dip into my 35 extra points if possible, and use those more as a backup in case I am off a little in my counting. I always make sure to get my two dairy servings in as well as 5 + servings of fruits and veggies. I usually drink at least 64 oz of water a day.

I just don't see where my problem lies. 21 points per day is just over an average of 1000 calories. I can't eat any less! I'm getting exercise 5 days a week and trying to up my steps while I'm at work. Help! What am I doing wrong?!?!?

You sound like me. I had slowly gained back 10-15# in the last year and a half. Going back on flex plan after the holidays at 19 points resulted in no weight loss for me, even with exercise. In fact one week I gained weight. I had to re-examine what I was eating for points and some of it wasn't so good. Weight watcher chocolate muffins and cakes, too much bread and not enough protein, too many carbs for me. Since following South Beach, more of a "core" program, I have lost 14# in the last 6 weeks. It may not be how many calories you eat but the quality of what you eat. By the way, how old are you? Weight loss slows way down after a certain age.

It is also about the kinds of foods you eat. There comes a point I think in everyone's life where the days of eating lots of bread and pasta and not gaining a pound are behind you both literally and figuratively.

Sometimes, it can change in a matter of a couple of years. I too had the same problem with WW Flex points. What worked for me a few years ago when I just stayed within my points for the day irregardless of what I ate doesn't cut it any more for me now.

I have to really watch the carbs and I have a feeling that I will for the rest of my life, which I hope will be a long one.

It isn't all about calories in vs calories out. It is also how your body utilizes (read:metabolizes) the food you eat that becomes more important especially after an illness or as we age. I am sure that you didn't eat a lot when you were sick but your whole metabolism also probably slowed down when you were sick---most everything does.

Try the other suggestions here and see how that works for you. Then let us know how it went.

Your body could be thinking you're in starvation mode . . . especially after being in the hospital and not eating. The 3 pounds you lost there was probably mostly water.

If you read much on this site about plateaus you'll find quite a few people that broke through their plateau by eating MORE calories so their body didn't think they were starving.

I'm going to send you to read this sticky
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=115826
It's all about water weight.

And this one
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=51927
which is all about normal weight fluctuations.

Then I'm going to give my boring talk on the metric system ....
The basis of the metric system is that one kilogram of water is 10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm -or- one litre.
That means that one litre of water weighs one kilogram -or- about 2.2 lbs.
Water is heavy!
A full bladder can easily weigh a pound. And we give off and take in water all the time.

Then I'm going to send you to read Glory87's thread about how she pushed past a plateau by tweaking what she ate -and- how much.
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=84601

Stick with us. We'll help you muddle through.

The less weight you need to lose the longer it takes. I'm the poster girl for slooow weight loss - 14 lbs in 9 months.

I think your stint in the hospital made your body think you were starving and your metabolism has slowed right down to conserve anything it can. Try upping your calories for 3 days and then going down to 1400.

And someone made the point that the type of food you eat gets metabolized differently as you age. Carbs don't tend to come off as quickly as you get older - again I speak from personal experience at the ripe old age of almost 51. I can't eat more than 2-3 servings of carbs a day if I want to lose, even though I'm out there walking dogs from 9-4 every day and burning a whole lot of calories.

Dagmar

THank you for all of your feedback, ladies.

I was doing a lot of thinking today and also realized that when I lost the weight originally it was using the old style point calculation, which gave me two more points for my daily total than calculating the new way. I was loosing fine with the old number of points, but for some reason when I restarted recently to get back on track I figured out my new number and (because Im such a rule follower) thought that is the one I MUST use.

So I am going to add 2 or 3 points on a day and see where that gets me. I think in general I'm not too high carb (its hard to be high carb with only 18 points and still eat healthy or so I've found for me) but I'm going to really focus on making sure these added daily points are good proteins instead of carbs. It probably won't help much to have an ice cream bar instead of a boiled egg and a piece of cheese

thanks again for all of your help! It was nice to "meet" all of you and I hope to be a part of the board as the weeks go on!

Ok, big question for you?

Do you really need to lose anymore scale weight?

I ask because I too am like you! My weight is always right around 120-122 but I would love to weight 115-118. If I work, really, really hard, I can get there but it is really hard to stay there. My body just really likes itself at around 120. So instead of "killing" myself I try to workout more and try to tone & sculpt the 120 lbs. I am stuck with!

My advice is to forget about the scale and go by how your clothes fit!
1 pound of muscle is 5 times smaller than 1 pound of fat.

Do you strength train???

Focus on losing fat and gaining muscle and don't get hung up on how much you should weigh!!

Congratulations on losing 70 lbs and keeping it off for two years! That is fantastic!

It's not surprising that you gained back all the weight you lost when you couldn't eat. I've been reading about this lately; when you fast, your body thinks it is starving and begins storing fat. As soon as you start eating again, your body starts storing everything you eat as fat until you are back up to where you were before. I've noticed the same thing happen to me when I've had the stomach flu.

1,000 calories a day is not enough food. I have a personal trainer and he is really concerned about me eating less than 1200 calories per day because, at that point, you really run the risk that you aren't getting enough nutrients, which tells your body to store fat. I'm surprised that WW recommends plans that are under 1,200 calories per day for anyone.

My approach would be to eat at least 1200 calories every day (or whatever calorie amount you decide makes sense for you) but to eat the same amount whether you exercise or not. That way, on the days that you exercise, you give yourself a little extra calorie deficit (so long as you take in the nutrients, it's okay to burn off a few extra calories through exercise). Right now, you are losing that extra little push because you eat more on the days you exercise.

A couple of thoughts about your exercise:

• It doesn't sound like you are doing any strength training. I just read in
  "You on a Diet" that 1 lb of muscle burns between 40 and 120 calories per day just existing (whereas 1 lb of fat burns 1 to 3 calories per day). Building some muscle would increase your metabolism, making it easier for you to both lose and maintain your weight. This obviously isn't going to give you results overnight, but in the long term I think you might really benefit from it.
• Consider running intervals instead of your 3-mile run two or three days a week. Sprint as fast as you can for 1 minute, then walk jog for 1 min, etc. Do this for maybe 15 to 20 minutes. If you google "high intensity interval training" or "HIIT" you'll probably come up with some websites that suggest some more interesting programs than what I've suggested here. Studies have shown that intervals are more effective at burning fat than doing cardio at a steady pace. In fact there are some experts that believe that you shouldn't bother with any cardio other than intervals--just do intervals and weight training. Adding intervals to my workout definitely seemed to help me get off a plateau.
• You also might want to just shake up your exercise routine a bit. If you do the same thing every day, your body adjusts to it and it isn't as effective. Adding intervals is one thing you could do. Weight lifting or resistance training is another. You could also try some incline work (running or walking up stairs or steep hills), adding jump rope, or a cardio DVD (I'm trying to think of things that don't require a gym, since it sounds like you don't belong to one).

Finally, at your current weight you are at about the mid-range for your acceptable BMI. I have found that once you get to this point, weight loss is very slow going and requires being on plan all the time (eating enough food, the right food, and not too much food). A loss of 1/4 to 1/2 lb a week is excellent. An illness where I can't eat will stall my weight loss for weeks.

Don't worry--you lost this weight once, you can lose it again. It's just going to take some time.

Thanks for your thoughts everyone!

I am 29 now. the last time I did this I had just turned 27. It is amazing how much harder it is now! Who would have thought 2 years would have made that much of a difference!

I wondered about the calories being under 1200 too. I have 19 points to use today and if I count it by calories my food journal for the day will equal 1050. That just seems like too little, even if I was a tiny person! I think I have a very small frame under my few extra pounds. I've always had tiny wrists, ankles, and hands. When I was heavier my friends always joked that my behind was big and my ankles were so tiny it looked like you could cow tip me! I would definitely like to lean out a little more. Maybe I will focus on the weight training and take a break from the scale for a couple of weeks, just to let my body adjust and see if I can tip those scales the other way.

I have a mini gym in my apartment complex. It has 6 or 7 pieces of weight training equipment as well as a variety of handweights. This week I added another 10 minutes or so of fast walking to my cardio. Maybe I should cut that time back down and use it to do some weight training instead. I think interval training is a good idea. This week I will investigate what interval settings are on the cardio machines in the gym and get some more information online about that.