I'm a newbie and don't know too much about the rules of this forum, so if I'm in the wrong category/format, sorry about that!
Summary;
I've been trying to lose weight since mid-September and haven't lost a single pound. I am a 26yo biological female, my thyroid levels are normal, otherwise perfectly healthy. I currently weigh 150lbs, 5'3" height, and I've been trying to bring myself closer to 130lbs. I adhere to intermittent fasting, 24 hours/twice per week, and otherwise consume calories in the range of 1200-1400. I haven't cut out any food groups from my diet, I work out 3-4 times/week at high intensity for 30 minutes to an hour, and my job is moderately active. I have been reluctant to try a restrictive regime like ketogenic diet or Atkins before because I want sustainable (and permanent) weight loss even if it takes me some time, but at this point I am concerned I am not going to lose weight at all and might even gain weight eventually. Please advise me what changes I should make to my plan so I can have real, but not-going-to-backfire weight loss.
More details;
I was a scrawny kid but I have been slightly overweight since I hit puberty, and in general, everyone in my immediate family struggles with maintaining a healthy body weight, as well as with obesity. I gained a lot of weight post-2011 when I went to college, about 170lbs at the pinnacle, and while I was off and on short-lived diets every few months I didn't accomplish much weight loss--the most I came down to was 150lbs (my current weight). After graduation, I finally put my mind to it and decided to lose all my weight, and finally came down to my goal weight of 125 lbs. I accomplished this with a very restrictive caloric intake, around 800-1000 per day, and I wasn't doing any strength training or cardio. When I went "off-diet" for maintenance, I immediately gained back about 5-6lbs in a month or two, but since then I've been in a limbo between 130lbs to 150lbs, mostly on the lower end, and after two and a half years, I've gained back half of the weight I lost in total, and now nothing I do seems to burn off my weight. I was doing quite well actually, I was around 135lbs in May, and then I had to move away for two months for a workshop, and since I had to eat whatever they served, I ended up gaining 10-15lbs in two months. Since I've come back, I've been struggling to bring myself back, but it's permanently glued to my body. I have been doing strength training and cardio for nearly a year and a half, so I understand that my weight will not be the best determinant of my body's health--but I have my body measurements between May and now, to back that up, I've gained an inch around my hips, waist and chest. I have quite a bit of body fat, so it's not muscle.
I recognize that going on and off diet is damaging, in general I'll always have to work harder to lose weight than someone who never gained weight, and all that fun diet trivia--but I'm not quite ready to accept that nothing can be done. This is why I haven't followed a restrictive diet or done crazy amounts of cardio since I went into maintenance, because I was afraid of how it would stack odds against me, and I really want to adhere to a diet I can follow for the rest of my life, and not one I will have to inevitably "go off of". Still, it seems like I am either eating too much and my only recourse is to live a 800-calorie existence, or I need to pick a restrictive diet to kickstart weight loss; I just need guidance to pick which one. I even spoke to my primary care doctor and she didn't really give me any advice, so there's that.
What foods do you eat? What you eat is more important than how much you eat. Eating the wrong foods can make it harder to lose weight. You should be able to lose weight if you're eating 1200-1400 calories per day. 800-1000 is too little and not healthy.
Here's some dieting advice (pretty much all good diets make these recommendations):
- Avoid sweets, refined carbs, and deep fried foods.
- Eat a lot of vegetables.
- Eat enough protein and healthy fats.
If you want to follow a specific diet, then I suggest the Mediterranean diet. It's a balanced diet that doesn't cut out any food groups. It's not specifically a weight loss diet, so you can continue with the diet even after you reach your goal.
You're doing both strength training and cardio, so that's good. Which strength training exercises do you do?
I've made the same mistake you did--cutting calories too much in an effort to speed up weight loss. It worked, but has made maintenance really difficult. I needed to spend a decent amount of time resetting my metabolism so that maintenance didn't come at the cost of eating only 1000 calories a day. You can do it, but give it time. It involves eating a healthy, Mediterranean diet and doing some interval training. I highly recommend researching HIIT training as a way of achieving your long term goals, and for the short term, work on diet and exercise and don't focus on the numbers on the scale. There are a number of ways of doing intervals, so don't pick the hardest one the first time! In time, weight loss should come more easily. Good luck!
Do you have a food scale, or are you just eyeballing portion sizes? Studies have shown that almost everyone who eyeballs the portion sizes underestimates how many calories they are eating by a large percentage. I think the average was something like 30%. So you think you ate 1200-1400 calories, but it was actually more like 1560-1820. Big difference.
Hey its nice to see that you are trying to lose weight. If you want to be consistent with a diet. I tried this diet a read on daniels.fitness.blog (copy and paste it in the URL) and its MAGIC (as long as you stick to it). I would definitely give it a look if I was you. You never know it help (hope it does!)
According to your description of yourself then you should be consuming 2296 Cal a day to maintain your current weight. For healthy weight loss and to spare your lean body mass you should subtract 500 from this number. This should make you lose 1-2 pounds a week.
Weight maintenance: 2296 Cal
Weight loss (1-2 pounds a week): 1796
I recommend getting 100-160 g of protein as well to help to spare your lean body mass.
I would use the free version MyNetDiary to track your calories. It's easy to use and provides a lot of functions.
I would also look into what is causing the problem. You mentioned that it might be genetic, but see if there is anything else, psychological, physical, or dietary wise. It's hard to solve a problem if you don't know what the problem is.
Another thing to remember. Do not skip meals. Not even if you are not hungry. It's better to eat at least something instead of nothing. Skipping a meal will make you even more hungry at your next meal causing you to eat more than you should. Some kind of small snack will fix the problem. If you find yourself having bad eating behaviors (e.g. eating too fast)
A good idea when exercising is to have a plan over the exercises you would like to do each day. Cardio is always good, however, try to make at least 2 days strength training workouts. It is supposed to raise your metabolism.
If you exercise 3-5 times a week, make sessions of 60-120 minutes. Try to find something fun and social. I would recommend Zumba. You may feel like you have two left feet when you try it the first times, but trust me, it will end up being fund in the end. Remember to make time for warm ups & cool downs before and after each session to avoid injuries. An injury is the worst thing that can happen to a person trying to lose weight.
It's good to weigh yourself before and after training as well. Do not mistake the drop in weight for loss of fat. You mainly lose water and glycogen when you exercise. These are things you want back in your body when you finish your exercise to avoid getting fatigued. Drink 3 cups of water for every pound lost. Regarding the glycogen, then you have 2 hours after your workout to refill this so make sure to eat something.
Loss of 10% of body fat can increase your lifespan by 5-10 years. Amazing right?
I am not a professional so some of the things above might contain flaws, but I doubt it Use them on your own responsibility.
I wish you the best in the future. Take care and be safe.
I have this same problem, the trouble in my part is that I can't have a regular exercise routine and regular diet. I have difficulty in having any momentum, I would go 3 times week in the gym, then next week, just exercise once a week. Then twice a week. I only hit it off last month when I was able to maintain 3-4 visits.
I did clean up my diet. This is actually way difficult for me and my only recourse is the convenience of nearby fast food and shops, just to get the hunger over. Only after I found the will to buy organic greens did I was able to see significant results.
Something I learn about difficulty to lose weight is about estrogen production in your body.
Actually, high estrogen levels can lead for you to gain weight, regardless of how you watch your food. Yeah, this excess weight is those stored on the belly, hips.
Perhaps you can lessen any consumption of meat, just to rid your of excess estrogen in your body, and eat more veggies and fiber rich food.
I'm 5'1" and totally understand the struggle! I found eating only a small amount of carb with my first and last meal of the day helped. Also, eating 5-6 small meals a day really boosts the metabolism. Make sure you're drinking half your body weight in ounces of water. so for example if you weigh 160 lbs you'll want to drink 80 oz of water daily minimum.
Three months and no weight loss - need a new POA
Use them on your own responsibility. 