Hi
I am Colleen. I am 6 feet tall and weigh 253 pounds. I've been overweight since I had kids. Before that I was incredibly skinny and always had been. When I got pregnant with my first I had an incredible amount of difficulty and ended up giving birth in the emergency room 6 weeks early! Because of the difficult pregnancy I couldn't do a lot and gained a fair amount of weight. Nearly the same thing happened with the second but thankfully he was only 2 weeks early. As a result, I put on a lot of weight. That was 20 years ago.

Since then I have tried off and on to lose the weight without success. I've been trying hard the last 5 years - working out and watching everything I eat. I've logged every morsel that goes into my mouth - carefully weighed and measured - so I know that I almost never eat over 1500 calories normally. Despite the working out 5 days a week for 1-1.5 hours and the careful eating over 5 years I have never lost any weight. I toned things up and lost a few inches but never lost weight. It is BEYOND frustrating! Periodically I will try something desperate like eating 800 calories a day or working out for 2-3 hours a day and will manage to lose 5-6 pounds over a week or two and then the weight loss completely stops despite continuing 800 calories a day for 3 more weeks. The weight just stays the same. Eventually I would get frustrated and go back to eating 1500 a day and regain the 5-6 pounds and stay at 253, again, forever.

Does anyone have any ideas as to what on earth is going on?

I'd go to my doctor if I had one. I am Canadian and due to an extreme doctor shortage in my town have not had one (despite endless searching) since my doctor retired 7 years ago. With no one to talk to or ask about weight loss I am pretty much on my own and so frustrated I could scream. I'm ready to just give up eating altogether because nobody could NOT lose weight without eating, could they?

Any and all help, advise or support would be helpful. Somebody must have come across this before... and could explain it to me because I'm completely at a lost.

Thanks
Colleen

Hi Colleen, It sounds like you're doing great. I'm not an expert on weight loss, or the human body, but from what you said it sounds like you've been doing everything right. I'm not sure what it could be, maybe you should see a nutritionist, or doctor. I know you said you don't have a doctor, but maybe you can drive to a nearby walk-in clinic? I think finding someone who is an expert is a good place to start.

I use to know someone a long time ago, who had the same problem as you, she was a friend I knew who worked out, ate the right food, but still wasn't losing... I saw her again years later and she had lost weight, maybe some people lose slower than others? please don't be discouraged, i've been there too and can understand how frustrated you must be..

I hope you find the answer. and keep trying.

Also I have been told before that switching up the foods you eat could help, maybe you're not getting enough protein for example... but I could be wrong so don't take my word for it.

Colleen,

I'm so sorry you're struggling for so long. It does sound like you're doing all the right things. The only thing I can think of is perhaps you have a slow thyroid or something else like pcos? I don't think most dr.'s are nutrition experts, but they are helpful in figuring out if there's any underlying medical condition going on. I also noticed that you don't have a dr. near by, but perhaps one day you can go, since a physical would be a good idea either way.

Another thing I can think of is it could be what you're eating that's not working for your body. I'm currently reading a book that was highly recommended to me by some people who I respect. It's called Why We Get Fat. The information is compelling and has made me switch up some of what I"m doing. I"m not sure if you'd find it helpful, but it might be worth looking into.

Either way, I admire your dedication and determination and I hope you will find some answers soon.

It sounds like you are the opposite of skinny-fat...I'm not sure what the name for that is...maybe chubby-fit?

I don't have any medical advice about what could be holding you back on the weight loss front, but I wonder if you're experiencing any other benefits of a healthy diet and regular exercise?

I know you said there was a doctor shortage, and I don't know how to resolve that but it seems like everything you have done everything you know how to do on your own. Everyone at 3FC is well acquainted with frustration about our weight, so you're in very sympathetic company.

I would look in to thyroid and sex hormones. Without a doctor, that's a tough one, though. Here in the US, people can order most tests themselves and pay out of pocket. Of course that doesn't help with fixing problems, but at least it gives some answers.

Do you work with a personal trainer? I know it's expensive, but sometimes working with a trainer who understands nutrition can help. Maybe you have a gym nearby? Maybe there is a nutritionist you can work with?

I'm in the same boat as you. I lost a bunch of weight, and then almost two years ago, the struggle really began. Try as I might, I hadn't been able to shed a single ounce. I have, however, gained. I weigh and measure my food, record everything, I exercise, and I have followed all of the advice. My doctor says eat less, 1200 calories a day. My gym tells me eat more, especially proteins and healthy fats. Nothing helps and then I find myself having a pity party with a tube of Oreos. I'm my own worst enemy. Now I'm working with a doctor to see about my hormones.

Have you tried a ketogenic diet? Have you tried cutting out wheat or gluten? Maybe try one of these and see if it doesn't help. Paleo also seems to be working well for some. I picked up the book The Wheat Belly Diet and found it to be very interesting. Since then, while I haven't eliminated wheat, I avoid it more often. I think I'm going to look in to Why We Get Fat, that luckymommy suggested!

I was pretty determined to not throw any more money at my weight, but some friends were having success with Medifast, so I decided to try it. I'm finally seeing the scale move again, but having just gotten started, I'm not confident enough to say it's going to work. I want to see the scale continue to move! This diet is low calorie and high in protein so it puts the body in to ketosis. I think that even if I don't stick with it Medifast (I decided to give it two months), I will try to stick with a ketogenic diet for awhile as it seems to be helping.

Hey there, lcggrg, I felt the same sort of discouragement at times. I'm 6'4" and 294 when I started, websites told me I should be eating 3000+ calories a day to maintain, which is way above what I was eating. I measured out typical days before at around 2000. If 1500 for you is maintenance, it's not so out of line with my own experience.

I got frustrated too with the plateaus when I restrict, then I experienced something called a "whoosh" and realized that this is just how I lose weight, I plateau for weeks then lose all at once. The theory made sense, it was something like water replacing fat in the fat cells, but the fat cells themselves remaining, in anticipation of your body gaining the fat back. So you see zero weight loss even though you are losing fat. I plateau or sometimes even gain for 3-4 weeks before losing that retained water all at once in whooshes. I have logged my weight daily for months and graphed it, you can see the stair-step pattern, it's uncanny.

I wouldn't go to extremes, like you have seen they are hard to maintain, 800 calories and hours of exercise is tough. Why not try something in between?

You might want to try low carb. I've found that my weight-loss calorie zone is significantly higher on low-carb, so I can lose on a calorie level that I'd maintain on if I were eating higher carb.

I also lose more consistently and evenly on low-carb, whereas on high-carb, even if I've got my calories low enough to lose weight, I'll lose inconsistenty (sometimes taking weeks to "whoosh.")

I find that over the long haul (several months) I lose about as well on 1800- 2000 calories of low-carb as on 1500 calories of a standard carb diet. Even better, I'm much less hungry on low-carb.

The biggest struggle with low-carb (for me, anyway) is compliance, especially getting back on the low-carb wagon after a slip off (and the bigger the slip, the harder it is to find the will to climb back on board).

When I don't lose weight for a while I either increase exercise or improve what I am eating to bring on a weight loss.

For example sometimes too many carbs make me too bloated so I will make sure for lunch I have lots of steamed chicken and vegetables or things rich in fibre that can help my body.

I would look at what you are eating and see what you can eat more of/or cut out to give your body a boost.

I vote for low carb, too. My doctor has me eating no more than 50 net carbs and at least 100 grams of protein a day and plenty of good fats. I'd been stuck losing and gaining the same 5 pounds and after doing as my doctor recommended I dropped 28 pounds in 3 months and have never been hungry.