Why can't I lose weight?

[no_hypocrisy]

I prepare my own meals.
Portion control.
No junk food.
Balanced diet with fruits and vegetables.
Limited fats.
Essentially no desserts, candy, cakes, pies, cookies.
Walk 3 miles a day, every day.
Lots of water.
Unsweetened cranberry juice.
One cup of coffee with half and half a day.
Hardly any salt and/or sugar.
Probiotics, megadose, every day.

I'm bloated. I can't get the scale needle to move. I'm 50 lbs heavier than I should be.

Just had a series of thyroid blood work. Except for antibodies, all tests inc. free T3 and free T4 were within normal range.

Can you just get stuck and you can't lose weight?

[mercuryblues]

1. Yes you can plateau

even though your thyroid is ok, try a thyroid health supplement.

[tymorial]

2. You need more lean muscle

I would add some light weight work to your regimen

[NCjack]

3. Get a food scale, measure and record all intake, and see a dietician. nt

[flamingdem]

4. Am thinking that is a good regime for health

but that for weight loss you'd need aerobics 2-3 x per week and light weight lifting.

Muscle burns 7x more calories than fat so it's very helpful to build muscle.

[OhZone]

5. I'm a "skinny bitch" -

I've been told.

But I stay that way with low carb (Atkins or Keto, whatever), and working out.

Actually, I have a really good, fun playlist that I use to workout or even to dance around the house cleaning.

Walking 3 miles a day is great, but I kinda think you have to it in a fun, high endorphin way to help regulate appetite.

Hate to say it, but maybe reduce your fruit intake (except for blueberries and strawberries.) Lotsa carbs in fruits. And carby veggies.

But I have to say a really great musical playlist helps me a lot.

Otherwise your walk can be like a death march. I was at my carpool friend's house the other day, and he pointed out the neighborhood depressed walker. He walks slowly around the neighborhood every day, apparently, head hanging low, frowning.

Just say NO to depressed walker! Power music, smile, and own that walk! Hell, sing while you walk too! I have a terrible voice, but I sing when I clean and exercise! IDC.

[Shanti Mama]

6. try reading about Keto

It works for me and many others, without forcing me to feeling like I'm starving.

[Bradshaw3]

7. No fad diets, just eat right and stay off the scales

Being healthy is the goal. When you weigh yourself it can be self-defeating. Forget about the scales. Eat a healthy diet (which sounds like you are doing), try and up your exercise habits, and stay positive. The pounds will eventually come off.

[csziggy]

8. While I am not down to an ideal weight I lost 45 pounds since last August

Mostly I used MyFitnessPal.com to keep a food diary. Since I had a deadline to lose that much weight (surgery) I set my goal at 1000-1200 calories but usually stayed under 1100 calories.

In January I hit a plateau, which I had expected - nutritional and weight loss studies show that the body metabolism adjusts to a lower calorie count and you slow down or stop losing weight. At that point I changed to a low carb diet - not a full Atkins which aims at 20-40 carbs a day, but about a third of the 150 carbs MyFitnessPal.com told me I should have been getting with the calories I was eating.

I reached my goal in early March and had the planned surgery (spinal fusion) four weeks ago. Since the operation I have not been keeping such a tight rein on my diet and I have put on a couple of pounds. I figure I am healing and need more nutrients, plus my husband and I are going on a long trip in July. Keeping a food diary is hard when traveling, but we will be hiking a lot and I will be burning a lot of calories.

My plan for now is to hold where I am until we get home in November. For one thing I now have the clothes I need for my trip and don't want to replace my wardrobe again. After we get back, I will go back on a diet and try to lose at least another 50 pounds. If I get there I will take another break from dieting, hold steady for a few months, then try to get down to where I should be.

I hope that dieting in spurts will help me keep my weight down for the rest of my life.

[Ohiogal]

9. It's not fair, is it?

I struggle to keep my weight down all the time. I count every calorie I eat. I limit carbs and drink water and don't eat desserts or drink pop. I exercise hard 3 mornings a week. I sit at the dinner table with my plain salad and chicken and watch my skinny husband and sons eat pasta, rolls, and ice cream for dessert night after night. I have a friend who is 5'8" and weighs 130 and she never exercises and eats whatever she wants (including a bowl of ice cream every night before she goes to bed).

I was just reading up on bloating last night -- turns out, all the foods they tell you to eat to lose weight (high in fiber) are what causes bloating. Beans, apples, broccoli, most vegetables. I love seltzer water but had to give it up because it was fizzy and caused bloating.
Please know I'm right there with you! It sure isn't easy.

[AirmensMom]

10. I had that problem for years until 2 years ago.

I was walking and rowing every day and still gaining weight. At the risk of sounding like a commercial, I joined Beachbody (yeah, I know... marketed to conservative stay-at-home moms). They do a portion control thing using colorful containers, based on your current weight. So I followed that religiously. Turns out that my own portion control had been a bit off.

Also, I found that weight training is a must as we age. Muscle tissue is metabolically active, but we have to work to keep it. I currently do my favorite program, P90X, which is one of the advanced ones. I lost 26.5 pounds and have kept it off for 2 years. And I’m strong and lean.

I would highly recommend weight training added to your cardio. And I’d ditch the juice. Eat only whole fruit. (I’m allowed 2 servings/day at my weight.)

[wcast]

11. In order to get the body to burn fat you have to lower insulin.

In the past people ate three meals, no snacks, and fasted from dinner to breakfast. This allows insulin levels to fall and the body to burn stored fat. Dr. Jasón Fung’s book The Obesity Code is a good book that explains it in laymen’s terms but with scientific backing.

Try eating in an 8 hour window and fasting the other 16 hours. It’s challenging the first week or so but your hormones regulate. I don’t get as hungry, actually feel full when I eat, and that feeling lasts for hours. My wife was reluctant at first but is happy with the results. We both have never lost weight so easily. I eat like you, just no sugar and limited refined carbs. I still eat whole grains, fruit and veg.

[applegrove]

12. You need lots of veggies, goid fats and proteins at every meal. Only whole grains.

A few bits of fruit as garnish. Absolutely no sugar. No juice. No sugar in your plain grèek yoghurt (you have to read all the yogurts in the isle to find it). No aspartame. Steel cut oats for breakfast. With pumpkin seeds and said no sugar Greek yogurt and a few berries. After a week of no sugar or bread or pasta or potatoes a berry tastes like the sweetest candy ever. I did this diet and lost 10 pounds a month for two months. Used alot of seasoned like balsamic vinegar and sun dried tomatoes. Nuts and legumes too. But mostly huge servings of vegetables. Roasted veggies are the best. Goid fats are outlive oil, butter, eggs, avocados. Look it up. Sort of a mix between a ke to and paleo diet with whole rice and steel cut oats thrown in. I find it really pleasant and will get back on it soon.

[Farmer-Rick]

13. My sister was like you

She did everything right, exercise, tons of vegis and fruit, whole grain breads and pastas, hardly any sugar.

So, she hit 50 and the weight would not come off. The more she exercised, the more weight she gained. I love my sister but she was bloated looking and had a big belly. Even her skin looked flushed and unhealthy.

So, she decided to do everything wrong. She thought the keto, low carb, high fat diet pretty much did that. She lost no weight the first 30 days. But after that, she lost 20 pounds in 3 months and that bloated flush look. Her belly went down and her clothes were hanging on her. It was only 20 pounds she said but she looked as if she lost 50 pounds.

Feeling better and proud of herself she celebrated by eating what she missed most - bread. She was rushed to the hospital for a severe allergic reaction - rash, hives extreme stomach pain and vomiting, trouble breathing. She almost died. Turns out she was allergic to the bread. Seems she always had a mild allergic reaction to it but when she went off it completely then reintroduced it, her body didn't want it and severly reacted. It's not celiacs or a known gluten disorder. It's the flour itself she reacts to.

My theory is that it's the round up they spray on the GMO wheat 3 times throughout it's growth. The flour we get is just saturated in round up. Anyway she's back to her lw carb diet though rice and potatoes don't seem to hurt her.

Maybe something in your diet is making you bloated in an effort to fight off an allergen. A low carb keto diet is a good way to start your search.

[no_hypocrisy]

14. I love you Farmer-Rick ! !

Last edited Fri May 10, 2019, 08:38 PM - Edit history (1)

I'm gonna try it. I've tried everything else. Your description of your sister is me!

[Farmer-Rick]

15. That's what she said, she tried everything else.

Good luck to you. I hope it helps.

One side affect that she talked about in only a week after starting the diet was that the pain in her joints went away. She has arthritis in her wrists and ankels but when she went low carb, she said most of the pain and swelling went away. The doctor thought the excessive pain and swelling in her joints was due to her constant low grade allergic response.

[NickB79]

22. There is no Roundup-Ready wheat on the market though

Monsanto shelved it 5 years ago; it never reached commercial sales.

[Farmer-Rick]

23. That is true but Round Up is still used in the fields and on the grains.

It's used on empty fields, on fields right before seeding, sometimes as a drying agent to harvest wheat that would otherwise rot and after harvest on fields to kill off the last of the wheat. And then of course all those pesticides, fungicides and petroleum based fertilizers sprayed on the fields and plants to add to the chemical soup.

Since people have been revealing that Round Up is used on wheat as a drying agent, the use of it to dry out wheat has declined.....because who wants to know their bread wheat was sprayed with a cancer causing chemical before it is ground into white fluffy flour?

[bkdroid13]

16. Why can't I lose weight?

you follw daily diet plan. your diet plan is so good follow this daily. start yoga also daily. drink warm water

[no_hypocrisy]

17. Welcome to DU.

I have cut out bread, cake, cookies, pie, and anything with flour. And loaded up on vegetables. Some good results.

[bkdroid13]

18. Weight Loss/Maintenance

Ya this is right diet plan. Don't miss any day. be continued. you will got result.

[Amanda Cerny]

19. If you can't lose weight, these are the things I suggest:

I swear, if you cut those things out of your daily diet, you will see a quick change in weight and energy. Maintain a strategic distance from dairy, alcohol, gluten, and sugar. Try not to work out, eat vegetables and meat for protein, and drink water.

[no_hypocrisy]

20. Thank you!

[Farmer-Rick]

24. Why avoid exercise?

[Sammie Jeya]

25. Weight loss through balancing your blood HP

Recently I came across this article which says that how you can lose weight by balancing your blood HP. I found it interesting because I have never heard of it before. I think you should go check it once and may find it worthy enough and ask your doctor.

https://fitness-weightlossclub.blogspot.com/2019/09/how-to-lose-all-weight-you-ever-wanted.html

[Doodley]

26. You are doing everything right. What is important is WHEN you eat. Google Intermittent fasting.

[applegrove]

27. Just saw a special on obesity on the Passionate Eye on CBC Television

in Canada. Metabolism is greatly affected by the time you eat. Don't eat after dark. Have your big meals early in the day. And busily looking after your house by cleaning and gardening all day will burn more calories than an hour at the gym. Like almost double. Bigger people burn more than smaller people. Eat all different kinds of vegetable and other plant based fiber to get a big diverse flora going in your gut. Fast food and restaurant eating has gone way up in the past generation and the dishes you eat there have 65% more calories than what you cook at home. The typical british cooking is bad. I can't remember the rest right now. My sister has a diet which is lean protein, a little healthy fat and lots of veggies at every meal. No sugar and carbs only in whole grains once a day. I lost 20 pounds in two months on it. There is also something in trial right now which is the hormones people who have had bariatric surgery have. The hormones that tell them they are so full they could not eat another thing. People are testing out injecting those hormones in obese people for a month and it works. They lose a ton of weight and feel full. They just don't know if it is safe so far so they have only tested it for a month on each person. Looks promising. I do have all these issues. So i'm going to try and eat earlier and better. Goid luck to you.

https://gem.cbc.ca/media/media/the-passionate-eye/episode-123/38e815a-00fd66983dd

[TuxedoKat]

38. Is there another way I can

read this article? It says not available outside Canada.

[Liberty Belle]

28. GMO wheat can cause bloating. Try organic wheat products instead.

GMO wheat is much higher in gluten than natural wheat.

If the bloating continues see your doctor; there could be other reasons -- ovarian cancer can cause bloating, as can some digestive tract disorders.

[MyMission]

29. What are your actual thyroid numbers? And what did you mean about except for antibodies?

I've had hashimoto's, an auto immune thyroid condition for over 20 years, and I have thyroid antibodies. I have healthy diet and have been on medication for the condition since I was diagnosed. Everything few years I need to have my meds increased.

I've had some MDS tell me my thyroid levels were in the normal range when they were actually high. Most endocrinologists will want tsh below 3.0, whereas regular md's might consider below 5.5 as within normal limits, while some consider below 4.0 normal. And many won't treat a thyroid condition until levels are well above that.

For many years my tsh levels were 5.48 so they were below 5.5 and my md said I was within normal range. This was when I had started to gain weight and I was not able to lose the weight, no matter what I did. I put on over 30 lbs over a 10 year period. That md would not increase my thyroid meds.

So I got a new md who increased my synthroid (thyroid replacement medication) and I started to lose weight. I personally feel best when my levels are below 2.0. With hashimotos, sometimes your levels fluctuate if the antibodies are more or less active.

When MDS tell you that you are within normal range (of anything) it's always a good idea to get the actual report and look at the numbers, and do some research. If your tsh levels are above 3, and you have antibodies you may want to see an endocrinologist if your doctor won't treat you, of find a new MD who will

Good luck.

[SeaTownBlue]

30. Keto And Intermittant Fasting

Losing weight is too easy.

Insulin = Fat Storage

Go to youtube and search for keto for beginners.

Ignore all the other crap diets.

Fruits = Sugar = Poison = Limit Them

Big food, big medical, and pharma hate keto and fasting.

No money in thin healthy people.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

31. My guess is that you are still consuming more calories than you're expending.

Other than that, I have nothing useful to offer.

I will say that for me, weighing myself each and every day is helpful. I have a digital scale that gives my weight in .2 pounds. Which means I can keep track of weight gain or loss pretty tightly.

I think what most of us really do forget in 2019 is how truly much less active we are than our grand parents or great-grandparents were. And it shows.

Don't get me wrong. I struggle with my weight and have for a very long time now, after a childhood of being very skinny. I'm 71, and my appetite is a lot less than it used to be. I need to pay more attention to that than I do. In the past two or three months I've been able to lose about 12 pounds, which brings me down, according to my BMI, from obese to overweight. That's a huge improvement for me. Plus, I've actually dropped two (yes two!) pants sizes. Wow. That feels good.

I'm hoping to slowly take off another ten or more pounds, drop another size. I'd like to get my BMI to normal weight, not overweight.

Oh, and for those of you who trash BMI, most of you are not professional athletes for whom BMI isn't fully meaningful. Most of you are like me. Overweight, maybe obese, and not happy with that.

Another important thing is that we have all gotten so used to so many overweight and obese people, we've forgotten what normal weight looks like. Go back and look at high school yearbook pictures from before 1975 or so. That will be enlightening.

[SeaTownBlue]

32. I Eat Mass More Calories Than I Burn

Without insulin from carbs they dont get stored as fat.

(It's a secret)

Greens and fiber and away they go.

Oh, and my diabetes is OVER.

25 grams a day in net carbs or less = ketosis = lose mass weight.

Take supplements greens and fiber. Water.

No one needs to ever be fat or hungry.

After years of losing to diabetes and battling blood sugar with every bite and losing this is too easy.

[tirebiter]

33. Work, work, and work some more

Get a sweat job and do double shifts. Then do it again. When you fall down sleep we’re you fall for a good four hours then do another double shift. Being a stage hand gives me this exact opportunity.

[no_hypocrisy]

34. Interesting you should advise that.

I just took a second job, working 12 hours a day, five days a week -- and I've started to lose weight.

[tirebiter]

35. Glad to hear that

I was wondering if it seemed like I was mocking you but that is my life seasonally @Aptil through September doing music festivals, car shows and a number of single events. I essentially piut my nose to the grindstone and push through. My wife thinks I do lift too much, so do I, but at 27-30 bucks an hour before overtime how could I not do it? And I’m past retirement age. I’ve kept my diabetes in the pre category and I’m constantly getting mri’s on my back and neck. I really don’t see the doc often enough. That’s on me. Good luck with your life.

[janicer.marron]

36. You just keep finding new reasons to eat.

Remember how it sounds? "What's the matter with you? You can't stop eating. You just keep finding new reasons to eat."
That's what it feels like, and it's true. Eating more than you burn calories makes you fat.
There are many ways to lose weight, but here's the big secret: Your only control is to eat less than you burn each day.
There's nothing in your brain that tells you to do something other than eat. There are only so many hours in a day. There's no time to workout, or hang out with friends. So let your brain be your guide. If you need help, ask someone in your life to keep you on track.

[no_hypocrisy]

37. Welcome to DU janicer.marron

Good advice.