25 stone to 19 stone in 8 months.

[366to266]

Everything I have eaten since 31 Aug.

This is almost exactly the same foods, and the same calories, that I was eating when I lost almost 12lb in three weeks.

How can the same food that made you lose 4lb a week make me GAIN 4lb in a week?

 

[Drag0nfly]

How can the same food that made you lose 4lb a week make me GAIN 4lb in a week?

I can only think that your calorie consumption is too low. If it's too low, you'll lose weight for a while then your body goes into starvation mode and the loss stops. I can't think of any other explanation for it.

 

[strawberry]

I can only think that your calorie consumption is too low. If it's too low, you'll lose weight for a while then your body goes into starvation mode and the loss stops. I can't think of any other explanation for it.

I had literally just typed up the same thing, only thing I can think of too.

 

[366to266]

I can only think that your calorie consumption is too low. If it's too low, you'll lose weight for a while then your body goes into starvation mode and the loss stops. I can't think of any other explanation for it.

This is what others have said but I have some questions about that.

1. The calculations of my BMI, BMR, TDEE on this site and other sites, including MFP show absolutely clearly that I should be eating a 1,000 calorie a day deficit on my TDEE of 2,600. That makes 1600 (MFP says 1700). Over a week I am averaging 1600 a day ~ spot on.

2. If I am not eating enough, would I not feel hunger? I have not gone hungry on this diet; I never feel hungry once I've had my 1600 by about 6pm. (In fact some days I end up making myself eat something pretty much against my will just to meet the 1600.)

Thank you.

Helena

 

[GretaGrip]

At the risk of sounding like a broken record , try zoe harcombe principles, don't snack between meals and stop eating bread and chocolate.

 

[TracyGWill]

It all depends on whether you subscribe to the theory, as I personally do, that you should never eat below your BMR. You've been eating below that level, and your losses have stopped, which does add some credence to the theory. Personally I'd try to reset your metabolism by increasing your calories to your TDEE for a little while, then gradually reducing them down to BMR. That's really all I can think of to suggest, based on what I know has worked for me. xx

 

[366to266]

Thank you ladies.

Greta ~ Yes, I can do that if necessary (I lived for years without chocolate or bread when I was on Atkins), but the thing that puzzles me is, I lost that initial 12lb in 3 weeks by eating bread and chocolate every day.

Ironically, it was when I reduced my bread consumption that my weight loss stopped and weight gain started, though this could be a coincidence.

Tracy ~ "reset your metabolism by increasing your calories to your TDEE for a little while, then gradually reducing them down to BMR". So that means eating 2,600 (my TDEE) for a while then dropping to 2175 (my BMR)? When you say gradually do you mean over the course of a few days or two weeks or what?

(Blimey! I've got so used to 1600 that I can't imagine eating 2600 any more! Shame I sold all that mayonnaise!)

 

[TracyGWill]

I haven't done a reset myself, but I imagine if you ate at your TDEE for a couple of weeks, then reduce it by maybe 100 cals a week down to your BMR? I wouldn't worry too much about cutting specific things out if your diet - as you say, you've lost well before eating those things. I've never stopped eating the things I like, just less of them, lol - I wouldn't get by without my daily chocolate fix! I'm 2lbs off having exactly halved my starting weight now, so I know that it works for me, you just need to find your own way as there's no "one size fits all", sadly. xx

 

[366to266]

"I'm 2lbs off having exactly halved my starting weight now"

Woo woo woo! Congratulations! I'm sooo envious!

 

[TracyGWill]

"I'm 2lbs off having exactly halved my starting weight now"

Woo woo woo! Congratulations! I'm sooo envious!

Thanks, Helena - I hope you realise I wasn't saying that to blow my own trumpet, but rather in an encouraging way to say it can be done, lol. xx

 

[366to266]

Thanks, Helena - I hope you realise I wasn't saying that to blow my own trumpet, but rather in an encouraging way to say it can be done, lol. xx

Of course! Don't be so humble: what you have done is an extraordinary achievement. A kind of slimmer's Everest!

 

[TracyGWill]

I appreciate that Helena, thank you! I'm really not very good at self-promotion, lol. But if me telling people what I've achieved can help motivate them to keep trying, I'll feel I've passed on at least some of the support I've received on this forum. xx

 

[tranquility]

On glancing over your diary screenshots my initial thought is your meals are too carb heavy and this is making your body store more water which is where your gains are coming from.

I'd suggest setting your MFP goals to a ratio of 40% carbs and 30% each of protein and fat. Then eat 3 main meals and 2 snacks aiming for a limit of 30-40g carb per main meal.

Also you really need to track properly rather than adding quick calories as the compostion of your meals is important. If the quick calories are your home made meals I'd use the recipe maker on MFP to log them.

Finally the tool you really need is a tape measure it gives a truer picture than the scales most of the time as although the scales are showing a gain if it's water you can still be losing fat which is what this diet thing is all about.

Perseverance is the name of the game Helena, your body has it's own agenda that the scales know nothing about.

 

[366to266]

On glancing over your diary screenshots my initial thought is your meals are too carb heavy and this is making your body store more water which is where your gains are coming from.

I'd suggest setting your MFP goals to a ratio of 40% carbs and 30% each of protein and fat. Then eat 3 main meals and 2 snacks aiming for a limit of 30-40g carb per main meal.

Also you really need to track properly rather than adding quick calories as the compostion of your meals is important. If the quick calories are your home made meals I'd use the recipe maker on MFP to log them.

Finally the tool you really need is a tape measure it gives a truer picture than the scales most of the time as although the scales are showing a gain if it's water you can still be losing fat which is what this diet thing is all about.

Perseverance is the name of the game Helena, your body has it's own agenda that the scales know nothing about.

Cheers Tranq.

I think that the reason my overall intake is too carb heavy is that, having striven to stick to Atkins for years, once I switched to calorie counting I was (am) so thrilled to be eating carbs again that I've gone a bit bonkers with them! Most people would probably laugh out loud when I say that to me pasta, bread and potatoes are like Manna from heaven.

I have only used the "Quick Add Calories" for one specific meal ~ my home made spag bol. I went to great pains to weigh and measure every ingredient that I used and the total came to 3,467 calories for the ten portions. So it should be 346 calories per portion, which I have rounded up to 350. I could not be bothered to try to work out how many carbs, grams of fat, grains of sodium etc are in it, as it was fiddly enough working out the calories!

Your comment about the tape measure reminds me of a saying they have on the Atkins board, which is "If you aren't losing weight then you are losing inches". The purpose of this motto is to make you rejoice when the scales don't move, as that means you are getting narrower (if only by a millimetre a day!)

Yesterday I was so totally peed off about my ever increasing weight and my "failure" on yet another attempt to lose weight that I went to the Co Op and told myself that I could have absolutely ANYTHING that I wanted, in any quantity. It felt crazy and abandoned, yet at the same time I was thinking about the advice to eat 2,600 to "reset" and so it was like being really naughty but at the same time knowing that maybe it wasn't that naughty after all. Well, it turned out that when let loose in the supermarket with carte blanche to buy/eat anything, all I went for was two packs of lasagne @ 550 calories a pack, and 500 calories'-worth of chocolate. So that was what I ate. Total calories for the day came to about 2,200, and it was terribly carb-heavy.

The lasagne was absolutely heavenly! Best I have ever tasted (including restaurants!) However, I felt so stuffed that I was unable to do any DIY or indeed anything for the rest of the day except lay flat on the sofa feeling bloated and sluggish ~ and terribly GUILTY.

This morning I stepped on the scales expecting another gain (though at least this time I felt I "deserved" it for pigging out yesterday) and found I have lost 3lb since yesterday.

This is totally ridiculous!

So, what next? Carry on at 2200? How can that make me lose? It defies everything that the docs, dieticians, logic, calorie theory, common knowledge tells us!

Or was my body going to drop 3lb anyway, regardless of what I ate that one day? Maybe it was going to drop 5 but I overate so it was only 3.

This isn't anything like as easy as I thought at first!

Foods	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Cholest	Sodium	Sugars	Fiber
Morning
Asda - Asda Light Soft Cheese, 15 g	23	0g	2g	2g	0mg	0mg	0g	0g
Warburtons - Wholemeal Bread 400g (Small) Loaf, 3 Slice	174	29g	2g	8g	0mg	288mg	3g	5g
Tesco - Thin Smoked Ham, 50 g	53	1g	2g	9g	0mg	1mg	0g	0g
Tesco - Sandwich Piccalilli, 30 g tablespoon	22	6g	0g	0g	0mg	0mg	5g	0g
Butter - Salted, 2 pat (1" sq, 1/3" high)	72	0g	8g	0g	22mg	58mg	0g	0g
Marmite - Marmite, 4 g	9	1g	0g	2g	0mg	200mg	0g	0g
Afternoon
Co-op - Truly Irresistible Lasagne, 800 g	1,050	0g	42g	0g	0mg	4mg	26g	0g
Pilgrim's Choice - Wonderfully Strong Punchy Extra Mature Cheddar Cheese 350g Block 100g Serving, 50 g serving	208	0g	17g	13g	0mg	350mg	0g	0g
Drinks/treats
Lemon juice - Raw, 2 fl oz	15	5g	0g	0g	0mg	1mg	1g	0g
Twinnings - Various Fruit Tea, 5 cup	10	0g	0g	0g	0mg	0mg	0g	0g
Tesco - British Whole Milk, 50 ml	33	2g	2g	2g	0mg	20mg	2g	0g
Cadbury - Freddo Frog Caramel, 5 bar	475	60g	24g	6g	0mg	0mg	52g	0g
TOTAL:	2,144	104g	99g	42g	22mg	922mg	89g	5g

 

[Drag0nfly]

Or was my body going to drop 3lb anyway, regardless of what I ate that one day? Maybe it was going to drop 5 but I overate so it was only 3

This is the problem with weighing daily, we inevitably attribute the loss/gain to whatever we ate (or didn't eat) the day before but that's not necessarily correct. The only way you can know what's working is to do it for a week/fortnight/month and weigh at the end of that period.

 

[tranquility]

Well Helena as those Americans on the MFP boards keep saying "weight loss isn't linear". The mantra of 3500 = 1lb of fat is a little flawed because out of every 3500 cals you eat your body uses some of them for re-building muscle and making new cells and keeping your vital organs going so only a small proportion of those calories are ever going to be stored as fat. So if you have a very active week you will need more fuel (and hopefully get that fuel from your body fat) and if you have a duvet week well those 3500 cals are going straight into storage for later.

All you have to remember is the body sets it's own rules. You will never lose a perfect 2lbs a week you just have to accept it and get yourself into a routine and forget the guilt tripping. Weigh when you like but set an actual official weigh-in time and day whether it is weekly or monthly and assess your progress that way. Lots of stuff affect the scales even getting up an hour earlier/later can make the difference between a loss and a gain.

Eat the foods you love but always keep an eye on portion sizes.

 

[366to266]

Well Helena as those Americans on the MFP boards keep saying "weight loss isn't linear". The mantra of 3500 = 1lb of fat is a little flawed because out of every 3500 cals you eat your body uses some of them for re-building muscle and making new cells and keeping your vital organs going so only a small proportion of those calories are ever going to be stored as fat. So if you have a very active week you will need more fuel (and hopefully get that fuel from your body fat) and if you have a duvet week well those 3500 cals are going straight into storage for later.

All you have to remember is the body sets it's own rules. You will never lose a perfect 2lbs a week you just have to accept it and get yourself into a routine and forget the guilt tripping. Weigh when you like but set an actual official weigh-in time and day whether it is weekly or monthly and assess your progress that way. Lots of stuff affect the scales even getting up an hour earlier/later can make the difference between a loss and a gain.

Eat the foods you love but always keep an eye on portion sizes.

OK Tranq darling. All taken on board and noted

 

[Bigbear]

Helena my lovely !

I'm not going to give you any advice, as I'm not really qualified being such a newbie to dieting, and I also see youVe already been haven a lot of different options to consider.

Im just going to say that I'm still sticking with you, and will support you through whichever diet plan to decide to try. also to say that I believe you can do it, it's just hoping to take time, and. I'll stick with you till we both get there xxxx

 

[366to266]

Helena my lovely !

I'm not going to give you any advice, as I'm not really qualified being such a newbie to dieting, and I also see youVe already been haven a lot of different options to consider.

Im just going to say that I'm still sticking with you, and will support you through whichever diet plan to decide to try. also to say that I believe you can do it, it's just hoping to take time, and. I'll stick with you till we both get there xxxx

Thanks Claire, that means a lot to me. I'm sticking with you, too.

Many congrats on the 20 pound loss!!!!

 

[chezz]

hi helena
here to support you whatever you chose to do x x x