Healthy (ish) diet, calorie cutting & tracking, exercise and metformin are all not working. What's left to do?
The super short version is I lost a bunch of weight via CICO over the course of a few years and then it stopped working. After many failed attempts to break my plateau, I went to my doctor and she told me to keep at it, drink protein shakes and to invest in a pedometer and aim for 5,000 steps a day. I showed her my food journal and she said I was totally nailing the diet, and at most to just cut back on starchy vegetables if I eat them a lot, which I don't.
So I took my calorie deficit up to 1,200-1,300 from 1,000 to accommodate the protein shakes (or nonfat yogurt) and I've been pretty good about getting in 5,000-6,000 steps every day. According to my pedometer, 5,000-6,000 steps burns around 300-380 calories and takes about 30-45 minutes, so that's my 30 minutes of physical activity per day.
Also, I was put on a low dose of metformin because my doctor said it's prescribed off-label for weight loss. While I have noticed a decrease in my appetite, I have not seen any weight loss occurring with either the metformin or with any of my dietary/exercise changes. I've been at this new routine for about two months, but my weight continues to hover in the 205-209 range just like it has been the past year. I think losing 1-2 pounds in 1-2 months is a reasonable expectation, yet here I am not having lost a single ounce.
Soooo... what's left to do now? There is absolutely no reason this routine should be failing. I had really high hopes for the metformin helping me and I'm glad it knocks my appetite down, but I guess I was hoping it would be a miracle drug... or that I'd at least get the projectile diarrhea everyone seems to get on it and lose water weight (I didn't get this side effect). The weight loss options I feel are left for me at this point are extreme/unhealthy ones, but I don't know what else there is to do.
This is going to sound fatlogic-y, but is it possible my body is just done losing weight? I can't think of any legitimate reason why these things aren't working for me except that maybe I am already at my personal ideal weight, even though my BMI is 34. I know weight loss isn't easy and it's a slow process, but I feel like it shouldn't be this hard either. If I was only 5-10 pounds from my goal weight, I'd say good enough, but I've got at least 50 more to go.
And because I figure these questions will come up, I'll try and answer them now:
YES, I am tracking every single calorie – condiments, drinks, a 20-calorie piece of candy, 5-calorie tea, my 10-calorie multi-vitamin and any meals/snacks I have. I also add up my calories with a calculator to ensure my math is correct. I plan my meals every single day and log everything the night before so there is no guesswork. If anyone wants to know more about my go-to foods if those might be an issue, let me know and I can make a list of them.
YES, I am weighing out my food in grams with a kitchen scale, so I know precisely how many calories I'm consuming. I always go by nutrition facts on the package itself and not someone else's entry on MyFitnessPal. Unless the nutrition facts themselves are very wrong on every single thing I eat, there is no way I am overeating. Also, yes, my scale is set to grams and not ounces.
NO, I am not cheating on my diet. If I really really want a Reese's cup, I have one and subtract those calories from tomorrow's calories to make up for it. That, or I try to get in a little more exercise to burn off those calories. But I log everything.
NO, I am not eating back my burned calories. As in I don't look at the 350 calories I burned exercising and take it as an excuse to go eat more.
NO, I am not losing inches off my waist while my weight stays the same. I have some clothes that don't quite fit and I try them on now and then to see if they fit yet as a means to measure my progress. If anything, I've noticed my clothes that fit me fine before seem tighter in the waist now, but I think the metformin is just causing some bloating.
YES, I have calculated my TDEE repeatedly and I consistently eat below the recommended deficit for normal weight loss. In spite of my exercising, I still go by the sedentary TDEE because I feel the TDEE for light exercise is way too many calories. For reference, my TDEE is 1,480 calories for normal weight loss (1 lb./week) and 1,980 for maintenance. So you can see why I don't understand why my deficit plus my daily exercise aren't working.
YES, I have been almost totally consistent with my routine, save for one day where I snacked a lot. I have a weekly treat as well, such as a candy bar or a donut. Even my doctor encouraged little treats here and there to keep me sane while I diet. As per her advice, weight loss is work, and like any work, it's good to have a break now and then. But I will say that this whole week I've been taking a vacation from my diet because it's frustrating to do all this crap and have it not work.
If you read that whole thing or even skimmed it, thank you for even taking time to do that because I know it got long-winded. I know the only logical answer is that I'm still eating too much, but I just don't know how and it's very frustrating and discouraging. I don't want to give up, but I don't know if there are any healthy options left to pursue and I'm about thisclose to chowing down on some raw chicken just to lose five pounds in fluid out one or both ends.
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from loseit - Lose the Fat https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/mhmy6j/healthy_ish_diet_calorie_cutting_tracking/
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