Why not losing weight if eating much less than what

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Forum -> Health & Wellness -> Healthy Lifestyle/ Weight Loss/ Exercise

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amother

Tue, Aug 03 2021, 2:05 pm

Metabolism requires? And eating minimal carbs/sugars. I almost don't eat white flour or sugar except for challah on shabbos, and I limit starchy vegetables like potatoes.
I looked up how many calories for my height and weight I need just to keep on going at that weight. Then I decreased calories per week by 12000 which divided by 3500 per lb should be a little less than 3.5 pounds lost per week. But I'm not. I lost 1-2 lbs per week and this week gained a lb. I would be happy to lose 2 lbs a week, but can't even do that. I don't eat a lot of sodium. I exercise most days. Last week I tried increasing calories a bit because I thought maybe its too little but it didn't help so I went back to less calories. I'm not on this for so long so it's not like I hit a plateau.
How do people on optavia consistently lose 3 pounds a week eating a bit less than I do? It's so discouraging when you put in effort without results. I've tried optavia in the past and also didn't lose like everyone else,much slower and couldn't get to goal, only half way. Are there some people who's bodies just don't let them lose? Is there such a thing? Scientifically it doesn't make sense. I've tested thyroid in the past and it was fine. Could pcos prevent you from losing if you're on a low carb diet?

amother

Offwhite

Tue, Aug 03 2021, 2:11 pm

Would you mind posting your height, weight, level of activity and daily calorie intake? That way it would be easier to understand what's going on.

Amarante

Tue, Aug 03 2021, 2:18 pm

Are you being completely honest in terms of what you are eating?

I would suggest keeping a food log and weighing/measuring your food for a week so that you get a true sense of exactly how much you are eating.

The actual portion sizes of foods are surprising small when you *see* them - for example the portion of protein is the size of a deck of cards. Even some fruits are more densely caloric than others - for example the "portion" of cherries isn't that large and the portion of a banana is actually a smallish one.

I don't worry about veggies because they are not calorically dense but I am conscious of portion control for other foods.

The difference between losing weight, maintaining weight and gaining weight is not that much in terms of calories. There are approximately 1800 calories in a pound - so if you eat 250 calories more in a day for a week - that is a pound either lost or gained. Approximately of course.

amother

Tue, Aug 03 2021, 2:23 pm

I prefer not to post my height and weight. I eat 12000 less calories per week which should be 3.5 pounds lost per week. Plus I exercise.

Also I weigh my foods or measure fruit and use an app to record everything I eat, and it tells me the nutrition facts for foods I record. I even record whether the fruit I ate was small, medium, large, proteins I weigh.

I think there are 3500 calories in a pound.

lamplighter

Tue, Aug 03 2021, 4:56 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I have no idea how much you weigh but if you are a healthy weight (according to science/your bodies needs no according to what you wish you weighed or once weighed), your body may be resisting weightloss.
A lb a week is considered a healthy weekly loss.
But most importantly, bodies are not machines, they are organic. Stress, sleep, genetics, hormones etc all factor in your weight and your weightloss journey, it really ain't as simple as the numbers you posted.

amother

Ivory

Tue, Aug 03 2021, 11:34 pm

I am on Optavia following the program almost perfectly and not losing either.
Very frustrated at this point.
And I'm very far from goal- about 65 lbs overweight.
I have been very confused as well.

Chana Miriam S

Tue, Aug 03 2021, 11:53 pm

You should ask yourself if you really think that doing this is sustainable. I mean really ask yourself. I’d be happy to have a discussion with you about the damage that can be done by trying to lose weight like this. Trust me. I studied this in depth this year. You are probably going to damage yourself.

Patience, time and consistency even when it seems like nothing is happening or even like you’re gaining weight is of utmost importance. Also, no two people are alike. Also, calorie counting is not actually accurate. These things are well known in the world of nutrition. Nutrition is very individual.

Very low calorie diets do not work long term. Happy to post citations in research.

Chana Miriam S

Tue, Aug 03 2021, 11:56 pm

lamplighter wrote:

Agreed.

amother

Ivory

Tue, Aug 03 2021, 11:59 pm

andrea levy wrote:

The reason I went on Optavia is because I need a diet I can actually stick to. Diets that require lots of grunt work and advance prep just isnt feasible for me at this point in my life. Optavia makes it easy to stick to the program by providing meal replacements and counting the calories for you.

My intention was to lose the bulk of my excess weight and then transition to a more normal eating plan.

Unfortunately, I am not losing weight on it though. (I have been successful on it in the past)

amother

Violet

Wed, Aug 04 2021, 12:00 am

You don’t need to post personal information. I’ll figure you’re an average person. Something is off in your math. Average size woman can eat 2,000 calories a day if she exercises to maintain weight, not gain or lose. For most of us it’s likely a little less - 1600 - 1,800 calories a day to stay at same weight, no weight gain or loss. To make the calculations easier I’m going with 2,000 calories a day. Seven days a week = 14,000 calories a week.
How are you eating 12,000 calories less than that? You said you decreased calories by 12,000 a week. What figure did you start with? If you used the 2,000 daily calories I allowed you above, which equals 14,000 a week, and you decreased by 12,000- you’re eating 2,000 calories a week. That’s less than 300 calories a day. That’s beneath starvation level. You should never go below 1,000 calories a day. 1,200 calories a day is about as low as you can go, and at a caloric level that low you need to make sure you’re eating nutrition dense calories, very healthy foods, no junk, no added sugars.
If you cut down to 1,200 calories a day you’re eating 8,400 calories a week. That’s 5,600 calories less than the 14,000 calories a week that will maintain your weight. Two lbs is 7,000 calories so at that very low calorie level you’re still not going to lose two lbs a week. If you’re careful what you eat and you work out you can expect to lose 1 1/2 lbs a week max. It sounds slow but it’s real weight loss. In 6 months you’ll have lost about 25 lbs, maybe a little more or less depending on the personal information you didn’t share (height, weight, age etc) and your metabolism (which just means how efficiently your body burns calories and uses up stored fat).

ETA You will lose weight cutting calories especially if you work out to help you burn extra calories, but you need to follow a plan to make sure you’re getting enough protein, carbs, fats, vitamins and minerals. At a low caloric intake you might miss out on something important. It might be a good idea to get a plan from a nutritionist. If you eat 1,200 calories a day every day made up of potato chips, Coke and a Hershey bar, you will lose weight but you’ll also feel sick and eventually get sick from depriving your body of all the good stuff it needs.

amother

Wed, Aug 04 2021, 12:27 am

amother [ Violet ] wrote:

I'm not eating 300 that would be impossible but I'm also not eating 1200 calories (except maybe Shabbos). Eating healthy foods, nothing processed, mainly vegetables, protein, low carb, and less than 1200 calories a day and I'm not losing like you said in the bolded part. Also, I'm not an average person, I wish I was. I have a significant amount of weight to lose. So my basal metabolic rate is much higher than 2000 calories and according to what I searched online, I should be losing a lot more compared to what I'm eating. I want to lose 2 lbs a week. And I exercise every day. Still doesn't help.

amother

Wed, Aug 04 2021, 12:30 am

lamplighter wrote:

Yes stress is a part of my life. I'm sleeping enough. But scientifically how does stress or the others affect weight loss if I'm eating little.

amother

Wed, Aug 04 2021, 12:31 am

amother [ Ivory ] wrote:

I am on Optavia following the program almost perfectly and not losing either.
Very frustrated at this point.
And I'm very far from goal- about 65 lbs overweight.
I have been very confused as well.

That is frustrating. I stopped also because it wasn't working after a while. But nothing seems to work.

amother

Wed, Aug 04 2021, 12:32 am

andrea levy wrote:

G-d forbid. I don't plan to be on this diet forever. Few months and then transition to a higher caloric intake but the same healthy foods.

Chana Miriam S

Wed, Aug 04 2021, 12:34 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

G-d forbid. I don't plan to be on this diet forever. Few months and then transition to a higher caloric intake but the same healthy foods.

That’s not actually how it works, I hate to tell you.

amother

Hotpink

Wed, Aug 04 2021, 12:36 am

It sounds like you are starving your body. You're not ready for so low calories.

Listen to your body.

If you go this route, your weight loss will be IMPOSSIBLE to maintain. Trust me - btdt and now I'm even heavier than I previously was.

Chana Miriam S

Wed, Aug 04 2021, 12:57 am

Here’s the basic reason why less than 2% of people keep the weight off:

When a person loses weight, let’s say in any way, the body adapts to the lower caloric intake and starts anticipating it and reserving energy for when there’s no food coming in. Your body has no idea you are trying to lose weight, it just thinks you’re starving.

Here’s the clincher. When you finish losing weight and go back to eating higher amounts of food( if you even last that long, because your body, scared you are starving is now mounting an assault on you via the hormones leptin, ghrelin and insulin to eat more.) so now, you’re fighting your body which is telling you to eat more and your Body’s desire to preserve energy by storing it as fat (because it thinks you’re starving) and you end up eating like a maniac and then your Lost pounds also bring friends.

This happens with literally every kind of diet of certain things are triggered which I guarantee you are triggered by eating a very low calorie diet for any length of time.

I started studying this because I could not figure out why I was maintaining my large weight loss THIS time.

Well, I know how now. I operate at a very slight caloric deficit over time but also sometimes a caloric surplus. I’m careful not to eat foods that harm my health ( processed, carby, sugary) and I’ve changed my behaviours massively over time so that they are no longer the same as they were before.

I learn from my mistakes instead of catastrophizing.I am physically active, not to burn calories but because I like to be and gd I love me my endorphins.

Basically what happened to me was that in the long term I have periodized my nutrition and there’s an overall downward trend. I go up, I go down, I go up I go further down. I keep my body guessing. It knows that when food comes, it comes generously.

I’ve done a huge amount of damage to myself over time metabolic wise after 45 years of eating disorder. But here I am still losing weight and feeling great after four plus years.

The only way this can be happening is what I’ve said above.

I use a scale as ONE point of information. ONE. Other metrics: how happy am I? How amazing do I feel? How great was that insane trail hike that was SO MUCH FUN? I’m planning to go waterdkiiing and zip Lining and skidooing and canoeing And kayaking next week. Not because calories. Because I feel great and it’s FUN! I’m well nourished and I have energy in spades!

THAT is sustainability.

I’ve been you before. I’ve done the math. Heck, I did optifast for three months. Ya know how long that loss lasted after I started eating again? Five minutes.

And I’m here four years later to tell you not to do yourself more damage. It’s clearly evident in the science .

You don’t have to listen to me. I kniw, I know. Im abig mouth. But I’m also DOING THIS SUCCESSFULLY and also STUDIED IT.

Take my comments or leave them but know you’re talking to someone who has tried it all and now is winning.

I’ll leave you with this. On the show ‘the biggest loser’ there’ll never be a reunion. Why? They ALL gain it back. And someone did a peer reviewed study on them and found that their metabolisms were STILL (6 years later) 25% less than was Expected for their weight and BMI. Six years later.

Take what you like and leave the rest but I cannot let this go by without explanation. It’s Way too dangerous to stay quiet.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.co.....21538

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.co.....20900

Last edited by Chana Miriam S on Wed, Aug 04 2021, 1:08 am; edited 1 time in total

Chana Miriam S

Wed, Aug 04 2021, 1:03 am

amother [ Ivory ] wrote:

My comments are not about Optavia. Although if you don’t want to do grunt work, you’d be better off getting a prepped meal Service with real food than processed garbage. I’m not sure how you think you’re going to transition to more normal eating if you don’t want to do grunt work. Although to ne honest, we cook big for Shabbat and pretty much eat leftovers all week and when we run out, there’s always eggs or tuna or whatever.

dinglehopper

Wed, Aug 04 2021, 3:19 am

You need to write everything down. Use the application MyFitnessPal. 1200/day is not enough calories unless you are maybe 120lbs.

I aim for 1400/day and I consistently lose 3/4-1lb pee week. I can eat whatever I want as long as I write it down. I don't feel restricted. I mean, I can't eat an entire bag of chips but we all know that no one should.

I also exercise but that's more for my own health rather than for weight loss.

amother

Thistle

Wed, Aug 04 2021, 6:20 am

To increase metabolism you need to increase water intake, increase exercise that makes you sweat and out of breath, and finish eating earlier in the day.

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