Help me lose weight

[Dee1]

Hi! I'm trying to lose weight and not having success. I'd like to share some details and get advice about what I might be able to adjust to successfully lose.

First, background. I'm a 44 year old female. I've always been moderately active and usually train for and run 1 half marathon a year (though admittedly my exercise habits are sporadic when I'm not training for an event). My biggest challenge is finding time to exercise - between a high pressure job and 2 elementary-aged kids, my day starts between 5:30 & 6:30 and I'm usually going until somewhere between 12-2 am, without a lot of downtime or breaks in there when I could work out. I was naturally thin up until my late 20's, but since then it's been kind of a constant struggle to keep my weight in the healthy BMI range. Low carb seems to be the only thing that has worked for me in the past.

Over the past 3 years I've put on about 30 lbs., 15 of those in the past 6 months. I was not being strict about my diet during this time, but I didn't feel it was too bad either so I don't know why I gained so much so fast, other than maybe that's normal to gain weight at my age. I am 5'3" and now around 160 lbs., so I'm officially overweight. (I find 130 to be a reasonable goal for me, although I would rather be 115-120 like I was when I was young, but I realize that may not be realistic anymore.) I'm also at high risk for type 2 diabetes due to having gestational diabetes during my second pregnancy.

I decided I had to do something about this, so I started getting stricter with my diet about a month and a half ago, limiting carbs and portion sizes, trying to get in at least a couple of workouts a week. Nothing happened; in fact I continued to gain weight. I decided to experiment and see how many calories I needed to eat to lose weight, so I started tracking everything on MyFitnessPal and cutting back a little more and a little more. What I discovered is that my "break even" point, where I don't lose anything but I don't gain either, is somewhere between 1000 - 1200 calories a day, which is a dismally low number. In order to lose it appears I have to eat no more than 800 calories a day. I tried this for a couple of weeks, some days eating as little as 400 calories (I am eating a lot of salads and lean meat, trying to avoid most carbs and not too much fat), and I did manage to lose a couple of pounds but I don't think anyone could sustain that level of restriction. I have a lot of responsibilities and I'm simply not functional on that little food, not to mention the fact that that can't really be healthy, right? So I'm back to eating between 1000 and 1200 calories of mostly low carb and my weight is holding steady. I'm trying to sneak in mini-workouts (like a couple of sets of pushups, situps, and lunges or something before bed) where I can, but I'm not finding time for much else.

Any advice on what I should try to kick-start my weight loss? Is this just normal for someone my age? I'm finding this all rather depressing because I can't imagine living the rest of my life on this restrictive of a diet and even this isn't working. I feel like I'm going to turn into a lettuce leaf. Could there be something medically wrong with me? Obviously I need to exercise more, but that would mean giving up more sleep and I get far too little as it is. Getting old sucks! Please help if you have any advice.

 

[Dee1]

A couple of other things - I probably eat WAAAY too many restaurant meals and packaged foods, although in restaurants I stick mostly to salads and carefully record calorie counts on the menu. But maybe those aren't too accurate. I eat a lot of packaged things like Costco low carb protein bars for breakfast, occasionally the low-carb flavors of Lean Cuisine for lunch, etc. It DOES make calorie counting easier since it's on the package, but I know packaged foods aren't the healthiest choice. I also don't drink anything with calories - mostly I drink unsweetened tea, both hot and iced. Lots and lots of it, I am addicted to the caffeine.

I also realize that by all conventional wisdom I am eating too few calories. But I also have a hard time believing that if I start eating 400 extra calories a day without changing anything else that's going to help with weight loss. So I'm not sure what to do about the fact that I'm eating too little.

And I realize this type of post is really common here - people who are over-restricting (or at least claiming to) and not seeing results. But how DO you get results, then? Things that worked when I was younger (low carb) just don't work anymore and I'm at a loss about what to do.

 

[Trusylver]

Welcome to the forum

Just a few things to consider

BMI is not a great way to determine how overweight you may be, especially if you are short or an athlete
Most marathon runners do not have much in the way of lean mass, what is your bodyfat % ? low amounts of lean mas and higher levels of fat will mean that you may have a slow metabolism.
How low carb is your low carb ?
What type of artificial sweeteners are in your bars ? most "low carb" bars have the types of sweeteners which spike blood sugar, in some cases more than actual sugar, by using these sweeteners the manufacturers can market low carb but the bars have the same effect as high carb and should be avoided. Same applies for pre packaged frozen meals.

What is your macro nutrient breakdown ?

It is also normal to carry a little more fat as we age and still be healthy.

 

[Dee1]

I don't know my body fat percentage, but I know it's way too high. I am 5'3" and have a small to medium build. I'm not muscular at all. Keep in mind that while I've run several half marathons, I'm not one of those elite distance runners who does 10 miles every day or anything - I'm the person who trains a couple times a week and is happy just to be able to run the whole 13 miles without walking. I don't look like a distance runner at all. BMI is accurate for me - I feel like I looked ok when I was under 130 lbs. and wore a 6 or 8 pant size. Now I'm up to a 12 and I assure you those are not rolls of muscle on my belly, lol. Even when I was not overweight but at the upper end of the healthy BMI range my doctor told me I needed to lose weight. Instead I gained 15.

My low carb is not that low carb. I try to follow the South Beach plan, since that's what I had success with years ago, and that allows all kinds of non-starchy vegetables that other low-carb plans wouldn't allow, so I'm eating lots of spring mix, spinach, broccoli, green beans, tomatoes, cauliflower, peppers, etc. It also allows small portions of nuts and beans, although I eat those rarely because they have so many calories. I mostly avoid any grain products, potatoes, fruit, milk, and anything with added sugar. I will admit to cheating a little on the low carb part sometimes since I've been keeping my calories so low.

I don't know what kind of sweeteners they use in the protein bars. I do know that I don't get hungry again for quite a while after I eat one, unlike high-carb foods that cause a blood sugar spike and crash and then you're ravenous and shaky 2 hours later. But maybe I need to cut out artificial sweeteners. And with the Lean Cuisine frozen dinners that I eat sometimes, the low carb flavors are just meat with a vegetable like broccoli or green beans. It's tough to imagine what could be in those that would spike blood sugar. The problem is that I need some convenient options, because there are days when it's either grab something quick I can eat in the car or at my desk, or don't eat at all. If you have suggestions for better convenient choices, please share!

 

[Trusylver]

Take a look at the ingredients list on the bars and meals, it will list what is in them, the glucose spike will not be enough to be shaky but still enough to have an effect on weight loss. your vegetable list is no different from any normal low carb diet, including a keto lifestyle.

also remember you are currently only a little over normal weight so your weight loss will be slow even if you get everything right.

I just done an online search for your bars to find the ingredients list and definitely not diet friendly, while the artificial sweeteners are the good ones, tapioca starch is high on the ingredients list, a very refined form of carbs and where most of the 22 grams of carbs in the bars come from.

because you had GD you should have the ability to check your blood sugar at home, I suggest you test post meal to see exactly what your individual reaction is to these bars.

Is there a less busy day of the week you can spend time doing some basic meal prep to freeze your own healthy meals for your busy week ?