New here and looking for help!

[Eutuxia]

Hi, I'm Eutuxia, it means 'happiness' in Greek. Nice to meet you all!

I'm 33 and currently morbidly obese. I am considered doing a bariatric surgery for weight loss, but right now, am trying my best to lose some weight naturally. In the first week of my new routine, I lost 17lbs. But now we are on week two and I'm 3 days in and I've lost nothing at all (in fact, have gained 1lb ) but am sticking to the same eating plan as the previous week (Low carb and low fat, high protein with fresh veg and drinking a lot of water - around 800-1000 cals per day). I'm not doing very much exercise as it is difficult for me, especially in hot weather but I didn't really do much exercise last week either. I went swimming on Sunday for about an hour but if anything, I have even gained a little. I also started menstruating on Monday morning so do you think this is what is holding up my weight loss? Or is it most likely the lack of exercise? I work a job where I sit at a desk 10 hours+ a day so other than maybe a walk to the local shop or chores around the house and the odd swim at the beach, I haven't been doing any exercise. I have an elliptical machine at home, but, it really hurts my knees. Any ideas? Thanks for reading!

 

[Llama]

Hi Eutuxia and welcome to the forum! After such a huge drop one week it's quite normal to have bit of a rebound the next. Beside which suddenly reducing your carbs will make you lose a lot of water weight while periods tend to make you retain water. So no worries: it looks like you're going full speed. I'd personally crash and burn very quickly on such low calories but to each their own.

 

[Cate]

Welcome to the forum, Eutuxia. with LaMa.

After such a huge drop one week it's quite normal to have bit of a rebound the next. Beside which suddenly reducing your carbs will make you lose a lot of water weight while periods tend to make you retain water.

Try not to lose too quickly. I did that years ago & stuffed my metabolism, which has made it easy to regain & much harder to lose. I wish I had followed the recommendations & lost much slower & maybe I wouldn't be having the battle I am now.

 

[Eutuxia]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I know it's a bit fast to lose the weight and I certainly didn't think I would lose quite so much in the first week (I was expecting 7-10lbs). I'm not eating much less in quantity than I was, but I cut out sodas (was on 4 cans a day) and sweets (multiple sweets and chocolate bars/ice creams per day) and swapped my take out fast food (almost every day) for protein and veg based meals. On July 23, my doctor asked me to aim to lose 40-45lbs by the beginning of September which still sounds quite scary and drastic for me . I am morbidly obese and so I guessed the weight would come off easier at first. I have a major sugar addiction, too which I am trying to detox from before I try moderation with carbs and sugars. I'm not as bloated as I was 2 weeks ago from food and actually feel like I have more energy than I did before and seem to be performing better at work, but maybe this is a stage of the sugar withdrawal. I don't feel very hungry between meals. I did a 15-minute work out last night, just some easy level aerobics but it was enough to get the blood pumping a little. I really hope this little stall is just water retention from my period as I feel very anxious about not meeting my goal.

 

[Llama]

I agree that your situation is a different one and the fact that you're under medical supervision does help.