Trying to loose weight but am i ill aswell?

H

Howldaloom

New member
Hi i am 5 ft 1 and rather well muscled for a girl and always have been as i always had a rather active life.

Anyway i have shot up in weight. I used to weigh 9 stone and half. now i weigh 11 stone 3 years later.

Im doing everything i can to loose it. I walk between 4-7 hours per week. Plus i keep birds so im usually in my bird room cleaning cages out. So i dont think im very inactive.

I have got a bit of a sweet tooth. Eating a odd choclate bar, bag of crisps.

I never eat deep fryed/fryed foods. Never eat take out.

Just lately, these past 3 monthes or so i have been on a strick diet.

I am eating a cereal breakfast in morning. Maby fruit to snack on till dinner. Then i would eat any of these for dinner, home made shepherds pie, erm omlette, chips beans onion rings and chicken breast. salmon and rice, stirfry etc. Then for the rest of the day im eating bits of fruit. maby couple slices of toast with honey on it. sultanas, seed/nut mix a bit. etc just odd bits.

I dont eat over 2000 calories a day. in fact i hardily make for 1500 a day.

The thing is I HAVE NO ENERGY!!!! at all and im still putting weight on. something like a pound a week.

How is this even possible? Im not on any meds. I do take high strength cod liver oil and garlic tablets once a day.

I have noticed i have a greenish tongue in the mornings. I have to scrap it off in morning and gives me bad breath.

Could this be linked?

And i do a decent amount of walking but everytime i walk my calfs cramp up to such an extent that i cant walk! especially uphill! And im getting out of breath walking up the stairs. I do struggle with circulation in my legs/feet and hands.

I go for a walk into town once or twice a day between 4-7 times a week that can take up to 30mins to an hour.

Then we also go for a walk in the woods and around the block for about 40 mins.arund 3-5 times a week. Plus i cleaning my pets out alot.

Why do i appear so unfit?
 
Sounds like you should be visiting your doctor.

I would keep a food and exercise diary for a week. List absolutely everything that goes in your mouth.

Measure everything too.

You could be eating too much but its hard to say given that you are very active. But then 5 foot 1 is not very tall so as i said, its hard for anyone here to assess you weight gain/loss on the info you've given us.

If you are lacking in energy, there could be a variety of explanations. YOu need to see your doctor.

Why do you take cod liver oil tablets?

Tell us all about your strict diet. But more importantly tell the doctor. It could just be the diet that has buggered up your metabolism a bit.
 
Im on a very limited budget as i am unemployed. So i have very little to spend on food. unfortunatly for me. the cheapest food is always high in calories and fat.

On an average day i will drink around 4 cups of tea with semi skimmed milk and 2 cups of decaf tea with semi skimmed milk. Plus anything from 2-6 pints of water a day. Or fruit juice when i can afford it. I dont drink anything sugary.

For breakfast i tend to have cereals. This week i have got cherios. the plane ones. with semi skimmed milk so thats ooooh around 200 calories probably less then that.

Till around 2-3pm which is my dinner time i will go to town and get like 45 mins excercise. all the while snacking on bits of fruit till dinner if i get hungry.

Now dinner i tend to eat anything i can afford. I dont eat anything deep fried at all, and i have no salt on my dinners. A typical dinner a week for me atm is a chicken-veg stir fry,a home made shepherds pie(beef), a home made chillie con carnie, chips (oven cooked) onion rings(breaded), beans, and a piece of breaded chicken/turkey/or fish fingers.ermmmm an omlette with onion andddd mushrooms? minted lamb steak-new potatoes and veggies with a drizel of gravy, chicken fajitas with pepers (easy on sauces).
Im not saying i eat all these in a week but you get the idea. I try to make sure i have at least one decent meal a day.

For the rest of the day i snack on fruits,nuts/seeds, ermmm sultanas maby a couple slices of toast with honey occasionally if i had a smallish dinner.

I make sure im eating around 1500 calories a day if that and dont tend to go over that.

Also in the evenings i go for a walk in the woods for 45 mins or so plus every 2 days or so i clean alot of my birds out as i breed them for pocket money.

On my budget this is all i can really afford to buy.

I used to eat the odd chocolate bar, crisps, biscuits etc and have cut all that crap out
 
Oh and i take cod liver oil to compensate me not eating alot of fish.I also take for my joints and stuff because i struggle to walk sometimes. Oh yeah yesterday i ate golden rice with a hunk of salmon for dinner. Today is a beef steak, new potatoes and veggies with a dizel of gravy for dinner.

BTW IM 23
 
Are you frying your steak?
How many bits of fruit on average are you eating?
How big are you portions?
For example, two slices of toast with honey could easily be around 350 calories depending on how much honey you us and a small fried steak is around 270. Nut are very high in calories and fat--How many are you eating? One small handful, 5 handfuls? 100g of Cheerios is 366 calories, without the milk. How much cereal are you having?

You need to start weighing out your food and calorie counting for around a week or so. If you are actually eating 1500 or under then you should head to your doctors and see what tests they can do. You'd be surprised how easily the calories ramp up though!
 
I eat 30g of cereal a day. my steak is grilled and not a great deal of honey, plus its wholemeal bread.

I only really eat walnuts, and i eat around 2 of those a day. just tiny bits at a time.

I tend to eat, 90calories-30g of sultanas a day, 1 small orange, 1 banana, 1 apple, erm maby some melon.

Today i had 30g of cereal and 125ml semi kimmed milk which works out at 175 calories plus 3 fruity buiscuits -light ones at 53 calories. plus i have gone for a 40 min walk into town today and its like 15:24pm. Thats all i have eaten today

My portions are not huge either. I try not to eat any more then 800 calories per meal. which is an average sized meal for a person

I think by my activity lvl today i have burnt off 200 calories ish. I have taken in around 150 calories today that i havent burnt off.
 
I'd head to your doctor then..Sounds like you're doing it right so maybe time to have some tests run! Good luck x
 
Howldaloom said:
Hi i am 5 ft 1 and rather well muscled for a girl and always have been as i always had a rather active life.

Anyway i have shot up in weight. I used to weigh 9 stone and half. now i weigh 11 stone 3 years later.

Im doing everything i can to loose it. I walk between 4-7 hours per week. Plus i keep birds so im usually in my bird room cleaning cages out. So i dont think im very inactive.

I have got a bit of a sweet tooth. Eating a odd choclate bar, bag of crisps.

I never eat deep fryed/fryed foods. Never eat take out.

Just lately, these past 3 monthes or so i have been on a strick diet.

I am eating a cereal breakfast in morning. Maby fruit to snack on till dinner. Then i would eat any of these for dinner, home made shepherds pie, erm omlette, chips beans onion rings and chicken breast. salmon and rice, stirfry etc. Then for the rest of the day im eating bits of fruit. maby couple slices of toast with honey on it. sultanas, seed/nut mix a bit. etc just odd bits.

I dont eat over 2000 calories a day. in fact i hardily make for 1500 a day.

The thing is I HAVE NO ENERGY!!!! at all and im still putting weight on. something like a pound a week.

How is this even possible? Im not on any meds. I do take high strength cod liver oil and garlic tablets once a day.

I have noticed i have a greenish tongue in the mornings. I have to scrap it off in morning and gives me bad breath.

Could this be linked?

And i do a decent amount of walking but everytime i walk my calfs cramp up to such an extent that i cant walk! especially uphill! And im getting out of breath walking up the stairs. I do struggle with circulation in my legs/feet and hands.

I go for a walk into town once or twice a day between 4-7 times a week that can take up to 30mins to an hour.

Then we also go for a walk in the woods and around the block for about 40 mins.arund 3-5 times a week. Plus i cleaning my pets out alot.

Why do i appear so unfit?
Click to expand...

There is sooooo much information that you're not giving us here. Sunflower already tackled it, but from your description of what you eat (not just in this post), your caloric intake could be absolutely anything. So, maybe you're gaining weight because you're eating more than you think you are. Or, maybe you're not really as active as you would like to make it seem. I don't know. It's hard to tell from the vague information you've given us.

The first thing I noticed was how you didn't say how much you weigh. That umm...that's important. Especially if you really are gaining around a pound per week, nobody here is going to be able to give you advice (well, advice that's worth a crap anyway) without knowing how much you weigh.
 
She weighs 11 stone and is 5 foot 1.

I guess I wasn't too clear in my first post. I can see you've given us the same info about twice.

The words "strict diet" always throws me cause it can mean different things. But the foods you are eating look pretty good. I suspect you are eating too much especially if your dinner is 800 calories. That might be ok for an average person but you are a tiny person, if overweight.

You don't need to spend more on food. You are doing well with your food choices but if you are going to account to us or the doctor about what you eat, you need to be more precise. "nuts" is a world away from "two walnuts pieces" When someone says to me "nuts" i at least imagine they mean a handful. But two nuts won't hurt you i think. When you go to the doctor, maybe write down everything you ate in the last two days meal by meal, including an accurate reporting of portion size. Using level cups and measuring spoons helps.

I think in your diary you should try to do the calorie counting thing and if you can try to make all your meals about the same size in terms of calories. I think it will be easier.

Don't drink fruit juice. It's high in sugar and low in fibre and appetite satisfaction . I know its yummy. Just have one occasionally.

Careful with all the snacking. IT would be better to eat a meal and if your time is your own that shouldn't be too hard really.

Try to swap the sugary light-on cereals for things like oats or all bran or even weetbix. (I wonder if i've said all this already)

But none of these things account for your lack of energy. Do you ever suffer depression? Lack of energy and motivation is a classic symptom of my depression. If its not depression, you might just have some hormonal imbalance but i don't really know how good medicine as checking all that too be honest.

Definitely see your doctor and make them run some tests. Don't let them fob you off with tut tuts and vague suggestions that sound like what you are doing already. You've got the cramps, circulation and joint problems. And the green tongue. As well as a lack of energy. Something's going on. It might not be serious but whatever it is, it needs addressing. You should probably count the calories in your cod liver oil in your daily intake. Oil is fat whatever sort it is and all fat has calories.

The joint problems are probably exacerbated, if not caused, by your weight.

When i get cramps its when i am doing a lot of exercise and from all my research i think it comes to dehydration due to loss of body salts. Sometimes i get night cramps when i drink too much nescafe. AGain this could be dehydration related. They don't really know for certain what causes some types of cramps. Over exertion causes it some times but that usually when people are really pushing themselves very very hard. I used to see it a lot at the school swimming carnivals as a kid. But since you don't see it at the olympics, i guess people have got their diet and electrolytes all balanced up.

Just rereading, i can't see you mention water. How much are you drinking. Aim for 8 glasses per day, throughout the day, a glass at a time.

Well that's all i can think of for now. Let us know how you get on.
 
jI tend to drink at least 3 pints a day but i usually drink between 4-5pints of water a day. And not to gross people out but my urine is seethrough not morning green all day rofl.

I have a food dairy that i filled out for a week and a half so far.

I have just come off anti depressants and i think i have a hormone imballance dew to lack of sex drive and irregular periods *from contraceptive about a year and a half ago (not on them now)* Im like 5 days late for my period this month.

I also seem to suffer from long term iron defficancy which has lead to constipation for over 2 weeks before.

I have no idea if im still short on iron? How do i no? And i have been tested for thyriod which is fine.

What controlls the iron in your body? Because i seemed to of suffured from lack of iron for a few years. Even though i eat some good protiens.

BTW im now switching my cereal to a fruit and nut muesli. Very tasty and keeps u full and provides energy.

I get cramps in my legs just walking uphill. My back is stiff as a board now aswell and clicks everytime i bed over.

I do plenty of excercise. i tend to do an hour per day of activity. Walking,house work,animal husbandry or just running up and down stairs all day long *three story house*
 
Oh im also very big boned and very well build/muscled for a female. They say my average weight would be between 7-8stone. I would be in hospital if i was that weight. My good weight is 9-9 and half stone. Any thinner and i would be very unwell.

AND IM NOT JUST SAYING THIS EITHER.
 
Howldaloom said:
jI tend to drink at least 3 pints a day but i usually drink between 4-5pints of water a day. And not to gross people out but my urine is seethrough not morning green all day rofl.

I have a food dairy that i filled out for a week and a half so far.

I have just come off anti depressants and i think i have a hormone imballance dew to lack of sex drive and irregular periods *from contraceptive about a year and a half ago (not on them now)* Im like 5 days late for my period this month.

I also seem to suffer from long term iron defficancy which has lead to constipation for over 2 weeks before.

I have no idea if im still short on iron? How do i no? And i have been tested for thyriod which is fine.

What controlls the iron in your body? Because i seemed to of suffured from lack of iron for a few years. Even though i eat some good protiens.

BTW im now switching my cereal to a fruit and nut muesli. Very tasty and keeps u full and provides energy.

I get cramps in my legs just walking uphill. My back is stiff as a board now aswell and clicks everytime i bed over.

I do plenty of excercise. i tend to do an hour per day of activity. Walking,house work,animal husbandry or just running up and down stairs all day long *three story house*
Click to expand...

You have an iron deficiency, but you don't know how your body gets iron? Did you see a doctor? Did a doctor tell you that you had an iron deficiency? If so, he/she would've explained how your body obtains iron and the sources you should eat to get it.

Or, is this a self-diagnosis? If so, I wouldn't take your diagnosis seriously. You don't even know how the body gets iron, so how do you know you have a deficiency of it?

You need to put down whatever you are doing and go see a doctor. I think there's more than meets the eye with you.
 
I went to the doctors for constipation last year and they tok blood tests and told me i was borderline anemic and need to take iron supplements for a year or so. which i have done but now the symtoms are back and now im struggling to have my periods. I no its an iron thing because whenever i have something with iron it it like red meat *ALOT OF IT* i tend to go to the loo within minutes. but if i eat loads of fibre i cant go for days
 
If you're not getting your periods then this is a serious medical condition and you need to go back to your doctor. I have borderline anaemia as well (and can't take iron supplements because they interfere severely with a medication I take that keeps me alive, try to make up for it by eating lots of protein and meat) and I don't get anything like those symptoms- I just don't have as much energy as other people.
 
I do believe anaemia leads to low energy.

Given all the complications you have identified, you really do need to work more closely with your doctor. I would think get checked twice annually. If your doctor does not want to work closely with your on your weight loss aims and getting all your bloods right, then you must find another one.

Also i think you should ask them to refer you to a suitable skilled dietician to work out a diet plan for you. You should probably see them periodically also for adjustments and such with your diet.

Then, when you've got your program, come here and do a daily diary. But its obvious to all of us i am sure, that we can't help you as much as your doctor and a dietician can, so you just need to bite the bullet and spend the money and take the time.

There is another cause of low energy and that's depression. If your depression is unrelated to your iron levels or any other dietary issue or medical reason, then you may simply have dysthymia which is a low level type of depression. People with this disorder usually are not so depressed that they can't work or function fairly normally but they do have less energy than other people. People with this disorder often go undiagnosed and untreated. There is another cyclic version of this disorder and that's cyclothymia. Its a low level type of bipolar - that's the easiest way of describing it. Instead of being on a low all or most of the time, your moods cycle between moderate lows and moderate highs. I mean all depression and bipolar is on a sliding scale. There are different degrees of severity in all of us. And with different symptoms. One of my symptoms is low energy. But antidepressants really help me a lot with this. Of course forum addictions are another matter. A different explanation for why some of us may find it hard to get going.

Anyhow, work with the doctors. Tell them everything that's relevant. If you do not understand what htey say, ask for clarification. Make them give you all the help and information you need. But don't stop there, do your own research. That said, you have to be careful with a lot of internet information. There are a lot of quacks out there waiting for the likes of you. There are a lot of wacky ideas that have a growing band of supporters amongst the inadequately educated or medically treated public. Do not fall for the health myths. Double check every new idea with your doctor. Maintstream doctors aren't perfect but they work on more solid science than most out on the fringes.
 
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