Frustrated - Not losing weight

[DragonSRV]

I've struggled with weight loss over the last 12 years or so (since my mid 20's) and been on a cycle of weight loss/weight gain since then. I've been down to as low as 170 and as high as 230. I'm 5,9 and currently 37 years old. I have an office job, so I'm not super active during the day but when I am "on the wagon" I tend to stick to running/walking for exercise. I recently have discovered I have an irregular heartbeat, which becomes more noticeable the heavier I am so I've been focused on losing weight and keeping it off going forward. (Even though the Doc says its not harmful, it sure as hell feels "bad")

Here's my question. Wtf am I doing wrong? I usually eat around 1600-1800 calories a day. Protein shake in the morning, 100-200 calorie snack mid-morning and mid-afternoon, a salad for lunch and then some sort of paleo dinner. (Chicken Caesar, meat and veggies, etc)

It's been a full 4 weeks and I haven't lost a pound. This is super unusual for me. Typically in the past, I'll lose anywhere from 2-3 lbs in a week, but the last diet I was losing about 2-3 a month, at best. Am I just getting older or am I doing something wrong? This worked in the past so I'm confused AF. And super discouraged.

I'm not starving during the day so I think I'm eating enough. I also drink a ton of water and usually get 6-8 hours of sleep a night.

Some additional facts that may or may not be related. I ruptured my Achilles about 6 years ago. This seems to have been a turning point for me. I was in great shape and relatively stress free. Since then, I've struggled with anxiety and depression and just felt "old."

Any advice/thoughts or ideas are greatly appreciated. Thank you all for your time.

 

[Fred Wright]

Hi Dragon,

Nice to meet you. My name is Fred.

You mentioned that you have been on a "cycle of weight loss and weight gain since your mid-20s". Just to dig deeper, do you mean that you have been on diets (low calorie to be specific) before when you got down to 170lbs? The only reason I ask is that if you have been doing low-calorie diets then going back to your old ways of eating you could (and I emphasize could) have some for of leptin or insulin resistance. In other words, your body is smart. When you adopt a low-calorie diet for the first time the body gets great results. It burns fat as the primary fuel source and everyone is happy. Then when you go back to eating like you did prior you put all the fat you lost back on. The problem with this is that the more you do this the more your body becomes aware of it. It thinks there is no food around and goes into hibernation mode. Slowly it will start to store more and more fat when the hibernation season comes round (diet) in case you run out of energy. This could be why you haven't lost any weight.

That is just my two cents on that statement. I am not sure exactly what methods you have done in the past so I may be wrong.

Moving on to the exercise, great job with the walking and running. Walking is a great way to relieve stress. Have you ever tried any other form of exercise? High-intensity interval training (HIIT) for example has quite a lot of research showing that it is an effective way of reducing body fat. It involves a mixture of cardio and weight training that is done at a high intense level over a short period of time. Classes usually range between 30 to 45 mins. Weight training as a whole has a lot of research showing that is great for fat loss. Other classes include circuit training and boot camps.

With regards to the irregular heart beat, I am no Dr but I am in the health and wellness niche and there is a link between heart health and your thyroid hormones. Depending on the severity of your health, in a lot of cases, thyroid issues can usually be treated with nutrition and lifestyle. I know experts in this field that have quite a lot of free articles on the topic of heart health and thyroid. If you would like me to share them with you feel free to message me privately and I will send them. Due to the forum, rules I cannot post any links here.

Digging deeper into your diet. I love the paleo dinner routine you have. I am a big fan of paleo and have had some great results with it myself. My question is, do you adopt the Paleo method full time and what are you following? Paleo has been known as being somewhat of a healing diet that focuses on the reduction of inflammation in the body as well as balancing hormones to help reduce fat and improve heart health. Even if you are not losing weight, if you have been on the paleo diet full time for 4 weeks you should have noticed some change to your body shape. For example, if you are bloated around the stomach area, paleo helps reduce bloatedness so after 4 weeks you would notice a difference around the stomach. The paleo diet has also had some success with depression and anxiety due to the foods that are recommended on it. Again, I can direct you better with the paleo diet if you need any help with it.

Moving away from the paleo my other question would be the quality of the foods and the quantity. It is important that you know what ingredients are going into your body. For example, I would ask you what protein shake are you taking as a lot of them have some form of sugar, dairy or artificial flavorings that can hurt your weight loss goals. Sugar especially! I personally stick with vegan protein shakes (I am not a vegan lol) because most are 90% to 100% natural and contain important nutrients. I use brands like the garden of life and sun warrior. Taste wise they are 2 of the better. It is important to know what is in your foods and what you are consuming. Instead of looking at calories try looking at the ingredients. If you see words you can't even pronounce, sugars and hidden sugars (anything with 'ose' on the end like fructose) then my advice would be to stay away from it. It is always best to eat fresh and if you have time cook for yourself. If you don' have time that is fine. My suggestions would be to either purchase a slow cooker and a thermos (both time-saving saviors) or make sure that wherever you eat can supply you with the healthiest food options you can get.

My diet isn't perfect. What I try and to is adopt the 80/20 rule. 80% of what I consume is good and the 20% is foods I love but aren't really sanctioned as 'healthy' lol.

Regardless of what you are doing wrong or right, you are trying to make a change and that is a great step. I too have been overweight on a few occasions so I know the mental difficulties that come with it. The best advice I could probably give you would be to try different natural eating methods and find one that fits. The ones I recommend are the paleo diet, keto diet and the leaky gut diet. There is also a very good transformation cleanse that I have done before with great effect. It was hard but it kick started my fat loss goals.

If any of these interest you then make a commitment to yourself to try them out. You may be pleasantly surprised with the results.

Let me know if there is anything you want me to recommend. I have so many resources I share with people so feel free to message me.

Good luck,


Fred

 

[ThinHappy40]

Hi

great job on trying, it takes a lot to follow a plan for 4 weeks, most people drop out after 3 days, so you know you definitely have what it takes to lose the weight and get healthy, we just have to figure out what you are doing wrong.
are you on any meds for depression?