Help weigh loss is not happening!

Status
Not open for further replies.
H

Hellsbells79

Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi everyone . I need help because I’m really struggling . Was diagnosed 3 weeks ago and was straight on it with diet and lifestyle changes . Lost 6 pounds in first week and nothing since infact a pound on this week ! I’m eating under 1000 cal a day and under 50g of carbs and I’ve not had any blips. Can anyone advise as it really getting me down knowing I’ve cut so much out - (no chocolate or anything sweet since) - and I’m not losing !?!?!
 
Are you weighing everything you eat and logging using an app, or estimating the weights/calories? I’d put calories up a bit since 1000 is pretty low and may be hard to stick to, but if you lost 6 lb in week 1 then stayed the same for 2 weeks it’s probably just your body settling into the new regime. Keep going with the dieting and it should start going down again soon.
 
For reference 1-2 pounds a week is a healthy rate of weight loss, so your 5 pounds total in 3 weeks would be perfect.
 
I always found that eating fewer calories just slowed me down as though I was moving through treacle.
I lost a load of weight after diagnosis but all I did was reduce the carbs as I was concentrating on reducing blood glucose levels to normal. I suspect all the low calorie diets I did throughout my adult life trained my body to react to low calorie by slowing down everything possible until things got better.
 
Lucyr said:
For reference 1-2 pounds a week is a healthy rate of weight loss, so your 5 pounds total in 3 weeks would be perfect.
Click to expand...
Just what I was thinking - slow n steady weight loss is best. Well done so far @Hellsbells79 - it sounds like you’ve grabbed the bull by the horns and are determined to lose that weight! Good for you. :D
 
Hellsbells79 said:
Hi everyone . I need help because I’m really struggling . Was diagnosed 3 weeks ago and was straight on it with diet and lifestyle changes . Lost 6 pounds in first week and nothing since infact a pound on this week ! I’m eating under 1000 cal a day and under 50g of carbs and I’ve not had any blips. Can anyone advise as it really getting me down knowing I’ve cut so much out - (no chocolate or anything sweet since) - and I’m not losing !?!?!
Click to expand...
The first thing I would do is a really careful audit of how many calories you're actually eating.

It's very easy to get this wrong! And it's highly unlikely you could be eating less than 1000 cal per day for any length of time & not seeing weight loss.
 
A big weight loss initially especially if you cut carbs is usually fluid loss and then the body has to adjust.
Stick with your reduced carb regime but do be careful as cutting too quickly can give eye and nerve issues in some people.
It is suggested to reduce your carbs by one third for a couple of weeks, then another third until you get to where you want to be.
 
Last edited:
Leadinglights said:
When I did Slimming World may years ago, I was told I was not losing weight because I was not eating enough. Apologies if I misled anyone.
Click to expand...
I have the same problem. I thin it is due to having done so many low calorie diets as soon as I go over 12 hours without eating my energy levels drop and I am struggling to even get up stairs. If I divide the food into small meals I get half an hour feeling normal and then the drop again - it is slow torture.
As for weight loss - it is incredibly slow and every pound takes so long to depart.
 
Hellsbells79 said:
Hi everyone . I need help because I’m really struggling . Was diagnosed 3 weeks ago and was straight on it with diet and lifestyle changes . Lost 6 pounds in first week and nothing since infact a pound on this week ! I’m eating under 1000 cal a day and under 50g of carbs and I’ve not had any blips. Can anyone advise as it really getting me down knowing I’ve cut so much out - (no chocolate or anything sweet since) - and I’m not losing !?!?!
Click to expand...

Sounds perfectly normal.
Initial weight loss is down to easily convertible energy stores being used first, and goes with water loss, so weight falls quite quickly.
Then there is a switch to fat burning, which will happen, and followed by a slower weight loss, as fat is twice as calorific as everything else.
As to "starvation mode" - not going to happen.
 
Very disheartening isn't it @Hellsbells79 :( I'm afraid our bodies don't always play by the rules we'd like them to, but I have to agree that given your 6lb weight loss initially, your body is now adjusting and should go into slower fat burn mode soon.
Personally I've found it better to eat more and exercise more to give me a more practical diet in the long term. Being so short, I only use 1500 calories if I don't do >12k steps which doesn't leave much room for extras like a couple of glasses of wine or an occasional treat.
 
Leadinglights said:
When I did Slimming World may years ago, I was told I was not losing weight because I was not eating enough. Apologies if I misled anyone.
Click to expand...
That seems to be a pretty common piece of misinformation in the slimming/diet industry world, unfortunately.

I think a lot of the grist for this particular mill came from the classic "Biggest Loser" studies by Kevin Hall's group. Amongst this extreme weight-loss set, they found surprising long-term "metabolic adaption" - reduction in base energy burn beyond what would be expected from weight-loss alone, persisting even after people stopped with the calorie restriction.

So the diet industry grifters converted this into a message that calorie restriction destroys your metabolism, you need to eat more to "reboot" it etc etc. Which is just woo.

This is what Kevin Hall has to say about it:

The idea that dieting can actually be counterproductive for weight loss is a trope that appears in just about every fitness publication, and warnings of the weight-loss plateau abound.

But although it’s true that metabolism does slow down when people cut calories, that offsets less than half of the decrease in diet calories over the first six months. It takes several years for metabolic slowing to fully offset the average dieter’s reduction in calories and result in a weight plateau. The fact that most people experience a weight plateau much earlier, typically after six to eight months of dieting, means that something else must be happening to thwart their continued weight loss.

In truth, the dreaded weight plateau is much more likely the result of a gradual loss of adherence to the original plan — people are actually eating many more calories when their weight loss stalls than when they started to diet.

 
Last edited:
travellor said:
Sounds perfectly normal.
Initial weight loss is down to easily convertible energy stores being used first, and goes with water loss, so weight falls quite quickly.
Then there is a switch to fat burning, which will happen, and followed by a slower weight loss, as fat is twice as calorific as everything else.
As to "starvation mode" - not going to happen.
Click to expand...

This is exactly what happened to me last year - first month of the diet I lost weight quickly, then is started to steady and the loss was slower (Now seems to move between 67kg and 70kg)
 
It is important to remember that weight is not necessarily a good indicator of the improvements which come from sorting out ones relationship between food, exercise and bodily health.

I say this because if somebody is fit and healthy and active and has good muscle development and they stand next to another person of the same height and weight - one may be fatter and unhealthy and still weigh less than the fit healthy person who is the same height.

This is because muscle weighs more than fat and muscle takes up less space than fat. So it is possible that you may become more active due to feeling more up to moving about as you change your eating habits - especially if you move from a high carb way of eating to a low carb way of eating as this can change ones mood and energy levels and then one does more even if a person is not 'working out' or 'exercising' specifically.

So check measurements and how clothes fit you and how well you feel and if those things are gradually changing in a way that is positive then try not to get too hung up about what the scales say.
 
Thank you for all your comments . 2 weeks on and still no more loss ! No treats , 1100 cal a day or under and I get 50g of carbs . It’s so disheartening. Diabetic nurse said it can be like this with diabetes and has talked about giving it a bit more time then offering an injection to help . Anyone else heard of this ?
 
Is the injection she mentioned one you would take once a week called ozempic?
 
Yes I took it. It didn’t do anything for me but if you use the search function you should find lots of experiences.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top