Why am I not losing weight

Posted by mahnoorra @mahnoorra, Mar 4, 2019

I have a very healthy diet and lifestyle, however I do not seem to be seeing results. Why?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Healthy Living Support Group.

Hello @mahnoorra, welcome to Connect. Here is another good discussion in the healthy living group on staying motivated over the long haul in the weight loss and health journey, https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/staying-motivated-for-the-long-haul/.

@mahnoorra, I am not a medical professional, but also like to exercise and try to eat healthy as well. I also struggle at times to get my weight to change, and in my own experience it has been due to a lot of factors: exercise type, muscle weight, different diet changes needed, plateauing in an exercise routine. If you don't mind sharing while we wait for others to jump in, what sort of activities and eating habits have you tried? Sometimes, all that is needed is a change of exercise routine every few weeks as your body adapts to the lifestyle you are living.

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@mahnoorra: Like Justin, I try to eat reasonably well (cooking mostly with fresh ingredients), and do a modicum of exercise. My weight was pretty much stuck at 142 lbs. (I’m 5’5’’ tall) for almost 15 years. Very much in the normal range. Then I had some complicated dental issues: infected tooth that needed to be cut out, jawbone scraped, 4 weeks later bone graft added, 4 weeks after that titanium post implanted, 3 months later excess bone mass shaved off prior to setting base for tooth implant, then the crown on top of that. So for roughly 6 months I pretty much had extremely sore gums from all the cutting there, and could only chew on one side. Result: I ate everything I did before, but sooooooo much slower, and not as much, since it took much longer to consume the food. I sort of inadvertently dropped 14 lbs. (that was 2 years ago), and kept it off. Not a scientific solution, but for me slowing down - and I still eat slowly - made a huge difference without any additional changes. Sounds silly, but it’s worth a try? One disclaimer, though: I luckily do not have a sweet tooth. I may go for dark chocolate once in a while, but most other sweets, including ice cream, do not appeal to me. On the very few occasions I end up with a sweet dessert, I find it packs on at least 1 lb. overnight. My cravings are vegetables of any kind, in any form........... and I indulge!
PS: I also can eat 5 or 6 potato chips and STOP. I never buy them for myself, but if I find them at a gathering, I’ll have a taste - and only that!

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@mahnoorra
I have always found that if I’m gaining or maintaining a weight I don’t want is because I’m eating to much for my exercise level or eating the wrong kind of food.
I don’t believe in diets but in eating correctly. My Dad was overweight, in fact so was I and my mother. My Dad was paralyzed from the neck down and got zero exercise so needed less food than my mom and I. His doctor gave him a 700 calorie a day diet. Everything had to be weighed and measured. We all started dropping weight and ate everything from appetizers to desert. But better than that none of us were ever hungry nor did we have any cravings. Unbelievable to me since I only ate tsugar before.

Of course this is only my opinion but it seems reasonable to me. I don’t deny there are a few medical problems that may interfere with weight loss like thyroid, insulin issues etc but I believe these problems are few but frequently used as excuses. I once did something as foolish as it was dangerous, I fasted for 14 days. I have always found that if I’m gaining or maintaining a weight I don’t want it is because I’m eating to much for my exercise level or eating the wrong kind of food. When I swam 5 miles a day I could eat anything I wanted, whatever I ate then came from the bakery.
I don’t believe in diets but in eating correctly, now. My Dad was overweight, in fact so was I and my mother. My Dad was paralyzed from the neck down and got zero exercise so needed less food than my mom and I. His doctor gave him a 700 calorie a day diet. Everything had to be weighed and measured and was made or cooked from fresh food, nothing packaged, canned or frozen. We all started dropping weight and ate everything from appetizers to desert. But better than that none of us were ever hungry nor did we ever have any cravings. Unbelievable to me since I only ate sugar before.
I don’t believe in eating low cal or diet anything. Take a good look at what your eating and how much.
Jake

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@jakedduck1

@mahnoorra
I have always found that if I’m gaining or maintaining a weight I don’t want is because I’m eating to much for my exercise level or eating the wrong kind of food.
I don’t believe in diets but in eating correctly. My Dad was overweight, in fact so was I and my mother. My Dad was paralyzed from the neck down and got zero exercise so needed less food than my mom and I. His doctor gave him a 700 calorie a day diet. Everything had to be weighed and measured. We all started dropping weight and ate everything from appetizers to desert. But better than that none of us were ever hungry nor did we have any cravings. Unbelievable to me since I only ate tsugar before.

Of course this is only my opinion but it seems reasonable to me. I don’t deny there are a few medical problems that may interfere with weight loss like thyroid, insulin issues etc but I believe these problems are few but frequently used as excuses. I once did something as foolish as it was dangerous, I fasted for 14 days. I have always found that if I’m gaining or maintaining a weight I don’t want it is because I’m eating to much for my exercise level or eating the wrong kind of food. When I swam 5 miles a day I could eat anything I wanted, whatever I ate then came from the bakery.
I don’t believe in diets but in eating correctly, now. My Dad was overweight, in fact so was I and my mother. My Dad was paralyzed from the neck down and got zero exercise so needed less food than my mom and I. His doctor gave him a 700 calorie a day diet. Everything had to be weighed and measured and was made or cooked from fresh food, nothing packaged, canned or frozen. We all started dropping weight and ate everything from appetizers to desert. But better than that none of us were ever hungry nor did we ever have any cravings. Unbelievable to me since I only ate sugar before.
I don’t believe in eating low cal or diet anything. Take a good look at what your eating and how much.
Jake

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@jakedduck1 This is so true its the portions and eating the right foods that are important and it is a lifestyle change in eating.

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@mahnoorra, @ellerbracke, @JustinMcClanahan, @jakedduck1 and @lioness -- My wife has started a 16/8 intermittent fasting diet and I've been poo pooing it until I thought there may be something to it when I started to research it a little. I think my wife heard someone on TV talk about it and decided to give it a try - not to lose weight but just be healthier. I thought you might be interested in this article that explains it. Have you tried it or heard about this plan before?

16/8 Intermittent Fasting: A Beginner's Guide -- https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/16-8-intermittent-fasting

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@johnbishop

@mahnoorra, @ellerbracke, @JustinMcClanahan, @jakedduck1 and @lioness -- My wife has started a 16/8 intermittent fasting diet and I've been poo pooing it until I thought there may be something to it when I started to research it a little. I think my wife heard someone on TV talk about it and decided to give it a try - not to lose weight but just be healthier. I thought you might be interested in this article that explains it. Have you tried it or heard about this plan before?

16/8 Intermittent Fasting: A Beginner's Guide -- https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/16-8-intermittent-fasting

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@johnbishop I've heard of this before. It seems reasonable. If your wife has started it, how is she feeling?

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@hopeful33250

@johnbishop I've heard of this before. It seems reasonable. If your wife has started it, how is she feeling?

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@hopeful33250 she's been doing great. She has more will power than I do. She’s been doing the plan for a month or so. I don’t think she’s lost any weight but she really doesn’t need to lose any weight.

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@johnbishop

@hopeful33250 she's been doing great. She has more will power than I do. She’s been doing the plan for a month or so. I don’t think she’s lost any weight but she really doesn’t need to lose any weight.

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@johnbishop- I can't fast, I love food too much. I also get lightheaded. As you know you have to use up more calories than you take in. I lost about 10lbs on the dash diet. Exercise is the key!

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@merpreb

@johnbishop- I can't fast, I love food too much. I also get lightheaded. As you know you have to use up more calories than you take in. I lost about 10lbs on the dash diet. Exercise is the key!

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Hi Merry @merpreb, Did you catch Lee's @LeeAase post on the Mayo Clinic Social Media Network - A Calorie is NOT a Calorie? Really interesting topic - here's the link to the document he mentioned: http://social-media-university-global.org/2020/02/a-calorie-is-not-a-calorie/

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@johnbishop

Hi Merry @merpreb, Did you catch Lee's @LeeAase post on the Mayo Clinic Social Media Network - A Calorie is NOT a Calorie? Really interesting topic - here's the link to the document he mentioned: http://social-media-university-global.org/2020/02/a-calorie-is-not-a-calorie/

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I wouldn't have thought I could fast either. It's especially hard if you're eating a lot of carbs. But once I switched to a low-carb diet with more fat and protein (eggs for breakfast instead of Corn Chex) it was amazing how I didn't get the cravings. You maintain a much more stable blood sugar level when you don't eat processed carbs.

Also, check out this post I did Friday - http://social-media-university-global.org/2020/02/an-unfortunately-named-book/

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