Weight Loss is not Easy Anymore (It's Stuck)

[Deborah]

Even on HRT, losing weight has always been pretty easy as long as I exercised some and watched my calorie balance.  But it seems that ease has stopped.  In Nov I was losing almost daily and was down to 165 before I got lazy and went into vacation mode until early Jan.  Then I gained back to about 175 when I decided to get serious and beat this once and for all.

I'm 5'10.5" and this morning weighed in at 172 (BMI 24.01).   My goal is to get to 155 with a BMI of 22.  But my scale is stuck even though for the past week I have been very good about diet maintaining a daily average intake of 1372 cal while burning a daily average of 2387 cal.  I know those are estimates but I am being conservative, using a female calculated metabolic rate.  So, I should be losing something.  By raw calculation I should have lost two pounds.

But my daily weight for the past seven days is 171.8, 172.8, 173, 173.6, 172.4, 172.7, and 172 this morning.   WTF!!!!!!!

I had my spiro doubled in Sept so could this be a sign that my T is finally lowering.  It was 120 ng/dl then.  Could this be some health problem?  I don't think so because I actually feel really good and am getting great sleep, averaging 7 hours per night.  I drink a cup of valerian tea with a 5 mg melatonin tablet at bedtime and that knocks me out cold.

I do exercise everyday and for the past week began eating low carb, averaging about 120g per day (0 processed carbs).  I also drink a lot of water, over 20 cups a day.  I'm even averaging fairly well on fiber at about 20g per day.

My waistline has shrunk about 1/2 inch which is good news.  The only thing I can think of is that I have added moderate body weight exercises to my program a month ago with push-ups, sit-ups, and squats three times a week.  This is with some running and a lot of walking averaging about 7.7 miles per day.

So, any ideas about what is going on?  Or any ideas about what else I can do?  I'm not discouraged and am going to keep at it.  But I am frustrated as what was once very easy is now not easy at all.


Sapere Aude

[AnonyMs]

I've found the same on occasion, and the only way drop it is reduce calories even more.

Whatever it is now, make it less. Or exercise more, but that's much harder.

[Deborah]

I should add that the first day I started this low carb diet on Jan 30th I lost 5 pounds overnight.  But since then I am stuck and losing nothing.


Sapere Aude

[Dani]

I should add that the first day I started this low carb diet on Jan 30th I lost 5 pounds overnight.  But since then I am stuck and losing nothing.


Sapere Aude

Deborah,

If you lost 5 pounds overnight, that is either digested food in your GI tract or water weight that was eliminated.

I am still losing weight, but for the past 3 months, I fluctuated around 230 pounds. In order to jump start weight lose again, I purged using a laxative routine similar to a colonoscopy prep. I have had several colonoscopies before. I only lost 3 pounds doing this. Now to continue to lose weight, I am taking a clear liquid diet for the next several days.

I do not recommend doing this without medical supervision. My physician knows what I am doing and he is fine with this for a very limited time, no more than 7 days. Then I will go back on a more reduced calorie vegetable diet.

[Deborah]

If you lost 5 pounds overnight, that is either digested food in your GI tract or water weight that was eliminated.

It was mostly the former with a little bit of the latter.  I had caused myself a problem "backing things up" down there taking iron supplements.  I had stopped using them a week or so before but the effects finally wore off that day.


Sapere Aude

[Dena]

When I lose weight, my body replace the weigh with water. I will then have a day of Peeing and my weight will drop a few pounds. I am not sure if the applies to somebody on Spiro. The other issue is possibly your body wants to hold fat in feminine areas because of the lower T levels. There could also be a problem if you are on progesterone as that can make your body want to stock up in preparation for producing a baby.

You really need to determine how much to lose by looking in a mirror. if you still have weight in the wrong place, then you need to lose it. If the weight is in the right place, that might be where you should stay.

[Deborah]

I'm trying to lose the remainder of what I have around my waist.  There are at least two to four inches that can go.  I've got these "love handles" that have been there since I was a kid eating too much ice cream.  Maybe they are permanent but I hope not.


Sapere Aude

[Dani]

Yes, yes and double yes! We can all expect to see daily fluctuations of a pound or two up or down. Some people have a chart and graph daily weights. They only look at long term trends over a month or so. Never look at daily weights because of water and bowel changes. It is important to keep the bowels moving and if not enough food is being eaten, then a gentle bulk forming laxative is helpful.

[Deborah]

The weight went up again today and I ate 50 grams of fiber yesterday with a 1000 calorie deficit.  Maybe tonight it will drop two pounds LOL.

One good effect from this diet is it seems to be bringing my blood pressure down.  It was creeping up over the limit the past two visits at the endo and they were beginning to give me a hard time about it.  I've also over the past month made some other dietary selections that are supposed to have good effects on blood pressure.  Hopefully I'm not speaking too soon and this trend continues.


Sapere Aude

[AnonyMs]

The weight went up again today and I ate 50 grams of fiber yesterday with a 1000 calorie deficit.  Maybe tonight it will drop two pounds LOL.

I guess its kind of stating the obvious, but you can't run a actual calorie deficit for long without losing weight. If you manage it you're probably not calculating it correctly.

[Deborah]

I know.  One thing though i forgot about is that I started working out and running again.  Whenever I have done that in the past I have gained 4 to 6 pounds pretty quickly.  If that is the problem it should even out in the next week or so.

I am very confident in my calculations.  I have done this many times before and I measure things.


Sapere Aude

[Dena]

You have to be careful not to push your body into starvation mode. If you do, the burn rate goes way down and it become much more difficult to lose weight. If you are consuming 1000 calories less, you may be in starvation mode and strange as it may seem, you may need to up the calorie intake to lose weight.  Normally that would be around 500 calories less than what it takes to maintain your weight.

[Dani]

Dena,

That is an excellent point about starvation mode. When your body senses extreme calorie deprivation, your body goes into survival mode and metabolism slows in an attempt to stretch out the survival time until the next meal.
 
I have a Tanita body composition scale, which measures % body fat via electrical impedance through the feet. Believe it or not, it is very accurate. This scale also calculates required calories to maintain  the current weight. I try to stay about 600 to 800 calories below the maintenance weight. Keep in mind that 1 pound is about 3600 calories. This gives me a weight loss of about 1 pound per week.

The specific model of the Tanita scale is the "Ironman". It is a very useful tool in my struggle to lose weight.

[Deborah]

I don't think I've slowed my metabolism, at least not yet.  I have eaten too little a few times but the past few days I've been around 1500 calories. That still gives me about an 800 calorie deficit for today.  If nothing positive happens by the end of this week I may up my calories a little.

I have a body fat scale too but I'm not really sure what settings to use anymore.  I have it set on the female setting and just watch for trends now because it's reading way too high, at 36%.  Male settings or female athlete settings are probably more accurate but I just don't know what effect a year of HRT, and the spiro, have on the validity of the algorithms.  In truth I think my actual body fat is around 20%.  In past years at this weight it was somewhat lower, probably 12 to 14%.

Edited to add:  I know that 20% is healthy but I want to get rid of the remainder that is around my waist if that is possible.


Sapere Aude

[AnonyMs]

I think staving works pretty well. I averaged just over 3 pounds a week for 23 weeks, and managed to lose 8 pounds one week in the middle.

It can be difficult to function normally, but it is very effective.

[Deborah]

Positive news on the diet this week.  I kept to a daily deficit although a couple of days my deficit was smaller than on others.  However, my weight stopped fluctuating up and down and flatlined for much of the week.  I did end up with a small seven day average loss of about half a pound from 172.7 to 172.3 lbs.  BMI this morning was below 24. :-)

Keeping with the no processed food diet I did find an unexpected benefit.  My daily sodium intake is way down by around 2000mg per day.  This may be the reason for my blood pressure dropping back into the normal range (below 120/80).  I just hope that trend stays steady for my endo next month.  The last two times they were beginning to show concern.

So my stats for the past seven days.
Seven day average loss: .4 lbs
Average weight: 172.3 lbs
Average calories in:  1672
Average calories out: 2484
Average daily walking & running: 8.74 mi
Average sleep: 7:05 hrs

Diet notes:
My daily potassium remains at about 2/3rd RDA.
Protein 104g daily, 24%
Carbs 147g, 34%
Fat 79g, 42%
Fiber 36g
Sugar 42g (down by 60% without processed food)
Sodium 3028mg

I'm feeling pretty good and plenty energetic so I'll stick with this for a while.  One thing though, it doesn't do much for growth up top.  But if I can fix my waist first I'll worry about that later.



Sapere Aude

[Deborah]

More good news on this weight loss journey.  My waist has shrunk down a half inch.  Yaaaay.  Unfortunately, the top has shrunk some too. :-(. My ribcage size has also shrunk though so it's generally staying in proportion, just smaller.  My neck is down a half inch too which is good because that was one of my biggest shortfalls in the beginning at 16.75".  Now it's down to 14.5". My waist to hip ratio started at 93% at the beginning of HRT and is now 83% so just three more percentage points to get into the right bracket.  With some luck I might be able to hit that number in a month.  If I do my waist will be smaller than it was when I started puberty and was six inches shorter.  (Too much ice cream in those days LOL)


Sapere Aude

[Deborah]

Third week update:  My weight is still acting kind of funky with it dropping for a few days and then climbing again but overall there is a downward trend.  My seven day average loss was 1.5 lbs from 172.3 to 170.8 lbs.  My total calorie deficit for the week was 6350 cal which would indicate a 1.8 lbs loss so the actual result is pretty consistent.

Other things this week in keeping with the no processed food diet:  My blood pressure is staying consistently in the normal range.  Actually, it's a lot better now than when I was 17 years old.   (I have also been consistent with using garlic so that might contribute also). My abdominal measurements have not really changed although they are looking more defined with a four pack showing through.  I just have a persistent layer of fat over my lower stomach and lower back on the sides that I am seeking to be rid of.  I fear that they might hang on and be the last to go. :-(. I'm not sure a 28 inch waist is achievable though I'll be happy with whatever it is once the fat is gone.  Right now it's about 33" at the narrowest point.

So my stats for the past seven days.
Seven day average loss: 1.5 lbs
Average weight: 170.8  lbs
Average calories in:  1702
Average calories out: 2609
Average daily walking & running: 10.2 mi
Average sleep: 7:10 hrs. (This is the first time in my life I have consistently enforced enough sleep and it is making a considerable difference in how I feel everyday)

Diet notes:
My daily potassium remains at about half RDA.
Protein 124g average daily, 28%
Carbs 170g, 38%
Fat 67g, 34%
Fiber 38g
Sugar 54g (According to medical articles this is ideal)
Sodium 3155mg

I have found after three weeks of no processed carbs that I don't get sugar highs and lows.  I also don't get any cravings for candy and chips like I used to.  This is helping a lot with hunger.  While I do still get hungry sometimes, the feeling is nothing compared to the intense feelings of a sugar low combined with a craving for a snickers bar.  This is pretty easily controllable now.  Also, my energy levels stay pretty level and high.

My sense of taste seems more intense now too.  That may be imagined but it certainly seems real and food tastes really good.


Sapere Aude

[Dena]

I noticed when I was carrying more weight than I should, I wasn't always hungry when I should be and I enjoyed the flavor of food but it wasn't as exciting as it was at a lower weight. At peek weight, I was about 13 pounds over weight but dropping 30 pounds has helped. I am considering another 10 which would put me at my post transition weight but I am not in a big rush to do it.

I understand the need for your salt intake but I suspect it's playing with your water retention and causing your weight loss to fluctuate. I would suggest that you only worry about the weekly weight number as that is a long enough time period to override the water retention cycle.

[Deborah]

Fourth week update:  This week my weight rose the second day, then was stuck for several days and then did a healthy sized drop.  My seven day average loss was only .3  lbs from 170.8 to 170.5 lbs.  However, my ending weight, both today and yesterday, was down 2.9 lbs from seven days ago from 171.8 to 168.9.  My total calorie deficit for the week was 7428 cal which would indicate a 2.1 lbs loss so the actual result is more than expected this week.

The big news is that my blood pressure is consistently good.  At the endo six months ago and a year ago it was reading in excess of 150/90.  I did talk them out of taking any action but the Dr. was showing concern.  Now I measure blood pressure three times a day and keep a record for the Dr.  In the past seven days, with 21 records, six have been greater than 120/80 with the two highest measurements at 122/77 and 115/82.  The remaining 15 measurements were less than 120/80 with the two lowest at 95/76 and 117/63.  All are measured while seated like in the Dr's office.  I just hope when I go back to the endo in two weeks I don't get an unexpected spike!  I will be taking my BP records along though.

I'm not entirely sure why it has dropped.  My weight was not excess the past two visits and I have done several things at the same time to try and drop it.  These include reducing sodium, increasing sleep, exercise with an emphasis on low intensity and proper recovery, eating garlic, and drinking chamomile and valerian tea.  Maybe they all contribute a little.

I'm posting a collage below to show where I started on the first day of HRT in Jan 15 and where  I'm at today.  The first pic in the top left is not pretty (LOL) but it is what it is.  The other three are from this morning.  From the front I think I still have quite a lot to lose, especially on the lower belly.  On the side there is still some to lose but a big part of that piece sticking out is my oblique muscle which may be there to stay.  The back shows what I am really trying to get rid of, those two fat pads on each side of my lower back.  I think they have been there since before puberty and are proving resistant to change so far.

I do have one question for anyone who has been on HRT long term.  Can I expect my abdomen to change in any significant way with several more years of HRT?  Or will it stay pretty much as is except hopefully with less fat?

So, here is the pic.


So my stats for the past seven days.
Seven day average loss: 0.3 lbs
Average weight: 170.5  lbs
Average calories in:  1803 (increase of 100 cal)
Average calories out: 2864 (increase of 255 cal)
Average daily walking & running: 12.5 mi (increase of 2.3 mi)
Average sleep: 6:38 hrs. (decrease of 27 min.  I need to go to bed earlier.  I try to wake up every morning at 4:00 am since the quiet darkness is my favorite time of the day)

Diet notes:
My daily potassium is at 52% RDA.
Protein 137g average daily, 30% (up)
Carbs 173g, 38% (no change)
Fat 65g, 32% (down)
Fiber 36g (down)
Sugar 48g (down)
Sodium 3344mg (A little bit up.  Although this may seem low with spiro I am actually experiencing fewer episodes of lightheadedness than I was when my salt was a lot higher.  Those episodes are increasingly rare.)

I have gotten pretty hungry a few times in the afternoon this week.  My eating pattern is to consume about 700 cal during the day and then the rest in the evening.  My will power is at its weakest in the evening and I absolutely hate going to bed hungry.  So most evenings I eat 1100 to 1200 cal to keep myself happy.



Sapere Aude