I am FRUSTRATED!!

[SaraJade]

Hi everyone!

I realize I've been pretty much a lurker here for quite a while.  I've been dealing with an increasingly negative body issue for pretty much two years now.  I just turned 49 and I've been on hormones since 2005.  My dosages are as follows.  <Not Allowed> of spiro, <Not Allowed> estradiol, <Not Allowed> of finasteride, and <Not Allowed> of progesterone (10 days out of the month).  In addition to my hormone regimen...I am taking omeprazole for my acid reflux, every now and again I take rizatriptan for my migraines and I take ropinirole for my RLS.  I'm only including the non hormonal drugs in case they have any adverse side effects that could explain my current frustration.

So...I am currently sticking to a 1000 calorie a day intake of mostly low carb high protein type foods.  I have to admit to currently being fairly sedentary as I am in the middle of relocating and trying to work two jobs at the same time.  I haven't lost a single pound and in fact it appears as though I'm gaining pounds.  I wouldn't mind really if the added weight was going to my hips or my butt...but it is going straight to my gut.  I'm tired of looking like a middle aged beer belly guy!  What am I doing wrong?  I've been to my primary care physician and she has tested my thyroid...everything seems fine there.  We've examined my internal digestive system from the top down and the bottom up (if you know what I mean)...everything seems fine there as well.  I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!  Can someone who has some medical knowledge tell me what I'm doing wrong?  I dropped down to 1000 calories a day because at my age I might be entering menopause and I read that menopausal women...in order to lose weight...must drop down to a 1000 calorie a day diet.

Also...I've been thinking about getting at the very lease an orchi so that I can drop some of my hormone levels just in case they ARE wreaking havoc with my thyroid and it's just not showing up.  However I remember reading some time ago that orchi's are tough to work around when you finally go for the complete gender confirmation surgery.  Is this still the case?

PLEASE!  Any help right now would be better than the overwhelming sense of frustration I am feeling.

Thank you!

Sara Jade

[FTMax]

1000 calories per day is extremely restrictive, even with a sedentary lifestyle. I have never heard of any health professional recommending a diet under 1200 calories. Couple of questions before I give advice:

- What is your current weight and what is your goal weight?
- Could you list out exactly what you're eating and drinking everyday?
- How many ounces of water do you drink per day?
- Are you preparing your own food, buying pre-packaged food, or eating out? If preparing it yourself, are you weighing your food?
- What is your meal schedule?
- Are you doing any kind of exercise?

[Dena]

Welcome to Susan's Place. Diet and exercise are the two most important parts of controlling your weigh. Walking, riding a bike or running if you can handle it are good ways of turning up your metabolism so you burn more calories a day. Without exercise, your body will go into starvation mode where it will  conserve as many calories as it can. Consider walking for 30 minutes a day as a start.

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[Sarah82]

I was told that hrt can slow down your metabolism which can make you gain weight, you could ask your doctor about that and any medication that could assist weight loss.
It could be many different things though.

And just because it is my own personal crusade;
Have you ever been tested for sleep apnea?
Do you often feel tired during the day?
Do you snore at all?

[KatelynBG]

Make sure you track calories from the liquid that you're drinking. Also, when you look at low carb, what you really should be worrying about is keeping it low sugar. Make sure as many carbs as possible are fiber carbs and not sugar carbs. Also, look at nutrients per calorie. Avocados are high in calories but have more nutrients per carb than almost any other food you can eat.

I would say 1000 calories is too low and your body has entered starvation mode where it begins to not burn as many calories.

[IdontEven]

What Katelyn said about starvation mode is probably true. Metabolism is a pretty weird thing and for some people is incredibly easy to mess up. The key to modifying your body like this, be it weight loss or muscle building or training for a competition or whatever, is to pay attention to how your body is responding and adjust what you're doing accordingly. The better you learn your own body the more you'll be able to tailor your results, so pay attention to what your body is telling you!

It seems counter-intuitive, but you might try increasing your caloric intake a bit. The thing to pay attention to is if you feel lethargic or not. If you wake up in the morning and just have no energy at all then you're probably crashed and need to eat more.

After that, step up your exercise. It doesn't have to be much, and probably shouldn't be. You're not necessarily trying to burn more calories through the exercise itself, but rather to kick-start your metabolism and wake your body up. Do some jumping jacks around each meal, or take a walk around the block in the morning, any sort of light cardio for a few minutes here and there. Again, we're not going for marathon cardio sessions here.

Once you feel your metabolism come back then start looking at expanding your exercise routine slowly and steadily to achieve more hard to reach fitness goals. But for now focus on getting that metabolism back!

Also you could always contact a dietician and/or a trainer for more personalized help and instruction.

[jgdo]

Hello SaraJade,

Could you send a list of what you eat and drink on a typical day? I had the same problem but the low carbs are working for me. I started the diet first, after several month when my body, specially arms, started to become flabby, I started moderate machine workouts. 30 minutes three times a week.

Regards,

jgdo

[yokosoko]

It could be a food intolerance! I had the exact same issue!!! i used to work out tonnes, tried dieting, calorie counting, the works! And yet, I seemed to be unable to loose weight! Worst of all, it all settled in mostly my belly. i continued to look relatively scrawny with a huge belly.

Then I read Wheat Belly and it changed my life. I went gluten free, and within 3 months I went from 72 Kilos to 65 ( I can post my fitibit aria measurements here if you like! i still can't  believe it when I see it!). Then I reduced my dairy intake and added yoga to my workout routine, and now I hover between 61-62.5 kilos (i seem to have platoued here, so i'm changing up my workout now to be less weight loss and more toning/muscle building in the right areas to boost my metabolism, as my belly is not as flat as i want it, but pretty darn close).

I also find I can cheat quite often, and as long as i'm staying active it comes off within a week, something that certainly did not happen when I was on a gluten diet. Some people might balk at this whole "gluten-thing" but I can say it doesnt affect everyone (my wife quite happily eats all sorts of gluten stuff). but based on personal experimentation I have an issue, as any attempts to consume gluten again have resulted in major weight gain in the belly area.

As such it's the first thing I recommend when people are having trouble loosing fat specifically in the belly area (as based on my reading this is where fat likes to go when plagued by a gluten intolerance). Try it out for a month and see if you notice results. If not it's probably something else (maybe dairy?)