Changed my diet two months ago - 0 pounds lost! What’s going on!

[nomadic]

Hi, I’m Nomadic.

 

I’m new to NerdFitness, decided it’d be good to have a community to work with! Nice to meet you all!

 

About me:

The name comes from travelling all over the world. Have been searching for a place to call home, for someone to spend my life with and for some fitness!

 

My recent health story in short:

Currently at 238lbs, aiming for 200lbs or lower. At the beginning of June I said, “Right, that’s it. Make a change” and went on a Keto diet. Keto has worked for me in the past (I once lost 20 pounds in 2 months) but for some reason this time it would just not work. So, went to a nutritionist and he said “You need nutrients! You’re starving your body so it’s holding on to fat”. I changed everything on 1st of November:

 

1. Switched from eggs and avo for breakfast to Superfood Cereal (Oats, chia, sunflower/pumpkin seeds + Oat Milk)
2. Whey Isolate Protein shake for lunch with berries + avo
3. Lean protein (salmon / chicken) for dinner
4. All meals are eaten between 11am and 6pm (intermittent fasting)
5. Twice a week gym routine
6. Three times a week 30 min walk / jog

 

I’ve kept this up for 45 days and... nothing. 0 pounds lost, 0 inches around my stomach. This is crazy! Anyone else seen something like that?

 

I know I’m stronger - weights have gone up a little bit. I know I can run a bit further (now at 2.5 min jog / 1 min walk and increasing), but beginning to lose momentum. How long does one need to stay the course before seeing something!

 

Thanks for reading!

Nomadic

[Hazard]

Hi! Welcome to NF.

 

10 hours ago, nomadic said:

Keto has worked for me in the past (I once lost 20 pounds in 2 months) but for some reason this time it would just not work

 

Weightloss comes from burning more calories than you consume.  That can be achieved by any combination of eating less and moving more that fits your lifestyle and goals.  Keto style eating won't make you lose weight if you're still eating enough calories for your activity level.  

 

10 hours ago, nomadic said:

So, went to a nutritionist and he said “You need nutrients! You’re starving your body so it’s holding on to fat”

 

The victims of holocaust concentration camps put that question to rest 80 years ago. The idea that a person can be eating so little of something that their body won't burn its fat storage is nonsense.

 

10 hours ago, nomadic said:

I’ve kept this up for 45 days and... nothing. 0 pounds lost, 0 inches around my stomach. This is crazy! Anyone else seen something like that?

 

If you want to see decent weight loss over time and/or inches lost around your waist, you're going to have to eat fewer calories and/or do more movement to burn more calories.  It's work.  I'm sorry.  There's no secret.  You have to put in the work.  It looks like your activity level is already pretty decent, so you've probably been eating more calories than you think you are.  If I were you, I'd be giving my diet a good hard look.

 

[nomadic]

Appreciate it Hazard.

 

I agree with calories concept in general, definitely thought this massive change in diet would help. I'm cooking with a lot of olive oil / avocado oil, perhaps I'll spend a week measuring out exactly how many calories I'm consuming with a scale just to get a solid idea of what I'm doing.

[Qeidren]

10 hours ago, nomadic said:

Appreciate it Hazard.

 

I agree with calories concept in general, definitely thought this massive change in diet would help. I'm cooking with a lot of olive oil / avocado oil, perhaps I'll spend a week measuring out exactly how many calories I'm consuming with a scale just to get a solid idea of what I'm doing.

I wouldn't say you need to be getting everything exact and using a scale right out of the gate. Maybe just try a calorie tracker first. Any good fitness app will do. I've lost 35 lbs without any sudden, drastic changes to my diet or routine. I just tracked calories in a relaxed way using the Samsung Health app (i.e. eat a bowl of corn flakes, and record 1 serve of corn flakes, one serve of milk).  If you're unsure about your portions maybe measure exactly every once in a while or add 20-30% to your portion size estimate. We do tend to underestimate the calories in what we eat. Also: don't forget to record the oils and fats you add to your meals, they can sneak up on you. If you find cooking with less oil a challenge with regards to sticking/burning/texture/consistency etc. Cook more portions at once, you can use less oil per portion for 3 or 5 portions of something than just one.

 

Once you start tracking your calories, after a week or so you will start to get a handle on how much energy you're consuming. I like to do unit conversions like: 'Okay, that burger is equivalent to two meals all on its own.' or 'These snake lollies are equivalent to two shortbread cookies each!' which can help put your food choices in perspective. One key takeaway though is to avoid drinking calories as much as possible. I reintroduced soda back into my diet after two months without and regained 2 Kg (5lbs) in 5 days, and that was with only 1 can a day and staying under my calorie target. That's what the difference between good calories and bad calories looks like in real life.

 

Staying active is also key. Even light exercise about an hour after your most-recent meal will tell your body that the food you just gave it is for fuel, not storage. A simple thing to do is track your steps with a pedometer app on your phone. That 35 pounds? Burned it off mostly through the physical demands of my job with a little bit of cycling. The other thing is, too. if you're tracking both your activity and food intake you will have a clear idea of how much energy you're consuming and how much you're burning, that way there shouldn't be that many days where you're going to bed hungry. It also means when you have a super active day you'll know how much more you can eat and still stay on track. I'd finish a bad day at work and be more than a thousand calories behind, so I had a lot more options for dinner, which was actually kinda awesome. Treated myself to the occasional burrito and still kept losing weight.

 

PS I'm just going to add this here: Don't forget about herbs and spices! They contain next to no calories (if any) and they can make simple food more interesting. Healthy food doesn't have to be boring food. A little paprika and cumin with your chicken one night, then switch it up for rosemary and sage the next. Garlic contains 1.5 calories per gram, so a single clove crushed over your meat is about 6-10 extra calories for a great boost in flavour, plus it has other health benefits, as do many other herbs and spices.

 

 

[nomadic]

Weighed out all my food yesterday on a scale: 1091 Calories. Also leg day at the gym, so burned around 400.

 

Granted, I did notice I ate less than usual, so I will continue to measure for the next week / two weeks and see exactly how many calories I eat / drink / burn.

[Artemis Prime]

That's a really low calorie count. Nerd Fitness had a TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) calculator that can help you estimate how many calories you need in a day. For reference, I'm 5'1" and 125 pounds and according to the calculator, I need 1200 calories a day just to maintain regular body function, without factoring in any extra activity. 

 

Here's the link if you want to play around with it: https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/how-many-calories-should-i-eat-every-day-a-look-at-total-daily-energy-expenditure-tdee/ (need to scroll down a bit to get to the calculator) 

[Renate]

Welcome!

 

Although it's very very likely you accounted for this, I'll still ask: do you consume any liquid calories? E.g. having 1 Lidl iced coffee a day adds up really quick.

[nomadic]

Naw,  just sparkling water and lemon juice for me. I lost about 8 lbs after this post reminded me to really count calories, it seems like I might be eating too many nuts. I've gained about 3-4 back but that could be muscle.

[Renate]

Oh! Awesome to hear! Keep doing what your doing then.

 

(Still, really really good that you have been taking care of your body for 45+ days and counting. I just wanted to point it out. That's a lot of time to go without seeing anything on the scale or the measuring tape. Hero. )