Weight loss: only 4.4 pounds in a year (vegetables, BMI, overweight)

[SophieLL]

So, first of all i wanna say that im not fat, im slim, by BMI and medical standards (in all my chekups in the last year doctor told me that my weight was ok), and im trying to lose weight for aeshtetical reasons. I was always thin (around 130 pounds, 5´8´) until i turned 25 and my metabolism changed. I could ate whatever i wanted before and NEVER gained weight, and when i turned 25 this change completely, i started putting weight and in a year i gained 25 pounds. Since im very tall and i still wasnt fat at 155, it wasnt like i was in danger or that my doctor told me to get thinner, but i did noticed that all my clothes didnt fit, that the bikini looked horrible on me, etcétera, so i started to watch what i ate.


Its been a couple of years since that and my weight fluctuated, but i never got down to my ideal 135 pounds (never got to be fatter than 155 either). In those years, i read a lot of books about nutrition, started living a healthy lifestyle and im healthier than ever. Specially this last year: all my meals are natural (dont eat anything that comes in a box or can) i eat meat and veggies, i went running all winter/autumn and i swim now in the summer heat, and my portions are tiny. The other day i weigh myself (havent weighed in months, since last september) and my result is: I only lost 4.4 pounds in a year. I only weigh like 1 pound less than in september, and exactly 4.4 less than last january.

The thing is this past year i have done everything in the healthy lifestyle book: from doing sports to eating totally right, small portions, every three hours, a lot of vegetables, meat, drink A LOT of water, not drinking alcohol. Anyway, i think it will be hard to find someone healthier than me. The other day i went to visit my parents to my natal city and i got sick only for eating a piece of fried food, a food i used to eat without problem before this year. Its just that i CANT eat what i used to, cause it makes me sick, and i can only eat boiled or grilled or food made in the oven, or raw vegetables. And it wasnt an effort or anything,when i learned about food, watched documentaries, etc, i adopted this kind of behaviour and now, after being so healthy for so much time, im really used to it, i dont need ANY effort at all, i love eating healthy food, i love eating melon in the summer and its as good as ice cream for me, i mean, this was all natural, i dont feel like im doing an effort at all and i NEVER feel hungry or craving fried foods or cakes (puaj).

Point is : Clearly Im doing everything right, but i want to lose 15/20 pounds, how it is that eating so well, excersising, and being so healthy.....i only lost 4.4 pounds in a year??? How can that be?? I mean the difference between what i eat in 2010 and what i eat in 2011 is HUGE, like there are things that i CANT eat anymore and now i cant even think in eating what i used to (for example, the few times i ate pizza this past year -in birthdays or work dinners- i could only ate 1 and a half portions, not more cause i would feel sick, when the year before i could easily ate 4 portions without problem) and im doing sports, my health is right, etcétera. Is it because im approaching 30? Or is it something else? How can i lost so LITTLE weight in one year when i completely change my lifestyle and way of eating??


Please, i need advice, all i read here is great advice from people that knows a lot about nutrition and weight loss. I did try to go to a nutritionist last year and she told me I DIDNT NEED TO LOSE WEIGHT and that i was TOTALLY HEALTHY AND I SHOULD KEEP DOING WHAT I WAS DOING. What kind of advice was that? I never went there again.

[AnonChick]

Sounds like the change in your lifestyle omitted the part where "melons have a high sugar content, eat sparingly" and "all natural doesn't mean healthy."

Wanting to lose just 20 pounds is great, you're not obese, but 135 at 5'8" won't be unhealthy-looking skinny either. The only foods you mentioned in your above post, were melon and pizza. So no one here really knows WHAT you're eating, that's making your loss difficult.

All natural organic fresh-roasted potatoes is still starch.
All natural organic raw apples are still mostly sugar.
All natural organic fresh made avocado sandwiches are still fat.

There's no reason you should have to change your lifestyle to lose only 20 pounds, if that was your goal. A lifestyle change is a good option for people who aren't healthy. You were healthy; an -adjustment- in your lifestyle without a full changeover, probably would've done you just fine. Less ice cream instead of none at all. 1-2 slices of pizza once ever 2 months, instead of 4 slices every week, would've been fine. A juicy boneless trimmed sirloin steak instead of a couple of cheeseburgers once a month, an excellent choice. A baked potato half without sour cream, but with maybe a pat of herbed garlic butter, eating the entire half with skin and all, is a terrific alternative to a paper plate boat of french fries or mashed with gravy.

Since you already made this change, it sounds like time to examine the methods of your current routine. Are you all natural organic healthy fruits and veggies loaded with all natural sugars, fats, and starches? And you're eating "small portions" 6 times a day - what do you consider to be a "small portion?" To me, a small portion is half an apple with a teaspoon of peanutbutter to dip the wedges in. That, to me, would be my mid-afternoon snack. To me, a "small portion dinner" would be however many green beans I can pick up with my food tweezer (it's bamboo clamp thingie), with a pinch of slivered almonds, and a half of a grilled boneless skinless chicken breast. I'd save the other half for tomorrow's lunch.

Maybe your idea of a "small portion meal" is bigger than other people, maybe that's why your change isn't losing you the weight you want to lose. Or maybe it's just small portions of really fattening organic natural foods.

[Luckyd609]

You are eating more calories than you are burning, or you are eating enough to maintain where you are currently at weight wise.
Burn more than you consume. You could write down everything you eat for a couple of weeks. That will really enable you to see just how many calories you are eating.
What kind of exercise program are you on? It may be time to change things up and add more intensity to it.

[sfcambridge]

Maybe you only lost 4.4 lbs, but how do you look? Did you go down a clothing size?

Firming up/more muscle also weighs more then fat. You can't go by weight alone.

Just a thought....

[SophieLL]

Thanks for the advice, people!

Originally Posted by AnonChick

Sounds like the change in your lifestyle omitted the part where "melons have a high sugar content, eat sparingly" and "all natural doesn't mean healthy."

Wanting to lose just 20 pounds is great, you're not obese, but 135 at 5'8" won't be unhealthy-looking skinny either. The only foods you mentioned in your above post, were melon and pizza. So no one here really knows WHAT you're eating, that's making your loss difficult.

All natural organic fresh-roasted potatoes is still starch.
All natural organic raw apples are still mostly sugar.
All natural organic fresh made avocado sandwiches are still fat.

There's no reason you should have to change your lifestyle to lose only 20 pounds, if that was your goal. A lifestyle change is a good option for people who aren't healthy. You were healthy; an -adjustment- in your lifestyle without a full changeover, probably would've done you just fine. Less ice cream instead of none at all. 1-2 slices of pizza once ever 2 months, instead of 4 slices every week, would've been fine. A juicy boneless trimmed sirloin steak instead of a couple of cheeseburgers once a month, an excellent choice. A baked potato half without sour cream, but with maybe a pat of herbed garlic butter, eating the entire half with skin and all, is a terrific alternative to a paper plate boat of french fries or mashed with gravy.

Since you already made this change, it sounds like time to examine the methods of your current routine. Are you all natural organic healthy fruits and veggies loaded with all natural sugars, fats, and starches? And you're eating "small portions" 6 times a day - what do you consider to be a "small portion?" To me, a small portion is half an apple with a teaspoon of peanutbutter to dip the wedges in. That, to me, would be my mid-afternoon snack. To me, a "small portion dinner" would be however many green beans I can pick up with my food tweezer (it's bamboo clamp thingie), with a pinch of slivered almonds, and a half of a grilled boneless skinless chicken breast. I'd save the other half for tomorrow's lunch.

Maybe your idea of a "small portion meal" is bigger than other people, maybe that's why your change isn't losing you the weight you want to lose. Or maybe it's just small portions of really fattening organic natural foods.

Great points Anon-chick, im gonna answer them.

I mentioned pizza to ilustrate the difference between one year and the other, but the truth is that i NEVER eat pizza, i live alone and thank god i can chose what i eat everyday ( i used to live with my boyfriend and that made things harder) and i never ever would chose pizza. Only ate pizza 3 times in the entire year and always was when i ate out in work/friends dinners, and i only ate one slice and a half, cause it makes me sick to my stomach to eat more.
I LOVE melon, but i dont eat it much, i ate it in Christmas (here melon is a typical christmas food) and i bought half a melon in january and ate little slices of it in like 2 weeks (cause half a melon is big). Melon is an expensive fruit here so i only eat it in summer and very little of it, i havent ate melon in more than a month! wich is sad cause i love melon, to me, melon is like ice cream.


Im gonna tell you the fruits i eat regullary, now that is summer here: grapes, plums, pears, oranges and peaches. If im hungry in the afternoon i eat a pear, a peach, or a bunch of grapes. When im at work i eat a low-fat yogurt (really small) and sometimes i bring a pear with me and eat it. Those are my "snacks".

About my lunch/dinner menu, i often eat: grilled boneless chicken (size of my hand, not counting the fingers) or a piece of ungreased meated (also made in the oven or grilled) or a piece of fish also grilled. The size of this meat types are all the palm of my hand, i learn this in a nutrition workshop i did at the hospital.
I accompany this with saladas: mostly lettuce and tomate (with a bit of lemon and olive oil), but it could also be cucumber salad too, or green salad (a lot of type of lettuces and one egg) or just tomato and onion. Sometimes, i dont eat the protein and i eat only salad for lunch/dinner: this time the saladas are bigger and have tuna, onions or avocado.
In other meals i grill red and green pepper and pumpkin and i eat them.

This is more or less the food i eat in my meals, always small portions, while in the rest of the day when im hungry i eat a fruit (small peach or small pear usually) or a small yoghurt.

[SophieLL]

Originally Posted by Luckyd609

You are eating more calories than you are burning, or you are eating enough to maintain where you are currently at weight wise.
Burn more than you consume. You could write down everything you eat for a couple of weeks. That will really enable you to see just how many calories you are eating.
What kind of exercise program are you on? It may be time to change things up and add more intensity to it.

Thanks for the advice
Well, I used to go running in the autumn and wintertime (from april till september here where i live) and i run one hour. ¿Coincidentally?, 3 of the 4.4 pounds i lost were in this period. I went running for an hour 4 times a week, and i walked everyday since i walk to work.
Now, that is summer, all of this is much more difficult: i live in a city where winter and autumn are wonderful for outdoors activities (temps in the 50s, 60s, low 70s) and summer is IMPOSSIBLE for outdoor activities (temp or heat index always in the 100f) cause its very hot. So, since november (when heat started) i DONT walk to go to work (now i also moved and leave very far) and dont walk to go everywhere, i always use public transportation, cause if i walk i would get to places soaking wet for all the sweat and the heat. Of course i dont go running when we live in orange alert to not go out cause of the heat. So all i can do i swim. I have an outdoor swimming pool in my appartment and ve been doing a routine, started only a couple of weeks ago, but i swim 1500m per day, wich is a lot since my pool isnt big (around 8m) so i have to go back and forth like 200 times. After that, i do some aqcuagym excersises i found in the internet. It seems to be working cause my body hurts after doing all this, and i feel that my legs are better, but honestly i only started this as a training (i wnet everyday for the last two weeks) two weeks ago.


So, my point is that when i went running, weight dropped easily
and now, that in the summer ive been doing much less outdoor activities, weight didnt drop almost at all (from september till now i only lost 1 lb!!!)
Now im eating less and healthier than in the winter (im way less hungry with this heat, also) but i also do much less sport, cause of the heat.

Maybe now that i started my swimming training weight will drop more easy??

[SophieLL]

Originally Posted by sfcambridge

Maybe you only lost 4.4 lbs, but how do you look? Did you go down a clothing size?

Firming up/more muscle also weighs more then fat. You can't go by weight alone.

Just a thought....

I do look better but i didnt go down a clothing size. My legs looks more shaped and my waist looks smaller, like i look like I have better form, that im more toned.

But i still didnt lose any clothing size and i still feel like i need to lose at least 15 pounds to feel comfortable wearing clothes and all that.

[jade408]

keep a food diary, count calories, and add intensive strength training.

[sfcambridge]

Actually, I'm going to be a devil's advocate and say you are doing pretty well. If you actually see your body looking better, that's great. Who cares about a number.... that is clearly not overweight... when you look good?

Your diet is fantastic. You've kept off a nice little chuck of weight for someone who already is relatively slender. Just increase your exercise at this point if you can, and admire your better toned body!

[KayAnn246]

Are you taking any prescriptions? I know I had the same issues. I didn't realize until a year later that it was my prescription that was causing me to not lose the weight.