Trying to lose weight, unsucessfully...

Post Reply New Topic

I'm on antipsychotics, and they have caused some weight gain. In desparation I paid for two months worth of calorie controlled ready meals, from dietchef. Well, I spoke to one of their diet consultants today, and she said that there was a good chance that, even on a diet of 1200 calories a day I might not lose weight. Is that true??? Am I going to be overwieght forever?

did she mean you might not loose weight on 1200kc because of the meds?

You can loose weight on those meds but it is hard, my mum is a psych nurse and she has several patients who have lost weight whilst taking olanzapine. Some of her patients got the DR to perscribe orlistat at the same time as the anti psychotics, which is a fat blocker and works if you stick to it.

I dont think you should eat less than 1200kc because that is very low as it is and hard to stick too.

You could add in some daily exercise to bump up your calorie expeniture and boost your matabolism, but make sure you dont increase your eating with the exercise as it does make one hungry. Ive found running the best for weightloss (I run for a bit then walk for a bit then run again).

And your not going to be overweight forever, you can try something else if the dietchef doesnt work.

Lipton Chicken Noodle Soup, lots of fruits and vegetables and lean meats. Milk, but only if your body tolerates it.

You could join your local gym or get a stationary bike or try some other form of exercize. In my experience just dieting is rarely enough to lose weight, you've got to exercize too. A thing that helps too is to stick to food that has 10% fat or less in it.

I have been excercising, as my mood allows me too. I'm keeping track of the number of steps I take, and trying to "runwalk" at least three times a week, though it's working out more like twice. Days when my mood is good I have no trouble excercising. Days when I'm low I fight to get out of bed. But the excercise is slowly becoming more a part of my day.

Added up all my calories today, and they're 1302... Instead of having breakfast I had a lucozade this morning, which is what put me over the 1200. That's the last pop in the house, and I won't be purchasing any more.

Instead of counting calories, you might look at controlling your blood sugar levels. I've seen this doctor have success with his patients that do this.

I lost 37 lbs with a fingerstick
http://www.heartscanblog.org/2010/12/i- ... stick.html

Saw this article the other day on Dr. Briffa's blog that might be of help also.

Is obesity all in the mind?
http://www.drbriffa.com/2011/03/10/is-o ... -the-mind/

Buy yourself a skateboard. I lost a crap-tonne of weight last year from skating. And not being able to afford food.

I would get off the anti-psychotic first. I don't why you're taking it, but those tend to be terrible for your health in the long-term.

See an endocrinologist, ASAP. You need to find out what your insulin level and your glucose tolerance level are, as well as get your thyroid levels tested. You should a;so get yourself evaluated for PCOS--Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome--since you're a women and I assume you've been through puberty already. Ask the endocrinologist about that.

But if you're trying to lose weight, but can't, chances are it's something with your insulin levels. That could be directly from the anti-psychotic, or it could be from another condition like PCOS. But without getting your insulin levels under control, you likely won't be successful at losing weight.

Also understand that weight loss is a slow process, especially for women. A right diet is essential--what you eat matters as much as eating less calories. Be sure you're not eating a lot of refined carbs (white flour, white rice, HFCS) and cholesterol, and that you are getting enough fiber, vitamins and minerals, protein and mono- and polysaturated fats.

And regular exercise is important too--for women, daily exercise helps regulate estrogen, which along with insulin, causes the female body to store carbs as body fat. Surges in estrogen, like surges in insulin, can triggers cravings. (Daily exercise also improves your mood and makes you more capable of handling stress.)

Following this exercise guideline may also help:

Between your menstrual period and ovulation, exercise at a moderate to high level. Just enough to get your heart pumping without feeling like you're overexerting. This is a good time to do weightlifting and other muscle-building and body toning exercises.

After ovulation and period your period starts, push yourself. This is the part of your cycle that your body is most likely to store fat, as estrogen levels are at their highest. So this is when you make your workouts more vigorous and demanding. Lots of cardio during this period, especially weight-bearing cardio (exercise that makes you bear your own weight, like walking, dancing, hiking or high-impact aerobics). This will help your body use that estrogen to increase bone density and regenerate tissue (including your skin) instead of store fat!

During your period, give you and your body a break. This is when estrogen levels drop off to their lowest levels, so you can take it easier and try more relaxing and regenerating types of workouts like yoga or causal walks. Don't try to push yourself during this time but do stay active.

Did you try talking to an endocrinologist? Your endocrine system is primarily responsible for your body's weight regulation so it might be worth a try if you have the insurance for it. Sometimes those doctors get too pill-happy though, so be wary.

Otherwise, do about an hour of light cardio 5 days a week (no more than this or you body will go into over-training mode). I recommend no more than 140 heart beats per minute, but that varies depending on age and fitness level. High-cadence/low resistance spinning or power walking should be about right. Be careful that you don't go overboard, because your body burns the most fat under moderate-light exercise. If you go past the "fat-burning zone," your body will switch to catabolizing more carbs and less fat for the needed energy. If you use a bike, just remember to keep your cadence over 80 rotations/minute. It may feel too fast at first, but this cadence is pretty much standard for light cardio workouts. Also, if 5 days a week is too much, you'll start to feel the symptoms of over-training: a perpetual fatigue and moodiness. Don't worry about changing to 4 or even 3 days if this is the case.

The best advice someone told me for staying active: "don't wait to feel better to go to the gym, go to the gym to feel better"
If you need any other tips, just ask. I am an amateur cyclist, so I have a relatively superficial knowledge of exercise physiology.

Well how tall are you? What is your base metabolic rate and what is your current weight?

I've never been over weight, but when I wanted to lose a bit of weight, I was on about 400 calories, which is half of what I am meant to normally eat.

When wanting to lose weight, people often think they need to just concentrate on food intake, but that's not really it. What you need to do is just exercise, unless of course your diet is bad, then of course change it, but exercise is the key.

rabbit90,

Whoa, wait, 400-800 kcal? Or maybe you meant 1400 kcal? That is extremely low, like anorexia level. I don't know what your particular situation is, but I can't imagine any healthcare professional recommending that sort of caloric intake. That type of behavior can actually screw up your endocrine system and it will catabolize muscle tissue for glycogen-based energy. Muscle tissue tends to burn calories just by simply existing, so when you get rid of muscle, you're exacerbating the problem. You're much better off with a low-range 4-digit calorie intake (1200-2000 depending on your BMI and %body fat), and doing light cardio.

Having less than 1,000 cal a day makes it harder to lose weight because then your metabolism slows down and your body goes into starving mode. You don't want that.

I concur with your replies as sound basic advice.

I have thyroid disease and could not lose on 1200 calories, my metabolism was damaged, yours may be too. I did a 1200-1400 calorie diet for months with no results.

I've lost 44 pounds since December. I had to cut out dairy, processed foods, sugar, and wheat. Best to you!

Hi guys and girls... this is my first post on the wrongplanet forum (newly diagnosed aspie)
I am an Olympic athlete, so I feel qualified to offer some advice here...

MEDICAL: as mentioned above look into medical reasons for not losing weight (endocrine system, water retention from meds, etc)

FOOD:
Whatever you do you need to stop your body going into "starvation" mode. Once it does, it will fight tooth and nail to keep the weight on. So:

keep up the calorie count per day
divide the food you are having into smaller more frequent meals (ie try and snack all day rather than eat big meals)
Look for foods that are high in physical volume but low in calories (this gives your stomach something to digest and stop you feeling hungry)
There are calorie NEGATIVE foods (ie takes more energy to digest than what you get out). Eat as much as you want of them!! ! eg lettuce
Ensure you have adequate protein in your diet (high protein diets will fill you up and be low in calories), as well as good types of fat (fish oil etc)
match your energy intake timing to your output timing (consume more of your food around the time you exercise).

Remember: your body is like a car engine. Protein is the oil and carbs are the fuel. Its not good to run out of fuel, but if you dont have enough oil you will start doing real damage to the engine.

EXERCISE:
When you are losing weight, your body will go catabolic and eat BOTH fat and muscle at the same time, not just fat.

If you are time limited, then more intense will burn more calories. However you will be able to burn more calories by doing more gentle aerobic workouts for LONGER! (going at what you feel is about half of your max effort is good).

There is no such thing as over training, it is under recovering. So provided you have adequate food, rest

A VERY effective tool for rapidly increasing energy output is fidgeting. Continually bouncing a leg or tapping a hand during everyday life seems odd but will help your weight loss a lot, and most of us are used to seeming odd

Having muscle burns far more energy than actual exercise ever will (dozens of times more)! ...and it burns it 24hours a day. Therefore be prepared to put on a couple (only a few) kilos/ pounds by going to the gym and lifting heavy weights. Short term increase for long term decrease, and some of that muscle will be burned off with the fat anyway.

WEIGHT:

Judge your body by percentages of fat. Muscle weighs more than fat, so even if you are becoming more trim and toning up, the number on the scale might not reflect that. Instead judge it by a combination of things:

use a pair of callipers and "pinch an inch" of skin and see how big it is (use the same spot or better yet a couple spots). *this is the best method*
how strong are you getting,
what is your waist measurement/ arm measurement
and what the scales say.

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE to lose fat from only one area (if anyone could they have a multi billion dollar market in elite sport...) it will come off of everywhere even if you only work your abs

EMOTIONS:
Stress/ anxiety / sadness / anger have all been shown to lead to hormonal changes that prevent weight loss.

So do stuff to make you happy!

Hope that helps. Dont know if I will check every thread that often, so if you have more questions and I dont reply to further posts, send me a message.

Photographic evidence is required to support this claim.