Conference rocks::weight_control

    Well, I am slowly losing weight by cutting way down on the fat content
    in my diet and making sure I eat healthy.  Nutripoints (book) has
    helped me.  Anyway, I do believe that cutting the fat down helps you
    lose weight.  There are always wrong ways to do it though.  You
    shouldn't just eat veggies all day.  (imo) I eat from all the food
    groups every day.  
    
    I have had trouble when going out with people to eat, but now that I
    have a major medical problem with my feet I am forcing myself to stand
    up for me.  If I don't no no else will.  Anyway, its not easy to do.
    
    
    Donna

    
    
    
    I have had two friends who because of gall bladder problems were told
    to try to eliminate fat from their diets.  They both lost a *lot* of
    weight, and they were not restricting anything other than fat -- i.e.
    they both ate as much starch, etc as they wanted.
    
    Of these two friends, one had her gall bladder removed, and once she
    stopped restricting fat in her diet she gained back all the weight she
    lost.  The other did not have her gall bladder removed, and has stayed
    on a low fat diet for several years now.  I used to think of her as
    "one of those overweight women"  now I think of her as "one of those
    skinny women"...  She really seems to eat enormous amounts of food, but
    stays thin.
    
    Anecedotal evidence, but evidence none the less....
    
    -ellie

    Hi,
    
    I also had to go on a NO fat diet for a short period of time due
    to gall stones.  I lost 20 lbs in a quick period of time (and was
    not overweight to begin with).  But, I understand how hard it is
    to avoid fat in a diet.  There really is a BIG difference in wanting
    to restrick fat and HAVING to restrict it.  If I ate anything with
    fat in it I became physically ill, that's a whole lot different than
    wanting to diet and loose weight.  It's tough to compare wanting
    to and having to.  Neither is fun, but I did it simply because I
    had no choice.  It took well over a year before I went back to
    the weight I started at before this, but my eating habits have
    forever changed becuase of it.  I have read labels for fat, etc.
    ever since then.   This was also before all the "fat free" food
    was out in the  market - there were no Fat free desserts, etc. so
    it was easier to loose the weight while cutting fat then, 
    there were less prepared foods to choose from.  It's harder for me
    now to restrict fat in my diet than it was then.  You're not alone!
    
     

    I also cut way down on my fat intake due to a gallbladder attack.
    
    Right after the attack two years ago, my gallbladder was so inflamed,
    I *eliminated* fat for about a week.  [Hey, *extreme* pain in your
    ribcage for a few hours and days of tests at the hospital will motivate 
    you.]  No margarine, no salad dressing, etc.  I lost 10 pounds over 2 
    weeks (and I also wasn't overweight to begin with).  Of course, I *was* 
    starved because there wasn't much I *could* eat, but, what the heck...
    
    Anyway, since then I've controlled the attacks by monitoring my fat
    intake.  I try to keep the grams of fat that I can count under 10
    per day.  That way, the ones I'm not aware of shouldn't bring me
    over 15 grams per day.  
    
    Things I've had to eliminate from my diet:
         bacon, peanut butter, ice cream, mayonnaise, 
         fried foods, nuts, shortbread cookies
    
    Things I've cut way down on:
         red meat
         chocolate
            
    I now use fat-free salad dressings and mayo, skim milk, and only 
    olive oil.
    
    It does work.
    
    Noranne
    
    

    I've been cutting fat down for a week now, and the scale has only moved
    3 pounds but I'm losing inches.  I can tell by how my clothes fit. 
    I'll let you know how it goes.
    
    
    Donna

    I have been watching my fat (Keeping it under 30% a day), and I
    have 3-5 aerobic workouts a week.  I have sworn off the scale because
    I want to lose only fat and build muscle so the scale will not give me
    the information I need.   Donna you have an excellent idea to measure
    by inches. I just had my body fat tested and I am at 22.3% body fat so 
    I will try to get between 18-20% and maintain.  I will test again in July.
    
    Regards,
    
    Sasha

When I had my first gall bladder attack it was from eating 
baked Chicken and drinking a glass of wine.

In the three months following it, I lost 25 lbs because I wasn't 
physically able to eat anything besides veggies and some breads.

As other people said, a gall bladder attack is probably the worst 
pain in the entire world (I've been told childbirth is the only thing
worse, but I wouldn't know!) ;-)

Anyway, I ended up having my gall bladder removed and today I'm back to 
my original weight (which I wish I wasn't).  

The surgeon told me that the biggest side effect to gall bladder removal
is obesity....because people can eat just about thing.

About restricting fats from my diet:  I eat what I would consider to be 
a very low fat diet...about 20%.  I STILL have an extremely hard time 
losing weight (I've lost 3 lbs in the last 2 months if that's any 
indicator).  The only thing that seems to work for me is combining 
a low fat diet with exercise 5+ times a week (running, brisk walks, 
bike riding, competitive volleyball, etc -- anything that gets me 
moving).

So, no, just restricting fats doesn't work for me unless I restrict 
ALL of the fat out of my diet (which is bad for you as well).  I assume
that it's because I'm close to an good average weight for me....

....my sister, who was about 150 lbs OVERweight lost 100 of those 
pounds very quickly by just cutting back on fats.  She's now finding
with the last 50 or so, she can't get by on just "cutting back on fats"
now...she, too, only loses if she's exercising 5 days a week.

kath

	Kath,

	I have to agree.  I *must* exercise just to maintain my weight.
	Stop the exercise, and the pounds creep on.  I don't, however,
	exercise 5+ times a week.  I'd never fit it into my schedule,
	then I'd probably abandon the whole thing due to small failures.

	I'm also getting frustrated hearing people say that you can
	eat as much as you want, just watch the fat, and you'll lose weight.

	Covert Bailey has a chart in his book "The Target Diet" that 
	has recommended caloric intake based upon your percent body fat.
	He also states, if you are in one group, but want to lose 10-15 pounds,
	follow the calorie and percent fat recommendations for the next
	group in the chart (which is a more restrictive recommendation).

	I have found from personal experience that I will not lose weight
	with just a low fat diet, or even with a low fat diet combined with
	exercise.  I must keep my daily intake below about 1700 calories
	(with 1400 being about optimum).

	Karen