Conference rocks::weight_control

    Mary - 
    
    I can certainly sympathize with you.  I've been struggeling with my
    weight for over 5 years now - I used to be so thin my ribs stuck out,
    but now am 50 pounds overweight.  No matter what I do, I just can't
    loose it.  I've been on Weight Watchers twice, tried a "fad" diet
    called "Carbohydrates Addict Diet", started walking to work (6 miles
    one way), exercise ~5x per week, have tried my own variety of diets
    (low protein, high carb and vice-versa)........and I've pretty much
    stayed the same.  And my Doc. was also so very encouraging.....NOT!  He
    told me the reason I gained so much weight was that I eliminated a
    tremendous amount of stress from my life, which was the reason I was so
    thin, and that it would take my body 6 months to realize that the
    stress was gone - until then he said my body would act as if I were
    fasting - I had burned up so many calories because of the stress that
    my body was now hording all the calories I put into it in anticipation
    for the next stress.  O.K. - that made sense, because I HAD been in a
    constantly stressful situation for 6 years - so I asked what I could do
    until my body settled down (at the time I was living pretty much on
    salad, raw fruits and vegetables, and diet soda), and he told me to
    watch my intake of fat.  (In other words, he didn't believe me, just as
    your Doc. evidently doesn't believe you!)  It DOES get discouraging,
    doesn't it, when you do everything you can think of and STILL can't
    seem to lose weight?  All I can say is, Hang in there!  If you're 5
    lbs. stays off, and you can keep up the loss, even if it IS painfully
    slow, at least you're making some headway!  
    
    Hopefully someone else will have something more encouraging to say -
    which I would really like to hear myself!  But at least you know you're
    not alone out there!!!!!
    
    Tina
     

    Mary,
    
    Yes, it's disappointing to have made so much effort and then not lose
    as much as you would have liked.  But your experience is not too
    different from mine.  From your note I would guess you are eating about
    500 Calories a day less than you need to maintain your weight.  A 3500
    Calorie shortfall gives you a pound lost, in theory.  In my first month
    of dieting I was running at 600 Calories a day below, and ended up 7
    pounds down.  Much the same really - so Tina's absolutely right, hang
    in there and you'll succeed!  Must admit I find you doctor's reaction
    puzzling.  Maybe he's just being ultra cautious, wanting you to lose
    weight very slowly.  He's scared you might go to the other extreme:
    near starvation diets may give you rapid weightloss but are downright
    dangerous.  
    
    Tina, like you say, I think your doctor may be right about the stress,
    but its a bit defeatist for him to suggest you need to wait 6 months
    before you can expect to succeed.  Have you thought of trying a
    rotation diet?  If your metabolism has been slowed down because of
    stress (or the lack of it!) then rotation is one way you might get it
    going again.  There was a lot of interest in rotation in this notesfile
    a few years back - take a look at note 89 and its replies.  The basic
    idea is that you go on a fairly strict regime for 3 weeks, then slowly
    relax back to your weight maintenance level.  That way your body does
    not have time to adjust its metabolic rate to the restricted intake and
    is forced to start burning fat right away.  Most of the people who
    answered note 89 have very positive things to say about how they got
    on.
    
    One last topical thought - if you start a rotation cycle in the next
    couple of weeks, you'll get through the strict bit in time to be back
    to maintainance level eating for Christmas ... :-)  (Thinking about it,
    I might just try this myself!)
    
    Good luck
    
    Brian

    Thanks, Brian.  I'll take a look at notes 89.* and give it a try - it
    certainly can't hurt!
    
    Tina
    

    Mary, hang on a second! 5 lbs in 4 weeks is excellent. After 20 weeks it
    will be over 20 lbs at that rate. 
    
    I honestly believe that the slower you lose, the more likely you will
    keep it off. I think more than 1 or 2 lbs a week is not enough time to
    change your lifestyle permanently.
    
    Honest! IF you could drop 20 lbs in a month any time you wanted, I'll
    bet you would have to do it more OFTEN then you wanted.
    
    It sounds like you're on a good plan, now. If you stick with it, it
    will go.
    
    I've been there and I've been maintaining my goal weight for a long
    time, now.
    
    Amy

    
    I used to be 145lbs., size 12/14 jeans/skirts and nothing but nothing 
    would help to decrease that amount...including 2 weeks at Kripalu (a 
    yoga center) where I exercised and did yoga 3 times per day, sauna,
    whirlpool, walks through the woods and running on occasion, no sugar, 
    very little fat, all-vegetarian food.  After a while, I just accepted
    my weight and resolved to always being that size.
    
    A year ago though, I tried Herbalife products (nutrition-based), and 
    lost 3.5 lbs. in one week. I've now lost 10-12 lbs., down to a size 6/8
    pant/skirt, and it's stayed off for a year now with no effort.
    
    Cindy

    Mary, I agree with .4 - you're doing GREAT!  Do not be discouraged. 
    You are doing all the right things, and it has been proven that losing
    the weight slowly through lifestyle changes, as you are doing, is
    significantly better than losing 10-20 pounds in the first month!
    
    One thing that no one has mentioned is that muscle weighs far more than
    fat.  Did you take your measurements before starting the exercise and
    "eating modification?"  If not, why don't you do that now, and check in
    another month to see if there is a difference.  Exercise will not
    really make you lose weight, but it burns fat and adds muscle (which,
    as I said, weight more than fat!).  So when your exercise program is as
    dedicated as yours, you've been adding muscle, which seems to
    counteract the weightloss to a small degree.  You've probably lost 8
    pounds of fat and added 3 of muscle!  This is wonderful.  Start
    noticing if your clothes feel a little different.
    
    Keep up the good work!!  And tell us how you did this month.
    
    
    Susan