48 replies to this topic

[Tinply]

Hi all!

I had an account here from around 2006 or 2007 but haven't been able to log into it because I don't have access to the email associated with it any longer, so I've opened a new account.

I am a 32 year old female in Hamilton, Canada. I am a transhumanist, and a liberal theologian.

In 2009 I developed quite a few symptoms, including moderate amount of weight gain. My doctor didn't bother with blood tests and said it was depression and put me on a SSRI. I weighed 205 before this, and ended up at 260 (I am 5'11"), before it was found out that I had a hypoactive thyroid. Medication for that was promptly prescribed, and the weight gain substantially subsided. In May 2011, I decided to quit smoking, for obvious health reasons. I gained 15 lbs the first month, going up to 280, and my anxiety sky rocketed. My physician prescribed a neuroleptic to help with the "anxiety", called seroquel. With that, and quitting smoking, I ballooned up to 330 in no time, before my doctor took me off the seroquel and prescribed a drug callled zyban. I stopped gaining weight immediately. Right now I'm around 330 or 340, I'm not 100% sure as my scale is rated lower.

Anyway, as you can imagine, this is scaring the crap out of me. I can feel my health slowly deteriorating, even though I had a physical a few months ago with no serious medical problems.

What I do have, though:

-LPR (it's like GERD, except it goes up to the throat). I'm pretty sure this is related to my weight. I'm not seeing much improvement with 40 mg of Nexium daily.
-Mild asthma. I have had this for a long time.
-Random aches and pains. I cannot attribute this to anything in particular.
-Brain "farts" and sometimes poor memory.
-Random daytime sleepiness, gets worse around 1-2 pm
-Abdominal discomfort that comes and goes. Doctor says it is gas. I think it could be related to poor diet.
-Low iron (without anemia) and low normal B12. I am vegetarian.

I have tried unsuccessfully to lose weight. I cut back in 1000 calories a day and I feel like I am STARVING, and end up pigging out. I think I might try 500 calories next. I do have a treadmill, but cannot go for too long because of my weight.

I do not have metabolic syndrome. My cholesterol levels are normal, as are triglycerides and blood sugar and insulin. Doc says she is surprised because that is unusual for my weight, but I've read that I can end up with it in the future.

Any suggestions? I'm open to supplements, nootropics, vitamins, diet tips, ANY suggestions. Please, I am desperate. I want to live to see the singularity. I also don't want to put my husband through the pain of me dying young.

Thanks. =)

[Gerrans]

I think sometimes something goes wrong in the body and it screws up all the usual ways of losing weight. So a lot of otherwise good advice just might not work.

I think you might have to find a way of living on a relatively small amount of food. Even though that might sound terrible, it would be possible once you find a way to avoid hunger. I live on about 1700 calories a day, even though I am a 5' 10" male. I used to be about 230lb, and now I am around 150lb. I would not call this calorie restriction--it is the amount I find I can eat without gaining weight, and so I feel I have to abide by it or get bigger. And I count into that a lot of fibre, resistant starch, etc., so my food is not all "goodies" either. (It is crucial to count supplement calories, particularly when taking them in powder form.)

I am surprised that this satisfies me. I think resistant starch is a big part of making me feel full, and I sometimes add some spoonfuls of pectin, bran, or whatever, before my big meal, which is breakfast. I have systematically trained myself to want only one proper meal a day--at lunch and "tea" I do not have very much. But I do have cream in my coffee and milk in my tea, which I think of now as "food" drinks, believing them a key part of my absence of hunger. I also do not eat after tea-time (about 6 pm). I now consider lunch as a snack and my evening "meal" as just "tea". (I think the old idea of evening "tea" is very useful in keeping calories down.)

As you can see, I have not offered any technical advice at all--because it sounds as if you will have issues very particular to you. I just think you will need to find a way of being happy with eating relatively little. Good, filling, satisfying foods for me are potatoes, eggs, vegetables, "fruit" vegetables (green beans, peppers, tomatoes), mushrooms, dried fruit, oats. A filling tea for me, for example, is oats with raisins and a spoon of cream. I can feel as if I am eating quite a lot by piecing my intake together from the above types of foods, and by taking spoonfuls of resistant starch and fibres--as well as having cream or milk in my tea and coffee.

Edited by Gerrans, 19 December 2013 - 06:46 PM.

[Tinply]

Hey Gerrans, thanks for the reply.

You may not have given technical advice, but you did inject a bit of hope into me. I am determined to get my weight under control so that I can live a long, fulfilling life. I wanted to congratulate you on the 80 pound weight loss, what a feat!

I was actually losing a bit of weight while I was smoking, but the weight spiralled out of control once I quit and the doc put me on that evil seroquel. That + quitting smoking and I gained way too much weight.

I eat a lot of starches, unfortunately. Like you, I found oatmeal with raisins to be extremely good and satiating.

I think I will try to add more vegetables to my diet, instead of those yucky fries!

Thanks again. =)

[robosapiens]

How do you feel, emotionally, when you cannot eat large portions, simple carbohydrates, excessive fatty food, or enough food to sustain your current weight?

[xEva]

Tinply,

sorry to hear about your weight. I cannot relate but would like to tell you a somewhat similar story with a happy end. Maybe it will inspire you.

There was/is a woman on a Russian fasting forum golodanie.su (username sagdi, Diabetes 2 type on insulin, she is ~50 yo). Since automatic translations from ru to en are rarely good, I'll tell you the gist of her story.

She joined in Oct 2012 weighting 300 lbs at ~5f 6'. She gained all that weight after injuring her back about 10 years prior (something with her disk -?). As her weight grew her health deteriorated. By Oct 2012 she had a long laundry list of conditions that included a belly hernia (-? at midline). The worst was her diabetes which she could barely control with insulin. Her diabetes started as metabolic syndrome due to excess weight. For the last few years she was confined to bed and got up only to go to the toilet. Just before Oct 2012, yet another diagnosis was added to her list (kidneys -?). Realizing that she was deteriorating quickly, she turned to fasting as a last resort. That's how she showed up on the forum.

In Oct 2012 she did about 2 week long fast but then read somewhere that hernia was a contraindication for a long fast. She was offered surgery for her hernia but was afraid to go for it because of her weight and diabetes. She scheduled her surgery for Aug, expecting to loose enough weight by then.

Since Nov 2012 she turned to fasting 1-2 days a week, every week, while monitoring her blood sugar and watching her diet on the fed days. She was also trying to be as active as possible and started by doing some exercises while still confined to bed. As she began to walk more, she climbed stairs in her apartment building.

Long story short, by spring 2013 she lost enough weight to control her blood sugar with diet alone, and so she stopped insulin. By around Aug 2013 she lost enough weight to go for her hernia surgery, which she scheduled back in winter. To her and the surgeon surprise she no longer had hernia. This was great news for her, because it meant that she could go for a longer fast, which she was afraid to do, having read (incorrectly) that hernia can lead a bowel obstruction due to volvulus upon refeeding after a long fast. I don't recall her weight at that point, other than on her once a week fasts she was loosing a kilo+ per week steadily, so she must have been around 170 lbs by then. In Aug-Sep she did a 3 weeks fast, after which, still watching her diet, she stabilized her weight at ~140 lbs.

Now she is rarely seen on the forum, because, as she wrote, after being confined to her room for many years, she is rarely home. She returned to work and leads a very active life.

The moral of the story is that fasting once a week for 1-2 days, every week, can have dramatic effects on both health and weight. I have to add though that she was not a vegetarian so you would have to make sure that your protein intake is adequate on the fed days. It is doable but not always easy on a veg. diet. Good luck

Edited by xEva, 19 December 2013 - 09:12 PM.

[Darryl]

Don't go hungry. Food diaries and calorie counting don't seem to work in the long term.

For short term weight loss, Atkins works, Paleo works, low-fat whole-foods vegan works, alternate day fasting works, raw food diets work, 3rd world poverty diets work, but wishy-washy dictates to eat "less fat" or "more fiber" don't translate well into grocery carts or pantry contents. The ranch dressing or late-night toast find their way back in all too easily. One doesn't advise alcoholics to "drink less". There's received wisdom in the medical profession and among some nutritionists that moderate changes are easier to achieve, when my impression is that absolute dietary rules are much easier to follow for most.

My suggestion is to find some diet with hard rules that puts significant parts of the grocery store and restaurant menus off limits. Whether its low-carb, pre-agricultural, cruelty-free, uncooked, or cheap and unprocessed isn't as important as simply imposing a limitation. In time perhaps you'll investigate the health consequences of the various options, but really some rules, any rules, are perhaps most important at the start.

What worked for me is large, satiating meals of low-calorie density foods (so your stomach stretch sensors go off with a lesser calorie load). The sort of thing Barbara Rolls has studied and promoted for a few decades. Stuff yourself with what initially appear to be insane amounts low-caloric density fruits, salads, vegetables, and soup (but no drinking calories, fatty dressings, creamy soups, or avocado/nut binges), and you'll simply feel full long before you can tackle any diet breakers. The salad is the main course. For me (and I'm only 2/3s of my way down to an ideal BMI), it has proven easiest to simply eliminate caloric beverages, baked goods, fried foods, and all animal products from the house. Even potatoes, rice, and pasta have fairly moderate calorie densities compared to diet breakers. Alcohol has been my major lapse (but I'm down from fifths of vodka to a couple beers).

Otherwise, short of some herbal products of interest, I like Mark McCarty's mini-fast with exercise protocol, which appears to result in fairly rapid weight loss.

[chemicalambrosia]

I recommend a book called "The rapid Fat Loss Handbook" by Lyle McDonald. It outlines what is basically called a protein sparing modified fast. It is no carb, very low fat, very low calorie, almost all protein diet. It works extremely well. I can't guarantee that it will work if you are really not losing weight on 1000 calories, but its definitely worth a try. The book itself is something like 50 dollars if you buy it. You could probably illegally download it if you wanted, or piece the diet together through google searches, but I will also give a quick outline of how I do this type of diet.

Another version of basically the same diet is the "Velocity Diet", which follows a similar macro breakdown as the rapid fat loss diet, but it is based entirely around protein shakes(IE: drinking every meal). This is put out by a supplement company trying to get you to buy their protein shakes, but the idea is very sound(based on the same principles as Lyle Mcdonanld's book) and I would say the diet works even better with other kinds of protein supplements(like Optimum nutrition's protein).

When I crash diet I do a combination of the two, using solid foods sometimes to break the monotony and protein shakes for most of my meals. I would use a mix of whey and casein, with no added caloric sweeteners, and a little bit of ground flax seed. That would be about a 150 calorie "meal". Alternately, a tin of herring or a portion of baked or grilled skinless boneless chicken breast that would be about 150 calories or so could alternately be used for a meal. Neither leaves you feeling very full, so after that I would eat some spinach leaves, broccoli, or romaine lettuce. All of those would be plain or with an extremely low calorie dressing. If you use a few tablespoons of calorie dense ranch dressing your diet is blown, so you better make sure to grab the right vinegar based dressing... however, I would eat as many greens as I felt like. They have almost no effective calories and you simply can't gain weight eating them. I also used a multivitamin and fish oil to help fill in nutritional gaps. Plain Psyillium husk taken with water prevents constipation and doesn't add any calories. Other than your protein shake meals, don't drink anything with any calories whatsoever... none at all. Drink teas, plain water, diet sodas, etc. That means zero alcohol too, as alcohol has calories.

When doing a diet like this I would eat 1000-1200 calories in a day, maybe 300 more if I was doing intense weight training. I have a fast metabolism though, so perhaps half of that if tolerable might work for you. When I do it I don't "cheat" at all. I have a list of foods that are acceptable and don't eat anything that isn't on it. A single little debbie snack cake can have the same number of calories as a whole day's worth of meals on this plan, so a little cheating can ruin everything. If you are interested then do your own research(or ask me more questions if you want), but tons of people have had great results with this kind of diet. From the severely obese to people trying to get ripped, it usually works. There are a lot of legitimate testimonials, and it is based on the medical protocols of a "protein sparing modified fast". Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Edited by chemicalambrosia, 19 December 2013 - 11:25 PM.

[Tinply]

Wow, thank you all so much for your suggestions! I've read them all, and it's really, really great advice. I'm going to look into all of it. I really appreciate you all trying to help me out, it means so much to me. =)

I think I might try the protein shake stuff, as I've heard a "juicing" diet is really good for the morbidly obese, we shall see.

I ordered some appetite suppressants from LEF and they should be here soon enough. It's a white bean extract.

Of course, I am still open to more suggestions.

Thanks again!!!

[hippocampus]

If you have low B12 and are a vegetarian, you should start eat meat. Or supplement B12 at least, but meat is not just B12.

[JohnD60]

I do have a treadmill, but cannot go for too long because of my weight.

Not sure what 'too long' means. But it sounds like a cop out to me. I have never had to lose weight since I have been lucky enough to have never been over weight. But, I have you seen the TV show the biggest loser. A large part of their weight loss plan, arguably the majority of their weight loss plan, is frequent cardio exercise.

Edited by JohnD60, 22 December 2013 - 02:05 AM.

[lemonhead]

I do have a treadmill, but cannot go for too long because of my weight.

Not sure what 'too long' means. But it sounds like a cop out to me. I have never had to lose weight since I have been lucky enough to have never been over weight. But, I have you seen the TV show the biggest loser. A large part of their weight loss plan, arguably the majority of their weight loss plan, is frequent cardio exercise.

I think the cardio just makes for 'good' t.v. Diet is way more important for weight loss. It doesn't sound like a cop out to me since her joints could get stressed quite a bit. Swimming might be better. Once she's got her weight down the treadmill might be more useful for maintenance and overall health.

Tinply, best of luck to you.

[niner]

Tinply, I'm glad to hear that you want to tackle the weight problem. I want to be around for the Singularity too. You said you were a vegetarian, but you haven't said much about what you eat. There's a lot of advice floating around that says "a calorie is a calorie", and that weight loss is only about calories and nothing else, but in my experience that is not correct. There is a lot more to food than just calories, particularly where weight is concerned. If you eat a lot of sugars and refined carbs like white flour that are rapidly digested into sugars, that is a problem. If you cut back heavily on those, and compensated by eating more fat, you would probably lose weight, which might seem counter-intuitive. If this works, you are probably eating less because fat is more satiating. Fat has over twice the calories per gram as carbs or protein, though, so if you substituted gram for gram this obviously wouldn't work.

Try to get all the bad foods out of your house so they aren't wearing down your will power. This is a lot easier if you live alone or with someone who is on board with it. You need to develop a new culinary repertoire of dishes that don't contain a lot of bad carbs. Vegetables (and olive oil) are your friends here. Avoid fruit juices. Actual fruit is ok. If you are a vegetarian for moral reasons, I won't try to talk you out of it, but if it's for health or environmental reasons, or if you're just on the fence, then allowing a small amount of animal protein into your diet will make your goal easier to reach.

I like appetite suppressants. The Zyban (bupropion- same stuff as Wellbutrin) was a great idea- too bad you didn't get it sooner. How much are you taking? It's good that you're not smoking. If you should ever fall off the wagon, then maybe you could consider an ecig, like blu. It would be just a different addiction, but it wouldn't be as bad for you. Coffee can be useful as a low-calorie drink that might provide a little appetite suppression. Sweeten it with Splenda instead of sugar. Use whole milk instead of synthetic creamers, if you like it with cream. Maybe even a little half and half.

You might want to look into C60 olive oil. From the various symptoms you describe (asthma, tiredness), I think you'd like it. It's the closest thing to a miracle I've ever found. It would make aerobic exercise a lot easier. There are a lot of people here who use it. C60 appears to enhance mitochondrial function. It's not a stimulant, but people find that they have a much deeper reserve of energy when they work hard. Another very popular supplement that improves mitochondrial function is Acetyl L-Carnitine, commonly called ALCAR. It helps the mitochondria metabolize fat. I take 500 mg twice a day; this has definitely made a difference in my weight. I lost a quarter of my body weight over several years, and now seem to have no problem keeping it off. I'm just one person, but the things I'm suggesting here worked for me. I wish you the best of luck with this.

Edited by niner, 22 December 2013 - 03:14 PM.

[blood]

For me (and I'm only 2/3s of my way down to an ideal BMI)...

Darryl, what do you consider to be an ideal BMI?

[Darryl]

I'm on my way down from 34, aiming for 22-23. I'm also only halfway, rather than 2/3s there.

From Berrington de Gonzalez, Amy, et al. "Body-mass index and mortality among 1.46 million white adults." New England Journal of Medicine 363.23 (2010): 2211-2219.



Note, "healthy" is defined as those with no cancer or heart disease at baseline, and there appears to be a small advantage for males of a bit more weight (BMI 26-27) when including the sick. As far as I can tell, the two lines in each graph aren't comparable with each other.

In the studies with greater than 15 years follow-up, all-cause mortality was lowest and flat from 18.5-22.4.

In terms of specific causes, cancer is lowest at 18.5-19.9, cardiovascular disease at 20.0-22.4, and other causes at 22.5-24.9.

Edited by Darryl, 23 December 2013 - 08:09 AM.

[Tinply]

Hi there, Niner, thank you so much for your reply. It was very helpful. I read it all and will definitely take all of it into consideration.

I've been eating a lot more vegetables lately, and some more fruit. I actually feel a lot less bloated. I was eating a lot of soy products before, but I'm trying to eat less and eat more whole foods.

I haven't weighed myself yet, but I want to soon to see how much weight I need to lose. I do feel less bloated the past couple of days from eating healthier foods, though, which is really good.

As for the treadmill, I find I cannot go for more than about 20-30 min without getting very fatigued. If I go slower I can go for longer, though.

I ordered a white bean extract appetite suppressant from LEF . Anyone know of it?

I'm also no longer on the Wellbutrin, I wish I was, though. :(

Thanks again, all. =)

[Gerrans]

I ordered a white bean extract appetite suppressant from LEF . Anyone know of it?

When I was on my diet, I tried a white bean extract from Health Plus, called Phase 2. I did not notice any effect from it. I experimented with many different fibre supplements during my diet and they never seemed to do anything for me.

Since taking off the weight, though, I have had more luck. It maybe that when we are heavy it is much more difficult for a little supplement here and there to make much difference to satiation.

I did not start feeling a satiating effect from fibre supplements until I was taking them in several tablespoonfuls a day. I do not think a few pills make enough of a dent in the appetite. These days I take three tablespoons of resistant starch, one of pectin, and one of either ispaghula husk or wheat bran. I also sometimes eat oat bran. Together, all that is very satiating, and I am never hungry.

But the bad news is they do need to be meticulously deducted from one's calorie allocation, otherwise in such amounts I have found they can lead to weight gain. This seems counterintuitive, but I have come to think that resistant fibre supplements, by encouraging growth of bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract, increase the size and weight of the gut and its contents, relative to food intake--at least initially. For digestive health, that is is a good thing; but it has to be taken into account on the scale.

Edited by Gerrans, 23 December 2013 - 01:54 PM.

[platypus]

A few thoughts:

- Ultra-low calorie diets qre npt the answer as the body will quickly switch into starvation-mode and becomes extremely effective at savong energy. Do not do 1000 or 500 calorie diets except perhaps for very short periods
- See this as a long-term endeavor. It took you years to reach your present weight so it is unrealistic to think you'll reach your ideal weight in a few months or a year. See this as a permanent lifestyle-change and you will reach your goals.
- Exercise should feel taxing as you are trying to become more fit. Do not forget weight-training, muscle uses energy even when in rest so increased muscle-mass is your greatest ally in getting and especially staying slimmer. You will become strong!
- Good luck, do not quit!

[JohnD60]

As for the treadmill, I find I cannot go for more than about 20-30 min without getting very fatigued. If I go slower I can go for longer, though.

And how often are you doing that?

[chung_pao]

Simple solution: (How I stay below 10% body-fat with almost no exercise):

*Use the Slow-carb diet. (get the four hour body from amazon, or just find it summarized online)
This diet is great, not just for weight loss, but all other functions of your body aswell.

*Consider your omega 3:6 ratio. Simply shifting to a ratio where Omega-3 is the dominant essential fatty acid will fix your appetite immediately, and stimulate weight-loss.
For me, the Omega 3:6 ratio is always the first place I look when I need to lose any weight. It's so easily manipulated.
Example: If I have 100g of peanuts one day (ca 15g omega-6) - I'll likely lose 25% of my attention the next day due to thoughts about food. It's that bad!
I solve that by using fish oil or fatty fish, and excluding all nuts.
Rule: Omega 3:6 ratio = Inflammation = Appetite. (not entirely correct, but it's easy to remember and a common causative factor)


*Use green tea extract, ALA, Garlic before meals. (The PAGG-stack, also referenced in the four hour body - Just get the damn book)

I'm not a salesman or affiliated in any way - I just want to share the resource which has given me the control over my body I wanted for a very long time.

Edited by chung_pao, 24 December 2013 - 09:25 PM.

[Tinply]

Simple solution: (How I stay below 10% body-fat with almost no exercise):

*Use the Slow-carb diet. (get the four hour body from amazon, or just find it summarized online)
This diet is great, not just for weight loss, but all other functions of your body aswell.

*Consider your omega 3:6 ratio. Simply shifting to a ratio where Omega-3 is the dominant essential fatty acid will fix your appetite immediately, and stimulate weight-loss.
For me, the Omega 3:6 ratio is always the first place I look when I need to lose any weight. It's so easily manipulated.
Example: If I have 100g of peanuts one day (ca 15g omega-6) - I'll likely lose 25% of my attention the next day due to thoughts about food. It's that bad!
I solve that by using fish oil or fatty fish, and excluding all nuts.
Rule: Omega 3:6 ratio = Inflammation = Appetite. (not entirely correct, but it's easy to remember and a common causative factor)


*Use green tea extract, ALA, Garlic before meals. (The PAGG-stack, also referenced in the four hour body - Just get the damn book)

I'm not a salesman or affiliated in any way - I just want to share the resource which has given me the control over my body I wanted for a very long time.

Hi there, chung.

I downloaded the Four Hour Body book for kindle and read through about 50 pages and I think you just might've saved my live. I LOVE lentils and vegetables, and if I can consume a lot of it and lose weight at the same time, I will be a very happy camper.

I remember about 10 years ago I lost 5 lbs in 2 weeks just by eating a bit healthier and eating a lot of garlic, so I think that point in the book was spot on. It seemed to act as a mild appetite suppressant for me.

I'm not sure I can do the full PAGG-stack, but I can do at least a couple of them. I think the P one (forget the full name) increases estrogen, which is a no-no for me at this point. But the other ones I just might try.

I am going to try the diet after Christmas.

Thanks so much for this suggestion. =)

[Darryl]

@blood This morsel is rather hidden in

Berrington de Gonzalez, Amy, et al. "Body-mass index and mortality among 1.46 million white adults." New England Journal of Medicine 363.23 (2010): 2211-2219.

but deserves graphical emphasis.



Maybe we should be aiming below 22, like the CRON folks.

[chung_pao]

Hi there, chung.

I downloaded the Four Hour Body book for kindle and read through about 50 pages and I think you just might've saved my live. I LOVE lentils and vegetables, and if I can consume a lot of it and lose weight at the same time, I will be a very happy camper.

I remember about 10 years ago I lost 5 lbs in 2 weeks just by eating a bit healthier and eating a lot of garlic, so I think that point in the book was spot on. It seemed to act as a mild appetite suppressant for me.

I'm not sure I can do the full PAGG-stack, but I can do at least a couple of them. I think the P one (forget the full name) increases estrogen, which is a no-no for me at this point. But the other ones I just might try.

I am going to try the diet after Christmas.

Thanks so much for this suggestion. =)

Thanks for the words of appreciation!

The diet is excellent.
Just make it a habit to eat a certain way, and "dieting" will be effortless.
Also, keep in mind that what you buy is what you will eat. Meaning, when you're shopping, you're deciding what you'll be putting in your mouth. Self-control can work in some situations, but if there are sweets/bad foods in the house, you'll fail to resist them sooner or later.

No need to use the PAGG-stack. Not even exercise or cold-therapy is required for fat-loss.

IMO, just buy home the right foods, like vegetables, legumes and meats/eggs for protein, and keep an eye at your omega 3:6 ratio.
Those two things are the essentials.

[scottknl]

Hi Tinply, I hope your xmas was lots of fun. I wanted to add in my advice too. I went from a 26 BMI to a 20 BMI in a space of about 4 or 5 months and have kept the weight off for the last 5 years. I know it's not the same as your situation, but most people are unable to keep weight off like I have. I went mostly vegan in my diet and I eat about 12 - 14 different veggies everyday. I track my nutrients every day in cronometer and weigh all my food on a scale. It's a lot of work to do this, but to me it was even more work to be sick, worried about my health, and unhappy with the way I looked. Here are a few of the things that have helped me:
1) Whatever your diet, keep a record of it so that you can know where you are and where you want to go.
2) Get all your vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids everyday from your food selection. This will really help you control your hunger.
3) Eat a balanced diet with some fats, some protein and some carbs. Unbalanced diets will make you hungry because your body will demand that you eat if you are short on any nutrients.
4) Skip all processed foods and remove them from your home.
5) Some vitamins require fats to be properly absorbed, so include some fats in every meal. I include about 20 - 30 g of nuts spread thru out all my daily meals.
6) Balance your omega-6:omega-3 fatty acids in your diet for a ratio of 5:1 or less. This will supply the needed raw materials for building nerves, brains and other structures that require fats as well as keeping inflammation low. Will likely reduce your sore joints etc.
7) Take a B12 supplement even if you eat meat and/or dairy products. A large number of omnivores are B12 deficient and this has a big effect on energy production.
8) You should be able to get the vast majority of your vitamins thru your food by eating lots of different types of veggies, but may find that getting the correct level of one or two is difficult while still staying within your calorie goals. In on this case I recommend supplementing with those nutrients only.
9) Milk and eggs are part of a natural reproductive cycle and contain naturally occurring hormones. You don't want these hormones because they will encourage you to grow. Growing fast is for baby cows and chicks, not adult humans, so skip these in favor of almond milk, rice milk or some other substitute.
10) Keep busy with some tasks that takes your mind off of food. Read a good book, watch a show, walk or other exercise, talk with friends, but do anything to keep busy and fill up that time between meals with something that doesn't allow you to eat.
11) Try to prepare your meals in a timely manner, so that you don't get extremely hungry, and then be tempted to cheat with extra snacking. For example I prepare my breakfast in the morning, as well as a salad, berries and melon snack, veggies for a soup and bring it all to work so I'm not tempted to look elsewhere for food at lunch or during coffee breaks. It's healthier to buy good, nutritious food and prepare/package it rather then settling for what ever comes to hand when you're hungry.
12) Make changes in your diet slowly over weeks and months. The shock to your system of suddenly dropping calories or changing nutrient balance can cause a new diet to fail when all you really need is a little bit of extra time to phase into it a little at a time.

I know not everyone agrees with all of my points above, and that's ok with me. It's worked in my life and I consider that a success.
Best of luck in shedding the pounds.

Edited by scottknl, 26 December 2013 - 05:03 AM.

[bernax]

eating less is not the way to lose weight, you should look at what the calories you consume are made up of. When you consume too less calories your body will use them more 'efficiently' and make more reserves out of it. The key to losing weight is consuming enough because your body needs energy to burn fat.

[Jembe]

The ketogenic diet has all but eliminated stomach aches, flatulence, and acid reflux for me. It's also effective for losing weight.

[Tinply]

Hi all, thanks for more advice. I've been busy, and hence away from this site until today.

Scott, I think I may try a low fat vegan diet as it was recommended to me by a physician as having great weight loss potential. For omega 3, do you just take DHA, or EPA + DHA or ALA + DHA? I have DHA supplements here that I haven't taken yet, but I think I will soon. Honestly I think a vegan diet is natural for me since I'm vegetarian and don't eat much milk or eggs anyways. My biggest vice is FRIES!! But I can seriously cut back on that to lose weight, no problem. Any other tips for me in regards to a vegan diet?

Thanks. =)

[Brett Black]

My own intentional weight loss was via a very simple technique: EAT LESS.

In my case, I think it may have worked particularly well for me because I *severely* reduced calories. None of this incremental calorie reduction, I just stopped eating for most of each day. I estimate I was eating around 1000-1200kcal per day, or at least 50% reuction in calories. This meant putting up with obvious hunger pains. I also would counter the hunger pains somewhat by eating extremely tiny serves of sweets (like 2 Skittles every three hours.)

The benefit for me, I think, is that this is a much more binary, black and white focused and extreme attitude, with rapid and obvious results, all of which may suit my very goal-oriented, extremist, driven personality.

The main thing I may have changed, if I were to do it again, is to eat high protein when I did eat during the weight loss period. There is some evidence that eating high protein during weight loss will help to reduce muscle loss(both muscle and fat are generally lost during weight loss.)

A daily multivitamin may also be a good idea, as less food means less essential micronutrients, and very low calorie diets("VLCD") diets have also proved to have some heart risks which may be due to micronutrient deficiency.

http://en.wikipedia....ow_calorie_diet

Edited by Brett Black, 07 January 2014 - 02:41 AM.

[Darryl]

DHA has importance for neural development (if you're planning a pregnancy) and for cognition retention for older individuals, but EPA will have more of an impact on returning the omega-3:omega-6 ratio back to its the roughly 1:1 ratio your primate and hominid ancestors were exposed to. Briefly, the 20-carbon omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids (eicosapentanoic acid and arachidonic acid) are the immediate precursors for eicosanoid inflammatory signalling, and the omega 3 derived eicosanoids are poor inflammatory agents compared to the omega 6s. Many, if not most, of the adverse health effects of obesity arise through inflammatory signals sent by adipose cells, and having a diet that leans hard to the omega 3 fats will counteract some of the omega-6s an obese person's fat tissue will be releasing for some while. Leaning hard essentially means the only refined fats you are allowed are flax seed and very little canola oil (get the spray canola). All other commercial oils are high in the omega-6 fatty acids, or worse saturated and trans fats - get them out of the house. There are no pure EPA supplements, but DHA+EPA are common enough (I stocked up with the Vitacost sale on Ovega). So, yes to EPA containing capsules (over DHA-only ones), yes to adding flax to your morning oatmeal/smoothie, yes to sauteing onions, garlic or mirepoix in a mist of canola, but no to any purchased fried and most purchased processed foods.

My advise to a fellow (potential) vegan seeking to lose weight would be two things: 1) the salad is the main course, and 2) learn to love beans.

The advantage of (undressed) salads is simple, they're very high in micronutrients, have significant filling fiber, and undressed, they're low in calories. By main dish, I mean, fill a 12 inch plate with greens, and top with low caloric density toppings till it looks like the Giza pyramid - the reason for the huge salad is in large part to prevent cravings for higher caloric density foods. The calorie density advantage is lost entirely if you use most vinagrette recipes or commercial dressings, so consider starting with low-fat homemade dressings, getting most of your salad fats from judiciously added nuts. "Ctrl-f" search this page of McDougall program dressing recipes and you'll find something to your taste.

Beans may be the ideal main source of calories as you get back to a healthy weight. Prepared well, they can satisfy the desire for the creamy mouthfeel of fats, their fiber is filling, their slow release starches will prevent cravings. Get a modern, disaster-proof pressure cooker if you don't have one, it will make weekday bean dishes possible. I like the Lorna Sass cookbooks Recipes from an Ecological Kitchen and Great Vegetarian Cooking Under Pressure. but there are other vegan oriented pressure cooker cookbooks. Lentils of every variety are extremely useful, they cook in 10 minutes from bone dry in a pressure cooker, and the variety of Indian dals, French lentil soups etc attests to their versatility. Canned beans are fine, but usually salty, and they can be added to main dish salads (otherwise, you'll be hungry a few hours later). You can always toss a can of beans, some leftover veggies, some salsa, etc. in the food processor for a low-fat, filling bean dip, which is handy to have on hand for cravings. Some low-fat high fiber dip-delivery system (like warmed whole-corn tortillas or those Swedish rye crisps) and you're set. You will fart more for a short while, but the gut biota adapts and eventually feel like everything is running rather smoothly. You'll be able to add increasing amounts of white starches like rice and pasta with time and success. High glycemic index starches, like breads and baked potatoes, can come later.

Don't forget some exercise. It needn't be strenuous. Take the stairs when you can. Don't search for the closest parking space. As spring warms, walk the neighborhood, extending your path each day. Plant a garden. Play your favorite music loud and clean house.

You're not going to lose it all in 2014, but two years is a reasonable timeframe. Celebrate your successes with shopping excursions. I have two pairs of jeans, replaced every time I drop a waist size. I can't wait till I get back to under 150 lbs and can replace all the baggy coats & slacks..

Edited by Darryl, 07 January 2014 - 03:10 AM.

[Brett Black]

Briefly, the 20-carbon omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids (eicosapentanoic acid and arachidonic acid) are the immediate precursors for eicosanoid inflammatory signalling, and the omega 3 derived eicosanoids are poor inflammatory agents compared to the omega 6s. Many, if not most, of the adverse health effects of obesity arise through inflammatory signals sent by adipose cells, and having a diet that leans hard to the omega 3 fats will counteract some of the omega-6s an obese person's fat tissue will be releasing for some while.

"The majority of evidence suggests that n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, including linoleic acid (LA), reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease as reflected by current dietary recommendations. However, concern has been expressed that a high intake of dietary n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid contributes to excess chronic inflammation, primarily by prompting the synthesis of proinflammatory eicosanoids derived from arachidonic acid and/or inhibiting the synthesis of anti-inflammatory eicosanoids from eicosapentaenoic and/or docosahexaenoic acids. A systematic review of randomized controlled trials that permitted the assessment of dietary LA on biologic markers of chronic inflammation among healthy noninfant populations was conducted to examine this concern....

....We conclude that virtually no evidence is available from randomized, controlled intervention studies among healthy, noninfant human beings to show that addition of LA to the diet increases the concentration of inflammatory markers."[1]

1: Johnson GH, Fritsche K. Effect of dietary linoleic acid on markers of
inflammation in healthy persons: a systematic review of randomized controlled
trials. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2012 Jul;112(7):1029-41, 1041.e1-15. doi:
10.1016/j.jand.2012.03.029. Review. PubMed PMID: 22889633.
http://www.ncbi.nlm....bmed/22889633/?

[blood]

Maybe we should be aiming below 22, like the CRON folks.

I seem to have managed to claw my way down to around 21.

I am going to see if I can get to 20, admittedly mostly for aesthetic reasons.

Do you use any drugs for weight loss?

Currently, I take:

- metformin, 2 gm/day (for profound appetite suppression, better tolerance of carbs, & a feeling of overall improved health).
- telmisartan, 80 mg/ day (for targeting of visceral - especially abdominal - fat, and a feeling of overall improved health).

I've experimented with berberine, but didn't notice any effects or benefits at all from that substance.

What are your thoughts on supplements or drugs that possibly reduce insulin resistance (chromium, lipoic acid, metformin, biotin, pycnogenol, cinnamon extract)?