Hello!

[NatashaL]

Hi Everyone, I happened to stumble across this website when I was doing some research on a a diet plan I had purchased over the internet (don't want to be seen as advertising so I wont mention any names!)

I was 154lbs over weight and managed to lose 56lbs. I'm now 98lbs over weight and because there is a history of heart disease in my family I know now is the time to do something about my weight.

Hope to chat to you all soon.

 

[Omega]

Welcome to the forum. Congratulations on your weight loss to date.

We all benefit from bringing our weight into the healthiest of BMI categories - and this is especially so for people who have heart disease in their family.

The fact that heart disease runs in your family prompts me to check that you ran the weight loss program that you have been following by your doctor. Some very low calorie diets for instance can result in muscle wastage and that is a particularly serious issue if the muscle in question is the heart. We had a thread recently in the media section about a bride-to-be who sadly died while following such a plan.

Many of us here adopt some form of exercise which not only burns calories but also helps to preserve all our muscles. We set our calories at a low enough level to give us weight loss - whilst giving us well enough calories to eat a healthy balanced diet. That term is often used when people have no idea whether their diet is balanced or not - just that they have some of all the nutrient types. We plot our food and exercise using where we see our calorie balance and the breakdown of our nutrients. We deduce our nutritional targets from the nutrition section.

Whatever route you take for the next part of your project to better health - good luck with your project.

 

[NatashaL]

Thanks for the welcome Omega.

I must read the article you mentioned. That is pretty scary stuff.

Well to cut a long story short I was invited to a wedding and needed a quick fix solution so I tried the 18 in 4 diet. I lost a ton of weight but I couldn't stick the diet beyond the forth day because I didn't like most of the food that was on the menu.

You'll probably think I'm an idiot but I never ran the 18 in 4 plan past my Doctor. As crazy as it sounds I was actually embarrassed to go and see my GP because of the size I had allowed myself to become - stupid I know.

I've now started a new plan which is working fine. I was drawn to that one too because it also said I would lose quite a large amount of weight in such a short space of time. In the first two weeks I lost 30lbs. I know that's a lot but my weight loss since has dropped to a more sensible loss and there is way more food on the menu than the 18 in 4.

 

[Omega]

I know what it is like to be big and embarrassed about your size. You will see from my ticker that I had to tackle a similarly large weight loss project.

However - whatever size we are or were - we have a right to expect medical attention and to feel that we will be treated with respect.

Do yourself a favour and do two things.

Log the food that you are eating on fitday so that you see not just the calories but how many grams of protein, fibre, calcium, fats etc you are having each day and what the proportions of nutrients that you are getting are.

Print the reports out and ask your doctor to confirm that it is healthy for you to continue to follow it bearing in mind the heart health side of things. The fitday format should make it easy for him to assess and judge.

I would really hate for you to hit any problems. If there is heart disease in your family you could be extra vulnerable.

Be wary of dropping weight too quickly. You can feel like you want the project behind you and done - but it honestly is not the best way. For one thing you want to be losing fat. Quick weight loss often means that you are dropping water (mainly in the first couple of weeks) and / or muscle...

In addition you can be left with a major loose skin nightmare.

One percent of bodyweight per week is a safe level to be losing across the month. More than that tends to not be better than that...

At the end of the day - the decisions are yours...

===
Margaret

 

[KaraCooks]

Hi and welcome.

I agree 100% with Margaret. I know how it is to be desperate to lose weight and lose it fast, but actually losing weight fast is not only unhealthy, it's unsustainable in the long run.

Every person I know who has lost weight and KEPT it off, has done so by giving up on "going on a diet" and has made fundamental changes to their lives - both with regard to eating and exercising.

You want to make sure you're getting proper nutrition so that you target FAT loss, and avoid losing too much lean muscle. (When you lose weight fast, I guarantee that you're losing muscle and fat, and that's another reason you don't want to lose quickly.)

I'll second the idea that you should sign up for fitday.com to log your meals. Also read the sticky posts, especially ones about nutrition and exercise and weight lifting. There's a lot of good information there that will help you to move past "dieting" and into living a healthy lifestyle!