Obesity Support Group

I have lost weight on just about every diet I have ever been on. When I stop eating the right type and amount of food and stopped exercising I gained it back. I did this over and over and never learned. It is not the diets fault. It is my stupid belief that I am now skinny and I no longer have a problem with food and I don't need to exercise. But looking at the people who lose weight and keep it off, they don't do what I do. From http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutrit...#general_strategies

Lessons from Losers
Since 1993, more than 5,000 women and men have joined the National Weight Control Registry. This select "club" includes only people who lost more than 30 pounds and kept them off for at least a year. What was their secret? (28)

They exercised. Registry participants burn an average of 400 calories per day in physical activity. That's the equivalent of about 60 to 75 minutes of brisk walking, or 35 to 40 minutes of jogging. (29)
They ate fewer calories. On average, registry volunteers consume about 1,400 calories a day. That's significantly less than the calories consumed by the average American. This doesn't mean, however, that you should aim for 1,400 calories a day. What's right for you is based on your weight, height, and activity level.
They watched less television, limited fast food intake, cut back on sugars and sweets, and ate more fruits and vegetables. (30, 31)

Candida may be the culprit. There are many people that do not realize they have it, and most doctors don't look or treat it.

Candida coexists in our bodies with many species of bacteria in a competitive balance. Other bacteria act in part to keep candida growth in check in our body ecology . . . unless that balance is upset. When health is present, the immune system keeps candida proliferation under control; but when immune response is weakened, candida growth can proceed unhindered. It is an "opportunistic organism," one which, when given the opportunity, will attempt to colonize all bodily tissues. The uncontrolled growth of candida is known as candida overgrowth.

So this may be something to check into if you have had issues with weight and no luck losing it. Our chiropractor started treating my wife because the doctors tests all came out normal. She has lost about 50lbs with the right vitamins and diet to help battle the candida.

Best wishes in your weight loss efforts. I would just suggest to get on a sit like fitday.com or dailyplate and start charting your daily intake (food/drink) and output (exercise) it is amazing what seeing it each day in B&W can do. Figure out your BMR and do the Harris Benedict Equation (there's a link to a calculator on the left hand side of my blog home page: www.theworldaccordingtoeggface.com ) to find out how many cals you can have to lose. It's helping me maintain my weight loss.

Hope it helps!
~Michelle

Diets dont work because they are seen as something you do and then you are to stop when your goal is reached. But diet needs to be a lifelong hobby. The right diet. Keeoing track of your calories per day is a start. Calories sneak in everywhere. Cream and sugar in coffee adds up weekly, but many people dont even count those calories.

A vegetarian diet could work, I use the word diet meaning a way to eat forever. Or a Mediterranean diet. Bad carbs, bad fat saturated fats, calories from fat and processed foods all add up. The hidden sugars and fats in every food there is now is a problem. High corn fructose sugar and palm oil are very bad and in a lot of foods.

Dr. John McDougall has a good book called "Maximum weight loss". He is a vegan though, you might get some good ideas there about how to change your diet.

I respectfully caution anyone with a thyroid problem against using the MacDougall program for Maximum Weight Loss.

I already had a minor thyroid problem when I began it (1997). The amount of soy required for my body to get enough protein destroyed my thyroid and my fertility. It took me 8 years to repair the damage to my endocrine system enough to get pregnant with my daughter (2005). My thyroid is still badly damaged.

There are many good reasons to eat a vegan diet but I cannot safely do so. I have chosen instead to use the Schwarzbein Principle as my nutrition plan. She does have Lacto-Ovo-Vegetarian options but not necessarily vegan ones. Her program includes a 5 step program for healing damaged metabolisms and endocrine systems. Her web site can give you better details than I can: http://www.schwarzbeinprinciple.co...

Basically I've forever changed my lifestyle to one of eating healthy fats, non-damaged proteins and non-starchy vegetables at every meal. I eat a consistent and moderate amount of healthy complex carbs as well.

I have also been blessed to discover Kettlebells and am training with an RKC instructor. Using these unique tools is melting the fat off of my body while building muscle and healing my injured back and other joints. They are unique and amazing in their ability to rehab badly injured and older bodies. Check out Dragon Door for articles on how they might be helpful to you or Andrea U-Shi Chang's before and after shots, better yet read her story: http://kettlebility.com/content/about
http://www.dragondoor.com/rkc/

These are my best tools and also getting my Vitamin D3 levels to 60-80. No matter what I did correctly, until I did that, I couldn't drop an ounce.

Good luck, be well and stay strong,
RW

I didn't realize (or forgot) McDougal had so much soy in there. Beans and quinoa are two great vegan ways to get protien. Even a little bit of grass-fed beef in a big pot of chili wont have that much fat in it. 1 pound of beef at most for a big pot. The only soy product I eat is miso, which I really believe in for a healthy digestive system.

ChrisMetI was thinking about you not being able to lose the weight. A healthy digestive system is very important to losing weight. Probiotics like a good quality yogurt or even probiotic pills can help. Trying not to be too blunt, but if someone is constipated, they will have a much harder time losing weight. Getting your gut healthy could be the turning point.