Weight loss

[diguilio]

Hi, I have secondary Ms. I can't walk that we'll. I am in a wheel chair when I go out and that is not much. Now I am trying to figure out what I can do about weight loss. I need some help please

[Poppy7402]

Trying to lose weight with this disease and unable to do lots of exercise is one of the hardest things I've experienced.

One of the biggest things that we need to do when losing weight is to keep our blood sugars stable as when they go high, as they do with carbohydrates/sugar, the body releases a load of insulin to counter this, they then drop dramatically and we get irresistable urges to raid the cupboard again.

The easiest way I've found is to use a modified Dukan type diet. Eat low fat meat and dairy, eggs and low carbohydrate vegetables. Stay away from your starchy vegies as these will spike your blood sugars.

A typical day for me (when I'm behaving) would be a small serving of oatmeal in the morning with very low fat yoghurt, sweetened with a bit of stevia. Lunch would either be scrambled eggs with bacon, onion and low fat cottage cheese, or soup with a sprinkling of low fat cheese. Evening meal is low carb vegetables and some form of non processed meat, ie beef or fish. Snacks are usually a piece of fruit or yoghurt. Drink plenty of water.

The Dukan diet recommends doing days of protein only followed by days alternating protein then protein & vegies but I struggled to think of things to eat that were just protein so take the easier option of vegies and protein every day.

Hope this is of some help.

Poppy

[pennstater]

I have two friends that have both lost over 50 lbs on weight watchers and have kept it off for at least 3 years. I know others who have lost considerably less, but also kept it off. If they catch their weight creeping up, they start following the program and loss it, then work on maintaining.

It is a safe way and with the exception of the first week, average weight loss pet week is under 2 pounds. The have online meetings, so you can get support that way and check in your weight

I am trying to get motivated myself to start after putting 20 pounds on in last 2 years, most of it following recent steroid use.

Good luck.

[Mamabug]

I lost 60 pounds, in 2010-2011, with no exercise. Although I was physically able to exercise, I did have stamina issues and would not have been able to exercise a lot. Also, I did not enjoy exercise, so I set out to find a way, using diet alone, to lose weight.

Like Poppy, I was careful with carbs. In fact, I chose to get most of my carbs from fruits and vegetables. (And, vegetables are better, due to the natural sugars in fruits.) Grains, especially white rice or those with white flour, are mostly empty calories, devoid of very much nutritional value. I also ate very few potatoes and corn, as they are starchy vegetables, and seem to put weight on me.

I ate a lot of protein. I didn't tend to stick to low-fat protein. Much of the nutrtitional reading I've done lately talks about how we need to eat fat to lose fat. Even the traditional views on saturated fats being bad for heart health tend to be changing. Research is beginning to indicate that starchy carbs are more detrimental to both weight loss and your heart than fats.

Portion control was my other big strategy. I calculated my BMR online. (It's easy to google that and calculate yours.)
Then I made sure that two days per week (I tended to choose Sundays and Wednesdays), I ate in my BMR calorie range. The other days, I ate less, in order to create a calorie deficit.

Although some heavy people eat too much, I suspect that many dieters eat too few calories and their bodies hang on to calories in order to avoid entering starvation mode.

Best wishes on attempting to lose weight!

~ Faith