I have a new GP from a Prestigious school. I'm on some meds that might cause weight gain. I'm over fifty and menopausal. I'm hypothyroid. I use to exercise, but it is a huge problem now due to health problems. I rarely exercise now. Ive gained a good twenty pounds.

To my surprise, she told me if I wanted to lose weight, I must do the following:
1. Eat 900 calories a day. This is due to what I said above and the fact that I'm barely 5'2". Bottom line is I think she was saying that multiple problematic factors might require shaving off some calories.
2. All calories must be super duper high quality. This means lots of green veggies, veggies in general, best meats available, some fruit, some nuts, etc.
3. No sugar, no alcohol, no processed foods, no junk food
4. Avoid gluten, breads, flour...actually NO flour products
5. Reduce starchy carbs like rice and potato...ok in small amounts
6. Reduce dairy (the only dairy I eat is an occasional Greek yogurt and occasional feta cheese)
7. Drink lots of water between meals
8. Record food intake/calories
9. Moderate fruit intake is ok (preferably low glycemic ones) and small amounts of nuts for snacks are also a good snack
10. Most healthy food is fine...no gluten, sugar or junk. Moderation is important.

Well...this is hard as heck. But, I've been doing it and knock on wood, I've been losing weight. Knock on wood, I've lost close to fifteen pounds since February. It would be more, but I had a few chocolate binges. However, I always get right back on my diet. Motivating me is not just the weight loss, but I find I have more energy and less body aches eating this way. I'm eating a LOT of vegetables now both cooked and raw. I recognize that when it is time for maintenance, I very likely will not be able to eat a lot of calories...there likely won't be much of an increase. But, I'm ok with this.

I use an APp on my phone to record calories...has been very helpful.

Wishing everyone good luck with this important endeavor.

Hi Vowel Lady,

Keep striving for that goal! My Thread, Got To Do It, details the beginning of my ongoing journey. My weight gain was triggered by Mirtazapine, exacerbated by the Depression it treats - and I gave up smoking.

I am hitting around 1200cals a day, I haven't cut anything out except junk, refined sugar and excessive portions. It is a struggle made easier by support from the Members and Friends here (interchangeable terms). Tomorrow I see my GP about my Diabetes HbA1c figure increasing over last year, I may have to change my diet further then.

Do not think you are doing this alone. Come here for support - and fight those chocolate cravings.

Dave.

Vowel Lady
Thanks for this - I like the bullet points - makes it easier to remember and keep in mind when making food choices. I also have gained weight since being on steroids for 5 yrs - and will be on them for rest of life - so have to eat accordingly.
Understand the issues with exercise & health - I have times where exercise is impossible but also realize how important it is when I'm unable to do it - I start to seize up in all my joints. After each setback I find it essential to start again slowly and gradually increase. As you lose more weight and find it easier to be active you may find exercise comes more naturally. Find something that you enjoy, that suits your physical capabilities, and that if you have to take a break you can return to. I've done Tai Chi (this is a great gentle workout - unfortunately there's no longer a group in my area), Hydrotherapy (for knee injury) and I still do physio at the gym twice weekly when able. Aquacize (pool exercise) is good for anyone having weight bearing/joint issues.
Keep up the good work and keep us posted.

I have a dear family member and thru too many meds and pain drugs ended up in rehab for a lot of months...long sad story and I won't go into it all. But when she came out of rehab stay, she probably put on about 60+ lbs. It was unbelievable, I believe the worst drug "they" gave these young women to help sleep was sequerol (sp)... horrible gain weight drug. I didn't recognize this person when she came out of rehab.

After being out for a while, she knew she had to do something drastic, she was clear thinking for the first time in a long time. One of the bad meds was vicodin that did so much damage to her too. A big one was total hearing loss. She went thru cochlear implant for hearing so she could hear her children. And hear life.

After the sudden hearing loss, the family sought out a medical mal practice attorney as everyone was thinking all those drugs and the MD didn't see what was happening to her. It would have been a tough tough road on the malpractice so they family didn't push it.

She enrolled in Jenny Craig and with dedication she took off all the drug weight.

She now eats MOSTLY organic and is raising two children on her own, the kid's dad died a couple yrs ago and I THINK she's in a good place now...I HOPE.

To this day, I don't know if those drugs were necessary for this young mother. She was in a hard controlled marriage where I see she lived liked a prisoner. A miscarriage, 8 month stillborn and 2 little children and she broke down and went to docs to help her. As I see it all, it was the marriage and I don't think she had enough support with the grief of stillborn. My thoughts on her stuff. She is basically a healthy person, and I guess she had to go thru all she did.

I have my issues and do everything possible to not take drugs...I know some folks need to for their issues, but I work with so many supps to keep myself "working"...I'm retired so thankfully all my issues got worse after retirement, I actually got worse with my body after hip replacement. I hope the best for everyone.

Good for her for getting herself back!
A 60 pound weight gain is shocking.
I have been 60 pounds heavier(from medications) and know what that does to your self esteem. I was 200 pounds!
Being bipolar I take several medications to stay stable. I basically did the research and told my psychiatrist what I wanted to take. Weight neutral meds.
She listened and allowed me to take them and I have been fairly stable on them for many years now.
On jan 12 2015 my weight was back up to 164. I was shocked I had let it get that high. I immediately started dieting again. I also knew that I needed to get a handle on my drinking these fattening drinks.
So between having an alcohol free period of 121 days in a row(then a lapse of 8 days of drinking) and now24 days straight of not drinking I am down to 139, I have lost 25 pounds in 5 1/2 months. I don't count calories or carbs.
I try to follow a low carb lifestyle. Try to eat as clean as possible.
My exercising has decreased due to an injury, my thigh muscle was pulled from too much jogging too fast. That was a month ago. Am afraid to try jogging again. Need to start using weights for my lower legs to build them up so I won't have another injury.
anyway.....
YOu can do psych meds and lose weight.
Bizi

I was on this website from a hospital that showed many many of their nurses from the 60s. One thing that was soooo very obvious to me is that they were all normal weight and some were maybe a little underweight. None were overweight. Sadly, today, this is not the case. I've known many nurses that struggle with weight. And since they are often on their feet all day, you would think this would help them to stay slim. But, I think fast food is largely the culprit. It wasn't as available back then, nor as popular and I don't think it was as damaging. Although, very recently I see in the news great strides to rectify the "junki-ness" of the fast foods of today.

Hope I can put up this link. It talks about how men and women today are significantly heavier than in the 60s. The average woman today is the same weight as the average man back then.

https://www.facebook.com/doctor.heal...notify_me_page

That is shocking!

”To my surprise, she told me if I wanted to lose weight, I must do the following:
1. Eat 900 calories a day. This is due to what I said above and the fact that I'm barely 5'2". Bottom line is I think she was saying that multiple problematic factors might require shaving off some calories.
2. All calories must be super duper high quality. This means lots of green veggies, veggies in general, best meats available, some fruit, some nuts, etc.
3. No sugar, no alcohol, no processed foods, no junk food
4. Avoid gluten, breads, flour...actually NO flour products
5. Reduce starchy carbs like rice and potato...ok in small amounts
6. Reduce dairy (the only dairy I eat is an occasional Greek yogurt and occasional feta cheese)
7. Drink lots of water between meals
8. Record food intake/calories
9. Moderate fruit intake is ok (preferably low glycemic ones) and small amounts of nuts for snacks are also a good snack
10. Most healthy food is fine...no gluten, sugar or junk. Moderation is important.”


Hi Vowel Lady, congratulations on being able to maintain this diet for as long as you have! When I read this list, my first thought was, hmmm, no sugar, no processed foods, no breads, no junk food, what’s left to eat?

Seriously, I imagine it is quite difficult to keep to such a restricted diet. I’m not sure I could do it for any length of time as you’ve been able to do.

My only concern with 900 calories per day is whether or not I would be getting a sufficient amount of protein from it. If your protein intake is insufficient, it is possible to lose muscle mass, which is very difficult to rebuild even with exercise.

Auntie Audrey....Thank you. I think I'm ok re protein. The APP I'm using indicates I'm fine. I eat protein (meat, fish daily...usually two meals) and there is protein in veggies and I eat a LOT of them...more than I ever have in my life. I've also started to lift weights....not consistent yet. But I think protein is fine.

I do take mini breaks from the diet. At Easter I ate whatever I wanted, including a nice, normal sized slice of cheesecake.

My only consistent problem indicator is potassium. I saw your post about the zero calorie water...Revive??? I couldn't find it at my local store. Will look for that post again and look at different stores.

I did buy the low salt V8 and had half a glass yesterday and today. My counts look better. I'm going to be more aware of the potassium intake overall. I do like potato and avocado. And my health food store sells sulfite free dried apricot. So far, potassium has been the only issue. I often eat very large amounts of vitamins C and A. I think being more aware and striving to eat only very healthy foods has made me likely to have more nutrients in many areas than I did previously with more calories.

Possible exception: potassium I seem to need to be aware here and purposely eat foods high in potassium to be ok.

Hi again Vowel Lady, yes it is often difficult to get all the potassium you need while on a diet.

The product I use is called Revive fruit punch from Vitamin Water Zero. Most vitamin waters contain very little potassium, but this one has 880 mg of potassium per 20 ounce bottle. The best part is there is no sodium or sugar in it, and it contains the natural sweetener Stevia instead of an artificial sweetener.

I also drink low salt V8, which has 1180 mg of potassium per 11.5 ounce can. So, if you were to drink one fruit punch and one V8 per day, you would be getting 2060 mg of potassium just from those two sources alone.