Hi Amitsa,

Thanks for starting a great discussion.

I, too, have been losing by paying more attention to calories.

Dave and Bizi have been quite an inspiration.

I hope you continue on and meet your goals.

Warmly,
DejaVu

Hi,

First of all,I wish to express my deepest condolences to the victims of the Paris terror attack last week. I live in Mumbai and there
had been an exactly similar attack on the night of 26th November,2008 in which 265 people were dead just 20 minutes walk from my home. So I can understand how disgusting it is.

I was busy with some work .So was not active on the internet. I am currently weighing 87 kgs . I started my diet plan on 2nd October when I weighed 94.7. I did see a dietician and she gave me a plan. Actually she gave me various options and replacements to try everyday for a high protein low calorie diet as per Indian cuisine.

What she said though is that as you lose weight ,you have to keep further reducing your calorie intake at some point to keep the weight loss going because the body tends to reduce the BMR as weight reduces . Is this correct ?

She is right.
She should know this is her specialty.
congratulations on your weight loss.
remember weight loss is all about the food.
We have to make good food choices to nourish our bodies.
We need fuel to survive.
I hope you continue making good choices.
bizi

AS bizi says, your dietitian is right about BMR.

I think that you are doing really well - the standard recommendation is to lose no more than about 1 kg/week, which you are doing.

Keep it up!

Good, sustained weight loss there, Amit. We all told you this was the way to go and it seems you have embraced it to good effect.

There will be tough times, I am going through one because of my Depression and Mirtazapine, but we will be here for you.

Dave.

EnglishDave,

I too am suffering from depression since I was a teenager. My depression started at 17. I had fallen grades at school. Not able to concentrate and memorise my studies. I am 41 now.

Why do you take Mirtazapine when there are so many good SSRI antidepressants available ?

I have been on all SSRIs before - sertraline, Fluoxetine,citalopram and escitalopram now.

Sertraline was good but it caused me severe GI upset and diarrhea.

Fluoxetine is good to reduce your appetite. So it is good if you are overweight but it has a long half life of I suppose 2-4 days. It causes severe insomnia. I had been on fluoxetine for 6 months 8 years ago. I was never able to sleep on it because it remains in your system for an unusually long time.

I am on Escitalopram since 2008 - the perfect one for me. Absolutely no side effects. I am actually on a taper schedule .Because I have been on it for a long time,my taper would be long. I told my psychiatrist,if depression were to relapse,I would start it again. But enough of it now.I want to
live on my will power. I have tapered from 10 mg to 5 mg and plan to remain on it for another 2-3 months to stabilise myself.

In fact depression is linked to obesity as well. The more overweight you are,the more depressed.

Anista,

I hope that it is ok for me to jump in here.
When one loses weight, one loses muscle and fat.

To reduce the loss of muscle one can eat eat more protein and do weight exercises--- progressive weight lifting, what YouTube calls "Body Weight"exercises, and likely some types of yoga.

If you eat eggs and animal milk, cheese, or yogurt, you will get enough B12.

For certain periods of time I have eaten a vegetarian diet and gotten enough protein by not eating any rice or bread.
I spent my calories on chic peas(garbanzo beans), lentils, eggs, dairy, lots of green leafy vegetables, and some other vegetables like summer squash and broccoli.

Green leafy veggetables have lots of calcium.

Mari

Congrats, Dave.

'Wishing you continued success on your weight loss.

Mari

Hi,

Back after a long time.I am weighing 86.5 kilos now down from 94.7. This weight is almost steady for the last 2 weeks. I have not been able to lose anything in last 2 weeks. I suppose my BMR has lessened so much that I have to further reduce my diet to keep the weight loss going.

congradulations! that is quite a lot of weight!
good for you! keep on you can do it.
bizi