Hey Steph
#164162 - 03/25/05 07:19 PM
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Vicam
Reged: 02/24/04
Posts: 1955
Loc: Ontario, Canada
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Sorry you're having a rough time, I know how you feel, I went through almost exactly the same thing a few years ago. I lost some weight due to tummy troubles (got down to 130lb) and then went on anti-depressants and my tummy problems got better and my weight shot up. I think I topped out at 180lb which is way too much for my height and everything.
Anyways, I think the anti-depressants could really be having an effect in your situation. I know for me, it was just impossible to stop the weight gain. At one point i probably wasn't consuming more than 1200 calories/day (and it was almost all fruits/vegetables) and I was excercising a lot and just being really active, and it still wouldn't stop! I eventually had to wean off the anti-depressants because ironically, I was getting more depressed from the excess weight than I felt before I went on the pills!
Now, obviously if your doc doesn't think you should go off the meds than you have to consider that, but I wouldn't start going real low-cal or anything becuase if your experience is anything like mine, it won't make a difference anyways and it isn't very good for you. Maybe see about switching to another anti-depressant to see if the weight gain side effects aren't as bad.
What medicine are you on for colitis btw?
Good luck!
Kelly
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Hi Steph,
I'm sorry you're having such a tough time of it. I saw your other post earlier and my heart just went out to you. Being on medication that can screw with your weight can make it very difficult to lose. BUT - it's not impossible, as your doctor seems to have suggested.
ADs and other meds tend to slow down your metabolism. Your metabolism is basically the system that works to break down calories into energy for your body 24/7. How efficiently or not efficiently this system works is hugely important for weight loss. The faster your body breaks down calories, the less calories get stored as fat, and the more your body burns off simply digesting and metabolizing.
So you just need to do things that speed up your metabolism to counteract the meds, genetics, age etc.
Cutting calories even further will do the opposite - it will contribute to the slowdown. This is why eating more is actually good for weight loss (seems to make no sense, I know lol) For your weight, 1300 calories a day does not seem like enough. Just doing quick, in-my-head estimates from the numbers you gave, you're probably burning around 2200 calories a day before exercise, give or take about 100-200 depending on your age, height and level of daily activity. Scientific/medical advice generally advises not to cut more than 20% of that to try to lose weight - so you're going to want to try to get your calories up to around 1700-1800 a day.
Do this gradually, adding on about 100 calories every few days before you get up there (shouldn't take long if you're at around 1500 now). Keep in mind this might contribute to weight gain in the short term, but in the long term it will boost your body's *ability to burn fat and calories.* Also, MOST IMPORTANTLY, spread this out over 5-6 meals a day. So you'd be looking at 5-6 meals of about 300-350 calories each. Don't go more than 3-4 hours without eating! This is very important to speeding up metabolism and losing weight.
Keep up with your active lifestyle - that helps lots too. Can I ask what kind of cardio you're doing? There's a right way and a wrong way to do it if you're trying to lose weight. The right way is shorter, more intense sessions - like 20-30 mins of interval training or hills where you really push yourself to the limit. The wrong way, as you see lots of people at health clubs doing, is to get on the treadmill at a brisk walk or light jog and just do that for an hour, bearly breaking a sweat. Obviously, what you do is going to depend on your own fitness level and how much cardio you've done in the past - but basically you need to 'overload' your body in cardio, in a sense, to get it to head to those fat stores for extra energy => weight/fat loss.
Other tips for revving up your metabolism:
- make sure you're getting loads of water every day (min. 0.5oz/lb bodyweight), and enough sleep
- stay away from refined sugar in all its forms as best you can (if you aren't already doing this, this will make a huge difference -- if you are, good for you!  )
- consider weight training if you have access to equipment - building muscle will spike your metabolism, as 1 lb of muscle has the ability to burn calories 9x more efficiently than 1 lb of fat. If you want any tips on getting started with weight training (if you are in fact just getting started), just ask! Lots of studies have shown that women who lift weights have much faster metabolisms and thus lose weight faster and generally don't put it back on
If you don't think the antidepressants have helped you at all, why does your doctor think you should stay on them? (Sorry, I've had bad experiences with drug-pushing doctors, it's my nature to be skeptical!  )
Please don't beat yourself up over the fact that it's going slowly - that's the healthy way to do it. Plus, you have something working against you with your meds, so if you're not losing weight as quickly as you like, *it's not your fault!* I know that probably doesn't help too much, but we're rooting for you. And one more thing that will certainly help...
Don't let anyone make you feel bad about your body - including you! The minute you start telling yourself you're beautiful, you will be beautiful. And you'll be smiling, and not reaching for comfort foods, and the weight will start to melt away... 
Trust me on this one Steph - you're gorgeous! 
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That's a good idea, I tried it this evening. I was eating with my family, and they were having stir-fry veggies and pork, so I borrowed a spoonful of those veggies, and cut them up a bit more. Added that and an egg beater to my rice. I'll figure up this evening how many calories it would have been, but I bet I managed an increase. My stomach has been a good bit touchy (and quite a bit gassy!) but I'm not sure if it was the increase in food, or the first addition of vegetables. I'll try to be a bit more scientific tomorrow and try to accomplish both things, but at separate meals to see which (or both, or the combination) is the problem.
Having the crakcers to nibble immediately after church is an excellent idea. I've certainly had the empty stomach, then meal, then D "whoosh" scenario. I'll try to avoid repeating it. Thankfully we often go either to a pasta place or a bagel place, so its not too hard to find safe choices, I think. We have been to the pasta place the last 3 sundays and they were quite helpful, I had plain pasta and they baked a batch of breadsticks for me separate, without adding all the garlic butter and parmesean and such. We haven't been to the bagel place again yet (since I knew what to ask) but they are quite nice people and we are "regulars" so I'm sure they will be helpful. It's a family place, and they make their own bagels and bread and such, so I bet they will know for sure what's in them or not.
So, about the crackers...what are safe choices? The ingredients in club crackers seem alright, but they were surprisingly high in fat. I have some FF Saltines, but I think they taste a bit off, so I've been eating them with things, so that when I need to eat them alone, maybe they won't taste so funny. What about Melba Toast or Wheat Thins? I used to love them both. Don't have a box here to check. There are several things I need to go to the grocery and read, but I'm trying to wait another day or too, because I keep thinking up more and more questions.
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~~~Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.~~~
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Hi Laurel
#164194 - 03/25/05 10:55 PM
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Stephie
Reged: 03/10/04
Posts: 2696
Loc: Vancouver, Canada
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Hello!
Thanks so much for taking the time to read and write such an awesome response to my post, that was really nice of you!
Okay, so I definitely think maybe one of my calories has been trying to eat so little that I haven't been very healthy maybe. I usually try to eat throughout the day but it has been harder lately with school and stuff, so I will have to remember to pack snacks around with me more often. I will start aiming for around 17-1800 calories and see if that makes a difference. I am so used to putting on weight by now that if I do have initial weight gain, I won't know the difference from whatever my body is doing now!
As for exercise, I have an elliptical machine that I try to use every or every other day depending on how much time I spend at home. I usually do one of the programs that are each thirty minutes long, and I sure do break a sweat!! Sometimes it gets to the point where the resistance is so much that I feel like my legs are gonna fall off.
I do have some small weights (2lbs, 3lbs, 5lbs, 8lbs and 10 lbs) and then my boyfriend has some bigger ones that I am sort of afraid to pick up as they are all rusty and gross. I have an exercise video called 'Working out with Weights for dummies' or something like that and it's pretty good.. but I admit I don't do it that often.  I like doing the little weights, but I have been so busy that I keep making excuses for not doing it as often as I should.
I have a gym membership but I don't really use it.. I agreed today to go to the gym once a week with my mom. I noticed that the elliptical at the gym burns way more calories than mine and I could use the weight machines and stuff.
Okay, sugar....(can you see where this is going? ) I am pretty bad about sugar. I got a major sweet-tooth this last year, and my doctor also blames my anti-depressants on that. I thought to myself then, "Well then they are just cravings and I can just ignore them" but it turned out to be a lot harder than that. I think that when I do carry snacks with me, a lot of times they have sugar in them (Luna bars, arrowroot cookies, etc) 'cause they are a lot of the safe things for me so I will have to try and think of some snacks that aren't so sugar-heavy.
I intend to talk to my doctor the next time I go to talk about the medication. I didn't want to go on them in the first place, and since they haven't helped I don't think there is any reason to stay on them.
Thanks so much for all your advice, it really helped.. Just to have someone reply is always so nice.
Tomorrow = Gonna try and go sugar free!!.. Or at least sugar-low!
--Steph
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~~I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell-I know right now you can't tell~~Matchbox 20
IBS-D,pain.
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Re: Hey Steph
#164195 - 03/25/05 10:58 PM
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Stephie
Reged: 03/10/04
Posts: 2696
Loc: Vancouver, Canada
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Hi Kelly,
I am definitely going to talk to my doctor about these anti-depressants again, I really would like to go off them if they aren't helping. If they were _really_ helping, and they made me gain weight then I could try and just deal with it and work around it but as it isn't doing anything, it seems pretty pointless...
The Colitis med I am on is Asacol - I think it _really_ helped my D. I've only have a few really bad days as far as the D goes since going on it, so I think the medication is why.
Thanks for the reply! Guess I'm just gonna have to keep trying.
--Steph
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~~I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell-I know right now you can't tell~~Matchbox 20
IBS-D,pain.
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