Weight Loss - Goodlettsville, TN

J. - I know others have mentioned Weight Watchers and I just want to reinforce that IT WORKS! I joined for a 9 week program (I think it was like 9 weeks for $99) and I got off my butt and actually went to the meetings. I lost 30 pounds which is what my goal was. I have NO willpower, I hate to exercize except yoga or walking, and I only joined Weight Watchers because my boss wanted someone to do it with. This was about 3 years ago and I am still maintaining the weight I want to be. It works. No drugs....no 'miracle' herbs or anything - just education. It worked for me. And - NO I do not work for Weight Watchers! LOL

Try weight watchers, and stick to what they say. I ate a lot of smart ones dinners. With a small salad, it seems like nothing, but as you loose, it gets better. They taste good. Between meals, you can eat a snack, a small apple, or low fat crackers and 1 wedge of laughing cow cheese. You are going to have to cut way back, and that is what ww does for you. Good luck.

I would go back to the doc again and have more tests run. Especially on your thyroid. I am on weight watchers and it is working for me. Sometimes it is not about what you eat alone, it's what you eat together! Some foods work well together towards digestion. I know this is not real informative, but hope it helps some.

Have they checked your thyroid. I know if they did they probably said it was normal, ask the question where was it on the scale? Was it close to the below normal line? I had that problem and it was right at the normal/abnormal line. They put me on the meds, the only drawback to that is once you start you have to take them for the rest of your life.

Hi J.,

I have not had a chance to review everyone's responses so I am sorry if I repeat. I would take the following steps:

1. Keep a food journal, loosing weight is not really only about watching what you eat, it is also about how often and when you eat what you do. Write everything down that goes in your mouth - and the time it does. Yes it is a lot of work, but any trainer will tell you this is the first step in loosing weight.

2. Try smaller meals and then snacks in between (meals about 400calories and snacks high in protein about 200 calories) If you body get hungry it will store the food you eat rather than burn it knowing it will get more.

3. Drink lots of clear fluids with 0 calroie content water tea (unsweet) or black coffee

4. Sleep is also a major issue to loosing weight. Get more of it if you are not getting at least 8hrs a night (your body burns a lot while you sleep so get more of it)

5. Type in negative calorie foods in google and eat lots of those - basically your body burns more calories processing the foods than the foods have in them, but you still get the health benifits

Some of the issues to consider is fluid intake - Fruit juice seems healthy but often is high in calories and sugar. Refined starches (anything white) is often counterproductive -- try Wheat instead. Any foods with high carbohydrate content often gets stored in your body first and will also turn to fat first if the energy is not used.

Walking before you put anything food in your body will often increase your metabolism. Try doing that first thing in the am if you can, but any exercise is better than none.
You can also try increasing the speed of your walks for 2-3 min then walk at your usual pace then increase again for 2-3. Changing your workout will often kick you body into gear as it easily acclimates to any workout.

You may also try adding some weight training (you do not need a gym for this) to your workout - go to any mag rack and pick up something like womens health a running magazine or even oxygen - these have lots of exercises to do in them (I would suggest flipping through and finding one with lots of pics of the exercises that do not require gym equiptment)

Lastly - get you thyroid checked. After years of being stuck at the same weight I found my thyorid was low. Worth looking into at least you will know.

This is pretty long but I have lots more I could share - feel free to message me if you want -

I am a fittness buff - Competed in bodybuilding, survied a major DVT and have run 3 marathons. I am by no means an expert I have just altered my diet and lost a few times and have trained with some really great people that have taught me a lot - I love being healthy and helping other...

Keep up the good work I know you can do it!

I did not read the responses so far so if this has already been said sorry. I had this same problem I even joined a $600 a month weight loss center where I only drank nasty shakes all day and had 1 small meal and didht lose a single pound. Then I went off birth control pills and some other meds and I lost 47lbs in 3 months. After doing some research I found the birth control pills and many other different kinds of meds for all sorts of illnesses can cause weight gain. I will never take birth control again cause I am convinced that is what was holding the weight on me. If your on meds or birth control you might want to check and see if its a side effect. Pretty much all hormonal birth control causes weight gain. Anyways just something to think about.

J., my name is T., and I'm a personal trainer. Although, I do not know your whole medical history, the first thing I would ask you, is if you "weight train"? Do you do any type of resistance type training? Walking is FANTASTIC! But, your muscles are the "heat/calorie burning machine of the body"!

You can do many weight bearing exercises at home, but if you need motivation like I do, and don't want to be in mixed company,you can join a "Women only" club. These are very good to get started!

Please feel free to email me, privately. I can discuss your situation in more detail, if you feel comfortable doing this!

T.

Sounds like you're in a bit of a fitness slump. Try mixing things up a bit. Short bursts of energy help you burn more calories. Try running for one minute, followed by 5-10 minutes of walking, and then run again. This is the best way to get your heart pumping and increase your energy. You could also try carrying weights and doing arm exercises while you are walking and incorporate squats, lunges knee lifts into your walking. Doing the same workout day after day will only help you maintain, not lose, your weight.

The same thing was happening to me!!! It's really weird! It's like the more exercise I did and the healthier I thought I was eating, the more I gained! I, too, had went to my doctor and they did the blood testing and prescribed weight loss meds. DIDN'T WORK! Finally, after I was put on blood pressure medication (at age 28!!!) I broke down and went to see a Bariatric Doctor. Wow, what a difference! These people are specialized in this area! I was immediately put on a specialized diet which is supplemented with a rough cardio workout 5 times a week along with B-12 injections and HCG Injections. I have been going for 5 weeks and I have lost 18 pounds!!! I feel wonderful and my kids definately notice a difference in my stamina and attitude! I hope this helps! Good luck and God bless!

I'm sorry about your weight struggles; I can relate. I recommend Weight Watchers. I joined 1 year ago, just to see what it's all about and today I am a Lifetime Member (I've made my goal weigh and have maintained that for about 2 months). You've already got the diet and exercise part down so maybe it's the support aspect you need! I realized last fall (after attempting to do WW over the summer, on my own, and only losing 4 pounds) that was the key to my success. The support of others plus the great ideas and wonderful recipes is really great. They even did a study that showed the combination of diet, exercise, & support is the key to losing weight and keeping it off... that's what Weight Watchers is all about! I hope this helps you. Blessings =)

I did Weight Watchers and it worked for me.
It also worked for my Mom... who has kept the weight off way better than I have.

I didn't see anything about if you are eating enough food to lose weight. When I joined Weight Watchers my Mom was trying to lose weight on her own. I asked her one morning what she had eaten the day before and when I realized she wasn't eating enough calories I told her. She said I was crazy but when she started eating more the weight came off and she got so excited she joined WW with me.

Keep a food journal for a few days (longer if it helps you) of what you eat so you can see if you are eating enough calories. If you eat too few calories the weight will increase instead of decrease.

Hope this helps, L..

Did they test you for Thyroids? Also, do you walk at a fast pace or slow? You need to try to walk up hill at times, you need pick up your pace, almost to a slow job, and then slow it down. I have read and heard from trainers that you need to get your heartbeat up and then take it down, every 2-3 mins is ideal. You may want to get weights for your hands to swing as you walk. Maybe even ankle weights. Have you cut down your portion sizes? Do you eat 6 small meals? YOu need to MAKE SURE to eat breakfast and then a couple hours later to have a small snack, then lunch, then snack two hours later, then dinner. Nothing after 7pm Only drink water or Crystal Light type drinks. If you have hit a plateau, you need to up your workout. Try some aerobics in your living room to get sweaty! :O) At your age you should be able to lose weight just by drinking water! ha ha If this does not work, you truly should see a Dietician or a personal trainer. Something else may be the problem. Good for you walking so much, I wish I had the willpower you do! Even if you do not lose weight, walking is exercise for your heart, the best thing you can do! Also, google 'natural foods to lower blood pressure' and see what you get. I have heard several times that cinnamon, only 1/4 teaspoon daily can lower BP. I put it on my cereal, oatmeal, in my cottage cheese, vanilla/plain yogurt, in coffee, etc Try it!

With the help of an organic herbal tea supplement called Mummy magic weight loss tea, I managed to lose 35 pounds while bfing my baby.

Hi J.,
I assume they tested your thyroid- that would be one thing to test if not. My MIL struggled with weight for several years before having to have her thyroid removed.
Also, my husband is a former personal trainer. I am not sure what your eating habits are, but he always says that losing weight is all about caloric intake. You can eat healthy and make wise choices about WHAT you eat, but if you are overeating, eating large portions, or eating throughout the day, then your caloric intake is generally going to be much higher- therefore making the weight very hard to lose even with exercise. Anyway, it's something to think about. Hope this helps.

J., you don't mention your weight so am not really sure if you are in fact OW, or if you just wish you were smaller. You definitely need to continue with your walking routine. It will help with your blood pressure. Also, the fact that you got laid off can add a lot of stress and that can cause weight gain centralizing on the mid section.
I'm taking Herbalife products and I have seen tremendous change in my body.

I truly encourage you to not compare yourself to your family members. You are you. And you are special in every way just like God intended.

Have you had your female hormones checked. You may need to be check for polycystic ovarian syndrome. It is next to impossible to lose weght with this condition and it effects your blood pressure and blood sugar. I finally got mine under control and I am thinner then I was in highschool. I am 34!!! yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can certainly relate to your frustration. After my son was born I exercised daily, watched what I ate and couldn't lose a pound. I was tired all the time but figured it was because I had a baby. I had the good luck to run into a doctor who ran blood work and found I had an underactive thyroid. The numbers came back within the "normal" range but they were on the high end. My doctor put that together with my symptoms and started treating me for hypothyroid. You need to ask your doctor what the numbers were and where they fall in the range. Also check out the symptoms for hypothyroid and see if you have any of them. I do not take Synthroid (the normal treatment) because it only replaces T4 and I also have a T3 deficiency. Be persistent in checking this out because it is underdiagnosed. Also, after 4 months, you should be increasing the distance you are walking in the same amount of time. Your body has gotten used to the routine and it often helps to shake things up.

Good luck,
L. D.

J., I hear your frustration! Your body is too accustomed to walking and will not respond. You need to strength train. The more muscle you have, the more calories you will need, so building muscle should be a huge priority. You don't have to join a gym, but get some free weights. You only need about 20 minutes a day. Also, you can get some cardio in with it if in between sets, do jumping jacks or jump rope for 2 minutes. The sprints of speed get your heart rate up and when you do it with the lifting, you will burn more calories after your work out is over. If you are taking the time to actually walk that long, you'll have time for this. Shaking things up will also trigger your body to burn more calories. Don't limit yourself, strengthen yourself. Add pilates a couple of times a week. Do yoga at night to relax. Buy a cheap elipitical from Play It Again Sports. If you will do just 20 minutes on it after you lift that will do wonders. The key is to go a moderate rate and every 3 minutes, do one minute as fast as you can. This will be on minutes 3, 7, 11, 15 and two minutes on 18 & 19. Then cool down for 5 minutes before stretching. Also, be sure you are watching your empty calories - sugar! It hides in lots of things! Even artificle sweeteners can be a no-no for some body types triggering cravings, so limit them. Drink distilled water with lots of lemon juice. It's a great appetite suppressant! And most of all, fill up on fiber and don't eat at night. When I get hungry at night, I will drink a mixture of distilled water, organic apple juice, psyllium hulls (fiber) and a mild herbal colon cleanser. It doesn't taste the greatest, but it keeps me very regular and kills any craving I may have for any food. Good luck and let us know how you do!

Try exercises which raise your heartrate (learn what your's should be when working out). More aerobic work out methods will help in boosting your metabolism which your siblings already have which is why they stay slim. Yours has probably been so slow for so long that it needs help. Healthy foods with the proper portion control along with eating more often will fuel the body better and aid in getting your system working like it should again. 5-6 small meals a day is so much better for you anyway. Sweat, sweat, sweat! If you aren't sweating you probably are not raising your heartrate therefore not doing enough to break the cycle. Good luck with your health and good for you for doing what you need to ensure the best life for you and your family!

Try TTapp- its awesome!

Have you had your thyroid checked? I urge you to go online and check out thyroidabout.com or any of the other thousands of sites that tell you about the symptoms of hypothyroidism. You should also note that even if you have had it checked that hypothyroidism is one of the most misdiagnosed diseases out there. You need to see an endocrinologist. There are internet sites that have lists of good ones cataloged by region. Good Luck.

Hi J.,
Try www.sparkpeople.com it is a free site that you can plug in your numbers and it will help you come up with an eating and exercise program to lose the weight.

I also exercise to www.FIRMdirect.com they have some intense workout videos and systems and to me it is fun and keeps me motivated.

If you join sparkepeople my name is jennip1, look me up.

Good luck.
Jen

First of all, exercise first thing in the morning. If you take a walk first thing every morning it will change your metabolism for the day.

Second, get a minimum of 7.5 hours of sleep every night. If you getting woken up in the middle of the night by a little one you need to increase the number of hours. I read research recently that says that it changes your metabolism when you do not get enough sleep. The minimum amount of sleep needed to not gain weight was 7.5 hours per night. In the research study women who did not get 7.5 hours of sleep per night gained weight.

Third, go on a specific diet such as Weight Watchers or a diabetic diet. You can research the information online. A diabetic diet is a healthy low carb diet. That is what I am on.

Try it for a month before you weigh yourself. Weighing every day is discouraging. When I lose weight fast I also gain it back just as fast. I am slowly losing weight at every doctor's appointment. I go to the doctor every three months and I am losing at least 5 pounds every time. But the key for me is that I have not gained anything back! Good luck with it!

J.,
Everyones body is different. Are you watching your portion control. My husband is diabetic and when we met with the dietician she just gave us foods that were better choices and talked about the preparation. We were already doing the prep and initiated some changes. When he went back to the dr. his levels were still up so we went back to the dietician. We saw a different one who really focused on portion control. To our amazement our portions were usually double of the recommended size. The other thing is if you drink a lot other than plain water, it could have calories.
Sweet tea, soda, coffee with creamer/sugar,milk or juice. The other thing you might try is walking at a brisker pace. If your not getting your heart rate up then you won't burn as many calories. Good Luck

J.,

I am a 37 year old SAHM with a 19 month old son. During pregnancy, I gained 60 pounds that HAD TO come off after birth. Due to a c-section, this had to wait 8-9 months in order for me to be psychologically prepared to stretch, twist, jump, etc. *eeek*

Anyway, I have always been an active person keeping the weight down and having no struggles. The after birth weight was a different story as it did not want to leave my body. So, I did what any personal trainer would do for a new client. Cut out bread and sugar, drank lots of water, and exercised for a minimum of 50-60 minutes every morning. Sugar can be a major culprit in keeping an individual from loosing weight. Try eating soups and salads for a while.

There is a lady on FitTV called Cathe Friedrich and this woman jams on weight training. The weights were the only thing that took the fat off my body.

Try her out:

http://www.cathe.com/fittv.htm

Hope Cathe helps you out! I lost all of the weight in 2 months and developed a rock hard body (even more so than before pregnancy). It was not easy though,,,,Cathe kicks your butt with the weights....

I have 2 suggestions:
1. Have your thyroid levels checked by an ENDOCRINOLOGIST, not your family doctor. Results are often misconstrued or misread.
2. Have yourself tested for Celiac Disease. It is an intolerance to wheat gluten. Look it up online and see if you have any of the symptoms. Sounds to me like your body is in starvation mode and latching ahold to what little fat it can because it doesn't know when it will get it again. This is from malabsorbtion of nutrients from what you eat everyday due to Celiac disease and causes people to become overweight and obese. No amount of exerciuse will take that kinda weight off.
I have both of these autoimmune diseases, they go hand in hand quite frequently. Although I am not obese, I am somewhat over weight and I eat like a bird and have a 4 year old myself..so I am busy busy all the time.

Hi J.,

Everything doesn't work for everyone. I had to jog to see any results. Vitamins, help more than you would think and drinking the right amount of water I can't say enough about it. It's hard to keep doing the right things and no one really wants to do it. I HAD to do physical therapy for my knee and I started out on a stationary bike I would warm up, then do 2 minutes fast and lean forward so that my knees were hitting my stomach and then do 1 min at about 60-70 reps per minute and 2 mins fast again until 30 min were up and then a cool down and stretch. I would clean my house by putting things up one thing at a time which meant more walking. Drink water all day, keep rewards of junk food way down, but not to the point you binge for lack of. Remember that junk food is actually hurting you and that means that drinking cokes and eating things high in fat is really doing damage to yourself and is not really a reward. I tell myself these things all the time and I hope it helps you.

My advice is to buy or go to the library and check out the book Body for Life (I forgot the author's name and I loaned my copy to a friend.) I have lost 16 pounds and it really works. It's a combination of changing eating habits and specific exercises. It's changed my life and I'll never go back to my old eating habits again. Good luck!

Hi J., I'm N.,
You didn't say "how" overweight you are. If this is just a few pounds, or 30 or more, or how muscular you are and if you have a tendency to pick up muscle quickly. (That might make a difference in my recommendation.) I'm sure you've heard of the "plateau" everyone reaches at some point in their weight loss: your body may just have adapted to what you're doing and you just need to change your routine. Your system will respond if you "shock" it with a new routine - sort of like shaking it to wake it back up!

Try a stationery bike instead of walking (I have high BP too, and this has been the easiest exercise to adapt to), or try calisthentic-type exercises (jumping jacks, etc. if you work out at home) or an aerobics routine - keeping your heart rate in mind. I also take a low-dose BP medication and it works really well with no side-effects. Do you belong to a gym? (Most of them have day cares now.) When I was able to work out at a gym, I would always talk to women who looked in-shape (like I wanted to look) about what they did, and they're always willing to share. I've had good luck changing my routine from time to time. I wish you the best. -N.

Hi Jaime, I have a friend who started a weight loss program on-line about 1 year ago. He has lost 100 lbs in that year. He is looking to lose about 50 more and is still on the program. The program offers you a sense of community, but also anonymity too.

How do you do it? By tracking your progress, recognizing improvements, rewarding yourself, and creating a support network (I am definitely there for him! - and there is the on-line community forum too). These processes can help you stay motivated and continue your meal and exercise plans, which will bring you that much closer to reaching your wellness goals.

The online weight management site is just $6/mo. as part of a whole health and wellness program.

You can go to http://www.switchingstores.com/danipen to get more information on reaching your wellness goals.

Hi Jaime, the only thing that has ever really helped me see consistent results is the South Beach Diet. A cardiologist developed it for his heart patients, and saw the benefits of weight loss. It would be perfect for your BP and weight issues. It is a commitment to cutting out the wrong carbs and making the right choices on foods, but there's no measuring of portions and relatively speaking it's easy to follow. The biggest weight loss occurs in the first two weeks, but after that it's about a lb. a week, and exercise can improve that. Reading the book is also an eye opener on why we gain weight with the wrong foods. It's a healthy lifestyle. Highly recommend if you're serious about the commitment. Good luck!

I had started gaining weight for no reason a year and a half ago, and ran across the book Feeling Fat, Fuzzy or Frazzled... (It's cheap on amazon). It is all about our thyroid, adrenal, and sex hormones, and how they are all connected, where if one gets out of whack, the others get off too. It totally explained my issues. The author is an MD (his wife is an RN, PhD, and cowrote it, last name Shames) and he recommended finding a different practitioner if you're not getting anywhere with your doctor, such as a physician's assistant, or a Naturopathic Physician, or a chiropractor, or whoever will really work with you. I found an ND (Nat. Phys.) who was marvelous. She spent 90 minutes with me on the first visit, and 60 minutes in subsequent visits (which is typical). She used the same saliva tests that Shames recommended in the book. They are a lot more accurate than blood tests, and she found that I have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, which is profoundly common, and explained why I've always had the symptoms of low thyroid, but no MD could ever find it. Anyway, she put me on an anti inflammatory diet (cutting out gluten/wheat being the most important part) and prescribed a number of non-drug treatments. I got more help in 7 months of seeing her than in a lifetime of seeing traditional MDs, and got pregnant as well, which was my ultimate hope. You can find one on naturopathic.org.

I do know a number of people who have had success with weight watchers, after thinking they were eating well but not losing any weight.

Good luck!
Good luck!

I'm SO sorry to hear of your situation. Can be so defeating when were in it. Where I haven't experienced the BP issues myself, I had maintained all the weight that I had gained with my 3 year old when I had him - and I just recently lost it all after having my 5 month old - and also I have more energy than I had as a teenager. AND the best part is this was all an unintended consequence of what I had to do to help restore health to my infant. Long story short - my infant had horrible digestive and senesitivity issues and very high white blood cell count - so much so that it dumbfounded our peditrician and we were then sent to the pediatric GI specialist - long ardeous process. But to get to why I'm responding to your post - I was put on this juice to drink myself which "oxidated my breastmilk" and cleared out his white cells and helped reduce the protien content in my b'milk so it was bland on his super senesitive system AND a wonderful un-intended consequence is that I have lost all the weight that I have been carrying around since my toddler was born (Dec '05) and I now have more energy than I did as a teenager. This stuff is awesome! My whole family is on it now. My Sister's IBS symptoms are gone, mu Dad's knees don't hurt anymore, my Husband feels like he's sharper at work, and my toddler's poop is GREAT! I'm such a believer in this stuuf that I even signed up to be a distributor of it (and all this b/c we were in desperate need of healing for my Baby's health). You can buy some retail online at https://www.mymonavie.com/monavieformommies or if you live locally (west Nashville) I can get you a bottle at my wholesale cost to try. We saw changes in my Baby within 3 days (but remember he is 15lbs), I felt a bit better within a week, but by the time I had finished my 2nd bottle in about 3 weeks I was feeling Great! I am not telling you this to try and sell you something, I am just offering info on what I've found that may be an option of help for you. Heck - even before I had kids if I knew about this stuff and how great it workd for me nothing could have stoped me from getting some. But then again it was not on the market at that time.