Posts by swirlything

I am personally in favor of South Beach.  On South Beach, you only cut out grains and fruit for 2 weeks, not a month.  Then you add them back in.  I lost 90 pounds with South Beach and kept it off for 8 years.  I find that when I stick to South Beach, my carb cravings go away entirely, which makes it much easier to continue to eat healthy.  I also count my calories when doing South Beach, to maximize my weight loss.

Most of what you lose in the first phase of South Beach is going to be water weight. The important part is getting rid of those cravings.

Eat consciously.  Think about what you are doing. Focus on each bite and enjoy it.  If you are distracted with other things, you will eat faster.  So sit at the table (not in front of the tv or computer), and mentally focus on the food and each bite.

Another PCOS sufferer here.  There is so much good information in this thread!  The nasty thing about PCOS is the cycle of weight gain.  PCOS encourages your body to gain weight, and then the increased weight makes the PCOS worse which in turn makes you gain more weight.  A vicious cycle!  Metformin is what broke the cycle for me, and I thank heaven for it!  I was able to lose 90 pounds after being put on Metformin.  And as long as I take the metformin, I get my periods regularly and am fertile (and I NEVER had regular periods before, even when I was thin).

In the initial post, some of the consequences of PCOS were left out.  It also leads to diabetes and heart disease.

"blood resluts my numbers are... tsh 3.71 and free t4 is 1.14"

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According to the Davis's Comprehensive Handbook of Laboratory and Diagnostic Tests with Nursing Implications, a normal TSH for adults is 0.4-4.2.  Normal Free T4 for adults is 0.8-1.5.  You are within normal range on both.

The problem with not having the surgery is that the stones can block off your bile ducts.  This can cause your gall-bladder to swell and burst.  Then you've got a life-threatening emergency.

About 1/3 of people who have their gall bladder out are going to have post-cholecyctectomy syndrome.  I have it myself (gall bladder out in 1995).  It's caused by bile dripping continually into your intestines (as opposed to only being squirted in when you are digesting fat).  This irritates the intestines and can cause a variety of symptoms.  For me, it means severe cramping, followed by bouts of diarrhea.  The diarrhea relieves the pain, and then I am perfectly fine.  My bouts usually follow eating and last about 1/2 hour or so.  It's unpredictable when it's going to happen, and certainly doesn't happen all the time. Worse when I'm stressed and before my period.  You learn to deal with it.

But remember only about 1/3 of people ever have any problem after the surgery.

That's genetics for you!

You cannot tell your body where to lose fat.  For most people, the last fat you put on will be the first to come off.  It's genetically determined. Sorry!

The only way to guarantee loss in your belly is to lose it all over too.

I think it's largely a matter of perspective.  A lot of people are or have been very heavy.  So heavy that even getting close to having a BMI that's considered normal would be a magnificent feat!  Many of these people will look at someone like you, and not understand why you think you are heavy... because by comparison you are not.  The perspective is very different.

I am 5'7". I have weighed as much as 262 lbs.  Looking at you... close to HALF that weight, there's no way I can see you as having even an ounce to lose.  I bet if something happened and (heaven forbid) you gained weight up to 200 lbs, you wouldn't look at 134 as a problem anymore, because your perspective will have changed too.

I was diagnosed insulin resistant about 8 years ago.  I find that South Beach diet addresses this issue best.  South Beach restricts refined carbs.  It actually restricts fruits and whole grains in the first phase for up to 2 weeks (but you still get carbs from veggies), and then adds them back in.  I find that South Beach works best to control my cravings so that I do not feel the need to eat more than I should.

Original Post by caitbo:

Please take my advice and eat more.

I was just like you a year ago, I thought I'm eating 1200 calories and working out...go me! Yeah, I was really skinny and I thought this is easy. Fast forward one year and I had gained almost all the weight I had lost back, still only eating 1200 calories a day and working out. Your body is smart and it will adjust to getting fewer calories. So now I'm trying to fix my metabolism and it's frustrating. Good Luck!

 A year ago you were NOT just like her... you were skinny. S/he says s/he's 240 pounds.  That's a BIG difference.

8 years ago, I was 260 lbs.  I lost 90 lbs by eating lower calories here than anyone would recommend (lower than 1200) and exercising every day.  I lost 3 lbs per week average. Never plateaued.  Kept the weight off for YEARS.  Still down 80 of those pounds, and working to lose the 10 have crept back on recently.  And I kept the weight off eating normal amounts of food and not exercising nearly as much as I did to lose the weight.

I think that if you feel fine, keep with the 1200. You'll get to your goal that much faster.  Just be sure you're getting enough nutrients and especially your electrolytes like potassium.

Recent studies have demonstrated that dieting is not what ruins your metabolism.  What ruins your metabolism is losing muscle mass (which most dieters do) and normal patterns of aging... if you keep building muscle while you lose weight, your metabolism will be fine.

I know exactly what you mean!  When I first started losing weight, I HATED water, and got most of my fluid via milk.

I decided to force myself to get the 8 glasses of water anyway.  I did not like it, but I did it anyway.  After a while, I found that my taste buds adjusted and began to enjoy the water more and more.  That was about 8 years ago, and I still drink primarily water to this day.  So maybe the answer is simply to put up with it until your tongue adjusts to it.

In some places, the water just plain tastes bad.  Water in Seattle is just as good as bottled; it comes out of the mountains. Water in Indiana is disgusting; it comes through farmland.   If you decide to try to just get used to the taste, and you live in an area where the water tastes bad to everyone (specifically in locations where the water does NOT come down from mountains), then get a filter to help the taste as well.

Eat fewer calories

No food after 8 pm

Move more

Lots of water

That formula dropped 90 pounds off me 8 years ago, and I've kept most of it off since.  Now it's working again for me to drop these 13 pounds I gained since going back to school.

Sun poisoning is another term for what I described: Polymorphic Light Eruption (PMLE).  Also called sun allergy.  The tendency does run in families, so that makes sense.  If you don't normally have problems with it at home, then no worries.  Next time you go on a cruise or vacation in Florida, take some benadryl with you.

And Luvnhorses: make sure her sunscreen is broad spectrum (UVA & UVB).  Some sunscreens only cover UVB, and most PMLE is caused by UVA.

Original Post by dc_runner81:

Go regular.  The calorie saved don't usually amount to much.  Plus, most of the sugar free stuff replaces the sugar with "sugar alcohols" which can really upset your stomach and cause bloating.

 Not only can those sugar alcohols cause bloating, they can also ferment in your gut and cause some seriously smelly flatulence.  I wouldn't eat the stuff if I had to be around other people during the following 12 hours or so.

How are you cravings doing at this point?  If your cravings are under control, which is the point of Phase 1, why don't you go to Phase 2 where you can have your oatmeal for breakfast?

I know that on South Beach you aren't supposed to count your calories, but if I were you, I'd log my calories here.  Then you can see if you're eating too much to lose.  If you lost 2 pounds, you're probably fine though.

I know that the book says you'll lose 8-13 pounds doing Phase 1.  However, having only 7 pounds to lose means that does not apply to you... it's for those of us who have a lot more to lose.  I am in phase 1 and lost 5 in the first 3 days.... but I have 40 pounds to lose: that's 12% of what I need to lose.  2 pounds for you is 28% of the way to your goal.  In 1 week, you are 28% of the way to your goal!  I think you're well on track.