Hello chicks,

I am Diane from southern Ohio and I have a blessing and a curse it seems.
My life is a blessing as I have a sweet time out in the woods with a wonderful husband and 4 terrific Jack Russel terriers. We play and sing and laugh. They all love me to death.
But I am cursed because I am afraid that death may come sooner than later if i do not lose this fat suit. I have support, but I am having a hard time finding a plan that works for a woman smack dab in the middle of menopause.

I went to a clinic and was prescribed phentermine and told to eat 1700 cal. a day.
I have a time eating 1700 a day. I started taking half a pill to see if I could get in more calories and I am up to 1100-1300 a day now from 500-700.
In a month I have been going up and down the scales. Lose 2 gain back 1. Lose 3 gain back4. At the end of one month I am down 8 pounds. It's like super glue that I can't totally unstick.

I was 320 but lost 5 in the 2 weeks before my clinic visit. So I started at 315 June 9.
I know 8 pounds sounds about right.
But every other time ( and there have been a few) I always lost 12-15 pounds the first 2 weeks.
I have never taken pills before and that I think has been key to me staying with this for one month. Before when the scale would show a gain I would get sad and give up.
This time I am also working through some bad baggage I've been dragging around so that should help with my defeatist attitude.

But this dang menopause thing irks me.
I have been low carbing it this week and the scale has not jumped around too much so maybe that is a good way for me to eat.
I would also love to find a low carb buddy who is going to stick around for awhile, all my diet buddies before have disappeared it seems.
I have an awesome treadmill and actually have been using it. Started at 10 minutes once a day now I do 2x a day 15-20 minutes each. And I even INCLINE it a bit! YAY!

So anyway, this is where I'm at in my life. Taking it one day at a time and not giving up on myself.

Thanks for coming in.
Diane

I have noticed at age almost 43 that it is much harder to lose than it used to be. I think part of the reason is sodium... I tend to eat more sodium when I am dieting. I did Jenny Craig for a couple of weeks but could not keep it up because of the expense. I did notice my belly shrinking quickly on it though and lost about 8 pounds the first week. I think it was because of the lower sodium. Good luck to you! I have a very happy life too and we really do need to get ourselves healthier so we can keep enjoying it!

Welcome!

Dhani

Hi and welcome to 3FC.

Good luck with your goals.

Hugs
Michelle

Thanks for the welcome. I like this forum, it seems friendlier than some and rather homey.
icme, Thanks for the input. I really watch out for sodium. I think thats why even at this weight I do not have any blood pressure issues. We have always eaten rather healthy as I cook from scratch and rarely use the salt shaker. I usually have to throw out the salt container as I don't fill up the shaker very often and the container always gets rock hard after awhile.
This is why I decided to try low carb. Grains and flour were the only things I could come up with as to what is making this weight hard to lose. I have the same problem with sugar getting rock hard before it's used. I like sweets at times but do not use much sugar as my DH is hypoglycemic. We use erythritol now and before that we used splenda.
So I am hoping I am right about the carbs.

Hi Diane, I think keeping up with 4 Jack Russels would be all the workout anyone would ever need!

I'm confused about your calories. Your doctor has recommended you eat 1700 a day which is a reasonable amount. But you say you're having trouble eating that much and are getting in the 1000 range?

If you don't mind me being blunt, how'd you get to be 300 pounds if you have trouble eating more than 1000 calories? I know I got up there by eating too large potions of healthy food and massive amounts of junk food. Eating a healthy amount of calories just meant eating a healthy amount of healthy food and eliminating the junk food.

Eating at least 1200 healthy calories a day isn't really all that hard.

Diane welcome to the boards and forums we are really glad you are here.

I am in surgical menopause for over a year now and gained about 30lbs. I just started eating healthier and plan to continue with that, this summer heatwave is NOT helping with the hot flashes though lol

Keep us updated and keep your chin up

HAHAHA No I did not get this fat eating less than 1000 calories a day.

I was referring to having a hard time eating 1700 calories a day since the doctor put me on the phentermine. I have been cutting them in half to just be able to get up to over 1000 a day. A whole one made me so NOT hungry that I was forcing myself just to get 500 a day in me. And I know that I have to eat to lose weight.

I've never been a junk food eater much. So that is why I am thinking its all the carbs. We do not eat white stuff except potatoes. I make our bread. And we are totally brown ricers. Thing is when I eat all the healthy food...I EAT. And a lot of it was carbs.
Plus I do not move around much. I have a studio for my work and I tend to sit as I paint and design so pounds crept up. The Jack's are a handful, but with 4, they play A LOT amongst themselves. They have a huge yard to do it in. I do play with them, but would like to be able to run with them. They are rescue dogs.

Thanks losingit. I know what you mean about this heat. DH put a small AC in the little room the treadmill is in thank goodness. I will be around.

Yeah, I don't know for meds. It may be your doctor thinks this stuff will help you but it'll only make it worse. My observation on weightloss is it is slightly different for each person - which is what allows all the diet "specialists" to continue to churn out bestseller after bestseller as we all keep looking for the one that works for us.

I lost weight when I switched from "the whites" to their brown brothers and the longer I've been calorie counting (the last couple months) the less I eat of even the healthy starches. I tend to have a slice of whole grain bread about 5 times a week and some whole grain pasta about once a week and that's about it. All the rest of my carbs are veggies and fruit. I didn't go this route so much for the low carb as that this is what seems to give me the most energy and satiety.

It sounds like low carb my be your route as well... But really, I'd check back in with my doctor about that med. Long term it sure sounds counter productive toward a healthy lifestyle change.

Good Luck!

Yep, you're right about it being different for everyone.
And as long as I need this crutch, I'm using it.
I find it wonderful when someone can lose 170 pounds on their own. But I have to admit I need the help and I cannot walk in anyone else's moccasins as they cannot in mine either.

It's totally helped me not give up this past month when the scale was going up and down.
I also know that being this weight is totally dangerous. So whatever is working for me is the way I'm going. They seem to be providing the energy I need right now to stick with getting on that treadmill and as I lose and it's easier to move I will taper off. I already only take half a day when the dose is one a day.
So it is certainly not a long term solution, but for me, a great kickstart.

I live a very natural lifestyle being an old hippy and I did not come by the decision to use a drug lightly.
So thanks for your comments and all the luck to you also.

I totally agree w/ your last post. My doctor also put me on Phentermine and I ran out about a week ago. I plan on refilling next week, though. I was thinking about it and the most important thing isn't losing the weight, it's keeping it off. So if the Phentermine helps me get there faster, so be it. Good luck w/ your journey and welcome to the site. This is a very friendly bunch here.