Any one have Metabolic Syndrome?

  • Hello All,
    I am needing your help. I have a guy friend who has been diagnosed with Metabolic Syndrome about a year ago. He is 40 years old, 6' 5" and approx. 450 lbs. About 7 years ago he had lost well over a 100 lbs but did it in a very unhealthy way. He exercised constantly and basically was starving himself. He got tired of all of that one day and just started eating again. Well now it is near impossible for him to lose any weight. One doctor told him that he had to start starving himself again. This works for about 20lbs, then he starts gaining weight again. He has been to several other doctors that just tell him the he has to have gastric bypass surgery. He has high blood presure and high choleseral. He does work out faithfully 5 x's a week. He doesn't want to have the surgery but will if it is his last choice. He has tried so many different diets and they work for a while but then he starts gaining again. He is getting very discouraged.

    Has anyone gone thru this or know of anyone who has? And if so what did you do to lose the weight. Any help or ideas would be greatly appriciated. He is one of my best freinds and I fear that I will lose him if we can't get his weight down.

    Thank you so much for any help you can give. Oh and we live about 150 miles west of Chicago so if there are any doctors around there that you could suggest that would be great as well.
  • I've been diagnosed with it. My doctor advised a lower carbohydrate plan, but not too low, as he also prescribed metformin, which helps control blood sugar.

    Basically, I'm still learning to find the "right" level of carbs that mazimizes weight loss while minimizing discomfort, and conducive to exercising comfortably. Too few and I get light headed, dizzy, fatigues, and irritable (and contrary to some low carber advice, extra fat doesn't help). Too many carbs and the weight doesn't move unless I drop calories to the point that I'm still light headed, fatigued and irritable (but not dizzy, thankfully), and its harder to keep calories that low, because carbs, even "good ones" trigger more hunger for me.

    Very low carb, the weight comes off at an almost reasonable pace, but I can't function on that style of eating for long.

    So, unfortunately there isn't a simple answer. Just like everyone else trial and error is the only way, but reducing carbs, especially processed ones is a great trial to start. Before going low carb, or even dropping below 150 g of carbs per day, though he should talk to his doctor, or better yet, a dietician or diabetic counselor.

    I recommend the diabetic counselor, because my metabolic syndrome is often a precursor to diabetes. My husband is type II diabetic, and a visit with his diabetic counselor was as helpful to me as it was to him. Some insurances will cover it for only diabetics, but many will cover it if their doctor recommends it. Though often for fewer sessions, sometimes only once, while for diabetics it may cover a certain number of sessions every year.
  • There's a board devoted just to this very subject (and others):

    http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=70
  • Metabolic syndrome is a phrase used to describe a collection of risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Abdominal obesity, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure are just a few of the risk factors referred to as “metabolic syndrome.” Did you know that a recent study found that individuals who consumed even one soda a day, diet or otherwise, had a 50% increased risk for metabolic syndrome over a four-year period? Artificial sweeteners are at it again...!
  • The South Beach diet was put together by a physician for patients with heart disease including metabolic syndrome. You may want to take a look in that forum or read South Beach Diet Supercharged.