cgh-- My heart is saddened to see you post comments like that
Honestly, shake up your exercise routine-- and I mean by that get another Jillian Michaels dvd or 2 Also shake up your caloric intake (i.e. calorie cycle).
I think what I was asking didn't come across properly. This is not a mental/emotional question, because I will never give up. That's not even a question.
It was a purely physical question, and one that had to do with what medication can do to your body, and if medication can permanently damage your body and weight loss efforts.
Then the answer is even simpler. No - if you're willing to do what it takes, it is always possible to lose weight by eating less and/or moving more. Medications and othere health and physiological conditions can slow (but not stop) your metabolism. If it could, then starvation could (at least for some people) be prevented. Even if you're in a coma, your body burns calories. You can't "stop" metabolism. I'm not suggest that you stop eating anything -but obviously you would lose weight if you did.
Even if you had the slowest metabolism on the planet, you would still need to eat - and you could still find a calorie level at which you could lose weight. You might have to eat less than "everyone else," and you might have to be content with far less than one pound of weight loss per month, but you still would be able to find a weight at which you could lose weight.
If you're eating 1000 calories, exercising, and not losing weight, even after 5 or 6 weeks without going off plan at all - then you probably have an actual metabolic disorder. This can make weight loss difficult, but even so, does not make it impossible. You may have to eat a ridiculously small amount to lose weight, but the weight loss would be physically possible.
If metabolism stops - so does life. So you will always need food to maintain you weight and in order to live. If you eat less than this amount, you will lose weight. Even if you hypothetically were able to maintain your weight on 700 calories, then you could lose weight by eating 575 - and you would lose 1/4 of a lb per week. Now, you'd need a doctor's supervision and nutritional supplements, and maybe medications that might boost your metabolism, but it would still be possible.
Second what kaplods just said! If you need some help seeing results, try working out differently, lift more, start boxing, pilates, yoga. I definitely see in myself that inches are a LOT easier to lose than weight at this point.
I'm not saying that it can't be difficult - superhumanly difficult. For many years, I did feel that dieting was far more trouble than it was worth. The effort to see results required me to sacrifice far more than I thought was reasonable. It seemed that I could only lose weight, by ignoring everything else important in my life, and I chose the rest of my life over weight loss.
At the time, it seemed like a fair tradeoff. Then I started getting sick - and I was still afraid to "diet" because in my experience dieting only ended up in weight gain, eventually not sustained loss.
I did find things that helped. I changed my bc to skip periods, because the hormone drop of the placebo/period week played a large role in cravings and binges (without bc, the killer pms and food obsessions are worse). I'm taking metformin for insulin resistance, and eating low carb prevents hunger a lot better than other diets I've tried (in 30 plus years of dieting, except for a few desperate, short attempts, I rejected low carb as "unhealthy." It took me a long time to overcome and unlearn my biases against lower carb eating.
I'm not saying it will be easy, or that some of your experiments won't fail - but there is no reason you can't succeed if you keep experimenting.
The metabolism is a tricky thing. Jillian Michaels actually has a new book that just came out Tuesday about how to revamp and restore ones metabolism by eating certain foods and getting rid of certain chemicals in ones food and environment. If you're worried about your metabolism being damaged, she's got some good info in the book on how to restore your metabolism and get it revving again. It might be worth looking into. I personally haven't read it yet but I've heard her talk about it on her radio show and everything she said made a lot of sense.
Anyway, I can definitely relate and sometimes it's a matter of battling the mindset than the body really since I'm a firm believer that our mindset determines our lives outcome to a certain extent. Positive thinking and affirmations lead to positive things happening in our live.
If your metabolism were damaged, you certainly wouldn't have been able to lose 35 lbs consuming 1600-1800 calories a day! No, your metabolism has simply readjusted itself to the number of calories you consume now. This is a natural process. All it means is that you need to shake up your metabolism to get it to continue running high. You do this by changing your number of calories and/or upping your exercise.
I wonder this alot too. Sure we can lose on 700-1000 calories if our metabolism is that slow, but that would not be realistic to stick to for life.
Are you working out? Lifting weights? That's supposed to help build muscle and raise your metabolism. I think the last 20-30 or so pounds are really the hardest to lose.
I guess what I want to specifically ask/know is - has there ever been a case where someone obviously NEEDS to lose 30 lb more, but the body just won't lose it and they will have to stay 30 lb overweight forever? Is this possible?
From everything that I'm hearing, this is NOT the case with you. Not by a long shot. In all honesty, I don't think it's your metabolism that's the problem.
I'm hearing the words - half-heartedly and I'm hearing 1600-1800 calories - and I'm hearing but it didn't used to be this way, etc.
Losing weight does not happen by accident. It just doesn't miraculously fall off. It takes hard work and focus and determination. It takes a whole-heated attempt. It obviously takes lowering your caloric intake - consistently - day in and day out. It takes recognizing that things change, they aren't always how they "used to be" and you may need to do things differently.
You want to lose weight? Badly enough? MAKE it happen. Do what it takes to MAKE it happen. REQUIRE more of yourself. No more excuses. Don't fall back on, "but it never used to be this way". Deal with what IS. Go back to dieting 101. Make a sensible plan and stick with it. Tweak it as need be. Be consistent.
You said for the past 2 weeks you've lowered your caloric intake - well that sounds like a good place to start. All the best.
I wonder this alot too. Sure we can lose on 700-1000 calories if our metabolism is that slow, but that would not be realistic to stick to for life.
That's an entirely different question. But what is "realistic" for some one, may be completely "unreasonable" for someone else. The fact though, is that extremely low metabolism is fairly rare, and usually can be helped by behavioral changes (like exercise) and medication (thyroid and insulin resistance meds, for example).
If you're finding it difficult to lose on 1000 calories a day (and I don't mean lose slow, I mean no loss of even a few ounces per week), then it's usually a good indicator that you need to have a checkup and find out if there's a metabolic reason why.
But eating 1600 - 1800 calories a day, isn't that.
There are also way to increase metabolism (like exercise - building muscle raises metabolism, because it takes more calories to support muscle than fat).
I often wonder if I will be able to reach my goal weight - not because I think it's impossible, but because there may come a point at which I'm unwilling to go any further...
AND THAT'S OK! If I decide that I've "had enough" at 200 lbs, I will maintain 200 lbs and be happy with it, but not because I think that going lower is impossible, but that I've reached a point at which I'm not willing to go any further.
And while weighing 200 wouldn't be ideal for my health, it's certainly better than being 400 (or more likely 450 if I give up, because I've never regained weight without gaining a lot more than I lost).
The point is, it's pointless to worry about reaching a point that hasn't come yet. So what if I can't get to 150 - all I have to do is lose that next pound and worry about the next after I've done so. Borrowing tomorrow's trouble only makes it harder to deal with today's.
Thanks everyone! Wonderful advice from all of you, and I'm so happy to get all these thoughtful responses.
I think another one of my problems is that I compare myself to other people a lot. My thin friends eat badly and don't exercise yet manage to stay thin. So sometimes I look at them and think - what the? How can they do it and not me? My other friend decided run two times per week and lost about 10 lb in a span of a few months. That's it. That's all she did.
So I look at them and think with all I do, and how hard I try, maybe there's something physically wrong with me?
I haven't given more than 2 weeks to the 1300 calorie eating plan, so I definitely cannot say whether or not it's "not working". I have a feeling it will work, it's just these feelings of fear coming up for me.
Plus I have come down ill two times now in the past two weeks so feeling beat and run down - everything seems gloom and doom to me!
it helps so much to have all of your thoughts - THANK YOU!!!
Comparing yourself to others, and even comparing yourself to your younger self, can be deadly. It's not comparing apples and oranges (at least they're both fruits), it's more like comparing a stone to a space alien.
There are just far too many factors to compare. Running twice a week, hey that's a pretty "big change," and if I could do it would probably result in alot more weight than 10 lbs in a few months - but I'd drop dead before I had the chance.
And as for all of the thin, pretty people eating crap, heart disease does not kill only fat, ugly people.
Everyone has to deal with what they have to deal with - and looking at what others have that you don't will always drive you nuts. If you're going to compare yourself to anyone, at least if you do it to people less fortunate than you (and there are millions of those too), at least you get to feel blessed.
It's easier said than done, but the more lucky you can let yourself feel, the easier any challenge is. It's not that it isn't normal to have the jealousies and regrets, but that normal doesn't mean good for you. If you can learn to feel lucky, you suck a lot of stress out of your life. And stress does have negative impacts on health and weight loss, so any stress you can shave off your life, the better chance you have. If not to live a longer life, at least to have more enjoyment out of the life you do have.
Also shake up your caloric intake (i.e. calorie cycle).
