By all means, I would try what your doctor advised and see if it helps you. There can be no harm in trying. Good Luck and Best wishes for you.

14 pounds in 3 months really isnt that bad. It is alot slower then me but then again everyones body works different. Just keep up your hard work and you will see more weight loss. I know it's easier to say then do. : )

Wow! You're doing great!!!!!! Sounds to me like you're doing it right already!

But I totally understand your frustration. I don't lose every week and this week I gained a pound! But I'm not worrying about it -- I haven't done anything to warrant a weight gain, after all.

I am trying to learn from the maintainers. After all, I hope to be one someday!

Many maintainers say that one of the difficult aspects of the transition from loss to maintenance is that the "thrill" of weight loss is no longer present. Hard to get excited about it when everything stays the same, right?

So, I decided that I should start to think like a maintainer. I keep control over my eating and exercise -- do what I know I should. And I don't worry about what the scale says. Don't get me wrong, I get excited by the losses, FOR SURE! But if the scale stays the same (or even goes up a little), I just think that this is practice being a maintainer -- when my weight's going to fluctuate a little anyway...

Or, maybe I go a little overboard lookin for that silver lining...

It definitely would not be my plan! But you ARE losing weight; just not as quickly as you would like. Sometimes it is so hard when we want it to go faster! Whatever you decide to do, hang in there!!!!

courtnie-

I worked with doctors before (who are "weight loss" or "obesity" professionals because they are endocrine specialists) and I will tell you that THEY DON'T DO THEIR HOMEWORK!!!

DO NOT LISTEN TO HIM. 3 meals a day?? the subsequent 2 meals being small? I believe that breakfast should be your largest meal, but technically, if you want to build more muscle and burn more calories, you should eat 5-6 small meals a day!!

Why? Well okay I'll tell ya- When you eat, provided that you are low in blood sugar (everyone's blood sugar, as long as they are not diabetic, should be low in the morning) your body will digest the food into glucose and then use some for your metabolic processes ( glycolysis, tricarboxylic acid cycle, followed by the electron transport chain, yadada to produce your needed energy equivalences, adenine triphosphate) and then store the extra glucose as muscle glycogen!!! Now, when you eat smaller meals, not only does your metabolism become used to constantly using up the digested glucose, but also NOT storing the excess (or at least, not storing as much). When you eat larger meals, spaced out through the day, Your body becomes adapted to the fact that it might not have food until later in the day, and then it says "well, since courtnie isn't going to feed me til whenever, I'm gonna have to save some of this digested breakfast/lunch in my tissue. And if you consume a large quanitity of fat at one sitting without doing much exercise to burn it off, you can imagine how fatty acid metabolism is gonna slow ( yeah, your beta-oxidation of fatty acids leads to frequent storage if you eat more food at each meal, less meals per day).

You might wanna ignore his suggestion on this one.

You've gotten some wonderful advice, but I thought I would share a few things that I've encountered...

My aunt lost a substantial amount of weight eating her large meal in the morning! She literally did it backwords, chicken for breakfast, regular lunch and then omlett or cereal for dinner. However, this was really REALLY tough for her to do... it all but eliminated going out for dinner (no place serves dinner at 7am!) And I don't know if it's the cause of this or not, but within a year she gained all of her weight back... it just wasn't a realistic change.

Also, a girl in one of my classes at the college had a bizzare weight loss story. She would lose 10 pounds, then platuea for long periods, then lose 10 more... it was just teh way her body did it...

Although I don't see that it could hurt to give it at ry.

I would like to add that my body as well-does not lose like clockwork at teh same rate each week. I may lose 3 pounds in one week-then nothing for a couple of weeks...then a pound or two...then nothing for a couple...and so forth. When I am losing weight, I do not get the 1/2-2 pound each and every week.

Also-the heavier you start out as, the faster weight loss usually is at first. What I mean is, it is a lot easier for someone who started at 320 pounds to lose 30 pounds their first three months than it is for someone who started out at 210. Someone who doesn't have a whole lot to lose-and starts at maybe 175-may only lose 10 pounds or so in three months.

I truly believe in the "eat when you are physically hungry" plan. Only eat when your stomach is growling, meaning that you have used up your fuel and now is the time to refuel. I don't know how many have read Gwen Schamblin's Weigh Down Diet books, but alot of what she says makes sense. God made our bodies to know when we are physically hungry -not emotionally or head hungry - and if we take cues from our body we will only eat when we need to. The trick is getting in touch with that hungry feeling. I know that there has been alot of times when I actually forgot what it feels like to be truly hungry, because I ate emotionally all the time!

As for what to eat and when, sometimes I will have dinner food for breakfast if that is what sounds good to me. Sometimes I am not hungry at dinner time or only want cereal. I'm not sure how much that whole thing matters. What I do know is that you are doing an awesome job (thanks for reminding all of us that 1 pound a week is normal and good), keep it up, Lady, we are all rooting for you!

Barb

It's so interesting how different plans work for different people. As opposed to Babsy, I deliberately ate every 2 hours - BEFORE I got hungry. I don't like feeling hungry. I also tend to get light-headed and make really, really bad food decisions when I get hungry. I plan my meals for the week on Sunday and then I pretty much follow the plan. I love food and am always ready to eat!

Reading through the thread, I was just about to add my response for a certain point--and then Aphil did it for me Those who lose the 30 pounds in 3 months are likely starting at a much higher weight or are being extremely restrictive or even dangerously careless. When I started at 310, sure I could lose 30 pounds in 3 months! But if I started at, say, 210 instead, that would be a MUCH more difficult feat.

There's nothing wrong with eating your biggest meal in the morning. However, there's not really anything right about it, either Now, someone may correct me if I'm wrong (yes, it has been known to happen!), but from my understanding, you'r body doesn't burn immediately what you take in. Whatyou burn in a workout in the morning isn't actually the same calories you just ate for breakfast, but rather the calories you ate yesterday. I may have gotten that from an unreliable source, but it makes sense to me that you aren't burning what you just ate since you haven't processed it to make it burnable yet. Or maybe I'm just talking myself in circles Either way, your body is going to burn the same number of calories no matter what time you ingest them. I guess that's just my point. The no snacking thing could wreak havoc on your blood sugar. The reason it is often suggested that people stop eating at a certain time of night is just to stop the habit of grazing on snacks all night long, not because the clock says it's too late to eat--it's a hbit thing, not a bilogical thing, so if you don't have trouble snacking as it is, it seems to be a wasted plan, IMO.

I understand it's just another suggested plan, and it won't kill you to try it. I just think we tend to put doctors up on a pedastal, and certainly they deserve it for a lot of reasons, but dieting advice is generally an area in which most doctors are NOT well-versed (even though they will give you grief if you are overweight)

Agreed. The last time I saw my REAL family doctor was two years ago. I went to her, I was 17/18 and I weighed 174 pounds. She was a real B**** - she told me I was over weight and had to lose to it and I better do it now. There were also other things wrong with me, such as - the moles on my back I was going to get skin cancer if I didn't come back in two weeks and have them removed. And about 2 or 3 other things I was going to die of if I did not come back. Last year I booked my yearly appt when she was away on Vacation and saw her fill her.

Here I am two years later, 30 pounds heavier - I don't blame my doctor but I don't think what she told me was good either - when she told me I was overweight and all it did was make me depressed and cry. So when I was at my NEW FAMILY doctor yesterday (I ditched her and found a new one) I asked him about my weight and my moles. He took a good look and said I had nothing to worry about it - so yes doctor do LIE!! haha I know that

But anyway I have read everything you guys suggested and I really appreciate it and I have been thinking about this. I eat snacks - not because I am hungry but because I think I have to eat them in order to lose weight and perhaps that is not the best way to think about it. So what I am going to try is making my breakfasts biggers, lunches bigger and dinners smaller - but not too small. Just sometimes I eat WAY too much for dinner because it is good and/or because I have the calories left. So even if it is adding a glass of orange juice or something to breakfeast just to leave with less calories at dinner so I eat less. I will ONLY snack if I am truly hungry and not because I feel I have to. The only time I find I get really hungry (in between meals) is if I go too lunch between lunch and dinner or if I eat dinner early and stay up late. If I am really am hungry I will eat something.

I understand what you are saying about blood sugar but I just don't understand why I would eat if I am not hungry? Is it better to have a couple bites of something for the sake of your blood sugar or only do that if you are hungry? I have these fruit bars and they are 130 calories and no fat and you get 2-3 servings of fruit/veggies from them. Maybe eat half of one of those between meals to get my sugar up or something?

What do you guys think?

I am a night eater too...I have never been big on breakfast I will have to think of how to do it.. I may try this too but like Courtnie not to the T. Just not eating as much at night and little more in the morrin. Some better things for snacks....<< I cant do with out the snacks......lol

Well, not everyone has blood sugar issues. Some people are more sensitive to it than others. I am very sensitive to it, and am diabetic when I am pregnant-and at high risk when I am older for getting it permanently.
If you are sensitive to having dips in your blood sugar, you will most likely feel it. If you get irritable between meals/snacks, lightheaded, shaky, dizzy, etc. and a snack helps that-then you are probably having blood sugar dips. Not everyone does.

Yah I don't feel any of that. But I have decided on eating at least on snack. I normally eat breakfast at 8. I will eat my lunch right at 12 (so that is only 4 hours). And then around 3 I will have a snack. And then have dinner around 6-7. That way I don't go so long between lunch and dinner. 6-7 hours between eating seems like a lot!

Yeah, exactly. I suspect I have blood sugar issues because sometimes, if I don't eat, I get trembly, sweaty, headachy and sometimes nauseated. Needless to say, I don't like that feeling, so I eat often