Give it to me straight

I've been doin my six month supervised diet for just about 4 months now. I haven't lost a pound. I'm pretty healthy except for the weight. I've exercised regularly for about 8 years and have perfect blood pressure. No knee problems or back issues. I have Gerds but keep it pretty much under control. I'm 45 and have gained about 20 in the last year. I have a current BMI of 44. I can always eat better, less, and drink more water, but it just seems so hard to loose the weight. About 4 years ago I did a spin class. I went religeously for a whole year straight. I lost 4 pounds. I felt great. Buat I was hungry all the time. I finally concluded that I was working to hard for my body, and although I was getting stonger, and my lungs were in great shape, I needed to eat only a can of cat food (LOL) a day to loose weight.

My doctor has had me stop exercising in hopes that I will eat less. He is concerned that I wont be able to stick to a 1000 calorie a day diet. Any ideas? I really am not a slacker, although I am not perfect. Give it to me straight. Am I just fooling myself, or do some people have problems loosing weight? Even still, I need to get real. Hit me with it...what do you think? Will I fail?

well we all have problems losing weight trust me i have been tryin my whole life! i have done the exercise, alot of water aerobics it seems like the more exercise the more we eat! but trust me if i can do it u can do it!! i have been on my 2 week pre-op liquid diet for almost 2 weeks and have lost more then 15 pds and i have realized its all about what we eat and how much!! my band date is wed, the 26th i cant wait,, so stay strong you can do it , find sum kind of hobby i been doing alot of word finds lol whatever it takes!! good luck,,

My method of losing weight has been exercise (about 25 minutes a day), eat breakfast and portion control. I don't count calories as such, just don't eat as much. I've cut out bread, alcohol, sweets, cakes, biscuits, discovered bananas, apples. I eat lots of vegetables.
No magic involved here, just eating better and smarter. I'm certain some people do have a problem in losing weight - see your doctor. You want it straight, so let me ask you a straight question. How much do you really want to lose weight? Do you really want to? It takes effort, commitment and support from family and friends, an understanding of the processes your body goes through in order to work and how you can improve your generally physical and mental well being. For me, the support of my family has been paramount. Above all, losing weight can be fun! But be patient. It doesn't happen overnight. I've given myself a year to get to target, which means I don't beat myself up each week, I take a longer view.
I hope that has helped. Good luck with your weight loss, and with the approach that works for you I'm sure you can succeed.

A couple of questions: Are you type II diabetic? Have you been tested for metabolic disorders? If you're not type II and don't have any metabolic disorders of any kind...then I would venture to guess, yes, denial is a big possibility. I am not saying that to be cruel...because Lord knows, denial had been my best friend for many moons...(and probably vexed most ppl on this board in one way or another). If you do have a physical reason for not loosing, then it's just gonna be a tough road to hoe. It'll be harder for you, but it still can be done.

What does your doctor say about it?

You don't say how many calories you eat. Do you log your food? If not, you should start and be brutally honest, log everything!

When you are overweight, hunger is not going to kill you. Hunger doesn't represent anything but your body wanting to use the easy fuel. Allow yourself to be hungry.

I was going to say exactly what the previous post just wrote. How many calories a day are you consuming? That's the first step. Do you actually weigh and measure your food or do you guess?

If you are exercising, you can't let your calorie intake get too low, but you need to know what your calories are. Track them for one week. Write down everything you eat and show it to your DR.

You ARE my story exactly! I've worked out since 1983 and didn't have a lot of co-morbities associated, i.e. diabetes, sleep apnea. Did have acid reflux and my knees have arthritis (but look at my age, for heaven's sake!)...

And yes, my scale kept climbing, climbing, climbing! In the six months I went to the nutritionist, I lost a TOTAL of six pounds (and I really think my high weight was just on a bad day, luckily... ). I honestly thought this Band would never work for me, NEVER!

But here I am--I still work out four days a week (two at the YMCA and two at Curves)--I'm not sure I like your doctor's recommendation that you quit working out :confused2: what's up with that????

Have faith, cakegal, it DOES work--as long as we maintain the discipline to let it help us. But it also means we have to totally submit to a life change. That's the key...

Make33, Maybe you could tell Cakegal what is different with the band for you that things changed. Are your portions different? Is it more protein that you're eating now?

Then maybe she'll know what areas she needs to change. There does not seem to be any problem with exercising, she's got that part down.

Cakegal, I really thought I was eating sensibly before: cereal for breakfast, tuna croissant for lunch, meat and a side dish for supper--so besides working out four days a week, I couldn't understand WHY I couldn't lose any weight. I was positive it was my metabolism, and maybe it was in part.

But now, OMG, I really SEE that I was eating far too much, and WAY too many carbs!! It was a cup of cereal, a huge tuna croissant, and dinner was (example) three barbequed spareribs and 1/2 box of Kraft macaroni and cheese!!

My portions now are 3/4 cup and under and believe me, I am STUFFED when I am done eating!!

I now drink water--ooooouou, I would never have touched water before. An eight ounce glass was more than enough for me in one day!!! Now I drink a minimum of three bottles a day--and I LIKE it! (The more water you drink, the more you get to liking it I find!!)

Carbs are now my enemy and protein is my best friend--and the shakes just satiate me so much!

Your whole life will change--unbelievably! But it WILL revolve around you, too, in that you will be constantly assessing what you have done for your body today: did I get enough protein, did I drink enough water, did I take my vitamin, get my calcium?

YOU are going to be just fine, trust me...

I took the year of 2004 as "MY YEAR" and decided to do whatever it took to get where I needed and wanted to be for once in my life. I hired a personal trainer (he's the best one at the gym I attend, has a college degree, not some slacker trust me!) I worked out with him twice a week and did a LOT of cardio two or three of the other days each week. I joined Weight Watchers. I faithfully attended every meeting and kept track of my points like some kind of crazy nazi-dieter. Every week I weighed in and stayed the same. Sometimes I went down 1 pound, then the next week I'd go up 1. This went on for a year. I figured, okay it took me more than a year to lose this weight, I'll be patient. It got to where I couldn't go to Weight Watchers anymore and not cry watching everyone else get their ribbons and stuff. So I went to a bariatric specialist (not a surgeon, he just does regular weight loss) He put me on a diet of meat, vegetables and fruit. No grains. No sugar. I did that for a year. I lost zero pounds. Then I went on one of those cleansing fasts for my liver because there is a theory that liver toxicity can make it hard to lose weight. I did that for 30 days and lost 3 pounds. (the average person who does the cleanse loses 22 pounds in 30 days and it was all doctor supervised and healthy) I waited a month and did the cleansing fast again. I lost zero pounds. I had a big breakdown in the nutritionists office. She threw her hands up and said she didn't know what to tell me. I was still working out with the trainer, by the way. Then I subscribed to a diet meal delivery service where three meals a day of The Zone Diet meals were delivered to my door. Did that for a month. Lost zero pounds. I have been working out with the same dear trainer since June of '03 and in August of '07 I finally decided to have lap band surgery. I am still not breaking any weight loss records as you can see by my ticker, but I have lost 25 pounds - over 10% of my total and 25 pounds more than I was able to lose without the band. I am a HAPPY CAMPER even with the slowness of my weight loss because for the first time in four years I have hope that I might be able to get to a normal weight. Don't let anyone tell you that it is impossible NOT to lose weight by taking in fewer calories than you expend because I am living proof that it can happen. Now that I am eating under 900 calories a day I am losing, and it is slow, but at least I'm losing. There is no way I could have stuck to a 900 calorie a day diet without the band. I feel for you and I believe you when you say you couldn't lose weight. I have walked in your shoes!