Unsuccessful Weight loss

My wife has been trying to loose weight for what seems to be years now.

She walks and exercises as well as watches what she eats. She had a sleep apnea test and there are no red lights there.

She will try dieting some more and then actually put on weight (clothes getting tighter).

At the moment, she is taking Forskolen, Candida Clear, HCL Pepsin Bitters, Iodine and Immune Boost. She has been on this about 2 weeks now and so far no sign of improvement. She has reported that her clothes are as tight as usual.

I am thinking of arranging vitamin intake like this;

Mornings -
Candida Clear
HCL Pepsin Bitters
Forskolen
Iodine

Lunch -
Green Tea
Magnesium
Zinc

Dinner -
Selenium
Forskolen
Candida Clear

Before Bed -
Immune Boost

How does this look? I am really stumped on why she cannot loose the weight...

Thanks

I don't think your supplement schedule looks bad; take a look at berberine. I like it right after meals. Also, r-lipoic acid and acetyl l-carnitine.

But I'm actually more concerned with what your wife is taking in calorically. That's something you see quite often when people use caloric deprivation as a means of weight loss, they'll put that weight on and then some compensatory weight. They wound up worse than when they had begun.

So here are my questions:

1) What are you using to estimate her baseline metabolism? The best tests are those that factor in LBM, not just weight. But they are all estimates anyway.
2) Based on RMR, what should her normal target calories be for the day?
3) As a percentage of the total, how much are you taking off this intake to produce the weight loss?
4) What macros are you using or close to?
5) How much physical activity is she getting, specifically?
6) What's her lifestyle like at work...stressful? Getting to sleep at a decent hour?

I

IMO/IME walking/running is not enough for weight loss. Get her a gym membership and add some weight training to that cardio. Look up stronglifts 5x5, it's a good, simple program to start with.

Renky,

Without any idea of what she's eating it's hard to help with weight loss. Caloric restriction works for some people. For instance, my wife & her co-workers all jumped on Weight Watchers and are doing their points system. My wife routinely drops 1 pound a week.

For me, that won't work because I'm insulin resistant and my body fights the weight loss. Caloric restriction just leads to problems.

I always recommend Tim Ferris' book 4 Hour Body because the diet info there is simple to follow and it works if you follow it and don't make your own little modifications to it.

But we need to know what she's eating in order to get a sense where she might be going wrong. The supplements are great, but I've found that when it comes to diet/weight loss they are a tiny part of the picture compared to what you put in your mouth and how one exercises.

Give us an idea of what kind of food she's eating and drinking because a lot of people drink their calories or drink Diet soft drinks with aspartame in them that can really halt weight loss.

And Berberine is very good stuff if you're insulin resistant.

Use this as your base for calories she needs without doing anything and go from there.

www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

You dont need to restrict calories but she needs to burn off more. Also she needs to be honest about what she eats and how much physical activity she does.

Thanks for your replies.

Here is a brief example of what she eats during the course of a day;

Breakfast -
Maybe two pieces of toast, or some left overs of last night's dinner
Orange Juice, Coffee

Morning snack -
Almonds

Lunch -
Usually something like a salad

Afternoon snack -
Coffee
Cheese or maybe some left overs

Dinner -
We usually eat stir frys, occasional pasta, salads with chicken or steak and vegetables

Our diets are pretty clean. No diet sodas. Occasional drink of coke. Occasional candy and maybe a piece of dark chocolate at night.

Exercise -

She will walk 20-30 minutes once or twice a week. I have started her on weight resistance training. Her muscle condition is rather poor, so I am introducing push ups and squats and dips all just using body weight. We are trying to achieve this 2-3 times a week.

Her work is stressful and I have emphasized that she MUST stop and eat throughout the day as well as drink lots of water.

At a guess, I would say that she is around 168lbs currently. Her target weight is around 150lbs.

The weight is just not moving. We also tried a fat burner and that did nothing. I was wondering about getting to her to try replacing a meal with one of those shakes, but am not sure.

While getting the weight down will be nice, I am a bit concerned about her long term health if she does not. At the moment, the lack of weight loss is really playing havoc with her mentally and I feel she get's depressed by the lack of success.

Thanks.

Here's my advice:

Add the berberine to your regimen; also r-lipoic acid and acetyl l-carnitine. Take with 3 largest meals.

When dieting, cutting your caloric intake too far below maintenance is going to crash your metabolism. It just is. You may lose weight for a period of time. But she'll adjust and not only won't she feel healthy, but she won't look it either. I would find a reliable caloric requirements estimator (if you can find one that accounts for lean body mass, use it). Average several of them and come up with something preliminary. Factor in her exercise expenditure, which doesn't sound too large at this point. Take 20% away from this amount. I'd hesitate to go higher than 25%. Its about more than calories in and calories out, but they do play a role. But the idea that taking 3500 calories out of your diet per week leads to a 1 lb./week fat loss is just wrong. Take her daily requirement down by about 20%.

Cut out gluten containing grains. Skip the bread and the pasta. Opt for rice derived products if you are going to go that route. There are some good gluten free products out there.

As far as training, she should kick it up a notch. You mentioned she was starting to incorporate a body weight routine in. Something like P90X (don't have to do it every day) 3-4 days per week, with 1 week off every six weeks would be good for her situation. Alternatives would be to get in the gym and get her pushing herself with some weights (don't worry, women won't get big and muscular from lifting weights, that's pure bullshit). Have her do an upper/lower body split. She can do two workouts per week this way and let her muscles get a week of rest between workouts. These are ultimately going to be the best for fatloss, with a little bit of HIIT cardio (P90) thrown in on off days when muscles aren't sore. The kempo day of P90 is great for these recovery day cardio workouts.

The key to resistance training is intensity. You don't need to be in the gym longer than 30 minutes if you're doing it right, and to stress this, she won't get big and bulky. For each movement, do two warmup sets and a third one that is the work set. On this one, make sure you fail after 8-10 reps. That last rep should literally represent maximum effort, like you would be unable to make an 11th. This is the key. The adequate stimulus isn't produced to create an adaptive response below that threshold.

Get 40-50% of her dietary carbohydrates in her postworkout meal. Trust me, this type of activity and re-fueling is going to train the body to more efficiently use fuel. Keep it to the split (upper/lower) I mentioned. For upper, focus on dumbbell bench press, incline dumbbell bench press, flies, dips, delt raises, reverse flies, curls, tricep extensions, pullups/downs, rows. On lower body days: calf raises, leg press, lunges, deadlifts.

I know it sounds odd to have a girl in doing a workout most people would say is for guys, but it will work. Get an adequate amount of protein in her diet as well. After a few weeks of this, she should be able to start working her caloric intake back up and still maintain her ideal weight. After this, its a matter of maintenance and consistency. Trust me, she might hesitate to do the weights at first, she'll feel odd because her female counterparts are all on the eliptical. But let her do it for two weeks and see how she feels. She will start to love it, and she'll get results.

Renky wrote:Thanks for your replies.

Here is a brief example of what she eats during the course of a day;

Breakfast -
Maybe two pieces of toast, or some left overs of last night's dinner
Orange Juice, Coffee

Morning snack -
Almonds

Lunch -
Usually something like a salad

Afternoon snack -
Coffee
Cheese or maybe some left overs

Dinner -
We usually eat stir frys, occasional pasta, salads with chicken or steak and vegetables

Our diets are pretty clean. No diet sodas. Occasional drink of coke. Occasional candy and maybe a piece of dark chocolate at night.

Exercise -

She will walk 20-30 minutes once or twice a week. I have started her on weight resistance training. Her muscle condition is rather poor, so I am introducing push ups and squats and dips all just using body weight. We are trying to achieve this 2-3 times a week.

Her work is stressful and I have emphasized that she MUST stop and eat throughout the day as well as drink lots of water.

At a guess, I would say that she is around 168lbs currently. Her target weight is around 150lbs.

The weight is just not moving. We also tried a fat burner and that did nothing. I was wondering about getting to her to try replacing a meal with one of those shakes, but am not sure.

While getting the weight down will be nice, I am a bit concerned about her long term health if she does not. At the moment, the lack of weight loss is really playing havoc with her mentally and I feel she get's depressed by the lack of success.

Thanks.

Renky,

First thing that I would change is breakfast. Ditch the toast in the morning. I know it's comfort food and I know it's quick, but she needs to put down 30 grams of protein in her first meal and get rid of the bread. Eggs & turkey bacon will get you to 30g's of protein in no time. What that will do is decrease her appetite the rest of the day because she'll actually be well fed in the morning for a change. Toast, juice and coffee just isn't going to get it done and it's more likely for her to go off the wagon on her own accord mid day.

You think she has a salad for lunch. Is she putting protein in it? Any healthy fats like avocado? If she does put those 2 things in it, those calories will do more for her than eating a rabbit garden salad and then reaching for cheese or chocolate at 3pm. Also, tell her to watch the sugar they add to the dressing. She needs to know what goes into everything she eats. Tell her to skip the bread/croutons that they give with salad as well. If she eats one with protein and healthy fat in it, she won't miss that stuff.

Try to drop the Coke drinking down to a day a week if you can. It's got high fructose corn syrup in it and sugar (unless it's Mexican Coke) and really isn't good even in a 16oz a day habit. If you can keep the pasta, Coke and candy treats down to that 1 day a week and make it the same day but be good/exclude them the other 6 days it will benefit her.

Try to keep dinner to steak, fish, seafood & veggies with beans or lentils. If she works out a small sweet potato that day won't kill her.

I would really work on changing the way she eats breakfast with you and then making sure her salad is working for her and has the right things in it. You'll see results right there.

Sounds like you have her starting resistance training which is good. Just work on changing the diet and see how it goes.

Tha's a bit weird. If she has done so much, have done proper exercise routines and even find ways to monitor her diet and all, why can't she lose weight? May I ask how old is your wife now? Sometimes, metabolism is another factor.

Thanks to all of you for the replies and advise. Much appreciated. We have just hit a wall here and it is so frustrating. I now see how hard it is for a woman with a weight issue. I would not say that my wife is seriously over weight or anything, but she could do with loosing about 15 - 20 lbs. She does eat very healthy...

We did some research on the BMI link that was posted (thanks for this) and her caloric intake to maintain is about 1800 calories. My wife advises me that she strives to keep her caloric intake to around 1300. She is in her mid 30's by the way.

I had never heard of berberine. What does this do? She is currently taking Forskolen. This is supposed to have good results from what we have read and Dr Oz recommended it also.

We are getting more into the weights and seeing how this goes.

Thanks again.

1800 calories seem awful high for a female. I need a little over 1800 to maintain, I'm 180lbs and 6th fall.

I dropped 30kg (66lbs) in under a year and have maintenance my weight by mostly walking for 45-60 mins a day 5 days a week during my lunch break.

IMO she needs to increase those walks or better yet purchase or build your own stepper. Those things will burn through a decent amount of calories when doing them at a decent past and will get her heart rate pumping which is important. She can also do the steps in front of the telly.

I use to use them everyday at the beginning of my weight loss and even did 1-2 hours each day on the weekend. However I went overboard with things so I would recommend she takes things much slower than I did.

http://images1.americanlisted.com/nlarge/reebok_step_exercise_stepper_40_downtown_24163857.jpg

I strongly recommend that you get one that is height adjustable.

Now that my weight is under control I no longer calorie count like I used to. I still have the odd look at the calorie count on foods.

Here is another calculator that could help her lose weight:

http://www.healthyweightforum.org/eng/calculators/calories-required/

I would google weight lost for tips, exercises for weight lost, cardio is great for it.

Before I started my most recent weight lost program I spent 2 hours researching, it all boiled down to the following for me:

1. Burn more calories than I consume
2. Weigh myself under the same condition ie always naked, in the morning and after a toilet break but before drinking
3. Keep a spreadsheet with progress, I did this every week, I recommend every 2 weeks or once a month.
4. Don't beat yourself up if you add weight one week
5. Find an exercise that is simple to do that burns off calories fast ie the stepper. Swimming is better.
6. The less you weigh the less calories your body needs.
7. you should lose the most weight at the beginning and steadily decrease, so you either have to work harder or consume less calories
8. Don't beat yourself up if you have a cheat meal or two, but limit it to once or twice a month
9. Get a digit scale, you can't cheat and move the pointer.
10. Scales are great if your obese, but your pants and clothes will tell the full story.

Off the heels of some new and very interesting research, there appears to be a single factor on what may cause a universal difficulty to lose weight...

While more research is needed to confirm this effect in humans, so far it is compelling. That is the level of linoleic acid in the diet, ala Omega-6 fatty acids. The new research suggests that consuming 1 to 2% of this type of fat in our diet is okay, however as it is increased, the weight gain is also increased.

Some foods that contain a relatively higher ratio of LA would be dark chicken. So if you like chicken, go for the white stuff to acquire less of the LA. And when it comes to eating meat, opting for Grass or pastured-fed will help too.

The easiest way to tackle this problem (assuming the data does translate to humans) is to increase Omega-3 fatty acids.

CausticSymmetry wrote:Off the heels of some new and very interesting research, there appears to be a single factor on what may cause a universal difficulty to lose weight...

While more research is needed to confirm this effect in humans, so far it is compelling. That is the level of linoleic acid in the diet, ala Omega-6 fatty acids. The new research suggests that consuming 1 to 2% of this type of fat in our diet is okay, however as it is increased, the weight gain is also increased.

Some foods that contain a relatively higher ratio of LA would be dark chicken. So if you like chicken, go for the white stuff to acquire less of the LA. And when it comes to eating meat, opting for Grass or pastured-fed will help too.

The easiest way to tackle this problem (assuming the data does translate to humans) is to increase Omega-3 fatty acids.

CS -

That's why it's essential to anyone trying to lose weight to avoid the seed oils and stick to coconut oil, olive oil, grass fed butter. Safflower, Sunflower, Vegetable, Corn, Canola, Grapeseed & Soybean oils are all loaded with Omega 6 fats. They're in basically any processed/prepared foods on the market. Only Trader Joe's sells snacks like Chips and Popcorn cooked in Olive Oil.

So many people go on diets and eat what they think is diet food only to be eating stuff cooked in these oils. Even a place like Chipotle which uses grass fed meats then ruins the food by cooking in Soybean oil.

Is there a ratio of 3 to 6 you recommend CS for optimal weight loss or was some kind of guideline expressed in the study?

I know, for me, I have the best weight loss weeks when I'm primarily consuming seafood and wild salmon.

Beyond info on diet, most who are overweight or underweight, and has low sex drive, tired, achey, etc. then should look into mold and/or lyme toxins. One reason why more common is due to EMF which has gone up "millions" of times in the past 10 years. Therefore, exercise isn't doing much for many people beyond the sun (infrared rays) and sweating helping to detox.

Old books from the past on losing weight that stress exercise and such are obsolete and don't work as well as they use to. Course exercise is good twice a week or so but to help one lose weight for many nowadays doesn't work as well for many

Ok... So if my wife does two 1 hour long walks a week, some weight type training, that will cover the physical aspect?

With the supplements, I am rather confused now. Can anyone list the most important supplements to take? My wife hates taking pills, so the fewer the better.

Thanks.

I believe if you want to lose weight (or achieve any modicum of health) on a macro level you have to attack it on a micro level, so I'm referring to the mitochondria.

There are several supplements that are extremely protective of the mitochondria and actually behave like an insulin mimetic:

Alpha Lipoic Acid combined with Acetyl L-Carnitine
Berberine
Non-synthetic B Complex
[Take this combo with three largest meals]

I know your wife isn't diabetic, but diabetes is really an oxidative issue at the level of the mitochondria and refers to a level of defect that we recognize clinically, but could really be thought of as a spectrum.

So preventing the oxidative damage of a defunct oxidative metabolism (or one in overdrive) can be helped with anti-oxidants:

Vitamin C & E
CoQ10
N Acetyl Cysteine
[Take at least one of these with three largest meals]

The cell membrane plays a major role as well and fluidity of the membrane effects the ability of receptors for insulin to be translocated from the inner membrane surface to the outer; the wrong proportion of fats in this membrane will hinder insulin sensitivity. To help this:

Krill Oil
Cod Liver Oil
Policosanol (at night before bed)

The thyroid plays a huge role in overall resting metabolic rate: support it with iodine/selenium.

Lastly, deficiencies in several major minerals will lower your ability to properly utilize oxygen and metabolize nutrients: namely calcium, magnesium, potassium, zinc, sodium.
Eat sea salt.

Take humic/fulvic acid (humifulvate) for minerals.

I would try to change your wife's opinion regarding pills. The notion of pharma drugs has kind of ruined the idea of taking anything by pill just by association. People think if they're taking a pill, its somehow not natural. This is anything but true. Obviously some company's capsules will contain harsh ingredients. But there are some reputable brands out there whose products are pretty pristine. Just try to explain to her that what she is taking is completely natural and is actually beneficial because many of these valuable substances are missing from our food supply anymore. And yeah, introduce her to weights, prioritize sleep, get enough protein (especially in the morning as Hadrion pointed out), get most of her carbs for the day in the 1 or 2 meals after exercise, don't deprive calories by too much.

Renky wrote:Thanks to all of you for the replies and advise. Much appreciated. We have just hit a wall here and it is so frustrating. I now see how hard it is for a woman with a weight issue. I would not say that my wife is seriously over weight or anything, but she could do with loosing about 15 - 20 lbs. She does eat very healthy...

We did some research on the BMI link that was posted (thanks for this) and her caloric intake to maintain is about 1800 calories. My wife advises me that she strives to keep her caloric intake to around 1300. She is in her mid 30's by the way.

I had never heard of berberine. What does this do? She is currently taking Forskolen. This is supposed to have good results from what we have read and Dr Oz recommended it also.

We are getting more into the weights and seeing how this goes.

Thanks again.

She sounds like she's doing better than many if not most Americans Renky. 168 when the target weight is 150 is only very mildly overweight.

Maybe throw in some bicycling into her routine. It is pretty good calorie burning and not as much drudgery as something like running.

Also there is no reason to not walk like 30-45 mins daily. Rather than watching that extra TV show or whatever, just go for a walk. It's a good activity to do togehter as well. Can discuss your days, goals, plans, etc. Can be very enjoyable when its just part of a days routine and not viewed as exercise. If you have wooded areas could hike. If areas with variation in elevation even better.

Thanks for all your replies and advice with this.

We are going to implement and knock these pounds off.

Thanks!

Good interview on wheat = http://www.redicecreations.com/radio/2012/04/RIR-120429.php

Note what he says at 10:00

"Perfectly crafted food for obesity"

Maybe if she stopped eating dinner for breakfast ..

It is very simple to lose weight despite all the junktalk. To lose weight there has be more energy spent than produced from eating. That means there are two ways to do it - eat less (carbohydrates) - burn more from excersise. Walking ... LOL - walking will take you nowhere when it comes to burning fat. Running is the best option but anything that gets the pulse up and break a sweat and is sustained for 30 minutes.

Why is so many people fighting obesity? Because they have comfortable lifestyles - and they just cant take the pain from excersising that they experience in the beginning - because they are not used to it. your wife can either do the above or stay fat.

After about 2 weeks of increased exercise and firm commitment to the supplementation, my wife's weight still does not seem to be budging (clothes still tight).

She is walking 1 hour fast paced 3-4 times a week now. Her diet is still strict also.

We have not tried the berberine yet. Can anyone tell me what this supplement does?

Thanks.

Its an insulin mimetic, and aids in the utilization of glucose. Its been shown to lower blood glucose levels in diabetics in a similar, or sometimes better, fashion than the popular prescription drugs.

I'd be interested to know what her daily caloric requirement is and what she is actually consuming. If she is really depriving herself, that could be your problem. But stress is a huge factor as well, and if her lifestyle/career is stressful, could be contributing.

Also, what is her exposure to household chemicals like? As far as her beauty products.

What is her sleep schedule?

Renky, has she changed her diet? I'm a woman with a crappy metabolism, too. Berberine is supposed to lower blood sugar more effectively than metformin, but it's natural and good for you. I'd take it if money were no object. As it is, I haven't tried it yet. But I may, after the holidays.

If your wife is still following the menu plan that you outlined when you first posted, IMHO her primary problem is that she's eating too many carbs (like hadrion said). If she has a blood sugar problem and cuts those carbs it may resolve on it's own with no berberine. I myself can lose 30lbs. in a snap by cutting carbs, plus improving my glucose readings, but unfortunately I need to lose more than that and so I always get stymied by the "30lb plateau".

Point being if your wife only has 20lbs to lose I'm betting she can do it by cutting carbs and increasing protein, especially in the morning.

FWIW, I do best on what I've come to call "half carb". More fruit than paleo/low carb, but nowhere near as much as carbs as SAD or even a healthy eating style like the Zone. No grains or starches. Problem is I'm a food addict so I fall off the wagon when I get frustrated by the inevitable plateau, even though I feel great when eating well. If food were like alcohol and falling off the wagon bit me in the ass immediately (like hangover), I doubt I'd have a weight problem anymore. But the negative effects of bad diet are relatively slow to show. This is by way of explaining why I advocate something I have such obvious difficulty sticking to. :-/

Check hadrion's diet advice again, and also whoever recommended coconut oil and cutting omega 6. These strategies work for me, and I bet they will for her, too.

Thanks for the replies.

Her diet is and caloric intake is around the same. Sometimes she skips lunch even (I have advised her she needs 6 small meals a day).

She is taking most of the supplements listed in this thread now and the only oil we use for cooking is olive oil. That is the only oil we have used for years and years.

Both our diets consist of steroid free (and other chemicals) meat, our fruit and vegetables are good too. So we really watch what we buy and eat and our grocery bill shows this (ha, ha).

We will take on board the carb cutting as well as trying some berberine.

It is a tough road, that is for sure!

Hi Renky,

Can't stress enough how important it is for her to stop going long periods without eating. Get something during the day, and at least insure calorically that a fair amount of it is protein. I think a protein-laden breakfast is very important, as I believe Hadrion has mentioned before.

I want to also stress that just cutting carbs in general can help lose weight for some, but in general don't slash carbs extremely low extremely quickly. You're asking for a crash, and despite the claims many have about being fine on a keto diet, it isn't for everyone. Trust me, I've tried it and its definitely not the right fit for everyone.

The important thing with carbs is teaching the body to use them efficiently, and this has everything to do with the timing of your carb meals and the timing of your exercise. I would change the exercise routine to include some more high intensity work. Perhaps every other day, get her doing some high intensity interval training or resistance training. Eating the majority of your carbs, I'd say 50% of them in the two meals (within 3 hours) after intense exercise is the best way to train the body to efficiently use and store carbohydrate. Deplete and then refuel. It promotes muscular anabolism, which in turn promotes increased basal metabolic rate. Have her eat a high protein breakfast, a moderate carb meal about 1-1.5 hours prior to training, and then have her eat 1-2 higher carb meals in the 3 hours after exercise (50-60% of her days carbs in this time slot). For the rest of the day keep her carb sources to low glycemic fruits and vegetables. For the post-exercise meals that are higher carb, rice or sweet potato are great options. But the exercise has to demand this. A 1 hour walk won't effect much of anything. If this is the extent of the day's exercise, avoid the higher carb meals that day.