Having to lose weight

[Duncan Fowler]

Consider one of the diet plans that deliver your food to you.  I used Nutrisystem and lost 60 lbs over a few months.  Not much to think about except getting Veggies and Fruits.  I thought it was a good plan.  They have been advertising $299/month which replaces much of your grocery bill.

Good Luck!

Dunc

[Russell Jalbert]

I can make these recommendations, and I am 69. I lost a bunch of weight (30+ pounds) for the transplant team this way:

1. Using the My Fitness Pal app – every day I track EVERYTHING I eat and drink in the Daily Diary. Set a weight goal and target date, and the app will give you you daily calorie amount. The basic app is free, and an upgrade is available that add all the nutrition details. You can even scan the label’s barcode and it will load it into your meal.

2. Started using an exercise app (Samsung Health) that tracked my daily steps and calories burned. It also can integrate with My Fitness Pal and automatically import your daily exercise stats

3. Met with a Nutritionist, mine was available free through my local Pulmonary Rehab group. Then do what she/he recommends!

4. Change what and how much you eat.

4. This one is very difficult but critical – get used to being hungry.

5. Remember the long-game goal

[Christie Patient]

Hi Luciano,

Great suggestions for Russell! There are lots of apps out there that make it really easy to track your calories (My Fitness Pal, LoseIt, etc.) and lots of apps for fitness too. Many are free, and some, like the Samsung health are built into your operating system already. Strava is the one I use to track my fitness activities and goals, and I use a Garmin watch with it. If tech is not your thing, you can count calories in a journal and tally it up each day.

The ultimate premise for losing weight is to burn more than you consume, so if exercise is out of the question right now due to your PF symptoms, or other reasons, you need to figure out what your basal metabolic rate is and eat below that number every day. Add in exercise as you can.. the more you move, the more you can eat! But keeping track of calories is the best way to get started, just to bring awareness to how much everything you are consuming contains.

Fiber-rich foods paired with water will help curb the hunger feeling, but a nutritionist can give you the best advice for what you should be eating to lose weight. You can do it!!

[Shelly K Mathis]

Maybe an appointment with an endocrinologist might help to make sure you don’t have a unique blood sugar characteristic that keeps you from losing weight. If not, it seems that a lot of people who lose weight safely cut out simple carbs/sugar completely.  But everyone is different so do get professional counseling since it’s such an important requirement for your future.

[Dicky Griffin]

Luciano, Russell is on point … I too am 71, 5’7” and weighted 225 in mid August …  The transplant team told me I needed to reach a BMI of 30 or below and doing the things Russell discussed I have lost 38 lbs and just tow more pounds to reach the 30 BMI.

I too use MyFittnessPal for food tracking but also use LoseIt and have found the LoseIt app on my phone and iPad (and online … all sync) to be the easiest to use … I continue to track on both programs as the food nutritional information is a little different between the program’s data bases BUT the differences are small.

I’ve been keeping my calories under 1500 per day (occasionally go over but generally stay under the target).  Both programs report nutritional analysis of your progress (protein, carbs, fat, etc) … I don’t use all the features of either program (mainly calorie counting and weight & BMI progress).

I did have to give up a couple of dear friends (Ben & Jerry) but generally as Russell mentioned it success has much more to do with portion control and selection of foods that favor my calorie & nutritional (protein, carbs and fat) goals.

Remember Russell’s recommendations … at least for me I think he is spot on.  Keep in touch … If you want my personal email, let me know and we can continue to visit.   Dicky Griffin, Lincoln, NE

[Dicky Griffin]

I should not have supported Christies recommendation … also very good input.  The BMR site she provided provides you with “gold” information.

Additionally she mentioned the importance of fiber and I think she is spot on … I have upped my fiber intake sufficiently to not feel hungry and it was not that tough to find high or at least higher fiber foods I enjoyed eating and replacing the lower fiber foods I was “accustomed”  to eating for example lower calorie higher fiber breads and I have come to really enjoy “All Brand” and “Fiber-One” cereal with a “Light and Fit” yogurt for breakfast along with fresh fruit.   All the best Dicky Griffin, Lincoln, NE

[Luciano Molina]

Thank you all for your comments.

[Dicky Griffin]

Yes Christie … I was thinking one thing and mis-typed … “I should have noted support for Christie’s recommendations”.  Your help in finding the BMR calculator is critical.  My BMR has dropped almost 200 calories associated with my weight loss since I began my quest to get in shape for a lung transplant.  The weight started coming off slower and the change in my BMR is most likely the cause.  When I started I targeted 1400 calories and am still trying to stay with in a 100 calories of 1400.  My weight loss has slowed to 1-2 lbs per week.  VERY sorry for my mis-type … your recommendations seem on target … I wish I have your’s and Russell’s input when I started my journey in August.  Dicky Griffin Lincoln, NE.

[Christie Patient]

Glad to hear we’re on the same page. I thought that was the case 🙂 Yes those numbers will change when you lose weight and/or increase your exercise. And to make it easier, if you like tech and data, some smart watches can track it all for you. My Garmin watch has my BMR data plugged in and it does a really good job of calculating active calories and passive calories burned. It’s really interesting!

[Dicky Griffin]

To combine with the BMR site Christie share (a tremendously useful site), consider a site from NIH (https://www.niddk.nih.gov/bwp) which allows you to analyze your own food intake needs relative to body weight goals you set.  The parent site addresses the “3,500” calorie target for a pound loss (https://www.niddk.nih.gov/research-funding/at-niddk/labs-branches/laboratory-biological-modeling/integrative-physiology-section/research/body-weight-planner?dkrd=prspt3145) … changes in weight during while dieting in not all associated with the 9 grams / calorie in fat which was the foundation for the 500 calories per day below BMR to lose a pound a week (3,500 calories).