Newbie in the house!

I am teetering on the verge of needing surgery and wish to avoid it (5ft1 and 225lbs)......hoping to do it with a little help from my Doctor and with my own brand of stubborness to get control of my weight.  Always been a little chunky (150-170) but AFTER baby weight gain gone crazy (was down to pre-pregnancy weight). Has anyone ever done a Protein Sparing Modified Fast?  Any success or failures?  I am on day five, although I am not "hungry" I don't feel anything different......I've heard about ketosis and bad breath, euphoria, extra energy, etc......should I worry?

Heya,      Fortunately, our bodies are pretty resilient with all the things we do to them in our attempts to lose weight quickly.  Unfortunately, longterm weight loss pretty much just means massive behavior changes...changes in quantities of food...timing of food...quality of food...changes in exercise...changes in water consumption and so on.      But as for what you asked, if this was a diet recommended by your doctor (as in you don't have pre-existing kidney problems, etc...), there shouldn't be any longterm side effects (there are definitely short term side effects of a no carb diet) if this is something you'll be doing for a reasonable amount of time.  How long are you planning to fast from all carbs?

Thanks for responding...... I'm doing it through a marvelous Doctor in the Kansas City area that has battled the weight problem himself (he had a VNR)....he put me through an onslaught of tests (liver panel, kidney, thyroid, EKG, you name it) before he would even put me on the diet...... It is a semi-liquid (I do get some carbs and solids) diet for 8-10 weeks with behavior modification (I had to sign away my first born guaranteeing that I would exercise for 30 minutes each day--she's in the terrible two's I just may let him have her...lol!!!).  Also he & his wife (also his nurse) each time give suggestions on how to eat when I get to the refeeding stage......I guess more to come when I get to that point.  I'll be under his watchful eye for atleast the next 6 months. He says I should lose at least 30-35lbs during this phase.  And then with maintenance & continuous behavior changes, some medications, I should get to my goal of 150 by the end of the year......BUT it all depends on me and how much I want to work for it!!!!! Unfortunately I think carbs were my downfall, I was gluten free for years (intolerance not allergic) and decided to give it a try (after I talked with my other Doctor) to see if I would become sick again.....now I know I am going to slowly kill myself one plate of spagetti at a time so I can't go back to the stuff if I want to maintain my health and my sanity!

The title of the plan includes the word "Sparing", which point to the reduction of protein to me??? But later in your post you mention ketosis, which is bascially related to protein rich diets. I'm 3 inches taller than you and started out at 220 this most recent gain time.  I did Atkins once for 30 days, and lost 4 pounds.  Like you, I didn't feel hungry, which was amazing.  I tracked my food on fitday.com during that time and was only eating about 1200-1400 caloires every day, but as much as 50-60% fat daily.  That worried me cuz the saturated fat could get up to 20% easily many days.  The RDI is under 10% for saturated fat, and with heart/stroke risk in my family, it took me aback. I know that was the "induction" phase, not meant to last much longer than 4 weeks, then you work in good quality carbs. Still, I had the sense that i would "snap" if left alone with a bag of tortilla chips or pasta after that first month.

For me, I knew that way of eating would not have lasting power - I knew there was no way I would rarely eat pasta, bread, etc. These days, i do somewhere in between - I eat very little carbs most days - I mean grain carbs when i say that - i eat about 2 servings most days. The right portions:  pasta is no larger than my fist, one piece of bread, and usually sprouted bread at that. or rye bread.  I eat an okay amount of veggies (I need to better here), some fruit.  50% of my diet is lean protein. I'm keeping total fat ~30-35%, and shoot for sat fat to stay around 10%. I know this becuase of fitday.com. I think what you're doing may help you redesign your diet - maybe work in grains to a healthier level. What types of foods are your trigger foods? If it was sweets, perhaps you will learn to get that group into perspective. That's what is good about really shaking up your usual way of eating! Good luck and hope to see you around!

Seems like this is an awesome place for help and assurance......thanks for replying I'm not really a foodie, but pasta is the one thing that will do me in.......I don't eat bread, sweets, chips, junk food in general.......I could eat spagetti 3 meals a day 365 days a year and not be tired of it (I don't though, my husband would kill me if he had to eat it too)......... I know alot of my problems are that (pasta) and the fact that I am seriously out of shape due to multiple surgeries and a sedentary life style (how could I be with a energetic toddler?).....I need a swift kick in the you know what to get me going and a lot of envcouragement......being a new mom I know I kind of took a back seat in everything that I why I am doing this now....it is ME time! I need all the help I can get right now from those who are and have been there.....my husband tries but he has never had weight issues (6ft1 and 170) and doesn't understand fully what being heavy is like day in and day out.  He could eat a horse 3 meals a day and not gain an ounce!

Welcome aboard and best of luck on your diet.  If you need a helping hand, we're here for ya!