DESPERATELY needing an answer! RANT RANT

Amen baby!

I'll say it again, it may have worked for some, it did not for me.  I have always been very active and ate healthy and controlled my intake and I was unable to keep it off for good regardless of my efforts.  Some attempts, despite the numbers, didn't work at all.... While I applaud everyone's efforts and am not here to discourage anyone (rather, just share what I'm learning), statistics do show that very few people keep weight off long term.  I don't say that to offend anyone but explain why I wrote what I did.  What my trainers were getting at seems amazing simple and explains why the majority regain.  If you restrict calories severely for weight loss, you train your body to have to stay there for good, that's why it often fails because few can live forever on a diet. The belief for me is that when Iose weight, and adjust intake downward, I'll be better able to stay at a normal intake of 1800-2000 calories and maintain my weight loss without staying on a diet. Not trying to create a rumble here.....

People usually gain back the weight b/c they go back to old habits.  I know several folks who have gained back some weight even though they are restricting their calorie intake, but they did go back to old habits.  The quality of the food we consume does have an impact.  A lot of my friends liked to go out to dinner.  They stopped getting grilled chicken without sauce and fries, etc. I have one hundred pennies to give out today.  Here's two of 'em.

I should have clarified, I was referencing burning 5,000-6,000 calories per week from exercising alone.  My BMR is 2300.  To lose weight effectively, as I understand it, you should restrict NO MORE than 300-500 calories.  So, if I'm burning 1000c/day on top of my BMR, then I was burning 3300 calories a day, but eating 1000-1400 calories meant that after the food was burned off, so was my muscle.  So I couldn't lose weight easily.  It certainly explains slow losers like myself, whether they've had WLS or like me haven't. This is the biggest reason, as I understand it, that folks regain after weight loss.  They've reduced their metabilism and muscle. The thing that aggravates me the most is all the trainers seem to know this, but the media and diet and WLS industry and some docs don't.  Yet who is winning the battle? Hopefully I will.

just a warning, very few trainers are qualified to give professional nutritional advice. and ethically, they are not supposed to unless they have an RD or a specific degree in nutrition. or a degree is exercise science can advise you on RMR etc. otherwise, its just like taking info from any one of us. i'm glad you have total faith in him, but i would encourage you to perhaps meet with a nutritionist or licensed professional to get a second opinion. more than 2500 cals seems a little crazy if you want to be losing weight. JMHO.

Very good point Andy. Also, the only time in my life I've lost a decent amount of weight (40-50, if I recall correctly)...I didn't gain back because I 'messed up my metabolism,' though a bunch of studies could have convinced me of that probably (there is a study to prove or disprove just about anything). I regained because I became frustrated, depressed, and binged

I respect that this is startling to some, but all the trainers are in agreement and have done so with clients before, and yes have the appropriate background.  And by this morning's scale, I'm confident it's working, though I have yet to stomach the full amount of calories. I'll say it again, eating restricted calories rarely worked for me.  While many can say it is for them, I have a history of dieting, sticking to it, and the scale barely budging.  But the scale is now moving, I'm looking great, and happy to follow the plan.

hey, i too am waiting to see how the 2900 cals a day works..but as you say, so, you'll dial it back if it does not work any longer.  Yup, the math did not work for you when you ate 1500 calories a day either, and by all the calculators in the universe, it should have.  My body is the same way...i am convinced that we need to eat more for a short time, then dial it back...up, then back.  Our bodies are homeostasis-oriented and all that we do it takes into account.  Physicians usually have very little nutrition training also...it's hard to know where to turn.  i say keep it up, you will not go wrong. Changing it up and being active is never a bad idea!

When I got stuck on WW someone told me about a system a member had developed.  It was a pyramid and each day you were supposed to eat a different number of points.  They took the points allotted in a week and distributed them unevenly throughout the week so that metabolism never adapted.  I've also found that when I've eaten a varied menu, which is difficult for me b/c I'm a creature of habit, that I am able to lose weight better than on a set number of calories per day.  In the end though, I really believe it is the quality of the food also.  Processed food is killing this country.

I know I shouldn't be weighing myself frequently, but did so after my workout and last week on the scale in th egym I was 314, today 308.