Question: I have been on five diets and always gained back twice what I lost. Where can I go to get help? Some doctors don't understand how ravenous I get after losing weight.
Dr. Hibberd's Answer:
Starvation diets usually set us up to deposit fat tissue and deplete muscle. Avoid them and pick a sensible diet with a reasonable calorie reduction, about 30 percent, and monitor your progress with the addition of fiber where possible. Exercise is necessary when dieting to avoid loss of muscle and to optimize weight loss from fat. The results should be gradual. Aim for a 1- to 2-pound loss a week.
If you have any medical issues, or are significantly out of condition, see your doctor for exercise clearance and testing if necessary.
Some of us benefit from a regimented weight loss program, such as Weight Watchers. Physician-supervised programs are often available through your local hospital, but they may come with a healthy premium attached, as do the weight loss spas frequently mentioned in the media. Although FDA-approved appetite suppressant medications are available, most have very limited effectiveness (a 10- to15-pound loss vs. placebo). Many are amphetamine related and may be unsafe in some people — and all are definitely intended for short-term use in selected patients only. Some patients who need medications for other conditions, such as depression, are pleasantly surprised to find appetite suppression as a welcome side effect. Some of the medications permitted for appetite suppression in the United States actually are banned in other countries! Be sure to discuss side effects with your doctor if you intend to use any appetite-suppression medications.
There is no real secret to weight management; simply burn more calories than you take in. Be sure you work off more calories than you consume and you WILL lose weight.
© 2009 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
