Meds and weight losss

I regularly take an anti-psychotic and have been doing so for 10+ years. (Risperidone being one of the usual suspects) It is harder to lose weight on them, but not impossible. I'm on three drugs right now and all of them have moderate weight gain as a side-affect. I've lost three stone (42lbs) while taking them.

For me the sanity that the medication brings helps me to often be in a place where I can do things like count calories and exercise regularly, so that mitigates the pervasive hunger, metabolic slowing and other side effects from the medication.

If your friend is worried, tell her to speak to her prescribing doctor about it.

Is she gaining? Has she followed the 1500 calories her doctor recommended? Has she tried maintaining for a while to give herself a break? Or is she at a point where her mental health is sound and she's ready to progress? I'm sorry for asking these questions, but I wish to know your friend is in a safe place for the answers. Does that make sense?

If you're looking for calorie answers, then yes, I have to eat fewer calories than MFP offers me to lose weight consistently. Around 200ish calories. I got to this point slowly. I can maintain at around 2600 calories, but to actually lose weight, I need to eat around 1600 calories. I can lose very slowly between 2200 and 1800, but only around half a pound a week.

I don't know that this will work for your friend, but it's what I've found for me. I really recommend that she track her weight and log her calories for a couple of months to see any patterns.

I have friends who are on similar (and more) medication than I am, they have found success with the 5:2 diet. I haven't tried it, nor am I personally recommending it. It might be worth having a look if your friend is struggling with her weight from the medications.

Normally when something is wrong with the body and someone is steadily gaining weight or unable to lose weight, there is a relationship to being insulin resistant. In other words, eating carbs will hamper your weight loss goals. We know this from women who have PCOS or people that are diabetic. I made a wild guess and assumed that the drug is somehow related to insulin resistance and did a brief google search. Behold!!! The medication your friend is on can cause diabetes. So, she should be on a low carb diet. People these days refer to them as ketogenic diets. Low carb, high protein, high fat. Stick with good fats like Olive Oil.

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