Any tips for those last 20 lbs?

In the beginning of the year I did really well on my diet and exercise and dropped around 30lbs (I'm 5'9 and weigh about 165). I feel like I was doing and feeling great - my cholesterol had even dropped 100 pts! Yay! Then I got derailed - my hair started falling out in handfuls. I thought I was going to go bald before I even turned 30! I had hair all the way down to my waist and my hair had always been very important to me so it was very traumatic. My dermatologist told me to take it easy and I did - I stopped going to the gym and stopped tracking my calories. Eventually my hair started growing back and I got my hair cut to just above my shoulders - the first time in 19 years I've had short hair. It's been 2-3 months and the doctors were never able to pinpoint why my hair started to fall out (maybe due to a high fever or stress) but I'm ready to get back to it and lose the last 20 lbs. I feel like its going to be a tough road as I'm already a healthy BMI, and have some major stressors coming up in the next few months. I'd appreciate any advice from those that have managed to stick with it and drop those final 20!

Replies

  • The hair loss could have been genetics or many other things but I think I have heard of people losing hair when losing weight (most likely because of malnutrition). My best advice for you is to keep going at a moderate steady pace in a healthy way. Also make sure that you are not just intaking calorie numbers and are actually counting your daily vitamin intake! :)
  • FatOldBat
    FatOldBat Posts: 3,307 Member
    In the beginning of the year I did really well on my diet and exercise and dropped around 30lbs (I'm 5'9 and weigh about 165). I feel like I was doing and feeling great - my cholesterol had even dropped 100 pts! Yay! Then I got derailed - my hair started falling out in handfuls. I thought I was going to go bald before I even turned 30! I had hair all the way down to my waist and my hair had always been very important to me so it was very traumatic. My dermatologist told me to take it easy and I did - I stopped going to the gym and stopped tracking my calories. Eventually my hair started growing back and I got my hair cut to just above my shoulders - the first time in 19 years I've had short hair. It's been 2-3 months and the doctors were never able to pinpoint why my hair started to fall out (maybe due to a high fever or stress) but I'm ready to get back to it and lose the last 20 lbs. I feel like its going to be a tough road as I'm already a healthy BMI, and have some major stressors coming up in the next few months. I'd appreciate any advice from those that have managed to stick with it and drop those final 20!
    You could have had Alopecia Areata which some doctors say is a stress-related immune disease. The stress may have been from your diet or something else altogether. I'd advise taking the diet slow and steady and finding an exercise regimen that relieves stress rather than exacerbates it.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    In the beginning of the year I did really well on my diet and exercise and dropped around 30lbs (I'm 5'9 and weigh about 165). I feel like I was doing and feeling great - my cholesterol had even dropped 100 pts! Yay! Then I got derailed - my hair started falling out in handfuls. I thought I was going to go bald before I even turned 30! I had hair all the way down to my waist and my hair had always been very important to me so it was very traumatic. My dermatologist told me to take it easy and I did - I stopped going to the gym and stopped tracking my calories. Eventually my hair started growing back and I got my hair cut to just above my shoulders - the first time in 19 years I've had short hair. It's been 2-3 months and the doctors were never able to pinpoint why my hair started to fall out (maybe due to a high fever or stress) but I'm ready to get back to it and lose the last 20 lbs. I feel like its going to be a tough road as I'm already a healthy BMI, and have some major stressors coming up in the next few months. I'd appreciate any advice from those that have managed to stick with it and drop those final 20!

    Your diary is open, but I don't see any food logged at all this year. Were you logging on a different site? How much were you eating when you lost 30 lbs? Over how long a period did you lose 30 lbs?
  • Thanks for the advice. Alopecia, and any other medical problems were ruled out. I was eating at 1800 cals/day. I was actually logging under a different screen name. I accidentally logged into this account before I posted this topic and didnt realize that until now.
  • nucgirl13
    nucgirl13 Posts: 56 Member
    This is my profile with my diet on it.