I saw the nutritionist today...

28lbs is alot to lose in one month. but that also depends on what your starting point was and what type of food you eat. i have noticed that veggies and fruit have almost no cals so if you eat a lot of them they don't really hurt anything especially if your exercising. the measuring thing some do some don't. cheat day again some do some don't. ice cream: not bad for you if you limit how much you have. i'm no expert but i've done a lot of research on this. a lot of people forget that your body needs fat, dairy, and sugar or we go overboard on the amount of those things. i personally don't think measuring is a bad idea though. Measuring allows me room to have some of the good stuff as far as food goes. good luck on your journey.

I don't think it's bad. Generally there are 30 days in the month and you should lose a pound a day.

who loses one lb a day??

I think everyone is obsessive at first. I tracked everything, scared I was going to measure wrong and pouf the next morning you gained 10 pounds. We all lose a lot in the first month and we really like what we see so we become obsessive. Then when we start learning about healthy eating and how much we can eat each day and we ease up on being obsessive. It is not to say that we don't have to watch what we eat and how much, but rather making better choices. For instance the ketchup, whether you use low sugar, low sodium or low carb ketchup, If you measure 1 tablespoon or just guess at 1 tablespoon, it isn't going to make that much of a difference if you go over. Same as vegetables, what difference is there in a cup of broccoli or a guess-a-ment cup, 5, 10, 15 calories?? All is not bad in being obsessive, just breath and enjoy your new body and know you are doing the best for you!!! The one thing you don't want to do is starve yourself.

I think I can sympathize with your sentiment - my first week I lost 5 pounds and when you are bigger, seeing results is amazing and you don't want to jeopardize that in anyway - so I can totally understand the guilt! Your nutritionist sounds like she wants you to make long-term changes instead of simply dropping lots of weight and really, that is the better way to go.

As for the people mentioning Biggest Loser.... less than half of the contestants go on to maintain their weight loss... even WITH medical supervision, losing that much weight that quickly does NOT promote healthy living. They are in a controlled environment and MADE to eat a certain way and MADE to work out a certain amount.... take away the sterile environment and most of them don't know how to function and gain their weight back... don't look to them as something to compare your own weight loss to. It's not realistic, it's sensationalist television and has no basis in reality. It is a shame that THAT is supposed to be our beacon of weight loss, if you compare yourself to them, you set yourself up for failure.

Take your time, don't be in a hurry. You'll be more likely to stick to it for the long run.

Well you went to her for a reason, (to get her help). I think that what she said is very helpful. I think that 28 pounds in one month is to much to fast, I would be afraid that it would come back. Take it slow. Remember the Turtle won the race.

Her advice was spot on. Sometimes we go from one addiction to another. So if you had an addiction to food or sugar or fat or whatever, translating it to calorie counting and compulsive weighing is very easy to do. Everything in moderation......understanding your portions is important, measuring everything to the nth degree is not so much (we're talking about average calories anyways, an extra 5-10 here or there from a squirt of this or a dash of that is not going to make you gain weight)

I think the weight loss you've sustained has been discussed enough - too much too quickly. The 60+ I've lost have been over the course of a year. If you're eating less than 1200 calories net, you probably aren't getting the nutrients you need and have a higher potential of developing conditions, like the gall stones.

First priority is for a healthy you! Fast weight loss doesn't achieve that goal!

As a side note on the logging veggies debate, I do but not so much because of the calories. I use the reports feature on here every Sunday to see where my nutrients are lacking (am I getting enough fibre, enough Vitamin A...etc) so that I can make better choices the following week. Veggies are a key portion of my nutrients being consumed and if I didn't log them, I wouldn't know where I stood on that front alone......And also, I'm IR (insulin resistant) so knowing about my sugars - and veggies have them - is important for my own personal health.

Sounds to me like she's also concerned about your behavior relative to your weight loss...I'm not a psychologist, so my observation is only from my own experience...but from your story it sounds like she's as concerned about what could be an obsession with food as she is about your rapid loss. I do know that eating disorders encompass more than anorexia or bulimia...obsessive exercise and, possibly, food weighing might qualify.

If she says not to worry about the sodium, take her as the expert. A healthy body will slough off extra sodium...concern about sodium focuses on hypertensives and people at risk for heart disease. Again, not a doctor, but this is what my doctor has told me and I believe her.

Bottom line: Follow her guidance and you will be way ahead of the game!!!

I don't think it's bad. Generally there are 30 days in the month and you should lose a pound a day.

I think it's a pound or 2 a week, and there are only 4 weeks in a month..so average would be 4 - 8 pounds in a month.

absolutely! No matter your weight, it is my opinion that you should be eating your daily calories PLUS at least half of your exercise calories. You're losing 28 lb per month, so you're on an extreme weight loss, which means you've really really really adjusted your eating habits. So you're practically eating nothing now. You can't just stop what you're doing abruptly and make a sudden change, you need to ease into things so you learn how to do it properly, as a life change, not just a quick fix. You CAN have a treat a couple times a week, you CAN induldge once in a while, you don't have to cut out everything bad, but you have to control it. You know the facts, people who lose weight incredibly fast are more likely to gain it back, because they didn't adjust their lifestyle slowly, or properly. You adjust your lifestyle by eating right, and eating proper calories, and indulging once in a while. I promise, if you don't indulge once in a while, it will come back to bite you, and backfire on you. The day you get too stressed out at work, so stressed out that you've lost your self control and next thing you know you've eaten an entire pizza.

Everything that the nutritionist said is logical and accurate. She knows what she's talking about and you should listen, you went there for a reason right? 1-2lb per week is the proper amount, 7lb a week is really extreme and will probably backfire on you in some ways that you may not be able to see right away.

Someone else mentioned doing more harm than good if you don't get the proper calories. This is true. Your base calorie intake for the day is listed as what will sustain you through normal activity, then they take off a few to allow for weight loss. If you are not eating enough, ie starving yourself, your body will go into starvation mode, and instead of eating the excess fat stores, it will begin degenerating muscle mass, because it is protein. You don't want to lose muscle in all this, you want to gain muscle and lose fat.

SO much of this is psychological. If you find yourself constantly online, on your diary, on the forums, constantly thinking about what's for lunch, or dinner, then you are obsessing, and it is not healthy. You need to find a few distractions. Get out for a walk and listen to music while you walk. Walk with another person and talk to them, read a book. Do something to distract from obsessing about calories, and what to eat next. (speaking from experience)

Remember, this is a lifestyle change, for the long term, both in body AND mind, take it that way, take it slow and learn the right healthy habits, and how to sustain them for the long run.

I'm not going to go through and read everyone's posts but I'm willing to bet they all same pretty much the same thing. LISTEN =0) I thought from the beginning it was too much but I also don't know "how much" you are supposed to loose per week or whatever when wanting to loose the amount you are. I know that the "usual" is 1-2 lbs per week. One saying I remember ALLLLL the time is it took time to put it on so it will take time to take it off. Do it slow and steady....take care of yourself. Eat right, exercise, treat your body as your temple. Because it is! = ) If you take care of it, it will take care of you. As you eat healthy and exercise like you have been (but maybe allowing the right amount of calories) ;-) you will become healthier and healthier with your "pant size" coming down as well. =0) Take care of yourself, okay......nothing but best wishes to and your continued success to a healthier you!
be well,
Heidi