This nutritionist, from what I gather, doesn’t know shit about biology or fat accumulation.
As far as exercise goes, the latest meta-analysis shows how grossly ineffective exercise is for fat loss.
It sounds like your sister has a torrid love affair with carbohydrates, that is surely the root of her problem, and it will be very difficult to overcome.
Thanks for the helpful responses guys. She has a doctor appointment about once a month, so I’ll post an update then.
She definately has a carb love affair but I am getting her to try more foods, most recently chicken, which she actually ate. She has been slowly losing some weight which is good and hopefully it continues, but it seems like when you are that heavy the weight should be coming off faster than 1-2 lbs a week.
I really appreciate the help and hopefully will have good news to report in a few more weeks!
Mr Chris Colucci- I am a health professional, and I do not deal with extreme obese people much at all. Although I do deal with diabetic complications almost daily, and often discuss diet and exercise for those with diabetes. Where do I apply for my licence to give advice to obese people from?
I dont think my advice was that bad. Like I previously said you need to take my advice with a grain of salt. For example I suggested increasing activity, ie; shooting some hoops with her brother for 15 minutes after work. I did not intend for her to go train with the Chicage Bulls.
As for my bird persona? Well all I can say is, I was born this way baby!!
OP- Im glad that things have started to improve for your sister. Feel free to contact me at any time for more advice.
Yours truly.
The one and only.
theBird.
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Well here is an update everyone. Unfortunately my sister hasn’t listened and gained 3 lbs since her last doctor appointment. I appreciate the help, but I guess she still doesn’t want to lose the weight bad enough.
That’s how it sounds OP. I am sorry for her and for yourself.
OP, I have been where your are. My sister had reached 300 pounds and at 5’9’'. She has been fat the most part of her life, except about 2 years when she tae kwon do, where she was in pretty decent shape, at about 165 pounds. Then, she stopped tae kwon do and became fat. 80 pounds in a single year. With ups and downs, she reached 300.
She already had DVT because of her fat levels, which almost killed her, then she gets an asthma attack which was so severe, that her O2 levels when she got to the hospital were at 30. Now, ince I am worst asthma than her but I exercise 8 times a week, I didn’t feel sorry for her. I told her straight out. I am here. You want my help to lose your pounds and become a figure model? Good. You don’t? Good again.
But don’t wait by me to help do this to yourself. Don’t expect help for your half assed efforts to lose pounds. Once you decide you are with me, there is no way back. I am going to drag you to the gym, even if you are trying. IAt worked. She first started some diet by herself, lost 30 pounds, but then she stopped. That diet had her on 600 calories a day for 3 weeks, then at 1200 for a week, then at 1800 for another week, then back from the start.(90% of calories we carbs, oh well.)
Now she is training with my for the last month. Not any crazy weight loss, 10 pounds only, but she has lost a fuckload of mass on herself. She looks thinner than when she was 220 pounds (she is 250). Now, she is dedicated to it. Really dedicated.
My point: Flat out tell your sister your thoughts about her and what she is doing. Be blunt. Hurt her feelings. That’s the only way to realise what she is doing. And DONT have that surgery, unless she has some king of hormonal issues which cant be solve, which I doubt. Hope I helped 
[quote]theBird wrote:
Where do I apply for my licence to give advice to obese people from?
[/quote]
[quote]TheFurryWall wrote:
Well here is an update everyone. Unfortunately my sister hasn’t listened and gained 3 lbs since her last doctor appointment. I appreciate the help, but I guess she still doesn’t want to lose the weight bad enough.[/quote]
Just leave her be, you gave it your best. At 25 she is a grown woman, can’t really force her to do something she doesn’t want to.
[quote]MODOK wrote:
Doesn’t sound like she’s bought in to losing weight at all. I’d eat pickled bat shit three times a day to lose weight if I was 400 lbs. She is only doing it for other people at this point, not herself. That will never be successful. In order for her to succeed, she must buy in 100%. There are various ways to support her in doing that, but it is ultimately up to her.[/quote]
Reposted for emphasis
I feel bad for you OP, just keep trying to encourage her.
Sorry OP that my plan did not work. We tried.
There maye be some underlying issues such as depression, low self esteem etc. I suppose that all may be related to her weight issues. Just let her know that your willing to help if she ever decides to try again.
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[quote]TheFurryWall wrote:
Well here is an update everyone. Unfortunately my sister hasn’t listened and gained 3 lbs since her last doctor appointment. I appreciate the help, but I guess she still doesn’t want to lose the weight bad enough.[/quote]
Really sorry to hear that, man.
As some of us have said from the beginning, the behavior is psychological-based not an issue of “just eating too much and moving too little.” Until that’s addressed, there’s only so much you can do. Best of luck.
[quote]niksamaras wrote:
My point: Flat out tell your sister your thoughts about her and what she is doing. Be blunt. Hurt her feelings. That’s the only way to realise what she is doing. And DONT have that surgery, unless she has some king of hormonal issues which cant be solve, which I doubt. Hope I helped :)[/quote]
typically people with serious eating disorders, have serious psychological disorders; which has been pointed out already. The drill sergeant approach typically compounds the problem, sending the one you’re trying to reach further into their “turtle shell” comfort zone. Mental disorders are rarely “broken” by commands, and hurt feelings. those are often the cause of the problem in the first place. I know first hand, having an overweight sister, not near as heavy as OP’s, but overweight all the same. It’s a struggle for me to watch her do that to herself. I’ve tried everything, the soft approach, the yelling, the bribing, the begging. Just doesnt work.
Like MODOK said, SHE needs to be the one to decide that she needs to lose weight, otherwise the motivation is just not there. i STRONGLY suggest she see a behavioral therapist, someone who is an expert on dealing with psychological disorders. Not cuz she’s crazy, cuz we’ve all got problems, but some problems, like obesiy, are life threatening and need to be addressed. I’ll send out a prayer for you OP, good luck
Thanks everyone, I love the community here you guys are great. I am going to let her know I will help whenever she wants. She is still “trying” because she has to lose a certain amount to have the surgery she wants.
On of my biggest problems is the doctor’s and nutrionist she is working with. I was looking at some of the paperwork they gave her, telling what type of protien shake to buy. It said isolates or concentrates. It said be careful not to buy whey hydrolosates because it is low qualitiy. This is the type of information they give her and my mom and her take it as gospel. I mean nothing wrong with isolates but come on.
They have her thinking all her carbs are perfectly fine and that 60g of protien is her max. Her max?!? It’s ridiculous and since I’m not a doctor I must be wrong when I try to offer help. They just tell me “Oh its different for people who work out. The doctors know what kind of diet to follow”
The whole situation is tough for me. I have seen her slowly gaining weight for years now. I have seen how unhappy she is. I want her to be happy and healthy and I want to help her get there. I haven’t tried the being mean approach but no matter what help I try to offer she takes it as me critisizing. I wrote up an exercise program consisting of walking and some dumbbell exercises along with a meal plan. Even offered to cook every meal for her if she would give my plan a shot for a few weeks.
I guess I am just venting a little. It’s frustrating that she won’t accept my help when I know it would be much more beneficial than what she is doing now. I’ll just let her struggle with what she is doing and maybe when she continues not to see results she will give my/your guys plan a shot. Until then I guess I won’t worry about it, as hard as it is to watch her struggle and suffer with her weight problem.
i understand dude. I’ve struggled with my sister as well like i’ve said, and done just about everything you’ve done, only to have my efforts taken as criticizing and belitting her. If only “they” understood what we are trying to do. Nutritionist tend to stick to the “food pyramid” the the government issues… I just finished a Nutrition class where my professor was claiming .5-.8g protein is enough for your average individual, and i’d agree.
Bodybuilding/weightlifting requires FAR more protein to help muscle growth/prevent degradation. 60g seems extremely low for someone that heavy, especially for someone trying to lose weight. Protein is satiating and is metabolically “efficient” because it takes more energy to burn than do carbs. Unfortunately for you, she’ll probably take the doctors word over yours (ours), so you are stuck. Keep your head up, offer your help and encourage her, and know that’s all you can do.
Borrow six 45 pound plates from the gym, put them in a strong backpack and give them to her nutritionist . Tell the nutritionist to strap on that backpack and carry it around 24 hours per day, every day, everywhere. Now see if the nutritionist changes his/her mind about protein requirements.
In my experience, albeit limited, failure to get adequate protein is the main factor in diets failing for the obese.
Your sister might also consider a lap band rather than a gastric bypass. There is no major surgery, which itself is dangerous for the obese. It’s installed laproscopically. Plus, with the stomach intact, all the hormonal digestive signals remain. If necessary, the procedure is 100% reversable. Finally, people with the lap band retain more lean mass than other procedures, probably because their food digests better.
The funny thing is this: the first two weeks with a lap band you’re put on a diet that is almost identical to the V-Diet, but without the supplements. Why not just do the V-Diet?
After my last post I started in on my latest book, “Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard” by Chip and Dan Heath. This was a recommendation from a reading list over at Berardi’s Precision Nutrition. I think Chris Shugart has referenced it too. Just the first chapter is very revealing. If you want to help your sister, I highly recommend reading this book.
pics or it didnt happen
OP, there is little you can do. My whole family (all the males) develop diabetes, so far my father and brother have both died from the disease. I was diagnosed with it a little over three months ago. I immediately went on on a diet of 100 carbs per day, making sure I spread the carbs over the whole day 33 for breakfast 33 for lunch, 33 for dinner. I didn’t pay any attention to the other crap the doctor/nutritionist told me. 3 months after I started this diet I lost 32 pounds. I also started walking on a treadmill 30 minutes per day right away. A month later I joined a gym and started working out. After my 3 month checkup my doctor told me not to worry about the diabetes any more as long as I kept doing what I was doing, no meds at all for me.
My son of 36 has been diagnosed with diabetes now and is already on insulin. I told him about the results I got from exercise along with diet and to please come with me to the gym and start working out. I told him of the medical reports that say resistance training worked even better than insulin for type 2 diabetics. Think the little turd listened to me? Hell no! He’s even stopped communicating with me as much as he used to and I didn’t preach, I just tried to be an example. Makes me want to go over to his house and knock his ass out and drag him to the gym. But I know that won’t work and I know that if he doesn’t do something besides live off the insulin, he’s going to die from the disease.
You can talk till you’re blue in the face and they won’t listen, they have to want it. I have things in life I look forward to doing and I only have a few years to retirement and then the fun begins. I intend to be around a long time. I wish my son would listen but such is life, people won’t always do what’s best for themselves. I hope your sister comes around but don’t beat yourself up if she doesn’t. You tried and it’s not up to you. Good luck.
here is what you need to tell her:
Listen, if you don’t change now you are going to DIE. Do you understand? This is not a joke. You will DIE.
Also stop buying crappy food.