I have been on the low carb diet for 2 months I follow it to the T!!!!!!! I have only lost 5 pounds but i am on anti depressants, which I can not quit taking and I know this is probably stopping me from losing weight!! anyone with the same obstacles? what would you recommend?

Hi Trish

Simply a suggestion - all I know about anti-depressants is that I never wanted to take any but I accept sometimes they are necessary.

Now that you have been on the diet for two months perhaps you could check with your doctor if you could reduce your anti-deps gradually and see how you feel? My mood swings stabilised on this diet.

Congratulations on the loss. 5 lbs is good in such circumstances. Some people gain on anti-deps.

Take care

Trish, don't give up! Even if you continued to lose only 5 lbs. every two months, you'd still have lost 30 lbs. by the time a year rolls around. I know that doesn't seem like much, but the health benefits from that could be amazing! Slow loss is so much better than no loss at all! Think about this also: your blood pressure is probably improving, and your cholesterol levels, etc. I agree that maybe you can lower your dosages of antidepressants. Check with your doctor! I've always been prone to depression, but never took antidepressants. Since being LC, I've had NO incidences of depression, or anxiety for that matter, which I have also struggled with my whole life. I feel much more emotionally stable eating this way.

Hang in there, okay? It could be that your body just needs time to adjust to this WOE. You're doing good! Don't think of this as a "diet", think of it as a way of life. That way the weight becomes a smaller issue compared to your overall health.

Wendy

I was suffering at a lengthy plateau a while back, and my doctor said the only cure she knew for it was to double my exercise. Painful as it was, I tried it, and it worked - it was the necessary kickstart. After my weight started going down again, I began to let up on the exercise, getting back to my normal routine, but the weight loss continued at the rate of about five pounds a month. You might try that, and see if it can speed up your weight loss, despite the effects of the medication. And like others said, 5 pounds in two months is still 5 pounds, and if you keep going at that rate, you're still going to lose the weight! So congratulations on the success so far, and don't give up!

You don't mention what med you are on. That can make a BIG difference. Some of them are notorious for packing on the pounds (and the cravings). Check with your doc about possibly switching to one that could be easier on your waistline. Good Luck!

Trish, I notice we're the same height and have the same goal weight. Two months ago, I weighed about what you do now. Believe it or not, we don't have much to lose! Most low-carbers who lose 10 or more pounds a month can do so simply because they have more to lose to start with. As one approaches goal, weight loss slows down.

I lose at about the same rate you do: 2-3 pounds a month, and have done so ever since I started low-carbing, about a year ago. Stick with it, it WILL work! I'm now down 25 pounds, and figure it might take another year to get to goal. Patience is the key.

Oh, and I second Maestra, exercise helps too! (It also helps combat depression.)

Rachel

From the looks of your profile, you dont have all that much weight to lose. The last few pounds are harder, but if you persevere they will fall! I agree, exercise should help. So might switching meds. There could also be something in your daily diet that is causing a stall. Why not post some sample menus under "journal/bootcamp" to give us some idea of what you're eating every day?

Hang in there!
Nat

Nat's suggestion is excellent. Post your menus and we may be able to help you out with some ideas and suggestions. You could be eating too few calories, carb bars or artificially sweetened stuff, nuts etc. There can be more reasons why your loss is slow besides your meds.

Rachel is right in saying that if you don't have a lot of weight to lose - although it may be immense by your perspective - percentage wise you are doing well. The webmaster has just installed a percentage to gol weight thingie. If you update your stats - don't have to change them, just retype what is already there - you will see that you are doing well.

Someone named DharmaDave just joined yesterday and he said he is on medication and just started low-carbing. He has dropped a few pounds and is in ketosis. You could get together with him and ask some questions.

Karen

hi Trish,

Indeed, some medications and health conditions definitely will interfere with fat-loss and weight loss. But it isn't impossible .. just more challenging. And possibly the need to be more "strict" in the food choices. For some of us, a carb is not a carb is not a carb. Meaning, the carbs in vegetables, salads, and lowcarb fruits will be processed a whole lot differently than the carbs in "sugar free" lowcarb treats, the maltodextrin filler in artificial sweeteners, the lactose in dairy products (cheese, cream etc). Posting your menus (and include every bite and every ingredient) will help us spot some potential stallers .... might even help you spot some yourself! Putting things in writing is a great eye-opener!

Medications sometimes have to be accepted as a necessary evil. I too have to take low-dose tricyclics for my fibromyalgia, I accept that I probably will for the rest of my life; without them, I don't sleep and I'm in agony. The trade-off is that they screw up carbohydrate metabolism and serotonin levels. Etc, etc... you know the score.

So your weight loss may be a bit slower. Mine is. But I feel so much better. Energy levels better, and I credit that to keeping my blood sugar and insulin levels stable. It's amazing the mood swings that happened from the sugar-blasts I used to indulge in, from something as "innocent" and "healthy" as a glass of fruit juice!

And definitely exercise ... not just for weight loss but for mood too ... I find exercise to be such a boost, especially in winter, to help the symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

You can do this, and keep reading and posting here. You've found lots of friends who care..

Doreen

Hi, I'm also on anti-depressants (effexor) and one of the reasons I'm low carbing is I put on so much weight on them. Other posters are abosolutely right - some of these drugs can effect your weight, others do not, although it seems to depend on your own personal metabolism. Have you noticed any mood improvement while low-carbing? As other have said this diet does seem to improve one's mood. If you're still experiencing cravings who might what to check that you're not over-medicated.

Hang in there

Jay

I have been reading a motivation book called, "Get anyone to do anything" or something like that. In it, the Doctor had a small paragraph on Stress disorders (i.e. Panic Attacks, Depression, etc.) can be leviated by being on a low carb diet.

I left the book at home, but I will repost it here tomorrow.

Anyway, my point is by stablizing your insulin, it helps to even out your mood.

The advice from the others are sound, you should contact your doctor and let him know that you are on this diet and he might need to adjust your medication.

hmm, you're not really "fat" by your stats. And I do think it would be a great idea for all us of to quit hating our bodies, to accept whatever Mother Nature gave us, as you say (but with cheerfulness and gratitude, which I don't think your post implied). For some rare women, that will be a size 5 body, but for the vast majority of us, it will not. I hate seeing women who have lost 80 pounds and are now a healthy size 16 "giving up" because they don't look like Gwenyth Paltrow.

Can you learn to love your body and self, no matter what the scale says? throw it out, if you must, and focus on what is wonderful, special, and valuable about you. Keep eating healthily and you will balance out to the size and shape you were meant to be. This is the maintenance mindset, the WOL mindset...you eat as an act of self-care, you get some healthy exercise (not go overboard!) as an act of self-care, and you also view yourself as wonderful also as an act of self-care.

For a lot of people it helps to quit watching TV, buying fashion magazines, etc...the models are far too thin, set an urealistic standard, and keep us unhappy, miserable, and buying products that will never make us look like them anyway. Take those same hours and spend time with kids, work in the garden, build something, learn something, accomplish something. What we can DO is much more important than how we look.

Amen to everything you said Razzle!

This is so true! I personally have a crush on Queen Latifa!

Doreen posted this 19th century poster for a product that will make thin women "plump", it's an eye opener on how the image of beauty changes through time:

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...?s=&threadid=58

LOL!! See that ladies, if this was the 1800's, we'd all be Goddesses!

Wa'il, it is so refreshing to hear from a man who admires curvy women. My hubby is the same way (lucky for me, right? LOL). He met me, fell in love with me and married me while I was very "curvy", and keeps telling me not to loose TOO much weight. I read a poll once that revealed most men prefer women who have some meat on their bones, rather than models who look like prepubescent boys!

With this WOE, I'm aiming to get healthy, not "skinny".

Wendy