Worried that my sister is losing weight in an unhealthy way

doireann08

Hi

Just want your advise as my sister has started the atkins diet about 2 weeks ago

She has cut out all carbs ( apart from carbs in veggies) She is 5ft 7 weighed about 12 stone when she started and after 2 weeks is down to 11 stone

Does this weight loss not seem extremely fast?? she wants to lose another stone and a half, does anyone have experience of doing the atkins diet and did the weight pile back on once you stopped?

Gummy Panda

doireann08 wrote: »

Hi

Just want your advise as my sister has started the atkins diet about 2 weeks ago

She has cut out all carbs ( apart from carbs in veggies) She is 5ft 7 weighed about 12 stone when she started and after 2 weeks is down to 11 stone

Does this weight loss not seem extremely fast?? she wants to lose another stone and a half, does anyone have experience of doing the atkins diet and did the weight pile back on once you stopped?

Cutting carbs makes you lose a lot of water which explains the sudden weight loss. It will bottom out to a normal 1-2 lb weight loss per week

Hanley

Gummy Panda wrote: »

Cutting carbs makes you lose a lot of water which explains the sudden weight loss. It will bottom out to a normal 1-2 lb weight loss per week

That.

...assuming she's not starving herself.

And there's nothing inherently wrong with wanting to lose weight. Maybe that's just YOUR issue?

Orla K

I want to add to that make sure she does(typed an i in stead of an o at first:eek: ) all the phases and doesn't just do phase one and back to her diet before. She'll gain all the weight back on. Also make sure she doesn't go back eating whatever whenever, all the weight will go back on.

doireann08

Hanley wrote: »

That.

...assuming she's not starving herself.

And there's nothing inherently wrong with wanting to lose weight. Maybe that's just YOUR issue?

How rude Hanley.... why would I have an issue with my sister wanting to lose weight??????

She has battled with her weight for a few years so I am delighted she is now being pro-active in doing something about it... I just hope she is doing it in a healthy way which is why I posted here. If you can't be helpful please don't bother posting on this thread

Hanley

doireann08 wrote: »

How rude Hanley.... why would I have an issue with my sister wanting to lose weight??????

She has battled with her weight for a few years so I am delighted she is now being pro-active in doing something about it... I just hope she is doing it in a healthy way which is why I posted here. If you can't be helpful please don't bother posting on this thread

There's a stigma that losing weight is always a negative thing, or is driven by negative emotions. I wasn't suggesting you have an issue with her wanting to lose weight, just that you may be questioning her motivation.

No need to jump down my throat.

Medicine333

Hanley wrote: »

There's a stigma that losing weight is always a negative thing, or is driven by negative emotions. I wasn't suggesting you have an issue with her wanting to lose weight, just that you may be questioning her motivation.

No need to jump down my throat.

It really isn't your position to say. There was no need to go all 'Dr.Phil' on the situation.

Doireann, you should be applauded for caring so much about your sister that you're looking for outside help!:)

Hanley

Medicine333 wrote: »

It really isn't your position to say. There was no need to go all 'Dr.Phil' on the situation.

Doireann, you should be applauded for caring so much about your sister that you're looking for outside help!:)

Public forum, discussion, differing opinions etc etc.

UL_heart_throb

Medicine333 wrote: »

It really isn't your position to say. There was no need to go all 'Dr.Phil' on the situation.

Doireann, you should be applauded for caring so much about your sister that you're looking for outside help!:)

I think a pattern has emerged where Hanley bullies and trolls newbies by mocking them and answering their queries with sarcastic replies and I bully and troll hanley to put manners on him. He will soon learn to be nice.

g'em

Hanley wrote: »

Public forum, discussion, differing opinions etc etc.

To put it into boards.ie terms you were being a dick.

14lb of weight-loss in two weeks when you're not aware of the impact of water loss does seem huge, it's understandable why she's questioning it.

UL_heart_throb wrote: »

I think a pattern has emerged where Hanley bullies and trolls newbies by mocking them and answering their queries with sarcastic replies and I bully and troll hanley to put manners on him. He will soon learn to be nice.

I'm the one with license to put manners on people here. Play nice please.

OP that kind of weightloss is not unheard of with a diet like Atkins, especially if she had a good bit to lose starting out. it's not true 'weight' loss as has been pointed out though, the hard bit starts in weeks 4 or so onwards, when the initial quick loss slows drastically and her motivation sways a bit. Keep supporting her, have a few searches for 'low-carb' and Atkins in the Nutrition and Diet forum, there's extensive discussions on it. If she find Atkins too restrictive she may carb-binge out of frustration, and you obviously care for her a lot so have a read around the diet itself and perhaps give her ideas for Atkins recipes that she could try out?

UL_heart_throb

g'em wrote: »

Tble why she's questioning it.

I'm the one with license to put manners on people here. Play nice please.

sorry for going off topic, and i know i'm no expert in zoology but sending in a lioness to tame a lion, sounds like you'll only rile him up more.

On topic:

It would sound to me there is probably a case of exaggeration in the weight loss. If she she weighted herself when she was at her daily heaviest and weighed 11 stone 10 lbs (nearly 12 stone) and weighed herself 2 weeks later at her daily lightest at 11 stone if you account for variation due to water etc. it could still be only a few lbs.

g'em

UL_heart_throb wrote: »

sorry for going off topic, and i know i'm no expert in zoology but sending in a lioness to tame a lion, sounds like you'll only rile him up more.

How coincidental, or is the zoology link just a lucky guess?

I really don't like it when people force me into being mean. Banned.

maknak

Cutting carbs just like that will not solve diet problem. She must do it slowly step by step or balance them. In shortcut: ones she cut carbs weight went down but she is at the straight to yo-yo effect as her body will find that she needs to store all available carbohydrates. My example when i'm doing reduction: 400g carbs for week 300g carbs 2nd week 200g carbs 3rd week 300g carbs 4th week (small charging) 200g carbs 5th week and so on ( I'll try to detailed this on my website) her values will be different but ask some dietician or some gym trainer/ instructor. Does she has any workout plan?

Hanley

maknak wrote: »

Cutting carbs just like that will not solve diet problem. She must do it slowly step by step or balance them. In shortcut: ones she cut carbs weight went down but she is at the straight to yo-yo effect as her body will find that she needs to store all available carbohydrates. My example when i'm doing reduction: 400g carbs for week 300g carbs 2nd week 200g carbs 3rd week 300g carbs 4th week (small charging) 200g carbs 5th week and so on ( I'll try to detailed this on my website) her values will be different but ask some dietician or some gym trainer/ instructor. Does she has any workout plan?

I'm confused, are you saying that reducing kcals doesn't work?

J-Fit

UL_heart_throb wrote: »

sorry for going off topic, and i know i'm no expert in zoology but sending in a lioness to tame a lion, sounds like you'll only rile him up more.

On topic:

It would sound to me there is probably a case of exaggeration in the weight loss. If she she weighted herself when she was at her daily heaviest and weighed 11 stone 10 lbs (nearly 12 stone) and weighed herself 2 weeks later at her daily lightest at 11 stone if you account for variation due to water etc. it could still be only a few lbs.

In relation to the overall point you are making, I agree with you but to then go and insult a moderator who is just doing her job shows you in a much worse light than Hanley.

maknak

To Hanley: I mean reducing kcals will work but you must do it proper way. It is not to just cut calories and viola. Everyone is mad to go on diet (any diet) but people don't think what goal they want to reach and if they will , what's next? This "what's next" cause fall into yo-yo. Body won't be able to be "on hold" for long time. The best way is to observe bb or fitness sportsmen and their diets. If she will cut kcal and cut more and she'll keep her diet in constant but adjusting proportions each time when she cut's kcals - YoYo is more then sure. almost all people after diet fall into yoyo, just some of them are on surface but they do some workouts. Sorry but if you want to have nice posture you must keep balanced diet (I love this expression) and be physically active. hope you know what-I-mean. Like topic owner said she is loosing many KG in short time but we don't know her diet and some fitness activity. **car won't start -- maybe hasn't got engine??? )

metamorphosis

Lads, back to the topic or thread closed.

gymfreak

doireann08 wrote: »

Hi

Just want your advise as my sister has started the atkins diet about 2 weeks ago

She has cut out all carbs ( apart from carbs in veggies) She is 5ft 7 weighed about 12 stone when she started and after 2 weeks is down to 11 stone

Does this weight loss not seem extremely fast?? she wants to lose another stone and a half, does anyone have experience of doing the atkins diet and did the weight pile back on once you stopped?

I kinda find this post relatively funny..."she cut out all carbs except for veg"...there is a ridiculous amount of carbs in veg. I rarely, rarely ever eat potatoes, bread, pasta, pizza etc and get all my carbs from veg. But funnily enough when I look at my numbers I get 150-250g of carbs a day:eek::eek: Which is a ridiculously high amount!! Is there any need for me to eat bread, potatoes etc on top of this...absolutely not!!

In fairness, I can kinda see where Hanley was coming from in the original post. I've had people hound at me constantly for years over the foods that I choose to eat....an abundance of veg, fruit, meat and chocolate:D And tbh it gets annoying when I know my diet is pretty damn healthy....minus the chocolate(but unfortunately it remains a staple!) The only time people stopped annoying me about food choices was when I told them I was competing in something, then everything was allowed.

I am not familar with the atkins diet, nor do I know what your sisters diet is entailing but I can say if it primarily focuses on meat, veg, fruit, eggs, nuts etc then she's probably doing a good job at it. Once she's not undereating or overeating then it sounds pretty alright to me

Brian?

Rightio, rather than lock the thread I've deleted posts. Including the heart warming reconcilliations. Let's get back on topic, it's been asked 3 times now.

Mellor

maknak wrote: »

To Hanley: I mean reducing kcals will work but you must do it proper way. It is not to just cut calories and viola. Everyone is mad to go on diet (any diet) but people don't think what goal they want to reach and if they will , what's next? This "what's next" cause fall into yo-yo. Body won't be able to be "on hold" for long time.

What do you mean by yo-yo? How exactly are you suggesting this happens with you rapidly cut carbs.

I think the problem is people preception of weight loss vrs fat loss. Very rarely is the difference between weight loss and fat loss explained.

When people rapidly cut carbs, for example, they lose retained water, their muscle and liver glycogen stores are depleted and they lose body fat.
Lets say they lose 5lbs. (2 lbs fat, 2 lbs water, 1 lb of glycogen - picking simple figures for clarity here).

When they increase calories intake again. They retain some extra water, replenish some glycogen. And their weight might go up by 2.5lbs. This is entirely normal and isn't yo-yo'ing. They haven't put on any fat at this point but because it was never explained properly to them, they think they have. They feel its not worth it and in some cases return to the bad diet they had before.

maknak

Mellor wrote: »

When they increase calories intake again. They retain some extra water, replenish some glycogen. And their weight might go up by 2.5lbs. This is entirely normal and isn't yo-yo'ing. They haven't put on any fat at this point but because it was never explained properly to them, they think they have. They feel its not worth it and in some cases return to the bad diet they had before.

By yoyo I mean that huge amount of people don't keep diet constant. Each weight loss creates muscle loss and yoyo fills muscles with fat. If some people have problem with obesity, lot of them won't survive diet in long term. When they keep diet and reach target, then suddenly everything is permitted. To each diet manual they should give after diet schedule - well they don't and people don't know what to do next. I'm over 12years gym user and i've seen many situations that is why I agree with gymfreak

I am not familar with the atkins diet, nor do I know what your sisters diet is entailing but I can say if it primarily focuses on meat, veg, fruit, eggs, nuts etc then she's probably doing a good job at it. Once she's not undereating or overeating then it sounds pretty alright to me

I'm not using diet but i don't eat fast food and fried food. Most of my meals are form organic ingredients. Problem here is that we don't know what diet she's at and what diet includes. That is why we can chat to the very end:)

Mellor

maknak wrote: »

By yoyo I mean that huge amount of people don't keep diet constant.

But that's a fault if an individual not a sudden a change or a diet.

Each weight loss creates muscle loss and yoyo fills muscles with fat.

It's possible to lose weight without losing muscle. But I understand your point. But still, yo-yo'ing comes down to eating a bad diet and nothing to do with cutting quickly

maknak

Mellor wrote: »

It's possible to lose weight without losing muscle. But I understand your point. But still, yo-yo'ing comes down to eating a bad diet and nothing to do with cutting quickly

I wouldn't be so sure that you can loose fat without loosing muscles, u can minimize muscle loss but won't escape from it. This muscle loss comes in pair with yo-yo. Fast weight loss isn't good as body will try to recover losses by absorbing everything from food because body "knows" that poor time can come in again. I have read few articles that there need to be soft way out from diet as it may result yo-yo. Many people after quick fat loss diet loose hairs, skin gets older and they have other effects of insufficient minerals. I know what you'll say, that proper balance is needed , YES , but you wont have a quick loss then. Everything is about compromises. Ok that was last out of topic post, Sorry:)