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Frustrated...
Last Post 11 Oct 2007 02:39 PM by Kimberly Belaire. 11 Replies.
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Mary AguirreSend Private Message
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16 Jul 2007 08:58 PM  

I joined sunstone last fall in an attempt to get back into shape.  I am very frustrated with my weight loss efforts.  I have not lost any weight since joining.  For the past three months, I have been fanatically logging my food intake and exercise (with myfooddiary.com, very nice site btw) and still no change.  I stay around 1200 calories net (total calories eaten - calories burned through exercise)  I use a heart rate monitor to accurately log my exercise.  I usually walk between 3 and 5 miles a day (dragging my dog along with me ;-) and go to sunstone 3-4 times a week.

I have been thinking about getting my RMR (resting metobolic rate) tested to see what the actual caloric needs of my body are.  I am thinking that this might be a good idea so that I can better set my daily caloric goals.  Does anyone have suggestions on where I can get this testing done?  I googled it, and found quite a few places in Dallas, but was wondering if anyone had any personal experience with any particular facility.

Thanks!

Mary

Nicole ShawSend Private Message
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17 Jul 2007 09:42 PM  
Hello Mary,
Diet can be one of the hardest disciplines. Frustrations can become overwhelming especially when we put a great deal of effort into something and discover our expectations have not been met. All I can say out of my own experience I am still learning the ways and patterns of my body and mind. This has been ongoing for the last eight years.  I know patience and listening to my physical body after eating and prior to eating has made a big difference. Two years ago I found I was wheat intolerant through my own experience of bloating and swelling after eating wheat products. I am also very intolerant to dairy and I know this from the foul smell of my breath after eating and drinking it and the congestion I feel 20 minutes after eating it. My point is that the foods you are eating may not be compatible with your constitution. What is good for me may not necessarily be good for you and visa versa.
My suggestion to you is that you take time to explore the effects of the food you are putting into your body and how your body is responding, this is the cost effective way or you could go and have some tests taken with a professional. One of our teachers, Jean Shanley, gave a great list for some local heath care professionals. Perhaps one of these may be a good choice for you.
Mary, you have shown dedication and a willingness to move your body and mind into a new way of being, it can take time for the old ways to leave; be patient, be persistent, and be peaceful. Sometimes for the body to transform the mind must lead the way, when the mind has finally been broken from the old patterns of the past the body will follow.
The following list is provided from Jean Shanley; enjoy the read.
Peace
Nicole

  • Do you want to feel more healthy, young or energetic but are not sure how to go about it?
  • Have you tried various lifestyle changes like exercise and diet improvements and still find yourself having stubborn symptoms?
  • Have you told your symptoms to conventional doctors and received nothing but shoulder shrugs, offers of drugs, or advice that your uncomfortable symptoms are “normal” because most of the population also suffers from them ?
  • Are you adverse to taking pills to “fix” health problems?
  • Are you interested in finding and treating the root cause of your health problems rather than simply treating symptoms?
  • Do you find yourself learning to live with symptoms because society has trained you to think it is “normal” to feel that way?
 
Consider trying a holistically minded healer. Holistic healers believe the human body is meant to function well and symptoms of any kind (ranging from PMS to cancer) are a sign the body is out of balance. They look at the entire picture in assessing the root cause of your health problems, including nutrition, genetics, pathogens and infections, food intolerances, environmental toxicities and emotional health. It is my experience and observation that a quality holistic healer will seek to:
 
1)      Identify through lab testing or other diagnostic methods what is aggravating your body. This often includes testing for food intolerances (including gluten, casein, soy, yeast, eggs), pathogens, parasites, infections, and environmental toxicities (including mold, metal or chemical sensitivities).
2)      Identify emotional stressors in your life.
3)      Work to remove the aggravating factors to the extent possible.
4)      Support the body in the healing process as needed with treatments such as proper nutrition, good lifestyle habits, detox programs and cleanses, exercise, supplements, energy healing and temporary natural hormone replacement. 
 
In my experience, another helpful practitioner to have in the diagnostic and healing process is a specialized energy healer of some sort. Energy healing includes acupuncture and acupressure, qigong, yoga, reikki, bioenergetic healers, etc. 
 
In teacher training, there seemed to be some level of interest in finding a path to healing that does not bow to the habits of conventional medical “wisdom.” There are some very good holistic practitioners in the Dallas area that I have tried, and some others that have been recommended to me. However, they are still out of the mainstream, so I alert you to these:
 
EnteroLab
Provides food intolerance testing through STOOL samples. Read the website to learn why half the US population has a food intolerance problem and doesn’t know it, and why the conventional blood and endoscopy testing done by GI doctors does NOT diagnose most people with these problems.
 
Dr. Margaret Christensen, MD
Provides medical evaluations, but she is currently not taking new patients. She refers to Tammy Pon, MD, listed below. Also provides seminars and detox programs.
 
Dr. Tammy Pon, M.D.
Quorum Drive, Addison 214-722-6457
 
Dr. Rebecca Burton, D.C.
Provides functional medical evaluations, including lab testing. Provides chiropractic care, but not until functional evaluations are performed and aggravating factors removed.
 
Dr. Rita Louise, N.D.
Provides medical intuitive evaluations, diagnosis of the emotional causes of your symptoms, and energy healing. I have used her and find her to be very accurate. I have found it difficult to remove all energetic blockage with yoga alone. For more information on medical intuitives, google Barbara Brennan, who is a former NASA scientist who opened a medical intuitive/energy healing school in Florida. These people “see” energetic blockage in the body, can assess the emotional causes of physical malfunctions, and can help clear the energy block.
 
Dr. Alan Chen
W. 15th St, Plano, 972-599-0852
Traditional Chinese Medical Doctor and Orthopedist, Chiropractor, Acupunturist, Herbologist
Provides energy evaluations, acupuncture, Chinese herbs, chiropractic
 
Other practitioners are listed in the Holistic Networker, copies of which are available at Whole Foods, under “holistic medicine.” 
 
My personal experience has been that no single practitioner has given me all the answers. I have used a combination of energy healing and diagnostic evaluation and treatments from a variety of healers to reach the level of improvement that I gained through the last year. It was like I was putting together a puzzle and different practitioners gave me different pieces to the puzzle.
 
You can feel healthy again. It just takes research, effort and the desire to change yourself from the inside out.   Good luck with your puzzle!  
 
If anyone else has anything to add to this, please feel free!
Joy and light,
Jean
 
 
 
Dean GamboaSend Private Message
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18 Jul 2007 01:12 AM  

I don't have any information about getting your RMR tested.

What I wanted to add was as part of the yoga teacher training, we are directed to try a different diet for a period of nine weeks.  I have chosen to do a vegan diet (no meat, eggs, or dairy), and I have been quite pleased by my weight loss results.  The exact book I have been using is Dean Ornish's "Eat More Weigh Less".   You sound very knowledgeable about diets and metabolism, but in the book, he does a very interesting analysis of how the body processes fat, carbs, and protein.

http://www.amazon.com/Eat-More-Weigh-Less-Abundantly/dp/0060959576/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4/002-7222785-0327208?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1184738422&sr=8-4

One last thing to note is that I noticed my weight loss has slowed a bit even though I am eating and working out the same.  I have to remind myself that I am gaining muscle while I am losing fat, and if I'm not mistaken muscle is significantly heavier than fat.  In order to accurately track this, I would have to get a body fat analysis.

Good luck on your goals!

Dean

Lisa McgouganSend Private Message
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18 Jul 2007 10:48 AM  
Mary,
As Nicole said, paying attention to the way the foods you eat are affecting your body is very important in getting yourself figured out.
If you have time to read three more books, I think you should give The Live Food Factor: A Comprehensive Guide to the Ultimate Diet for Body, Mind, Spirit, and Planet by Susan Schenck, Green for Life by Victoria Boutenko, and Sprouts the Miracle Food: The Complete Guide to Sprouting by Steve Meyerowitz a shot. These books really helped me get informed about the life-changing benefits of a raw food diet rich in greens and sprouts. I don't want to get into a spiel of raw food propaganda here, but I can say that I feel energetic and strong on this diet and have lost 10 pounds in two months--without the weight loss being my goal. I'm still experimenting with it, but as long as I feel good, I'll keep it up.

Good luck, and congratulations for sticking with the yoga! It does a body (and mind) good!

Please feel free to email directly if you are interested in trying this route (puddinhed@sbcglobal.net). As I discovered, it's a bit overwhelming to make such a change by oneself!

Lisa
Ben HartsellSend Private Message
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19 Jul 2007 01:40 PM  
The Tanita brand scales are nice tools for estimating % body fat, muscle mass, bone mass, and basal metabolic rate. I use the "IronMan" version that I got at one of the big box sporting goods stores for about $150. For me (41 y.o. male, 5'11", ~170 lbs, 7-9% body fat) my BMR is around 2000 calories. I practice yoga daily and between that and regular activities expect that I burn another 1200-1400 calories a day. I loosely work to keep my caloric intake in the 3000-3500 calories (I count very honestly...) and when I do so I maintain weight. If I add anything more I can watch my weight creep up in direct correlation to my bad eating habits.

I'm showing my prejudice as a scientist here - but i do believe if you have good reliable data weight control largely becomes a function of calories consumed - calories burned. Now I'm not saying we'll all end up looking like supermodels - we have our own distinct body types - and i DO believe that you need to consider not only how much you eat but also what you eat. But the what you eat is more strongly related to making sure your body gets all the nutrients that it needs to function properly - and as Nicole mentioned - staying away from foods your body does not tolerate well.

Here's another thought - do you really even need to know your BMR? Maybe just move your 1200 calories net to 1000 calories net (it's usually not hard to find something in your diet that you can discard for a 200 calorie change) and see if you start losing some weight. It would (and should!) be a gradual loss over time - maybe a pound or two a month.

My $0.02 - YMMV

Ben
Mary AguirreSend Private Message
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23 Jul 2007 05:18 PM  
Thanks so much for all of your suggestions. I have still been in this frustrated funk. I have requested some of the suggested books from the library (I am such a library geek, LOL) Now I just have to figure out where to go from here.

Ben, I so appreciate your scientific view! I am a mechanical engineer and I am so obsessed with statistics and data (weird, I know) I bought a heart rate monitor for this reason. I figured I could work the numbers and it shouldn't be too difficult. That is part of my frustration, I seem to be doing everything right, but with no results.

On a more positive note, I have been feeling great since I started at Sunstone. I walk taller, I sleep better and I started being more active in other places in my life.

mary
Kimberly BelaireSend Private Message
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11 Oct 2007 01:10 PM  

I hear you. I can only tell you that I am obsessed as you are. I did have the test and the only thing I lost was money. I had it done at Lifetime Fitness. It really didn't show anything out of the ordinary and the staff was at a loss as to why I wasn't loosing. I really believe I have to learn to put the numbers aside. All the obsessing has not helped. I know the facts but it hasn't helped. I have wasted so much energy thinking about weight. I am really working on letting it go and I am having a hard time doing it but I will keep trying.

Good luck

Brandon HartsellSend Private Message
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11 Oct 2007 01:56 PM  

Kimberly,

Are you drinking diet sodas?

Andy McdonaldSend Private Message
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11 Oct 2007 01:59 PM  
Keep up your strong effort. Having the determination and effort to achieve the goal of losing weight will pay off. Another thing that might help along with the physical exercise and proper eating habits is to practice creative visualization. For a few moments each day try closing your eyes and visualizing yourself the way you want to be. See what you would look like and feel like. Imagine the activities you might be enjoying and what your life will be like as you achieve your goal of physical fitness and weight loss. Formulate as clear of an image of your future self as you can. Keeping this image of your ideal self in mind will help you to continue taking the steps and making productive choices necessary for reaching that ideal.
Kimberly BelaireSend Private Message
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11 Oct 2007 02:31 PM  
Actually, I do have one or two a week. In fact I was drinking one when I received your post. Does it matter?
Brandon HartsellSend Private Message
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11 Oct 2007 02:33 PM  
Try removing all diet soda for 6 weeks and let us know if it helps. I have noticed a pattern that diet soda drinkers have the most problem losing weight. By taking 6 weeks off of them you can test if it makes a difference for you.
Kimberly BelaireSend Private Message
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11 Oct 2007 02:39 PM  

I will certainly try this and let you know

 

Thank you

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