Help for a Friend...

[WetBanana]

...a co-worker of mine started doing Atkins a week after I started. We've been sharing recipes and such, and she's feeling her clothes get looser on her, but in the past 4 weeks since she started, she's only lost 2 lbs.

Me - on the other hand - I have lost 25, and my clothes are looser as well.

She is a big girl (as am I), and is on medication for blood pressure, and water pills to help with her swelling - all sanctioned by her Dr. who also is supporting her Atkins effort.

I feel really bad for her, because she's trying her best to do the diet, but not seeing the weight going down.

A few things that might be causing a slower weight loss that I've seen is a coffee every morning with splenda (I made sure to make sure she knew to use the Splenda and not the other kinds of sweetener) and cream, sugar free whitening gum once or twice a day, and I know 2-3 times a week she's drinking a tall glass of skim milk.

I just don't honestly think that's the culprit for such a LOW weight loss in 5 weeks. While I don't monitor what she eats at home or anything, she SAYS she is doing it (minus the milk consumption).

I am wondering if it's possible for the blood pressure medication and water pills to affect her weight loss that much? I am thinking that she's shed more fat then she thinks but is possibly retaining water from the medication? Would that make sense? Even her Dr. was a little stunned at the low weight loss, but recommended she keep doing it even though the weight loss results were low.

Anyway - I just wanted to present her with any information that will help her. Her blood pressure keeps getting worse, and I know it's stressing her out, plus she's got a lot of stress at home with not seeing the kids as much, and their development, and keeping their home, etc., etc. She's finding it difficult to have the support she needs because I'm really the only person doing it with her.

How do I help to keep supporting her?

[not2late]

Re: Help for a Friend...

...a co-worker of mine started doing Atkins a week after I started. We've been sharing recipes and such, and she's feeling her clothes get looser on her, but in the past 4 weeks since she started, she's only lost 2 lbs.

Me - on the other hand - I have lost 25, and my clothes are looser as well.

She is a big girl (as am I), and is on medication for blood pressure, and water pills to help with her swelling - all sanctioned by her Dr. who also is supporting her Atkins effort.

I feel really bad for her, because she's trying her best to do the diet, but not seeing the weight going down.

A few things that might be causing a slower weight loss that I've seen is a coffee every morning with splenda (I made sure to make sure she knew to use the Splenda and not the other kinds of sweetener) and cream, sugar free whitening gum once or twice a day, and I know 2-3 times a week she's drinking a tall glass of skim milk.

I just don't honestly think that's the culprit for such a LOW weight loss in 5 weeks. While I don't monitor what she eats at home or anything, she SAYS she is doing it (minus the milk consumption).

I am wondering if it's possible for the blood pressure medication and water pills to affect her weight loss that much? I am thinking that she's shed more fat then she thinks but is possibly retaining water from the medication? Would that make sense? Even her Dr. was a little stunned at the low weight loss, but recommended she keep doing it even though the weight loss results were low.

Anyway - I just wanted to present her with any information that will help her. Her blood pressure keeps getting worse, and I know it's stressing her out, plus she's got a lot of stress at home with not seeing the kids as much, and their development, and keeping their home, etc., etc. She's finding it difficult to have the support she needs because I'm really the only person doing it with her.

How do I help to keep supporting her?

1. She should stop comparing her weight loss to yours.

2. She should start doing the diet properly. Drinking a glass of skim milk 2-3 times a week isn't part of the Induction Phase of the Diet. It's not even part of the OWL Phase. So encourage her to start doing the Atkins Diet correctly, not some Fake-kins version.

3. (This is for you, banana.) Give her support, but do not mistake support with enabling. She needs to want to do this for herself. You cannot take on the responsibility to make sure she is doing what she should be doing.

[Georgiana]

Re: Help for a Friend...

Looking at what you wrote, a tall glass of milk would be what... 250-330 mL (1-1.5 cups)? That's 15-20 net carbs, assuming she is drinking whole milk (3.25% milkfat or higher). So a glass of milk can very well affect her weight loss, either because of the carbs in it or because of an intolerance she has to milk. Do you know why she keeps drinking milk? I mean, if someone is frustrated with her weight loss, I would expect the first thing she does is make sure she is 100% on plan with her eating, exercise, water, supplements, etc.

Which brings me to my second and third questions. Is she exercising? Taking any nutritional supplements?

Also, did she talk to her doctor about alternatives to diuretics? I don't know much about these, but Dr. Atkins recommended L-taurine in DANDR.

At the end of the day, it is likely a combination of different factors that is causing her slow weight loss (although, if she says she is losing inches, she is losing body fat and that is what matters!). But among these factors, there are some that can be improved/eliminated, and some that probably can't. Milk, coffee (decaf instead of regular), SF chewing gum.... these are factors that can be changed if she wants to maximize her weight loss results.

Regarding the support part. What about telling her to join here?

[Elizellen]

Re: Help for a Friend...

Maybe (as Georgiana suggested) she is losing fat instead of scales weight, so perhaps you can remind her that the loss of inches is a just as good (if not better) indication that Atkins is working despite the milk and medications.

I'd take losing clothes sizes over seeing a number on the scales any day if I had the choice - nobody but me sees what the metal monster says but everyone sees the slimmer me in my smaller clothes!

[IrishIrish]

Re: Help for a Friend...

I have a neighbor who has gained 100 plus pounds in the time I have lost over 300 pounds. She tells me she eats exactly how I eat, but at a neighborhood block party several years ago, it became apparent that this is not the case and she hasn't even broken the binding on the book she bought.

Do your own program and be proud of your success. Share what you want in a supportive environment, but eating from other than the Atkins plan won't work for her no better than eating low fat and eating fast food all the time.

I gladly share my success with others around me. They want to know my "secrets". As I tell them, it is all in DANDR 2002. Read it and if you have questions about what you have read, I will help you out, otherwise, I can't translate five years of hard work into the Cliff Notes version ... Dr. Atkins has already done that for us.

Congratulations on your weight loss!