What is it that makes it so hard to lose weight for us?

Lounge
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I’m not even gonna lie, I workout a lot, eat extremely good and hardly ever drink soda or eat fast food anymore.

And it’s still soo hard to lose any weight.

I kinda want to attribute it to the fact I was on olanzapine for 6 years. That med makes you gain hella weight. I’ve heard people who quit it and drop the weight quick though, I was not that fortunate.

I feel like I look pretty decent at 6’2 279 pounds since I have a lot of muscle but I really wanna get to like 220-240 pounds and let all the workouts show.

Anyways. What gives? Whys it so hard to lose weight when medication/illness is in the mix?

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Which meds are you currently on?

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@Speedy pregabalin 75mg twice daily

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Weight gain is a common side- effect from Pregabalin.

Have you tried intermittent fasting?

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Probably the meds affect your metabolism. They are all big weight gainers and its common.

You can lose. Did it on the Keto diet. Still no results on whether it’s healthy long term but it works. It really does and there is that. I can tell you that.

You’ve got to weigh it all up but you can still take steps to avoid it. I know its so hard. I really do.

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@rogueone you looked fantastic in that pic you recently posted :o

Just give it time I guess?

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@Speedy I was wanting to try that today, just get too hungry. I try and snack on apples, bananas and black beans throughout the day

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Yeah and it’s all diet and exercise from what I’ve found.

You need to burn energy and you need the right diet. It’s still pretty new but the metabolism and mental illness is showing some interesting things in research. It’s worthwhile investigating.

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It’s so about having a routine. If you eat the same hours a day you’ll get hungry at the same hours the next. It takes a couple of weeks getting used to it.

I did 16/8 fasting before I got ill. It works and hunger didn’t bother me when I ate the same hours a day.

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My psychiatrist said some months ago last time I talked to him that pregabalin didn’t cause anywhere near as much weight gain as APs. Not sure if that’s true or not but I feel like I look way better throughout the day. Like it doesn’t mess up my body composition as much as APs did

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@Speedy ah so like work your way into intermittent fasting?

I really do wanna try IF

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Also just curious speedy, what amount of calories you think I should be aiming for? Ballpark range

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Yeah, try it for a couple of weeks. If you don’t like it you can always quit.

Keto is also good but it made me constipated.

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It depends on your BMI. There is a calculator online. You can always download an app to see how much calories you eat a day.

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Word, thx. I usually casually count but don’t focus on that as much as I do quality of food but yea

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All the research so far indicates that IF helps a bit, but not a lot.

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without antipsychotics it should be easier to lose weight. i dont know what you eat but try low carb or something like that. carbs is what influence weight and also your liver.

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For the general question in the title-

Some of other things is that meds can make it hard to tell when you’re full

WHY DO SOME PEOPLE TAKING MEDICATIONS FOR PSYCHOSIS GAIN WEIGHT?
There is no one answer, but some possible reasons are:

  • The medication can change your appetite, making you feel hungrier or making it harder to recognise that you’re full.
  • You may get a dry mouth and feel like drinking more sugary drinks.
  • You may exercise less because you feel less energetic.
  • The medications might cause cravings for fatty and sugary foods.

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO?
If you’re worried about the side effects of medication, or notice that you’re gaining weight, here are some things you can do to manage these changes:

  • Eat healthily and be physically active.
  • Start thinking about the exercise you do and what you eat as soon as possible after starting medication.
  • Think about where you can make useful changes to your routine, such as taking the stairs, getting off the train a stop early or walking down to the shops.
  • Ask for help with choosing healthy food and doing exercise – tell the people around you so they can help.

I got that from here: Psychosis and physical health and young people - Orygen, Revolution in Mind

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It sounds like you’ve done a lot to look after your physical health, with working out and reducing sodas and so on

I think the hardest part is not only maintaining current weight (ie not making it go higher), but going much down from current weight

from what you said about your goal of pounds (I don’t use pounds so idk how much it is), that does sound like a significant jump

So that’s probably the hardest part. You’re doing a lot that is really beneficial for your body in terms of eating and working out

Which is good for maintaining current weight (not making it go higher)

but to make it go down by a lot, I think you would need to do activities over a long period of time that make the amount of calories out > calories in

Maybe you can break down the goal

So you might aim for losing a smaller amount of pounds each month
And over a longer period of time, it would all add up

Fasting doesn’t have to be the only option
You could either try to extend exercise time by adding another small block in the day
Or you could switch out foods with higher calories for foods with lower calories, that are still delicious

I wish you success!
it sounds like you are already disciplined about exercise and food, so that sounds like a strong base to build from

And I write in broken paragraphs bc
Of my current episode
often affects my speech and writing and things

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Maybe you can tell us what helps