Sherri Slattery asks about losing weight. First of all, congratulations
to Sherri for losing 61 of her 71lb goal. She did it with the McDougal
diet.
When I started all this, I was 208lbs. Now I'm 162. Sometimes I'm
161, but it still seems to stay about the same. I still get a lot
of exercise, running 4 times/week for about 3 miles, using weights
at the gym each day I run...and walking several miles on the days
I don't run.
I think I eat a LOT. I don't eat McDougal, which I consider
very restrictive. Ornish's seems to work for me, though.
I wrote his program asking the same question that Sherri asked.
They were kind enough to write me back, stating that they have
not seen people with their diet go on to any serious un-controllable
weight loss.
They have encountered some "fat-phobic" individuals, who refused
to eat a balanced diet. They didn't specify what happened to them,
however.
My weight loss has pretty much stopped. I still feel as though
I have too much fat (around my flanks mostly), and like many
other people, I feel "fat" at times. Everyone tells me I
shouldn't lose any more weight--as it is, my wife tells
me I sometimes look gaunt.
My point in this long post is that if you eat a balanced
diet, apparently your body recognizes a certain level and
will center its weight fairly balanced with the exercise
you take.
Therefore, I wouldn't be too concerned about "losing too
much." Now if you start bulimic or purging behavior, that
will certainly cause you to lose too much weight (as well
as needed vitamins and minerals, etc.). But that is a
whole different issue.
(Dr) Mike Rosenblatt
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