Skip to main content

What if I actually start to lose weight? Could I be sick?

 
It could be scary. You have been trying to lose weight for years, trying one diet or another, when suddenly, or even gradually, you follow Dr. Sneider’s instructions, or any diet instructions for that matter, and you start to lose weight. You lose 5, then 10 pounds and people start to notice. “Are you OK?” they may ask, wondering if your weight loss is a good thing or a part of a bigger problem. 

What’s worse, you begin to wonder yourself. Why am I losing weight now when I couldn’t before? Could I have cancer or an ulcer or some other disease? Maybe I should try to put some of the weight back on to show that I am OK!

It doesn’t help to think of all the other diet gurus who have ultimately succumbed to diseases they hoped to cure with their diets.

I remember Georges Ohsawa, a fanatical writer about diet and the philosophy of oriental medicine. When I was in medical school, I followed the Zen Macrobiotic diet for a while. I ate lots of brown rice and veggies and miso soup and green tea. The theory of yin and yang really can be used to describe and explain almost anything. Unfortunately, being a Japanese man of his generation, the macrobiotic diet did not save poor Georges from stomach cancer. He died relatively young.

If you were not following a new diet plan, I might agree with you that weight loss could be a problem. Few people know that one symptom of out-of-control diabetes is weight loss; polydipsia (excessive thirst and drinking), polyphagia (overeating) and polyuria (increased urination) with weight loss are the classical hallmark symptoms of diabetes. 

If, however, you really have changed your eating habits; if you are eating less carbs and you are choosing real food over processed foods and you are eating less than you did before, the weight loss is probably real. Keep the faith. Don’t be persuaded to gain back pounds, or go off the diet, because a few people are concerned that you “look too thin.” Check your body mass index. If it is still well over 25, stick to the diet. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why can’t I eat that?? A bit of explanation. Read this next...

Here is some of the background for my diet recommendations. You will note that there are 3 references on the previous post.  They are the source of the three principles that I recommend for finding a healthy diet, and I expand upon them briefly below.   1. Eat real food (Michael Pollen). You know what real food is. It is non-processed food. The bread and cereal that we eat each day is highly processed. Even the grain itself has been genetically modified from what it once was just a few generations ago. When choosing food to eat, choose foods with fewer ingredients and less processing. Ideally eat all non-processed foods - real meat, eggs, fruits and vegetables. When you can't figure out what to eat, always go towards the real food, the unprocessed food. No matter what it is, it will be better than the alternative. 2. Maximize the nutritional quality of the food you eat (Dr. Joel Fuhrman). Fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables, raw or lightly cooked, have the most nu...
Post a Comment
Read more

A few tips

I know. Changing your eating habits is hard. Don't worry if you have difficulty finding the right things to eat. Just keep trying to explore the food choices that you have and work to avoid the worst offenders. I will continue to add tips as time goes on so that we can all do better and beat that fat. Let's start with bread. How in the world, no, how in  America  can you avoid bread? It is everywhere; and in the fast-food nation, bread makes everything portable, quick and easy to eat! That is the genius of the sandwich. It takes one hand to eat a sandwich - so you can eat it while you drive, while you walk, at a football game or at your desk. And, let's not even mention pizza, the perfect food, except that it is built on a piece of bread. I am sure that there will be times when it seems like the only thing to have is a sandwich. When you plan to eat while driving, for instance. Understood. I find it most difficult to eat right while traveling, but it can be done. ...
Post a Comment
Read more