Weight loss for nurses

Creamsoda, ASN, RN · Apr 1, 2017

Its tough weather you want to lose 10 lbs or 100 lbs. The key is prep. Meal prep. Meal prep all your lunches for you shifts a 4-6 days worth at one time. overall its a time saver and you can stay on track better.

count calories. Calories in = calories out. I use myfitnesspal app.

Exercise plays a small role in actual weight loss based on calories burned, but plays an immense role overall on your feeling of well being and energy levels. I try to go to the gym right after work. Even if im dead tired. Even if i just get in a 30 min workout. Even if its a crap workout, something is better than nothing. Overall your energy levels improve. You can take 30 min out of your day. If you dont, its just excuses. Exercising helps me stay on track so I dont undo all that work with over eating. You really only need to go 3 days a week unless you have major training goals. Its good to have goals though. i started running and a 5 k was my first goal a few years ago. (i couldnt run 30 seconds and wanted to die). 3 years later, I ran my first marathon. I NEVER would have thought that was realistic 3 years ago. A step at a time. Weight loss is the same thing. Its a marathon, not instant.

And number 1 is knowing that some days you will "mess up". Some days might be great. In one week you might over eat your calories every day. Dont think of that as you failed and why bother. Some days you might go overboard and major binge and eat 2000 extra calories. Its not the end of the world and will not change things long term as long as you get back on track.

Lets say your aiming for a 2 lbs loss every week. You have to eat a calorie deficit of 7000 calories a week. Say you over ate 500 calories every day. That equals 3500 calories of overeating. Most people will think "ugh I over ate 3500 calories, im gaining 1 lb because of that". Its illogical and wrong. If you still had a caloric deficit of 500 cal/day vs 1000 cal/day, you are still losing 1 whole pound of fat. Your just not losing the 2 you hoped for. When you dont eat perfectly this throws people off and discourages them thinking they cant do it. If you just stay as consistent as you can, over time the numbers will drop. Besides you dont want to live in misery, restricting your self. I can lose weight and eat "whatever I want". Ill still lose weight if the calculations are correct. Its just for overall well being you want to have more healthier foods than bad ones and maintain portion control. And google what 1 and 5 lbs of fat looks like. It is a large volume. So small numbers still make a big difference.

Creamsoda, ASN, RN · Apr 1, 2017

Also theres so many diets out there. The more restrictive it is the more likely you will "fail". But all these different "diets" (ketogenic, paleo, low carb, high carb, weight watchers) are all a means to the same end. The same principles of calories in=calories out is what causes the weight loss in all of them. its just a matter of what combo of foods keep you satiated, more likely to stay on track and what fits your lifestyle. Personally I think calorie counting is the most important thing most people can do. You will really learn you foods and the value of each food you eat. Eventually it becomes second nature and it really takes no more than 5-10 minutes a day. Then your setting yourself up for your future success but not just depending on fad diets with often no scientific basis or half truths. My fitness pal will help you graph and trend your numbers and you can really evaluate how your doing day by day and week by week.

Creamsoda, ASN, RN · Apr 1, 2017

Here is how you maintain a healthy body weight at any age:
1. Eat normal portions.
2. Only eat enough calories for your BMR
3. Go to the gym regularly
4. Stop using eating as a coping skill
There is no secret about any of this. It only requires discipline. If you have hypothyroidism, take synthroid. If you are on some chronic steroid or whatever, then just do your best. I'm not fat shaming here, but being fit is not some crazy secret formula. If you have a healthy lifestyle, then the pieces will fall into place.
Regarding bariatric surgery, come on people. You want to change your anatomy because you can't lose weight through diet and exercise. This is an extreme solution. If someone loses 100 lbs through bariatric surgery, they are getting the same weight loss benefit of someone losing 9 lbs per month for a year.
Best of luck to everyone trying to lose weight, it is hard but worth it.

Agreed

The amount of misconceptions, or will full ignorance in general is astounding to me. A little bit of reading/research will show your main points to be true. Theres many responders here who get upset that it really is that simple or mad that were simplifying it this much. But were not simplifying it. It is what it is. Yes there are many things that make it harder. Ex your past relationship with food, anxiety causing overeating, psychological issues, poor coping mechanisms. Those issues are a separate issue than the issue of pure weight loss.

Pure weight loss is indeed, eating less than what your BMR is. Plain and simple! None of this is "fat shaming" anyone. Its up to each individual to figure out the best way for them to get there. yes there are medical conditions that legit can make it harder. But it is certainly not "impossible". If bariatric surgery is your answer, then thats ok too. But I just wish people would really acknowledge that weight loss is a simple formula. That doesn't make it easy though. It takes major discipline.

gettingbsn2msn, MSN, RN · Apr 1, 2017

I will probably get flamed for this. Oh well. I left the hospital scene approximately 4 years ago. Within the first year I lost 20 pounds without trying! I believe my stress level declined. Plus the patient families, docs and administration were always bringing goodies in . I know it was with good intentions but it was affecting my health. Today the people I work with eat very healthy. We share recipes. Sometimes walk at lunch together. I could loose a few more pounds but I am back to feeling like myself. I wish hospitals would stop with the bad foods. My son is now a RN and he is complaining of the same!

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Apr 1, 2017

Pure weight loss is indeed, eating less than what your BMR is. Plain and simple!

What about those of us whose resting metabolic rates (RMR) are/were revealed to be less than 1000 kcals after professional testing at a sports medicine clinic or university health center?

Sure, I could eat 500 calories a day to lose 1 pound per week if my RMR is 1000 calories. However, is that really sustainable? I think not.

Some would chime, "Gain some muscle mass to increase that RMR!" "Do cardio to burn calories!" "Every pound of muscle you have burns X amount of calories!"

The problem is threefold: 1) females are only capable of adding no more than 2 pounds of muscle per month since we produce less testosterone than men; 2) how much weightlifting and cardio can one do on an intake of 500 calories a day? Also, 3) how much muscle mass can one build on 500 calories a day? Not much.

Again, we cannot apply simple solutions to complex problems. I weigh 118 pounds, so I am not in the camp of those who are griping. However, I have struggled with my weight since puberty. Being hypothyroid does not help the matter, either.

**NickiLaughs, ADN, BSN, RN** · Apr 2, 2017

I'm lucky because I'm really tall and can hide an extra 30 or 40 lbs much better than others l. Most don't believe hat I usually hover around 200 lbs. I've lost 50 lbs before and 40 lbs before. Both times this is what I did, but what works for me may not work for another. Here goes:

One small change at a time. Doing more than that is overwhelming. I have too much going on. My first thing was I stopped drinking soda. Green tea and water only. Then my next change was try to aim for 3 veggies a day, then 5. I gave myself 2 or 3 weeks for each small change and that made a difference, etc.

Eventually after a couple months when I felt my diet was better controlled, I incorporated exercise. Many spend hours on treadmipls. Cardiovascular is great, but doing high intensity intervals is better. I like spinning, it's much easier on your joints. I also like swimming. I hate running and I can attest you can lose weight without ever running. Just find an exercise you like.

Weigh Lifting. I seriously lost far more inches and dress sizes by learning how to squat. First with body weight and then eventually a barbell. You may not lose as many lbs, but even when I was mid 170s, I could fit in size 10, which at 5' 11" was about as small as I could get

The best part was feeling strong.

I threw a lot of different things out there. But just try one small thing. Don't let it overwhelm you. Good luck!

Phoenix1963 · Apr 2, 2017

My weight tripled at age 3 with no changes in activity or intake. My pediatrician told my mother not to worry, I was about to have a growth spurt.

Im 53. I'm still waiting. I was on the first liquid protein diet at age 8. That stuff was so nasty I would pour it out rather than gag it down and drink water to try to feel full. I was on Adkin's when it came out, then pritikin's (sp?), weight watchers, sweating to the oldies, whatever was the diet du jour, my mom and doctor put me on them. I lost weight on each one, but gained back more. And I was an active kid- played sports, swam on the swim team until the coach cut me because he only wanted winners (yes, he told me that. At 13 years old). In high school I played softball and soccer. When I was 16, I suddenly dropped 80 lbs, again with no change in eating habits or activity. When it started to come back, I went back on a diet, eventually eating nonfat yogurt 100 calorie servings 3 times a day. No soda. It still came back. I was crushed. In my late 20's I wanted to see an endocrinologist, but I had an HMO. Before I was referred to an endocrinologist I was referred to a dietician. She put me on an 800 calorie diet that I stuck to for a YEAR without losing weight. I lost it and demanded a referral to an endocrinologist when after more than a year my dietician looked me in the eye and said, "Have you considered giving up ice cream?" I lost it because I hadn't had ice cream, baked goods, bread, chocolate or anything with added sugar (When I moved to a new state I got copies of my records. She never believed I was sticking to my diet). I got my endo referral and was started on thyroid meds. Using essentially the same diet (I let myself have 900 calories sometimes) and joining a gym where I worked out 7 days a week for 2-3 hrs/day (1.75 hrs/day just on a stair master because that burned 1500 calories alone) and I lost 100 lbs. Then I moved back to Texas. I couldn't find a gym with the same equipment (cheaper stair masters hurt my knees after only 30 minutes), my job required an hour each way commute and I got an upper respiratory infection and had to take a break from working out. The weight started coming back. I gained back 130 lbs. Then I noticed I was gaining 8-10 lbs yearly even though I was active and did not overeat (yes, I'm sure because most of my male friends would ask why I didn't lose weight since I didn't eat as much as everyone else they knew). I had to do something. When I gained 15 lbs trying to low carb and lose weight before my wedding I started looking at WLS. On the day I had my duodenal switch, I weighed 420 lbs. I lost to 270 and it stopped. Since that wasn't normal for the DS, I was working with my surgeon's office- I submitted food diaries, water diaries, was told I "wasn't eating enough," or was "drinking too many sugared sodas(I wasn't- I'd been told not to)." Finally my surgeon admitted that instead of a distal bypass, he'd given me a proximal bypass. But he didn't believe in revisions, plus I lost 100 lbs so I was a success. I kept it off until 18 months ago when I was put on creon due to vitamin deficiencies (while taking bariatric vitamins). I gained 30 lbs in 2 weeks with no change in eating habits. I asked if this was normal. She told me not to worry about it. When I gained another 20 and my labs were unchanged, I stopped taking it. I worked on the vitamin deficiencies with my endocrinologist and went to a hematologist for iron infusions and learned that I'd been given the wrong form of iron to absorb it. Long story short, if CICO was always successful I should be rail thin. Instead I'm back to 315-320 lbs and it doesn't change whether I eat or not. Plus I can't work out like when I was young because I have a torn meniscus in one knee and OA in the other. I eat salads and fresh foods. I do buy ice cream sometimes, but it has stayed in my freezer for 6-8 months. While I do not regret the surgery, I regret my choice of surgeon and I wish someone had told me that FeSO4 was the wrong type of iron for me (FYI, if you've had wls, take polysaccharide iron). Tell me again how I'm fat just because I eat too much or the wrong foods. If you were right I never would have needed wls in the first place. You have no idea how insulting it is to be told that you "just don't care" or "have no willpower" and that's why you are fat. If I didn't care I'd probably be on disability and weigh 700 lbs by now.. and eating a lot more junk food! And no, I didn't do this because I had diabetes or HTN or heart disease- I had no health issues except excess weight when I had surgery. I was trying to save my knees and be able to stay active.

Fortunately my patients dont don't judge me by the size of my behind.

ComeTogether, LPN · Apr 3, 2017

I mean no malice or disrespect but for those that believe addiction is a disease ( I do not and have been accused) addiction is addiction. Regardless of the substance. The only way to lose weight is to burn more calories than you consume, if there were a magic pill or formula it would have been disclosed long ago. My family is vegetarian with a strong focus on proteins. My baby at 14 jumps rope for a collective at least 3 hours a day. She is definitely into fitness and nutrition. You have to cut out animal fats, artificial foods ie. hydrogenated oil and faux sweeteners. We use honey and Agave Nectar for sweeteneers, very liyttle white sugar and read and know labels.Commercial burgers are filled with celluloes, saw dust which cause severe constipation and the beginning of most health issues.I adore veggie burgers, the black bean has Cumin which taste like Taco meay. Full of protein! Don't think "diet" think of delicious real foods for life, that keeps everything you have running right.Hipocrates, the Father of Medicine taught this "Macrobiotic Foods" in 532 BC but sadly, no one does it until they get a terminal diagnosis. I wish you the best :)

Listen, addiction IS a disease and you don't get to just "choose" not to "believe" it. It's not a theory or a possibility that scientist are working on (even though scientific theories are facts thats another talk show). It's in the DSM and it is a disease.

I dont understand why you're on a nursing forum if you're not a nurse and furthermore you seem totally disinterested in using your mind like a nurse.

wonderwhy · Apr 27, 2017

You're judgmental to what you choose to believe is not an addiction and yet, what's in your closet?. You do not know that I am not a nurse.....or a Doctor. Did you dissect a cadaver in your education....hypothetical there brainiac

wonderwhy · Apr 27, 2017

Do you think over-eating is an addiction?

JewellWheeler · May 22, 2017

Exercises is the best way to shed body weight.

Been there,done that, ASN, RN · May 22, 2017

Refer to the Nurses' Health Study regarding weight control and cortisol production from stress.

We are pretty much screwed by the constant stress level.

The physical demands of running around , like a chicken with your head cut off.. is NOT gonna do it.

Hindsight is 20/20.. but I would have taken care of MYSELF first. Cardio every day, portion control, relaxation techniques.

Patients do not give a rat's patooti if you weigh 99 pounds or 300 pounds.

Best wishes, let us know how it's going.