I am new to this.... does anyone have a sense of why some people seem to lose really quickly and some people take a bit longer? I know in the long run it doesn't matter. Is it BMI, is it follow-up care?

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I'll agree to an extent, alhough I don't totally believe a calorie is a calorie. If it were as simple as calorie in and calorie out, there would never be plateaus...which many people hit at one point. Carbs, for example, aren't necessarily bad for you..unless you eat them in excess. Particularly bad carbs...like processed foods...lots of sugar...juices and other caloric drinks...you all know what i mean.

Atkins says you should restrict carbs almost religously. I've learned that some people are more prone to fat storage when they eat carbs. On the other hand, your body craves them and makes best use of them when you exercise. This means that it's ok to have a meal with rice, a sandwich with 100% whole wheat bread (mmm, pizzas), sweet potatoes, a bowl of Cereal like Kashi Go Lean, whole wheat pastas or more healthy starchy carbs (not all at one sitting !!) ...but only treat yourself to those kinds of foods an hour or two after a good work out. Then you're sure to let your body use that for energy and not risk it being stored as fat. If you don't plan to do anything other than normal stuff around the house, or are going to work sitting at a cube all day like me...then keep the meals low carb, but still balanced (meaning don't eat just Protein, or protein + fat etc...eat some carbs, but keep it at about 10-20% caloric value of the meal with those carbs coming from healthy sources like vegatables...and fruits too in 1 or 2 of your daily meals.)

The truth is, much of the diet programs actually do work. They fail us because it's difficult to stay on the program for life. It's imperative you find something that not only works for you, but something you can truly say that you can do for the rest of your life.

A caloric deficit will only work for so long till your body adapts and stops losing weight. Keep in mind that if you're not working out, most of the weight you're losing is also lean body mass and not just fat. Restricting calories for an extended period of time will make your metabolism slow, and thus you'll hit a plateau. I think it's best to eat healthy foods that are high in volume but low in calories. That will keep your digestive system going. Drink plenty of no calorie liquids like Water and green tea, add some spices like cayenne pepper, and make sure you're getting at least an average of 30% essential fats plus regular exercise to make sure your metabolism is kept in high gear.

Essential fats can be found in fish oil, flax seeds or flax oil, olive oil, canola oil, etc. It's good to keep an even mix of polyunsaturated, monounsaturated, and saturated fats in your diet. The combination of the three should equate to about 25-30% of your total calorie intake for the day. This will promote weight loss and keep those blood numbers looking good for the doctor by keeping your cholesterol in check.

I like this thread, lots of good feedback. Good show everyone

Honesty, I'm still very sceptical that the band will work for me. I eat less than the normal person, watch what I eat, and have exercised religiously in the past with no results. I don't snack. I rarely eat dessert. I don't drink soda or carbonated drinks. I've been on 600 calorie a day diets under doctor's orders and took prescribed weight loss medication. The most I ever lost was 18 pounds. (I didn't cheat either) The depression I suffered from the frustration was worse than being fat, so I gave up. I felt defective. The band is my last resort. If it doesn't work, I am REALLY terrified of the depression that will result. So 25% of banders see no results????? That's pretty high. No one has told me that. Now I'm starting to doubt this will help me.

You went the wrong way with respect to calories in my opinion. Your body has obviously adapted to your constant undereating. You should be eating about 10 x your body weight in calories to maintain your current level of weight. Add a 10-15% deficit to that to lose some pounds. A 200 lb person should be eating about 2K calories. 300 lbs = 3K calories. This is an estimate of how many calories it takes just to live day to day, not to increase or decrease. If you've constantly been under eating, and especially bad food choices, then your body has adapted and only expects what you eat every day. Why on earth would it give up its fat stores if it knows you're not going to feed yourself more? Your metabolism has slown to a crawl. You need to slowly increase your caloric intake by 100 calories per week until you reach your recommended maintenance level. Keep it there for about 2 weeks or until you stop gaining weight (yes you will gain a few pounds, but this is what it will take to fix your metabolism in my opinion.) Then, after you've retrained your body to use the calories, start cutting back again...just this time not so drastic. 10% less is plenty. It will be slow...but you'll progress.

I watch every bite I put in my mouth and I exercise 6 days a week. I had a resting metabolic test taken and i have a very slow metabolism . It's maddening. I have gone back on the liquid diet this week to see if that makes any difference.