Thanks for all your advice, I'm getting a lot of GREAT info from your posts.

I want to tell you a little bit about myself. I'm 24, i have two children and I just came off of Depo Provera for 3 years. I used to smoke a pack a day, but quit cold turkey in January (on the 15th to be precise).

from the time I hit puberty, my weight was always between 180 - 205... I never did any daily exercise routines, didn't avoid junk food... basically my body fought off most of what I was eating.

I'm 5'10" I'm also extremely large boned (like a man!). I'm not saying that as an excuse, it's just the way I am.

I started Depo provera in 2001 after the birth of my son and had experienced the usual side effects. At the beginning of this year I noticed I was having panick attacks. I quit smoking (for my own good) and noticied that my weight started to sky-rocket (not eating any more than I usually did at all)...

I was trying to pin-point my growing anxiety and weight gain and figured out it was fromt he Depo Provera.

Just this sunday I started a low estrogen birth control pill... Over the past two weeks I had been changing my eating lifestyle... no junk (well minimal junk... I have a one day a week cheat day where I have a junky supper).

I never lost weight until I actually started the pill. I have already lost 2 lbs in four days.

When I say that I'm eating a low fat diet, it doesn't mean that I'm taking away from my other stuff... it's just that I'm substituting the bad fats for good.

Fried foods are now broiled/grilled (grilled chicken/fish/shrimp/meats)

I've always eaten lean meats, fatty meats just make me gag LOL.

I have been substituing my white carbs for whole wheat/high fibre content.

I'm replacing my favorites: Chips/chocolate with fruit/veggies (and the occasional "Baked" tortilla chips with salsa/nuts).

I've never been big on milk products, but I drink at least one glass of skim milk a day. I've also been eating 1/2 cup of cottage cheese (which I do LOVE) a day/every other day.


I am now going for walks with my family after dinner (between 2.5 - 4km) every night. And have also started a nightly 20 minute curl-up/pull up routine. I have an ab-roller (that had been collecting dust for lord knows how long) that I use. I do curlups and hold them mid way for a few seconds and go back down slowly, when I get tired, I start using my arms/shoulders/back to pull my upper portion of my body up and down... then go back to curl-ups when I get tired. I do this in front of a good tv show.

I can't bounce around at all because I live on the top floor of an old rickety apartment building. The people complain when my KIDS bounce around, and I'm 200 lbs heavier than them *giggles*.


Do YOU think I'm approaching this right?? My husband and I are heading up to Johnstons Canyon (do a search on google, beeeautiful place!) for a 12 km hike Saturday morning.

Any other suggestions??

Tamaralynn, This is a LONG post, but you asked!

There are several factors that make a weight loss plan successful with the primary goal being to strengthen the metabolism, protect your vital organs, and to learn (or re-learn) how to eat properly for weight loss AND maintenance.

Quantity of Food
Quality of Food
Ratios of macronutrients (carbs, protein, fat)
Frequency of Meals/Snacks
Toxic Load
Hydration
Activity

If your plan does not address each and every one of these factors, then it is incomplete. Most dieters address the quantity and perhaps the quality of food and leave it at that... which is why most dieters ultimately fail.

In your case, it seems as though you are addressing the quality, hydration, and activity, which leaves some room for improvement in the areas of quantity, ratios, meal frequency, and toxic load. So here are some suggestions that may help you:

Quantity of Food
If you have not already determined your caloric needs based on your body and lifestyle, you must do that. Otherwise you are just guessing, and taking a risk that you may eat too many or too few calories for a healthy diet.

Your BMR is 1880 and your calorie needs increase to about 2000-2100 with 45-60 minutes of moderate activity each day - these numbers are for weight maintenance. To lose weight you can decrease 10-20%, but never more than that. I recommend reducing as little as possible at first, then tweak from there. So, it would be a good idea for you to consume 1800 calories per day, and if you don't have results reduce as far as 1600, BUT NOT LESS! Also remember that you will need to adjust this number as you lose weight. For example, with every 30lbs loss, your calorie needs drop by about 100 (though this needs to be calculated for every individual).

Ratios of Macronutrients
This is such an important step - it the probably the most important factor in protecting your vital organs, minimizing muscle catabolism, and stabilizing blood glucose levels. Addressing this will make you FEEL better and will help to reduce hunger and cravings that occur between meals. Its also important to understand that all metabolized food consists of some combination of carbs, protein, or fat (and alcohol, but we won't include that here). When you omit or reduce one of these macronutrients, you increase one or more of the others. Its not healthy to consume too much or too little of any specific macronutrient for a variety of reasons. First, lets look at each component and then tie it all together.

Carbs Carbs are converted into glucose (in the liver) which is the body's primary source of fuel. When carbs are not present, the body converts proteins (amino acids from food or from muscle mass) and fat into glucose, but these are much less efficient fuel sources. It's not a good idea to consume less than 40% of your calories as carbs - because your body needs the fuel, but also because by default, you would need to consume too much protein and/or fat to continue to get the proper amount of calories.

Carbs also impact blood glucose levels - eating too many carbs leads to high blood glucose levels, resulting in overproduction of insulin. In the long term, this cycle leads to Type 2 Diabetes and/or Hypoglycemia, and is quite common in overweight individuals. In the short term it can lead to increased hunger, cravings, fatigue, anxiety symptoms. It is not recommended to consume more than 50% of your calories as carbs.

The recommended ratio of carbs in the diet is 40-50% of daily calories.

Protein
Protein, which is converted in amino acids (in the liver) is used to repair and build cells. Technically speaking, you really only need to consume enough protein to maintain the physical structure of your body, and that is a lot less than you might think.

Protein requirements vary from individual to individual, and are influenced by health and stress. Most healthy individuals actually only require about 1 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight (about 2.2 lbs). When the body is stressed (from illness, pregnancy, trauma, etc) more protein is needed (up to 1.5 - 2 grams per kilogram of body weight). But again, you must weigh the other factors into the equation - when you consume smaller amounts of protein, you will by default increase carb and fat consumption, which is not a good idea.

It's extremely dangerous to consume excessive amounts of protein. Your body can actually only process amino acids from about 25 grams of protein at any one time... the excess amino acids are either converted to gucose for fuel (only if needed) or excreted from your body. Protein is NOT stored in the body. The process in which protein is converted to amino acids produces an ammonia-like toxin called Urea Nitrogen. The liver transfers this toxic substance to the kidneys for excretion. Because of the toxicity, the kidneys require more water, leading to dehydration. The more protein you consume, the greater burden you place on your liver and kidneys, and the more dehydrated you become.

The recommended ratio of protein in the diet is 20-30% of daily calories.

Fat
Fat is the body's lubricant - it helps carry hormones and vitamins throughout your body and protects your internal organs from damage. Excessive fat intake leads to obvious ill-health - it effects your cardiovascular system, and liver function, amongst other things. But again, too little fat results in overconsumption of carbs and/or protein, so you cannot cut back too far.

The recommended ratio of fat in the diet is 20-30% of daily calories.Tying this all together leads to a variety of recommendations that will work. Individuals need to determine which ratios work best for their lifestyle. 50% carb/25% protein/25% fat is what I recommend for most people to start with - then tweak from there.

Frequency of Meals
Also extremely important in stabilizing the metabolism. You should eat at least a meal or snack every 3 hours that you are awake, regardless of the time of day. This helps to regulate the blood glucose levels, and reduces the burden on your liver and kidney function because you are eating less in one sitting, so they have less to process at any one time. Eating every 3 hours helps to avoid hunger, cravings, anxiety, and a variety of other symptoms that typically result from poor eating habits.

For most people, 5 meals is easy to accomplish - 3 main meals and 2 snacks. Some people benefit from adding a 6th meal. Next the key is to work it into your plan. Obviously you want to accomplish a reasonable distribution of calories, and to maintain appropriate macronurient ratios at each meal or snack.

For example, if you decide to eat 3 meals and 2 snacks, each meal should equal 1/4 of your total daily calories and each snack should equal 1/8 of your total daily calories. In this case, even if you did not plan for a 6th meal, but you are awake later than usual, you will still benefit by eating an additional snack that equals 1/8 of the daily calories - its not going to impact your weight, but it will definately benefit your metabolism.

Toxic Load
This strategy is closely related to Quality of Food, although that strategy is really more focused on avoiding highly processed foods, white flour products, refined sugars. Toxicity of food it a whole other area you need to worry about. Reducing toxic load, in and of itself, has the GREATEST impact on optimizing liver function which is the control center for metabolism. It will dramatically impact fat metabolism and regulate blood glucose levels.

To reduce your toxic load you need to elimnate all toxic substances from the diet. This includes chemical additives, preservatives, artificial sweeteners (including sugar alcohols), unnecessary medications, recreational drugs, alcohol, coffee/caffeine, etc. All of these things place an enourmous burden on liver and kidney function which decreases metabolic efficiency.

This is the easiest strategy to understand, but for some reason, the one people are most resistant to. Is it difficult to give up diet sodapop, msg, and all that other crapola that's in common foods? Only if you make it difficult! Since I switched to a toxic-free diet, my shopping and cooking is SOOOOO much easier. I just buy meats, fish, veggies, legumes, and whole grains, and I carefully read ingredient lists on anything that comes in a package. Its NOT hard!

Reducing your toxic load alone will often result in weight loss and more efficient fat metabolism, even if no other diet strategy is applied. It is my personal opinion that this is the most important strategy that can be applied to a healthy eating plan.

Regarding the Depo Provera - this alters your hormonal balance which definately effects EVERYTHING in your body, including metabolism. It may take 4-6 months for your body to readjust, but following all of the above strategies will only help that process, as your body's health and balance will be restored.

You're an angel :) Thanks for that long but EXTREMELY informative post!