Ashley walked into the dietician’s office on this fateful day looking frustrated. After making some opening exchanges, she encountered us with the question up there – the topic. Upon probing further, it was discovered that she has been having struggles with shedding body weight. And, it was not due to a lack of effort, but having more to do with how she’s been going about it. Ashley has been on a one-pound per week weight loss plan and she had hoped to slough a substantial number of pounds in 2 months. But one month and three weeks down the line, the value on the weight scale remains far from encouraging. Ashley’s case is just one of many. It has been reported that a considerable number of Americans struggle to lose weight despite trying.

The bailout

Ashley could have been less bothered if it was about shedding the weight only for health reasons – the loss of 5% of her body weight would have been enough. But Ashley wants more as she’s got a particular body shape in view. To this end, it was incumbent on the dietician to help Ashley reach her weight loss goal in the best possible time without any (negative) health consequences. This means rapid weight loss was not a thing to consider.

We made moves to determine the BMI class Ashley belongs to. This was not before we had ascertained that no underlying health concerns were implicated in making her efforts somewhat fruitless. Then, Ashley weighed 220 pounds and was 5’11” tall, and she was 25 years of age. This means she had a BMI of 30.7 which falls within the obese range.

Ashley seems not to have set a realistic weight loss plan from the get-go despite her wish to shed over 60 pounds at the end. So, the dietician’s response to Ashely’s query was ‘YES’, she can lose 3 pounds a week, and have her desired body weight in a couple of months – say, approximately 6 months. And, this is only if she adheres to specific recommendations. Additionally, Ashley was enlightened about the fact that losing 3 pounds per week would mean burning 10,500 calories every week.

First things first; it was necessary to guide Ashley into creating a suitable calorie deficit. Going by the information she provided, it was discovered that she consumes about 2,850 calories daily. With this, it was obvious that Ashley was consuming more calories than she even requires to go about her normal daily activities. By the way; she was given to a sedentary lifestyle and upon calculating her basal metabolic rate (BMR), it was found that the number of calories she needed to sustain daily basic functions was about 2,200 calories.

It’s worth noting that Ashley was only willing to commit 6 days of the week to her weight loss program. In view of this, she will have to burn at least 1,750 calories daily and ensure that she repeatedly keeps her calorie consumption in check on the seventh day. Moving on, the dietician recommended that Ashely consider a weight loss routine that would encompass both dietary restrictions and physical exercises.

In essence, she will need to reduce the quantity of calorie-loaded foods and drinks in her list of favorites. This saw Ashley completely taking pastries, snacks, fast foods out of her dietary list while cutting down on the intake of her cheese delicacy. She was advised to avoid munching on foods with refined carbs and drinks with added sugar. Also, she got to desist from having her chicken deep-fried as she resorted to preparing it by broiling. All these were aimed at ensuring that she makes a calorie cut of 1,000 (calories) from diet-related intervention.

To ensure a good balance; she was advised to start filling up her food bank with whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and lean protein. The objective is to ensure that she becomes full without having to eat a large portion of food. More so, research findings have shown that the consumption of such foods does quell the need for high energy intake. In sum, it’s fewer calories and appreciable satiety. The researchers in a study recommended that obese people who are looking to lose weight see to it that half of their food portion size consists of vegetables. This was exactly what the dietician advised Ashley to key into as she looked towards embracing her 3-pounds per weight loss plan.

A fitness doctor was then consulted to help work out a physical exercise routine for Ashley. This was intended to ensure that the remaining 750 calories were ultimately burned – thus completing the total 1,750 calories that needed to be burned. For her exercises; Ashley engaged in activities like 10 min/mile runs for 30 minutes on four different days. This, she often combined with a 20-minute swimming session. Both activities saw her burning 795 calories more.

When some other days, and as her schedule permitted, she went to the gym to do some strength training under the guidance of the fitness doctor and in a group. With this set of training, she was able to burn a minimum of 750 calories while keeping to her calorie deficit observances. The strength training was quite essential in helping Ashley build her muscle mass and stay fit.

Though the dietician helped Ashley stick to the plan at the initial stage, her (that is Ashley’s) commitment to the cause was undoubtable as time progressed. And, the good news is that after about 5 months and 2 weeks, Ashley was able to shed about 66 pounds of her body weight. Ashley feels more at ease now, and the last time I saw her – about one month or so ago – she appeared to be livelier and have come to own her new body shape.

Like Ashley, anyone that is committed to his/her weight loss program can reap tremendous gains in the end. You can be inspired by Ashley’s story today and put in some work. Plus, you should not hesitate to reach out to an expert – be it a dietician or fitness doctor – where necessary.

References

Ello-Martin JA, Ledikwe JH, and Rolls BJ. (2005). The influence of food portion size and energy density on energy intake: Implications for weight management. Am J Clin Nutr. 82 (1 Suppl): 236S – 241S.

Han L, You D, Zeng F, et al. (2019). Trends in self-perceived weight status, weight loss strategies among adults in the United States, 1999 – 2016. JAMA Netw Open 2(11): e1915219.

Magkos F, Fraterrigo G, Yoshino J, et al. (2016). Effects of moderate and subsequent progressive weight loss on metabolic function and adipose tissue biology in humans with obesity. Cell Metabol. 23(4): 591 – 601.

Rolls BJ, Ello-Martin JA, and Tohill BC. (2004). What can intervention studies tell us about the relationship between fruit and vegetable consumption and weight management? Nutr Rev. 62(1): 1 – 17.