I've been on a diet for the past 2 weeks. I basically eat only shrimp. (my friend killed a shrimp salesman) anyway, I don't even eat a lot!

But my weight refuses to go down, and I can't get rid of that there belly!

Can someone reccomend a good diet? or any tips? literally if someone says "do this and this for this ammount of time and you'll get results, I can vouche for it" I'll do it!

suggestions!

Check out the Health Forum and dieting?

are you taking lyrica

Eating too little could counteract your attempt to lose weight. If you can't consult with a dietician or a nutritionist start googling websites that give you menu ideas for healthy diets... and I don't mean the cliched 'diet'. Losing weight rapidly is probably one of the worst ways to lose weight and most likely you will not keep it off. As well, I'm not sure why you are eating only shrimp but you can really eat most every fish/seafood/meat/poultry and still drop weight. You just need to be wise about it. A balanced eating plan is the best eating plan and it really is something that you should work into your daily lifestyle indefinitely, versus a 30 day crash course in shrimp lol. Hydrating is also very important so keep up good water intake (for a plethora of reasons)

Good luck to you.

That shrimp makes you thirsty and has the potential for you to retain water. I lost 30 pounds on Weight Watchers using the points program. It was really pretty easy, just keeping up with how much I ate and not over eating! And the beauty of it was, I was eating regular foods I normally eat. Just watching the intake.

Admittedly, I did FIND the weight again that I had lost. I splurged for my birthday on some yummy Italian food & it was all downhill from there! I'm going to do it again this year.........just start after my birthday next month!
~Stella

There's a thing called 'Tetra Belly', which a lot of high SCI guys suffer with. You can look quite slim when laid flat but once you're sat in your chair your belly looks huge. Its mostly due tp posture and lack of abdominal muscles, which allows your internal organs to move downwards.

Diet alone wont cure it, you'll just end up losing fat from the wrong places. Its like AB women who want to lose weight of their bums so go on a diet and only lose it off their bust.

A good bowel routine can keep your belly slimmer plus trying to utilise your abdominal muscles in some way also helps.

I was as skinny as hell when first injured, I'm not fat now, but my belly isn't as slim as I'd like it to be. After 50 years as a SCI I don't expect to look like Brad Pitt but I try to keep as fit looking as possible.

Scribbler,
On THAT note, an abdominal binder works . . . then you can continue eating whatever strikes your fancy!

Back in my mid 20's I was at a party one night, after having just lost 30lbs. I was feeling great and just loving the energy I had gained from the weight loss. Towards the end of the party some drunk guy, whom I knew briefly, came up to me and said "You look really great... too bad you couldn't lose that belly". I was mortified but I then realized it will always be an issue. I've come to fall in love with my belly now... it's soft, it's round, it's part of me and I still feel rather sexy in spite of it.

Darn it Scribbler, you did see me naked and you still have to blab what you saw all over this site. Last time I give you peep show.


Well, I suppose I'll put in my words of wisdom. I'm AB and have never, ever dieted. In fact, if I see the words, low cal, low sugar, no fat, diet, etc. I don't buy it or eat it. I like to eat what I like to eat. The secret is moderation. The only times I've ever gained weight was from the times my numerous neurologists I've seen throughout the years for my migraines, felt it necessary for me to try all sorts of combinations of anti-seizure and other migraine preventatives that did nothing but mess with my thyroid. Fortunately, I found a Dr. who realizes I've done it all in the 25 years I've suffered and there's nothing that can be done except to soothe the pain. But, I still have the weight gain from when my metabolism slowed down from the last bout of meds and the weight gain happened very quickly. The only thing that helps me is working out.

I know you have limitations, but if you think about what you can move, try to incorporate some exercises. I've been helping Mr. Hapa (C5,6,7 Incomp) get his muscles back from losing about 60 lbs. in a very short time. So you see losing weight doesn't really help, you'll end up losing what muscles you do have and it's hard to get back. I made up a chart of the things my husband can do and we mix things up during the week. Just yesterday, I spotted him on the bench while he lifted his hand weights to work on his pecs. This helps me when I help him b/c I tighten my stomach muscles as I help him get his arms together those last few inches. While he's on the bench I straddle him and we lock arms and I help him do crunches. It helps when you have a workout partner.

Mr. Hapa used to drink a lot of beer and at one time had quite a belly. He has a neuro-muscular stimulator (I don't know if they are still referred to by this name) but, he would hook it up to his abs and zap 'em. I believe about a year ago I saw a commercial for something similar showing AB people with one strapped to their bellies and they tightened their abs while watching TV. I doubt you'll ever completely lose your belly, but it doesn't hurt to work on those muscles and as Lune14 suggests check with a dietician or on menu ideas. I've heard it's not really a good idea to keep eating the same thing, you really don't get anywhere. You don't have to starve yourself to lose weight. Just be proud of your efforts. Good luck.

Dieting is very bad for your body! People follow extreme diets, i.e., eating only shrimp for two weeks, and lose weight over a short period of time. When they go back to their regular eating habits they inevitably gain it all back with a few friends to boot! You shouldn't diet but try to find a healthy lifestyle eating program. Follow that, and your weight will 'slowly' adjust itself to a healthy level. Use the Body Mass Index to find out what your healthy weight range should be. Weigh yourself regularly to track the loss but don't expect short term results. It's extremely unhealthy to starve yourself and drop weight quickly. It's probably taken you months or even years to pack on the extra weight. To lose weight and keep it off you need to do it slowly. Your body needs a diverse diet.

I never diet. At 43, I've maintained the same weight as I was when I was a teenager. Day to day I 'loosely' follow the Suzanne Sommers program (it's a low carb focused eating regime) but I will absolutely indulge on special occasions. After which, I go back to my regular eating routine. I may put on 5/10 lbs on special occasions or over the holidays but I won't starve myself to loose it. It comes off 'slowly' when I go back to my regular eating regime.

There was a study that came out in July showing that over the long term, people who followed the low carb eating regime had the most success losing weight and keeping it off. If you are going to eat carbs, eat whole grains. Stay away from refined carbs (white flour and corn syrup), i.e., white bread, white rice, white pasta, cereals that are not made from whole grains. I would highly recommend staying away from 'processed' foods period. Corn syrup is in almost every processed food today, from peanut butter to salad dressing to boxed chicken. It's disgusting and North America is getting fatter and fatter. Go back to basics. Fresh fruit and veggies (steam veggies to lock in nutrients), lean meats, nuts, low fat dairy and whole grain carbs.

Don't look for a quick fix! It won't work. Think long term solution. Permanently change the way you eat.

Lastly, I did a seminar in rehab where they talked about the 'pouch' which results from a lack of abdominal muscles. One gentleman recommended an abdominal binder. He wore one under his shirt and it kept his stomach from bulging out. They actually issued me one in the hospital where I had my surgery but my injury is lower so I gave it to someone I met in rehab who's injury was higher up.

Good luck!

Amen sister!!!

I did the whole ab binder for a while, when I was feeling a little bloated. It does help hold the tummy down..

But losing the weight is a better option.. Those binders are tight and will make you piss yourself if you move the wrong way!

Last time I tried to get a six-pack I ended up with a pony keg.

Hi - I think scribbler "hit it on the head" with his comment about the belly.

It is very true, depending on your injury level some may be surprised by the "overnight" belly you get from a spinal injury. No muscle control to suck it in. You do not have to be overweight to have the belly. Not being able to hold your self up completely also make the belly more noticable.

You can stretch up iin your chair (and don't move) and make yourself appear longer and slimmer and then comes the point where you need to do something and have to roll along with your posture/belly not at it's best. Oh well.

I am a t7, for 5 years now. One of my daily excercises are sit ups. I was only able to move my head/neck up for a while, and just today I noticed I moved up at least to the top of my shoulders so I could even reach left and right with my elbows in the sit up.

I think it may help other muscles strengthen to help take place of some with the loss of the ab muscles. But it is a change to me that came with the spinal injury. I try to just deal with it. For me, it is almost worse then not walking.

Good eating habits, lots of water are a must with spinal injury.

Thanks Scribbler.

From Cowgirl

I am t5 with a small belly, i found the size of my belly increases when i drink beer....hehehe 4 real, also when i get allot of excercise it seems to shrink. Really watching what you eat(ie) no fast food, lotsa veggies and fruits, moderatly low sugar intake ( sweets) really helps. But excercise is the best way to stay fit (no belly) and not 2 mention makes you feel great! Im sure you have heard it before but i am just into my first year of this wretchid curse and i am learning as i go as you are. Hope this helps good luck , chin up and focus on what really drives you

Well Swordfish, everyone has given you good advice so I hope its helped. Just try what works for you, we're all different so some things work better than others.

Healthy eating doesn't mean you have to cut out the 'naughties' we all enjoy, moderation is the key.

None of us are going to have a 'Six Pack'; we don't have the muscles for it so our bellies will always be soft, but a soft belly is a nice place for someone to rest their head...

I'm quite happy with my shape, I'm quite slim and my belly isn't that big. I just wish I had hair, but I cant do anything about that. I wonder why it stops growing on your head but then starts sprouting out your ears and nose; maybe its lost its way....

Hi Bud - Good advise, you are right that sometimes when I am a little slimmer, the belly is too. But, according the Doc, it will not ever go away. It is ok, I have managed clothes to make it less noticed. I do watch what I eat and most of the time I get a lot of exercise, except this week of "Fay" swinging through with all her rain.

I have a horse/adaptive saddle and lift, by the time I am up there I have had more exercise then I usually want!

Thanks for your imput!

Scribbler,you are very funny with some of your comments. I never thought about the hair moving problem.

I agree that a head resting on a soft belly is always a good thing.

You must have tons of advise if you have truely been in a chair for 50 years? Or are you kidding.
I have thought if I just made it another10-15 I would be happy. But I am over 48 and 10-15 looked about right. So I exercise, eat right and have fun 98% of the time!!

Thank you both - Cowgirl

Hi I was wondering if you ever found anything to help with losing your bellY? My husband is a paraplegic and he has the same problem,i would so love to find something to help him.

Could this be more of a feminine problem? I ask because I have that quad belly now and I really find it hard to come to terms with, I remember thinking "at least I'll have a great(er) upper body", when I was injured - but what a nasty surprise.
There's nothing when I'm on my back, but when I sit up.. and I haven't gained weight..
So a binder? but I'd rather not start getting wet (again - took some time to find the right med, to begin with)

[font="Georgia"][/font] [size="3"][/size] Sorry I did not get back on the site for so long, can't believe it has been so long. I did talk to my Doc about the "belly", after you have lost what weight you can, done what excercises you can do to keep it from getting worse, then you just have extra belly. So I just tried to get use to it as part of me and dress to help look slimmer in the belly line. If you have lost the control of muscle use there, then you can not do much else about it. Talk with you later about something I suppose. - Cowgirl

Hey Swordfish,

I'm assuming that, by now, you've given up the shrimp diet. Yikes!

Have you tried stomach crunches? Even if you're a higher level, you can lie on your back on the floor, hands behind head or arms reaching to your toes, and try to do a "sit-up". Now, you'll never do a full sit-up, but try to get atleast your head and maybe shoulders off the floor.
As you "sit-up", breathe out and count to five (in your head), then lie back down slowly. This way, you will target both sets of your upper stomach muscles. As you get better, increase the time to ten. And do reps of ten, then rest.

Something else that will help is sitting on the edge of the bed and lifting your arms up or reaching forward. Just in trying to balance will use your stomach muscles. Careful, though. ;)

Hope this helps!

Cyndi

Send me $100 and i garentee you'll loose all the weight you want

But, ya, used to be when I'm laying on my back you could literally count my ribs, but when i sat up i gots a belly.

Hi, I guess if I met everyone laying down I would look slimmer!! Darn, that will not work. I am going back to therapy in Daytona Beach, and the PT is helping me with trunk stability,etc so I hope it will help some for balance, the muscles to sit more upright and transfers without a slide board. I just deal with it now. How is the weather up there now? I would love a little cool air now!! It is cookin' here!! Thanks for the offer, if I get that $100., I think I will go to the movies & salad bar instead...

Yep, you will need to change totally your life style if you would like to loose that belly. Eat less, eat healthy and exercise regularly! Don't expect to happen over the night. Slowly but surely, results will show up! So far I've lost over 30 lbs. Small portions of Fruits, Vegetables, water and exercise! No cookies, chocolate, beer, red meat, etc. Good luck!

OMG>>>>>> when I herniated 8 years ago, I instantly gained a small belly through muscle loss,but have managed to keep it under control. But my how its grown in 5 weeks.....Its huge !!! my keyworker says I look 8 months pregnant! Cheers Julie, luv you too! Jeans - shorts - joggers - none of them fit. Was a 34" waist upto 13th july. nxt day was 36" Ive just passed 38" waist now where is it going to end. I look and feel like the BLOB......... LOL
Got a physio starting work on my in 5 days time, hope they can get through the door!!!!

I use the motomed every day for at least half an hour, I think it is great for keeping the weight off.
(I hate this snow)

I gained 50 pounds on Lyrica....and I hear it is the norm - it's a hell off a fight to get the weight back off!

I've read ALMOST all the replies, but got pretty tired of them. So if i'm saying something that's already been said, sorry. Your original question was how to lose the belly. i haven't always been small. When i was pregnant w/ my daughter, i gained a lot of weight, lost most of it, then got pregnant again w/ my son. I was put on steroids w/ him due to complications. My weight sky-rocketed!!! I found out about a diet/way of life really, through my aunt who has a child w/ special needs and has to maintain a safe weight. Anyways....i've used it so many times throughout my life, and i'm fixing to do it again in hope that it will help me w/ my energy again and muscle build up.

It's a type of carb "diet", but i'm horrible at diets. I wanna eat my southern cookin' and if i want a lot, then so be it. Now i know this will all sound a little mysterious, but hey, if you can eat only shrimp for weeks, then maybe you can look passed the way it sounds. I GUARANTEE you will lose some weight. I've lost over 100 lbs. Not quick i would say over about a 6 month course or so.
And i've kept it off ever since. I weight 123 lbs right now.

k, now i also must say that this way of eating works best for people that are addicted to carbs. If you're already a healthy eater, or you don't endulge in what i like, which is straight up bad carbs like: potatoes, pasta, rice, bread, soda, etc.... then you need not apply. Also fruits that i love have tons of carbs in them.... alright, here goes....

Rules:
1. 2 out of 3 meals a day and include the 2 snack times in between, you cannot eat any carbs. Bad or good, no.
2. you may pick one meal a day, it can be any you want. I usually chose dinner because it would give me something to look forward to. Or if you know you're going out somewhere with some friends or something then you know you can eat whatever you want. During this meal you can eat anything, and as much as you want of it for 60 minutes. One hour, set a timer, watch the clock, whatever. My mother used to get everything she had craved throughout the day right in front of her and set a timer and i swear it was like a eating contest. All the coffee, cokes, ice cream, potatoes, pasta, cakes, etc. you can eat, but when that 60 minutes is over, no more. Until tomorrow.
3. You have to eat 3 meals a day, plus the two snacks in between.
4. optional, but makes it better and faster.....if you eat your last meal before 6pm you will have faster results.

Thats all the rules, not too hard.
As far as what i ate and how i did it, it was very easy. i did cheat during lunch and i would eat a chicken salad, but i never substituted my ranch dressing and i still ate my grape tomatos which had a gram of carbs per tomato. So a little cheating like that. i was terribly addicted to Dr. Pepper at the time, so that was the hardest for me. Then i found crystal light and it was fine. I never ate breakfast before, so making something in the morning was a pain for me sometimes. But i got in a routine of boiling about 2-3 eggs, salt n pepper and the that was my breakfast. Lunchtime would be a HUGE chicken salad. I would eat beef jerky and cheese sticks usually for snacks when it was time. The great thing about this particular program for me was that you can eat all the meat you want. I'm a meat eater by far, so it was simple for me. At dinner you can have the biggest steak ever and if it filled me up then i would stop there. But for a long time i would eat just plain junk food at night just to see if this crazy program really worked. It did, everytime i've ever used it, i always lose about 5 -7 lbs the first week. Which is always the easiest week. But it's great for guys especially, because you don't have to look like you're on a diet if you decide to go out, or have some guys over and they all want some pizza!! if you wake up crazing pancakes w/ tons of syrup, go for it, just remember what you can have the rest of the day and stick w/ it. Eventually you will notice that you aren't really craving all the sodas and junk food. And you'll also notice that since you CAN eat whatever you want once a day, you won't over indulge or break the "program". And it honestly is a easy way to eat and live. There also would be times where i would reach this plateatu of no weightloss, and funny enough, all i would do is eat bad stuff for just a few days and then kick it back in gear. It worked!!! I wouldn't go to all this trouble to tell you this if it didn't promise. I was working out at the time, and i was AB, so i'm also being honest about that. And i do want you to be aware that too much protein can hurt your bowels if you don't have enough fluids and fiber. And changing your diet will definitely mess w/ your bowel routine, but if you like it then make it work. Other things on the list you CAN eat that's carb free is ummm....let's see....anything that ends w/ berry (strawberrys, blueberrys, blackberrys, etc) Green beans, brocoli w/cheese, cheese, and then when you eat whatever you wanna eat go all out. Test it.

if you have any questions then feel free to email me...ttyl, hope it helps out!!

april