I eat a well balanced diet and I exercise a few times a week - why am I still obese?

[Anonymous]

What do you think about this? This is my situation and some of my friends are in the same boat. What else do you think could be done to lose weight? My parents want me to take weight loss medication but I really don't want to go down that road :(

[kheserthorpe]

Well, you should seek professional advice, etc. etc. Really. But since you're asking and we're here, the more info you can give the better the odds we might be able to suggest something constructive:

Any health issues in general? Diabetes, etc?

What's your general energy level like?

Can you give me an example of your typical daily diet?

And how often are you above that? What would an 'unusual' day be like, how often?

What type of exercise do you do?

What's your resting heart rate like?

How strong are you?

Is your weight not moving at all, or moving down very slowly?

How long have you been obese?

Have you ever had your thyroid checked?

[Anonymous]

There are several possibilities, and obviously no one on the internet can say for certain which is the case. A doctor could see you in person, and probably tell you.

Here's the possibile options :

1) There is something medically wrong with you (for example hyperthyroidism, insulin resistance, diabetes, etc...)

2) You have messed up your metabolism through a series of failed crash dieting.

3) Your balanced diet, is still too high in calories for you to lose weight.

[Anonymous]

It's probably just your metabolism and not anything you're doing wrong.

I'm the opposite.. I eat loads and don't gain weight (many people hate me for it!)

But it's luck of the draw, meds might help you and it's probably better than taking dieting to an extreme.

Good luck!

[Asker]

i don't hate you :)

but I'm definitely jealous! I know a lot of people like that who are naturally slim or thin even. its the funniest scene when we go out, ill be the one eating something healthy and theyll be the ones eating all the seriously fatty, junk foods. talk about irony.

[Opinion Owner]

Yep, I have a friend like that.. It looks like our meals were put in front of the wrong person!

There are meds, foods and possibly exercises to help speed up metabolism - if you really want it you'll get there in the end :)

[Anonymous]

you're metabolism...u need to eat foods which speed up your metabolism. you should try the "Ashy bines " diet - google it :-)