How can my weight gain be controlled?

Q: I am a 34 years old female undergoing treatment for endometriosis and Lupron injection is being given to me. My weight has increased in folds. Presently I am 185 lbs and am 5 feet tall. Please suggest me a non-vegetarian diet plan to reduce my weight at least by 70-80 lbs in the next four months. I am planning to join gym from next month but I do walk a lot and do a bit of yoga at home. We have treadmill at home and I also run on it. The gynaecologist told me that my weight gain is probably due to the hormone injected and that I must exercise and follow a diet plan.

A:I am not sure what you current weight is, as you have mentioned 185 lbs in one section and 185 kg in another. However, I am assuming that your current weight is 185 lbs or 83.9 kgs.

As per your stated height and weight (5'1" and 83.9 kgs), your BMI is 35.3 kg/m2, whereas your ideal BMI should be between 18.5-23.0 kg/m2. Try and get back to a BMI of under 23.0 kg/m2. This would mean a target weight of 54-55 kgs and a corresponding weight loss of 30 kilos. An intimidating target but you can do it, though you will have to understand that it will take time.

To give you an idea about the rate at which a person can lose weight: an individual with no health problem, who is also not on any prescription medications can lose about 2 kgs (4.4 lbs) to a maximum of 5 kg (11.1 lbs) in one months time. Hence, your requirement of losing 70-80 lbs in 4 months time (that is a weight loss 20 lbs per month) is not practical and would be difficult to achieve considering your current medical problem.

It will help you better if you try and achieve weight loss gradually. Keep small weight loss goals eg try and lose 5 kgs for starters and once you achieve that, keep another 5 kilos as your target and so on, until you near your target weight. The happiness of achieving these mini-weight loss goals will spur you and motivate you to continue with your weight loss plan.

Its difficult to provide a diet chart to any one without knowing details like their 24-hour dietary recall and additional information like food allergies/intolerances, prescription drugs being consumed, work/home schedule and so on. A diet plan which is very general may not give results as per your requirements. Hence, advise you to consider meeting up with a qualified dietitian in person and start with your weight loss plan.