can laxatives help weight loss?

jlawman2 · Newbie Joined: 29 Dec 2007 Posts: 70

Laxatives induces bowel movement, the scales may indicate weight loss after a laxative-induced bowel movement, but it is false weight loss.
Its better if you go in for physical exercise and yoga, drink a lot of water to get all the toxins out of your body, and have fruits and veggies as much as possible rather than any junk food or even over cooked food.

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I AM THE MOTHER OF TWO CHILDREN, 5 3 113POUNDS I HAVE BEEN ABUSING LAXATIVES BECAUSE I AM OBSESSED WITH THE SCALE.
i DIDINT REALIZE THAT IT CAN DAMAGE YOUR PHYSICAL AND MENATL HEALTH SO MUCH. WE CANT ALL BE SUPERMODELS BUT WE CAN FEEL LIKE ONE. I DONT RECOMMEND TO ANYONE TO USE LAXATIVES THEY ARE NOT GOOD FOR YOU.

UPwithlife · Newbie Joined: 13 Mar 2008 Posts: 7

sillysillysilly · Newbie Joined: 22 Mar 2008 Posts: 1

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I hate it when people tell you to be healthy and you will loose weight. Sometimes it's bloody hard to be healthy especially with a busy lifestyle. However.. i used laxatives once and i was sick as a dog and didnt loose anything.

here's a tip... try cutting all your carbs for a weeka nd see the difference. Then gradually add some good carbs back into your diet and built up a little excersise.

that way you can have all the meat and salads and dairy you like.

but dont do it too long cos when u start eating them again you stack the weight back on.

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Katie1 · Newbie Joined: 29 May 2008 Posts: 1

Hi Prella.

That's a scary message. I'm a nutritionist working for a specialist weight-loss clinic in the UK, and I deal on a day-to-day basis with people who are grossly overweight (which you aren't!) and have to lose weight fast - but I would NEVER allow one of my clients to do what you're suggesting! I have dealt with clients in the past who've done crash diets on their own, and the biggest loss I've ever heard reported was sixteen pounds in a month - and that was a woman who still weighed 27 stone (378lbs) when I met her!

When you lose weight quickly it is mainly fluid. If someone your size and weight went on a real, hardcore crash diet I would expect them to lose 5 - 6lbs in the first week - but only 1 or 2lbs would be fat. The trouble with losing fluid is that your body is very good at regaining it, and so that's 5lbs that you WILL put back on when you end your diet (this applies to all diets, by the way, so do take it into account when starting one). It is NOT POSSIBLE for you to lose 20lbs in a month without doing lasting damage - and even if you completely ignore the harm you'd be doing to your body, I still don't think that kind of loss would be achievable.

Another thing to consider is that you're only sixteen, and not tall. Unless other adult members of your family are also short, it may be that you haven't finished growing yet. If this is the case, then by going on a crash diet you risk stunting your growth and getting stuck at 5'1" when you could have been taller.

One of the most common contributing factors behind adult obesity IS dieting in teenage years. Most of us have periods of insecurity in our teens - I thought I was an absolute moose, and I would have enjoyed myself a hell of a lot more if I'd realised at the time that I was actually quite attractive! - but rapid weight-loss is not the answer. People who diet early in life (by which I mean actually restrict their intake rather than simply try to eat healthily) ALWAYS have problems keeping weight off in later life because they've forced their metabolism into starvation mode and it's permanently slowed down. I make a living helping people - mainly women - who through crash dieting have landed themselves with a body than can only take 700 calories a day without piling on weight (for reference, that's two slices of brown bread, one small potato, half a skinless chicken breast and an apple a day - a miserable existence!). The amount of work it takes to get the metabolic rate up from there is staggering, and in most cases it will never go back to what it was before all the diets! It takes months of weight-lifting, HARD aerobic exercise and a horribly restrictive diet - and then a lifetime of maintenance.

A crash diet will also damage your kidneys, your liver, and your intestines, and if it goes on for more than a couple of weeks it can also start to affect your brain function, eyes, skin and hair - it is not uncommon to experience hair loss, flaky skin, blurred vision and wooziness as a result of an extreme diet. You can also get brittle bones (INCLUDING teeth, which few people seem to realise), muscle wastage and a pot-belly through malnutrition. Just look at Amy Winehouse - skinny as hell, but that's an impressive belly!

Having said all this, there are ways to lose weight quickly WITHOUT harming your body. The key to my job is to optimise the weight-loss regime while avoiding further damage to a client's body and mental health, so here's what I'd recommend in your case:

Stick to 1,200 calories a day (anything lower will start to be harmful), and spread it out over the day - ALWAYS eat breakfast even if it's only a piece of fruit, it kicks your body into gear and gets it burning calories for the day.

Make sure you're getting plenty of fibre. There are very cheap powders available now that you can add to a drink - they're tasteless and the calorie content is negligible.

Take a multivitamin every day, and calcium and iron supplements as well - if you support your body as far as possible during weight-loss you minimise the risk of doing permanent damage.

Avoid carb (bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, cereal) after 6pm - your body can turn carb directly into fat, so having it sit in your gut overnight isn't helpful. If you must eat late (and we all get the cravings sometimes) make it something high in protein - your body can't convert it directly to fat, so you'll get away with it occasionally.

DRINK lots! Water is essential for flushing all the yuk (including fat) out of your system and keeping your body in good condition. For someone your size, 2 - 2.5 litres a day is a good level.

EXERCISE: Sorry, but it makes all the difference both to the weight loss and to preventing damage. You need to maintain muscle-mass to avoid tanking your metabolism so some weight-bearing exercise is essential - try to do two weights sessions a week (and don't worry if you don't have a gym membership - you can do plenty at home with heavy objects and ankle-weights). Don't over-do this - the aim is not to damage your muscles - but lean muscle burns fat and calories so you need to make sure you have some!

Aerobic exercise is also important. You need oxygen to metabolise fat, so keep the effort level at about 70 - 80% for forty minutes three times a week - you can make it even more effective by doing this first thing in the morning before you eat. If you work flat-out you deplete your muscles of oxygen and they start getting their energy anaerobically and without burning fat (this is what happens in cardio training), so it's actually more effective for weight-loss to take it a little bit easier.

If you stick to this plan, I would expect you to lose around four to five pounds in the first week, and then two pounds a week from then on. DON'T be tempted to lose more by cutting your calories further - you'll just slow your metabolism and make it more difficult later on.

Based on your size and age, a healthy weight for you would be between 110 and 135lbs, so you're not far off now - if you stick to the plan I've outlined above, you should get into that range within six weeks. Once you're there (and don't go any lower, it's not about trying to look like a cancer patient), gradually increase your daily calories back to approximately the 1,800 mark (add 200 calories if you have an exercise session that day). Keep up the fibre, the exercise and continue to avoid carb in the evening and you should keep the weight off very easily - and you'll have done it without endangering your health in later life!

I wish you all the luck in the world, and please do follow my advice - I'm trying to help you avoid the kind of weight problems I see every day. Good luck!

tjh · Newbie Joined: 23 Jun 2008 Posts: 1

my good friend just lost 20 pounds in about 6 weeks by really working the program on overeaters anonymous (OA). it helps you deal with food addictions and gets you on a food plan. get a sponsor and then follow the plan and you will lose weight! best of all it's FREE and will teach you lifelong eating habits.

Niamh09 · Newbie Joined: 23 Jun 2008 Posts: 2

Ive put on 2 stone since last year. Although I look healthier cos i was 6 1/2 stone and am now almost 9 , i hate the way it makes my tummy and face look. Im going away to california in august for my hols and i bought duphalac, a mild laxative today to help mke lose my tummy fast before i go. is it really thst bad? i only need it until i go away and then i know i wont be bothered using them. but is it that bad that you have to go to the toilet constantly? Sad

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can laxatives help weight loss?

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