Weight loss question and possible parasite question

[LilaGirl]

Hi Shelley,

I’ll try to keep this brief but there are a few things going on here.

One is that I’m trying to lose weight and can’t and two is that I suddenly have this quite big belly . . .


Two years ago, I started Zoloft and went off it after about 6 months and 25 lbs weight gain. Since I stopped the Zoloft, I have gone to the gym on an average of 3-5 times per week and done intensive cardio (I used to do 90 minutes, now I do 30 mins and some weights about 4X per week). . . I tried different eating styles (but never really dieted). I generally avoid sugar, flour, gluten, dairy and keep wine or chocolate to a minimum. In all that time, about 18 months now, I’ve lost 6 pounds. I’m 36, five-foot-seven, and I pretty much always weighed about 130. Now I’m 149. I want to get back own to 130, but I’ve wanted to do it slowly – and this is just MUCH too slow.

Any tips? My current diet is a morning protein shake with 1 tbsp raw almond butter, a scoop of protein powder (sometimes I use metagenics ultra clear), rice milk, a banana, frozen organic blueberries, lecithin, and cinnamon. For lunch, I have a cup of kichadi, some spinach, and some sardines (variations of this), same for dinner, and often I’ll have a bag to a half a bag of popped organic (no additives, no salt) popcorn with olive oil, herbamare, and yeast flakes.

Am I eating too much? Can I lose weight like this? Should I cut carbs?

I’ve done liver cleanses – at least one per year for the past three years, and I barely touch salt. I take some minimal vitamins – D, b-12, c, zinc occasionally, Emergen-C, fish oil.

I’m about to go get some new food allergy tests, and I’ll avoid whatever shows up. But why can’t I lose weight?

I’d gained weight all over, but right now it seems to be concentrated in my hips and midsection.

The second part of this issue is that I was traveling in Italy for about six weeks, and I got really sick with the flu, during that time I started antibiotics (which I *never* take, but I was *super* sick and I *never* get sick!) . . . the first night of the antibiotic, I stayed up for 6 hours with symptoms of what seemed like giardia. But can you get Giardia in Italy? I won’t go into details. It was terrible, insane, and gross. I’ve never experienced anything like it.

It stopped by the next day and I continued to take the antibiotics with relative ease.

When I got home, a couple weeks went by (I was fine) and I started to notice that my stomach *looked* kind of bloated. The important thing here is that it did not *feel* bloated—no gas, no pressure, digesting fine, no pain. I was just alarmed by this big belly of mind.

Mind you, the weight I lost (the six pounds I mentioned) was due to being sick. I’m wondering, did my weight redistribute somehow and go to my belly? I can grab a couple inches there. It’s gross! And I work out and do sit ups!

So do you think it’s a parasite?

I stopped eating all salt and only have some herbamare from time to time and sea salt. I’m at a loss. I got some huma worm (parasite cleanse), but I’d just like to get your opinion.

Generally, I will add, I’ve been feeling fine overall.

[shelley]

Hi Lila!

Weight gain from mood managing drugs like Zoloft is very very very common. Everyone should be cautioned that it's best to change one's lifestyle and diet before trying these type of drugs if you want your body to stay looking the same. So I wouldn't immediately point a finger at parasites just because you had a bout of diarrhea, which almost always happens when we travel simply because we're throwing a heck of a lot of new, unfamiliar microorganisms at our immune system when we leave home base. Best thing for that is to simply eat extra kefir and yogurt for a bit, or take live acidophilis/bifidus supplements. If you had worse parasites you'd still be having bouts of diarrhea and other weird symptoms here and there.

Zoloft really does mess up the metabolism, but I can't find any good documentation that explains WHY. The pharms don't want it commonly known that it does this so they're not even admitting to it. They say it only happens because it relieves anxiety and so people are happy and eat more. Sillyness.

Your diet is excellent, really, and could be a weight loss diet IF the proportions for lunch and dinner are SMALL and if you add in regular cardiovascular exercise. Are you raising your heart rate frequently? All you have to do is 20 jumping jacks 3-5x a day if you can't spare an entire 20 minutes of walking.

I'd love to see pictures of you to make sure the weight gain really is disproportionate. We all tend to see our own curves as something ugly when actually tehy're not so ... pictures of the entire body in sillhouette and front-on really help. IF the weight-gain is truly disproportionate around the middle and thighs, that means the zoloft (or an estrogenic food,e xcept you didn't list any) affected your estrogen levels, or there was a by-product that can only be transported and stored by fats. That often happens with pharms, unfortunately.

The best thing to do for that case is to keep eating what you listed, but near-fasting levels, like skip dinner occasionally. Add in some exercise and take lecithin 3x a day. Keep up the blueberries. Also add in some Taurine and a good liver cleanser like Liv.52 or Livatone plus. And be sure to SWEAT in a detox bath at least twice a week and then replace the fluids.

Hope that helps!

[LilaGirl]

I tried e-mailing you twice and haven't heard back. Wondering if I went to your spam folder?

[shelley]

I didn't see anything. Did you send it to my Lady_Shelleycat@yahoo.com addy?

[LilaGirl]

Shelley, I sent it to you; let me know if you don't receive it.

[shelley]

OKay, I got the pics and now my e-mail is acting up! ARgh!

The weight gain is a bit disproportionate, but it looks like a combination of factors. I think your minerals got way too depleted from the bout of diarrhea. YOu can actually gain weight from a lack of potassium, and I think that's what happened to you, along with the usual liver overload from never cleansing it, and a bit of estrogen dominance.

I'd like to go over your past history a bit more and what you've done so far when we speak, which we can next week no problem. Just e-mail me again with good days/times. I've got a weird schedule on MWF but am wide open on T-Th.

Your best bet with the estrogen dominance is to take Vitex, an herb that regulates without estrogen. Julia has a powerful Vitex tincture she calls Fem-Mate at www.sensiblehealth.com. That plus Chinese Bitters would do your liver a lot of good, or Livatone Plus is cheaper and better for people who have taken pharmeceuticals.

Low potassium, low zinc, low iodine, low hydrochloric acid, will all cause weight gain like what you've got (loose abdomen). Here's what I recommend:

Drink the Cleansing DRink at least once a day. Use just a teaspoon of grade B maple syrup and make it sweeter with Stevia - no calorie, no sugar all-natural sweetener. Make it with just 8 ounces water and drink about 20 minutes prior to your main meal so it acidifies your stomach. TAke something else to acidify your stomach for other meals and see the stomach acid self-test in the FAQ.

Take 50 mg of chelated zinc for about 4 weeks.

Take the RDA for Iodine for two weeks.

Make potassium broth once or twice soon.

Reduce intake of salt.

Begin comprehensive liver cleansing - see FAQ, whatever works best in addition to what I've already mentioned. AFter 2-3 weeks, flush. Do at least 2 flushes. MOre depending on what you see, don't see.

Why did the doc prescribe Zoloft? Did they run a thyroid panel first? A lot of women get offered mood alterers when all they have is a wonky thyroid.

More when we speak.

[LilaGirl]

Okay, Shelley, I wrote back to you to let you know Tuesday works.