I am a breast, cancer, patient and as a result, I’ve been on an aromatase inhibitor for almost 5 years. During that time I have not necessarily gained a lot of weight, but I have absolutely struggled to lose any weight. I got all the platitudes, eat, less, exercise, more, track what you eat, try harder. Somewhere in the past year, I learned that the aromatase inhibitor I have been taking has the effect of causing fat cells that are typically burned for energy to instead deposit into adipose tissue hence making it very difficult to lose weight. I discussed it with my new chemo therapy doctor , explaining to him that, despite tracking what I eat, keeping it at an appropriate calorie level to lose pounds, and exercising vigorously, both strength and cardio each, and every week for four years, running, that I am unable to lose any weight. Yet all kinds of medical professionals continue to say to me, eat less, exercise, more, try harder. He looked at me and he said it’s your anastrozole that’s keeping you from losing weight. I asked him about weight loss medication’s, and he said, as long as they were not hormone-based, and that would be the major challenge, medication might be helpful. I went to my primary care doctor and explained the situation. I did a three month round of phentermine and was able to lose 12 pounds. 10 of them came off in the first month that months two and 3 Slowed Way down. He said that the average weight loss on phentermine over a three month window is around 10 to 15 pounds so even though most of it was in the first month it still did work. I’m on a two month break and in January will resume medication to see if I can lose another 10 to 15 pounds. The phentermine is not hormonal and he said there was another medication. So the comments that it’s just a simple matter of what you eat, how many calories in how much exercise sound good but they don’t apply to everyone. And not every person who is overweight is just a fat lazy slug.
I also believe that there are many medical reasons why people gain weight and struggle to lose weight. It is a much more complex problem, and we are led to believe.JMHO