Calling all Exante men! Help needed!

[*lil*]

Hello

My hubby is on Exante ( 3 shakes a day) and in my opinion is losing weight slowly!

I can't see my signature or update it because I'm on phone, whatever the last update was there's -2 lbs less now.

He is currently 5ft 8 and weighs 16.01. His BMI is 34.something!
He is an assistant manager of a big retail company so is pretty active at work, he did exercise on aam week but had a 2lb gain. So he decided to stop exercising.

I tried contacting Exante and got mixed replies, I just wondered if anyone on here has any tips or advice! A bit of 'real' peoples experiences might help better than general advice is what I'm thinking!

Ive suggested his metabolism might have slowed too much so maybe to add a pack or more exercise?

Any tips to try would be appreciated!
Thank you in advance

 

[Froom37]

Is he drinking enough water - I try and hit 3-4 litres per day and I think its important to burn fat.
If he's only having 3 packs then he will lose weight - there is some stuff online about fat cells retaining water so can slow down and speed up periodically. I'm currently in a slow period at the mo but am hanging on in there.

personally there's no way I could do it just on milkshakes - I crave solid food terribly. Assuming he's not snacking secretly, then he must have insane willpower - kudos to him.

My day is typically :
Bar on the train
Soup for lunch
Cup of bouillon and milkshake for dinner

If I do swap a pack for a meal I try and stick to 200 cals, 10g carbs which is what the milkshakes and soups are. I wouldn't personally advise adding a pack to "boost metabolism" because my opinion is that weight loss is simply down to calories in being less than calories out. Ketosis is just a nice inbuilt way of not feeling hungry (and burns fat because its the only source of energy available to the body)

 

[*lil*]

Is he drinking enough water - I try and hit 3-4 litres per day and I think its important to burn fat.
If he's only having 3 packs then he will lose weight - there is some stuff online about fat cells retaining water so can slow down and speed up periodically. I'm currently in a slow period at the mo but am hanging on in there.

personally there's no way I could do it just on milkshakes - I crave solid food terribly. Assuming he's not snacking secretly, then he must have insane willpower - kudos to him.

My day is typically :
Bar on the train
Soup for lunch
Cup of bouillon and milkshake for dinner

If I do swap a pack for a meal I try and stick to 200 cals, 10g carbs which is what the milkshakes and soups are. I wouldn't personally advise adding a pack to "boost metabolism" because my opinion is that weight loss is simply down to calories in being less than calories out. Ketosis is just a nice inbuilt way of not feeling hungry (and burns fat because its the only source of energy available to the body)

We both just do shakes to be honest! When he isn't on a diet he only used to eat once a day as well. He smokes so I think that takes the edge off hunger! He struggles with water he drinks 2 ltrs a day. We have the odd cup of tea and coke zero as well.

He has his first shake at 12.30 one at 5.30 then one about 9.00! Maybe he needs his first one earlier, we both don't have it earlier because it's night time when we get hungry!
Thanks for your reply x

 

[debs78]

Can I just ask if your post is right and he is having 3 shakes a day. As a man he should be having 4 a day. His body may well be in famine mode because he's not getting enough calories. My DBF is on TS and lost 10.5lbs last week.

 

[Starlight]

Can I just ask if your post is right and he is having 3 shakes a day. As a man he should be having 4 a day. His body may well be in famine mode because he's not getting enough calories. My DBF is on TS and lost 10.5lbs last week.

Men only need to have 3 packs same as us girls as far as I'm aware

He could have a 4th if he wanted but it's not like CD where you get more packs depending on your sex/height etc

 

[Froom37]

I'd definitely start earlier - if he gets up about 7 or 8 then thats 4 hours when his body needs food and is being starved. It slows the metabolism right down defensively. Equally, when you eat just before you go to bed you have food in your system and your metabolism slows down when you sleep so its just stored rather than being burned.
I'm a similar size (well I was - I'm about 15 stone now after a month) and have had a similar slow down in week 5.
My advice - have first shake around 8, second 12.30 and last around 7. Drink 3 litres of water a day (I carry a 750ml bottle to help with that). I also have a sneaking suspicion about Coke Zero but not sure yet!

Another thing I've found is that my scales are crap - they fluctuate a lot based on time of day. I weigh myself every day (I know bad idea!) which means I have a very good understanding now of how my weight fluctuates though. How much water you drank makes a BIG difference as does time of day.

Stick with it - I think you'll get better weeks than others but only with a few weeks hindsight will you know if its a real issue or not. On 3 shakes a day you have to lose real weight because your calorie intake is so low. It might just be water retention as your body adjusts.

 

[debs78]

Men only need to have 3 packs same as us girls as far as I'm aware

He could have a 4th if he wanted but it's not like CD where you get more packs depending on your sex/height etc

I did not know this I thought men were meant to have 4. 600 kcals a day for a man seems a bit low. I wont tell DBF this though as he'll panic thinking he's done it wrong

 

[Starlight]

No even on CD men are only on about 600 cals the extra pack takes them up to that as women are around 450

 

[*lil*]

Thanks I will get him to make those changes and see if that helps
X

 

[Divster]

Just as a note the Exante web site does say 3-4 packs a day for anyone, with no reason as to why. A VLCD is anything 800cals and under, whether you have 450 cals or 800 cals the weight lose will be the same.

What about suggesting 4 to him, as then if he is snacking without you knowing, it might stop this?

 

[*lil*]

Just as a note the Exante web site does say 3-4 packs a day for anyone, with no reason as to why. A VLCD is anything 800cals and under, whether you have 450 cals or 800 cals the weight lose will be the same.

What about suggesting 4 to him, as then if he is snacking without you knowing, it might stop this?

Yea I've suggested he tries an extra pack a day to see if it helps. I think most men exercise so I think this may help.

I honestly believe he isn't snacking because when I suggest adding a meal he's the one that says no, he would rather drink the shakes lol
He's always struggled to lose weight whatever diet we've been on :-(