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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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How Can I Lose Weight? Should I Exercise Or Take Diet Pills?

I currently weigh 106 pounds, I want to be under 100 as I am looking for a very skinny figure. I m a 19 year old girl and 5 foot 5.5 inches tall. I don t mind being underweight if you have suggestions for keeping healthy and energetic as I seem to catch every cold or flu that goes around. Do I have to work out to lose any more? ( My metabolism seems really slow and I just gain and lose the same few pounds for months.) I rarely exercise, am always tired unless I have a lot of caffeine (which I do) and seriously unfit. Is exercise the key to further weight loss for me? Or would diet pills work? Or both? Thanks.
Wed, 12 Dec 2012
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General & Family Physician 's  Response
Dear jfijerf, I understand your concern let's figure out the options.
Being skinny doesn't means that you'll be healthy. A healthy body status is assessed by Body Mass Index(BMI). Your body mass index, which is based on your height and weight is 17.37 which falls to the category underweight. You should understand that low body mass can decrease your body's immune system, which could lead to illness such as disappearance of periods (women), bone loss, malnutrition and other conditions. You can't be energetic and healthy being underweight. You feel tired because of this. If you try to loose weight any further that will lead to severe electrolyte imbalance in your body which is a very serious condition. With the height you have mentioned normal weight is 120 pounds. Now let's move to the next step. As you are very keen on losing weight further, we need a serious evaluation on the matter.
1. Consult your physician and undergo certain tests to determine whether you have any electrolyte imbalances and if so, we have to correct it first.
2. Your serious concern about being fat, may be due to an eating disorder named Anorexia Nervosa, and your psychiatrist will be able to help you on that matter. Always think, being healthy is far more important than being thin.
3. Avoid taking lot of caffeine as it will further deteriorate your health.
Thank you.
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Cosmetic & Plastic Surgeon Dr. Souvik Adhikari's  Response
Hello,
A proper diet and exercise are the best ways to get rid of excess weight. To begin with, get hold of a dietician and go into a 1200 CAL diet. Avoid taking excessive coffee and junk food and get adequate sleep. Space your meals uniformly. Next, go in for a good session of aerobic exercise everyday especially the treadmill and cycling. Initially you might feel a bit tired but with time the body gets accustomed. These are likely to give you the best results rather than any "crash diet" which can have a lot of complications.
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How Can I Lose Weight? Should I Exercise Or Take Diet Pills?

Dear jfijerf, I understand your concern let s figure out the options. Being skinny doesn t means that you ll be healthy. A healthy body status is assessed by Body Mass Index(BMI). Your body mass index, which is based on your height and weight is 17.37 which falls to the category underweight. You should understand that low body mass can decrease your body s immune system, which could lead to illness such as disappearance of periods (women), bone loss, malnutrition and other conditions. You can t be energetic and healthy being underweight. You feel tired because of this. If you try to loose weight any further that will lead to severe electrolyte imbalance in your body which is a very serious condition. With the height you have mentioned normal weight is 120 pounds. Now let s move to the next step. As you are very keen on losing weight further, we need a serious evaluation on the matter. 1. Consult your physician and undergo certain tests to determine whether you have any electrolyte imbalances and if so, we have to correct it first. 2. Your serious concern about being fat, may be due to an eating disorder named Anorexia Nervosa, and your psychiatrist will be able to help you on that matter. Always think, being healthy is far more important than being thin. 3. Avoid taking lot of caffeine as it will further deteriorate your health. Thank you.