Laxatives for weight loss?

[MsLydia]

Desperately need to lose weight and I do manage to diet for a few days but then fall off the wagon!

Has anyone ever successfully used laxatives to lose weight? Ive been taking 4-6 senokot a day but appart from making my stomach feel unsettled they don't seem to be having much affect.

I'd be greatful for any tips.

Yes I have a tip for you. Stop taking laxatives!

It's a silly way to lose weight. Find a diet or way of eating that you enjoy and then stick to that.

And actually, you won't lose weight taking them

Noooooo! You will build up resistance to senna quite quickly. Don't use laxatives, what happens when you stop? You can't take them forever.

Try the adf or 5:2 diet. Plenty of info on this board, works well for women, shakes up your system and you will get decent results in a short period of time.

You'll find lots of tips for this on eating disorder/pro ana sites...
...Because it's a completely unhealthy way of trying to lose weight. Don't.

Abusing laxatives, if you're serious, is stupid.

By the time the laxatives have their effect on the intestine, almost the calories have already been absorbed anyway.

Laxatives remove not just water from your body, but also essential minerals. This can be extremely dangerous.

Once you rehydrate your body, any pounds lost will go back on - as it's water weight you lose.

Prolonged laxative use can make you dependant as your body will stop working properly to produce bowel movements.

Do not ever use laxatives to lose weight. The implication of losing the electrolytes from your body is that you could have a heart attack, disturbed heart rhythm, kidney failure or pituitary gland failure. The bottom line (sorry about that pun) is that you could die.

I'm not abusing laxatives! I intend to take them for a really short period of time, maybe 4 weeks or so. I just feel like my body needs a bit if a kick start.

Just had a quick look at the 5:2 diet and isn't it basically just starving yourself? How is that healthy?

If I take a low quantity of them how is that dangerous? Surely it's no more dangerous than taking them to relieve constipation.

No no no no no. If you're eating too much of the wrong food then you have to stop/cut down on eating too much of the wrong food. Taking laxatives is not the answer.
Do a juice detox type diet, do the 5:2 diet, do any diet but don't use laxatives to loose weight.
I know someone who did the cabbage soup diet - think it's the one used to get patients to drop weight for operations and she did loose a decent amount of weight quite quick. I also know someone doing the 5:2 diet and they have lost a lot of weight quickly.

Just stop eating (but not drinking) for four weeks or just eat vegetables / fruit. It would be a lot safer than taking laxatives which won't help you lose weight anyway. Eating more fruit and veg will also stop you being constipated.

I think a lot of researchers would disagree with the 'starving yourself is unhealthy' comment. The whole point is that you don't eat more than a few hundred calories for a day at a time. It is not long enough to trigger your body's mechanism to protect itself from starvation, but can reset not just the way your body burns fat, but can also adjust your own relationship with food: i.e: being hungry is ok, actually.

If you 'fall off the wagon' regularly then it could be the diet for you because you only have to stick to it for a couple of days a week. Read up on it.

A diet with scientific and anecdotal evidence of success is better than something that is known to be both pointless and dangerous (laxatives)

Yes, taking them to shit yourself skinny is abusing laxatives.

Taking them for 4 weeks is abusing them!

I can't think of a diplomatic or more sensitive way to ask this, so I'll just blurt it out - do you have problems with food? It sounds like the kind of question an anorexic or bulemic might be asking.

I'm sorry if this is too direct.

But if you want to commit to something for 4 weeks that will help you lose weight, why not commit to a decent eating plan?

Being more proactive - how much weight do you want to lose? How much do you weigh now and how tall are you?

I don't think I have a problem with food. I just hate that I find it really hard not to eat crap. When I've eaten things I shouldn't I really hate myself. I feel out of control.
I'm 5ft6 and 12 stone so very overweight. I hate my body, I feel disgusted when I look at myself in the mirror.

MsLydia I am about 4st over the weight I'd like to be and 6st over the weight the on-line calculators tell me I should be for my height (I am 5"10 and 16st)
I cannot stop eating crap either. I really like crap food. I do not like healthy food.
That statement scream issues, but that's me.
I have started the 5:2 diet and am trying to train myself to eat salads. My MIL made me a lovely salad yesterday with lemon juice instead of oils and other dressings. Was quite nice actually.
Anorexics use laxatives (Karen carpenter used them), and I agree it's not a good idea to take them for the reasons you state.
Google the effect of taking them for 4 weeks.

I hate looking in the mirror, I hate what I have allowed myself to become, but there are better, safer ways to lose weight than laxatives.
If you did manage to lose weight that way, you'd only put it straight back on again.

A better idea would be to go and speak to your gp about how you feel and what you are thinking. They might be able to come up with a better plan or refer you to someone who can get you on a healthy eating plan

Woah - those are very strong emotional feelings about food. You aren't that overweight. To achieve a BMI of 25, which is the top end of 'healthy', you would need to weigh 155lbs, which is 11 stones and 1lb, so you are only 13lbs away from that.

You can lose 13lbs in 4-6 weeks without too much effort.

When you have tried to diet before, what have been the things that have tripped you up, or triggered you crashing off it?

What kind of foods do you like to eat? And what kind of things do you dislike?

I am like you, MsLydia - same size, same feelings. I was at my ideal weight for a year then got pregnant and am now bigger than I was before.

However, I think the 5:2 diet works for me exactly because it takes away the feelings of being out of control that you describe. It is actually pretty liberating to not have to think about food for a day at a time. You don't have to worry about what you eat, because you can't eat anything! Then on your feeding days, you don't need to feel so guilty. You feel fuller more quickly because your stomach shrank in the fasting days and you appreciate your food more, which prevents the sort of mindless eating that I know I do normally.

Why not get on that thread and give it a try for a few weeks. People are getting really good results. It might help you to get the control back.

I like anything that I shouldnt eat really. Cheese, bread, sweet cereals etc.

I am going to have a look at the 5:2 diet. Can I still have coffee on it though? I need my coffee!

I do know I cant carry on like this. Ive eaten so much this afternoon but then the laxatives are giving me really bad cramps and I feel a bit sick

The thing that ruins my diet is stress! I comfort eat

Whatever you do, please make sure you understand the theory behind it first. Then you will have a clear idea of what you can/can't do/eat.

The 5:2 thread, whilst very interesting, concerns me as I think people have rushed into it and are, in effect, just doing a low calorie diet. Whereas I think there is a bit more to it than that.

My personal diet of choice is low carbing. It's not for everyone, but it's a way of eating which means I can eat decent sized portions of food, and can include so-called forbidden foods such as cheese, butter, cream and olive oil. I don't have to count calories and I never feel hungry, yet can enjoy lovely food and meals without feeling deprived.

Forget the laxatives and losing weight quickly as you will end up damaging your body and having really saggy skin. You will wish you were overweight again by this point.
Use a sensible diet of healthy food with unlimited fruit and veg in between meals to feel full.
You have to retrain your eating and exercise habits and then when you've lost all the weight you have to keep living by these same rules but just eat a bit more of the healthy foods.
I'm usually good at losing weight but I find it hard keeping my weight the same. Its hard work and a lot of change but you can still have treats occasionally and just learn self control with your health and then it will be a lot easier.