Pain and eating too much

reginakarl

Hi!

I'm trying to lose weight and even 10 lbs by the end of summer would be great.

I have a pain issue and am under the care of a doctor with appropriate medication. Or, the dose was good enough up to a month ago. I know I need to see the doctor again to get a meds adjustment. I need to start doing my physical therapy exercises again, big time.

Question:. When I'm in pain, I have no interest in keeping within my calorie budget.

For those with chronic pain conditions, what skills do you employ to keep moving and not to overeat?

Sw: 215
Cw: 180 lbs
Gw: 160
5'8"

Thank you!

1houndgal

reginakarl wrote: »

Hi!

I'm trying to lose weight and even 10 lbs by the end of summer would be great.

I have a pain issue and am under the care of a doctor with appropriate medication. Or, the dose was good enough up to a month ago. I know I need to see the doctor again to get a meds adjustment. I need to start doing my physical therapy exercises again, big time.

Question:. When I'm in pain, I have no interest in keeping within my calorie budget.

For those with chronic pain conditions, what skills do you employ to keep moving and not to overeat?

Sw: 215
Cw: 180 lbs
Gw: 160
5'8"

Thank you!

I picked an activity that I don't hurt myself during or after doing, which is swimming. I can burn off many calories swimming, or doing water fitness classes occassionly.

counting_kilojoules

I'll be interested to see what replies you get because I find this difficult myself and could certainly use some hints! Personally, I do what exercise I can first thing when I'm generally feeling at my best. I try to remember that the exercise I do makes me feel better in general.

I have the ingredients for quick easy meals I like on hand and don't keep foods that I'm likely to over indulge in in the house (if it's easy for me to make a meal at home I'll do it rather than leave the house to buy something (which would probably be higher calorie) because it's more convenient and because chronic pain makes me tired. I do find it difficult though. Yesterday I went way over. I just accept it and move on. As long as I do okay for the rest of the week I'll probably lose some weight (I'll be happy as long I maintain this week though, it's been a particularly bad one!)

piexcore

Hey! I second the swimming! You can also walk or just sit on the exercise bike for an hour- even just a teeny bit of exercise can be the difference between giving up or sticking to your goals. I am a 100% supporter of making exercise a scheduled appointment that you cannot skip. Even is you are in pain, if you go to yoga every Tuesday at six then don't skip. Just tell your instructor and sit in child's pose the whole hour. I teach fitness classes and in one of my classes I have a participant with chronic back pain. After her cortisol shot she's jumping around like a crazy person, but a few months later she starts having to take breaks. Nobody cares.

Once in a while my chronic pain and fatigue leave me laid up in bed all day- and on those days that you absolutely CANNOT do anything except lie there, pick up a hobby that keeps your hands busy (knitting, embroidery, coloring, video games ect.) Sure, you're bored and you want to eat ritz crackers while you lie on the couch watching GOT and praying for death but you can't mindlessly eat if your hands are busy with something else. Also teas are nice because it comes in so many flavors, its very low calorie if you don't add anything, and it feels like your consuming something.

I hope you feel better!

ruqayyahsmum

I keep homemade sauces for rice or pasta in my freezer for days I simply cannot stand and cook so I can heat it up instead of dialling for a takeaway or grabbing whatever's close to hand

I keep little boxes with 10pm of grapes and strawberry in the fridge to grab along with little cheese sticks, boiled eggs, 100g packs of ham, chicken, beef etc

I log anything that makes its way into my mouth so I can see how much extra I've had and whittle a little of the calories of my daily goal over the next week or two

Swimming great, I even have physio exercises to do in the pool

nvmomketo

I tend to make sure that the foods I typically overeat are not in the house. I also make myself more treat drinks like nice coffees, teas, carbonated water or diet sodas. I get the treat but not the calories.

I do tend to let my weight loss goals slide a bit when I am not well. Pain and illness tends to lower my CO in regards to CICO, so even if I don't raise my CI, I will often stop losing. I do find that food choices, for me it is low carb, will help with that somewhat.

Good luck.

amh927

It sucks. I eat to take my mind off the pain. So I try to get in the mindset of doing something else. I try to take a bath or a light walk. Read a book. Personally, I do better eating 3 meals a day and rarely snacking. When I get into the habit of snacking even within my calories budget when I have bad days I don’t even think about calories and just graze all day. By only eating meals I tend to focus more on meal prep and calories and not just eating for the wrong reasons.

You can also prepack snacks or buy pre portioned things to make over eating less easy.

JeromeBarry1

Well, when my wife was in pain she was disinterested in eating. She lost a lot of weight. Her dietician gave her strategies to over-eat. That was actually quite an amusing sight to see all the confusion playing on her face as she tried to figure out how to advise putting on weight.

I don't know what the source of your pain is. My wife suffered with it for 4 years before we finally found a surgeon capable of providing relief. And provide relief he did. She's fine now.

There's hope, but I know that it's hard to believe when you're in pain. It's a struggle. I know. Just try to remind yourself that a better day is coming and you want to be fit for it.

witcherkar

When i could swim, i did that. (I have a Tracheostomy now.) Also yoga, stretches, and resistance band exercises. Resistance bands arent hard on you and its like stretching just a little harder. Feels good. I have chronic pain in both my ankles, my left wrist, all over my back/tailbone/neck.

HoneyBadger302

Well, my pain may be very different as mine is mostly caused by injuries and/or wear and tear from a pretty active life (that I'm not slowing down from yet).

For most of my injuries, keeping moving makes the pain a LOT better. Sometimes it sucks, yes, but pushing through those steps/days and I typically feel better after. Proper rest for the injuries is important too - really listening to my body and being willing to push through when it's just complaining, but when it's actually hurting recognize that and give it proper rest or back off enough to allow that area to recover.

I have an ankle/leg/foot that, due to a pretty bad break, hurts every single day, and pretty much every single step. I have the ROM to perform, however, so I still go on long walks, workout, and do everything. Sure, it hurts, but it's still ever so slowly improving and tolerating more than it used to, so I keep pushing through.

I also find I feel better in general when I'm eating better. I take supplements that support my needs, and *generally* eat pretty healthy. The last time I ate like crap for a few days I started to feel like crap and that lasted a couple days after. Doesn't take too many repeats of that for one to recognize the pattern and make some better choices. Because of my workout philosophy, I still showed up to the gym and pushed through my workout, but it sucked way more than it should have because I had eaten pretty poorly most of the weekend. That's a motivation right there for me to eat better! I don't NOT do the workout just because I'm feeling yuckier, and if eating better helps, well then, it makes those choices easier!

peggy_polenta

i have to ask why you are associating your pain with over eating. is it possible that the chronic pain is causing either anxiety or depression, and therefore, you are using food to address the emotions? that would be my guess...as typically, chronic pain suffers do end up with at least anxiety issues.

bbell1985

karen8787 wrote: »

i have to ask why you are associating your pain with over eating. is it possible that the chronic pain is causing either anxiety or depression, and therefore, you are using food to address the emotions? that would be my guess...as typically, chronic pain suffers do end up with at least anxiety issues.

Have you never been in so much pain that a calorie deficit just doesn't feel worth it? A deficit is already uncomfortable for me. When I experience my most pain (bursting cysts), eating in a deficit is hard. Can I do it? Sure. But most likely I will not.

reginakarl

Thank you! You all have given me great information and new skills! Chronic pain is a bummer and I think I have a new plan including not having junk at home, setting out easy healthy food, not snacking between meals, and continue to move. Being gentle to myself will be key.