Crohns and Pre-Diabetic - What to Eat?
elliespal
Posts: 12 Member
Eating for life is what's important to me. This time when I came back to MFP I was very sick. With the doctor's help I had to figure out what would work best for me, a Crohns and Pre-diabetic patient who also endures daily pain cause by osteoarthritis in most of my large joints. What I've found out; some foods cause me more stomach and body pain than others. But on some days the same foods will not bother me as much. Also, some days (many days) I can't eat much food ---my stomach just can't tolerate it. It's on those days I usually eat only 70-85% of my allowable calories. At the end of those days...I hate to see the notification (in red print) "you are eating too few calories..." But to be truthful, if I ate all the food calories...I'd probably end up in the hospital. So, because of my unique situation, here is what I've done to help me lose 20 pounds since the end of June:
- Dropped most white flour, rice, white potato products
(Dr. instructed me to do this because of the diabetic numbers. But it also makes my stomach feel better. Note: This is working...numbers down...weight down.)
- Eating more fruits and veggies
- Replaced most red meat with chicken and fish
- Increased my protein but low fat...like in Greek yogurt, low fat cheeses, some beans
- Found healthy snack replacements for my favorite "crunchy" foods like potato chips,pretzels, corn chips, etc. My healthy picks are products of Simply7 Lentil Chips, Quinoa Chips, Hummus Chips and SimplyNature's Exotic Vegetable Chips
- Dropped table sugar and most alternative sweeteners
- Cut out all processed foods...Nothing in a box or can
- Added 30 minutes of walking daily. 15-30 minutes of weight lifting and will be adding aquatics soon. This helps my osteoarthritis and helps with weight loss.
I know that eating food is necessary for fueling the body and for weight loss too. It keeps the metabolism going. However, there are some of us that must find ways to tweak the customary plan to fit our lifestyle. Doing so is not an easy task. It requires knowing how your body reacts to food from day to day.
[Note: Most Crohns patients lose weight because of the disease. However, there are 12% of us who gain weight. The meds cause many of us to become diabetic. That's a double whammy. It makes it more difficult for us to lose weight. Many pre-diabetics find it terribly difficult to lose weight. It took me two years of trying to lose weight with the help of a hospital managed wellness program to find out the right combination that would work for me. I'm still discovering new things.]
This thing called losing weight is not for wimps. Keep trying until you find the right/healthy way for you...remember one-size does not fit all.
- Dropped most white flour, rice, white potato products
(Dr. instructed me to do this because of the diabetic numbers. But it also makes my stomach feel better. Note: This is working...numbers down...weight down.)
- Eating more fruits and veggies
- Replaced most red meat with chicken and fish
- Increased my protein but low fat...like in Greek yogurt, low fat cheeses, some beans
- Found healthy snack replacements for my favorite "crunchy" foods like potato chips,pretzels, corn chips, etc. My healthy picks are products of Simply7 Lentil Chips, Quinoa Chips, Hummus Chips and SimplyNature's Exotic Vegetable Chips
- Dropped table sugar and most alternative sweeteners
- Cut out all processed foods...Nothing in a box or can
- Added 30 minutes of walking daily. 15-30 minutes of weight lifting and will be adding aquatics soon. This helps my osteoarthritis and helps with weight loss.
I know that eating food is necessary for fueling the body and for weight loss too. It keeps the metabolism going. However, there are some of us that must find ways to tweak the customary plan to fit our lifestyle. Doing so is not an easy task. It requires knowing how your body reacts to food from day to day.
[Note: Most Crohns patients lose weight because of the disease. However, there are 12% of us who gain weight. The meds cause many of us to become diabetic. That's a double whammy. It makes it more difficult for us to lose weight. Many pre-diabetics find it terribly difficult to lose weight. It took me two years of trying to lose weight with the help of a hospital managed wellness program to find out the right combination that would work for me. I'm still discovering new things.]
This thing called losing weight is not for wimps. Keep trying until you find the right/healthy way for you...remember one-size does not fit all.
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Replies
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Thank you so much for your post. I am feeling the best I have felt in a long time, eating a low residue diet, eating when hungry staying at my calorie limit. My weight actually went up this week, down the 2 weeks before. I have to eat with what my body can tolerate. I'm ready to incorporate my fruits and veges back, but doing so slowly so I know which ones bother me. I like your foods listed, this will go to good use as I do a better job of what foods bother me.0
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Has anyone used the FODMAP diet? Does that help?0
