Girl with Lupus, plateauing and scared

kissesdahling

Today is my 75th day with My Fitness Pal. Fairly rapidly (within the first month and a half), I lost about 15 lbs and felt really good about it. But, since then, I've plateaued. Majorly. I haven't lost a single ounce. Today, my weight was up one pound (but I think that's natural womanly fluctuation).

But I just don't know what to do. I *always* am under my calories. Always. And even though I have lupus and some days I can barely move, I exercise whenever I can. I know some of you do maybe 90 minutes a day. For me, I've only made it up to 20 minutes so far, but I keep pushing myself to do more.

I've read people on here that say exercise doesn't matter, as long as you balance your calories. I don't know if that's true. But I'm gonna exercise regardless, because, as a lupus patient, it's 6x more important for me to improve mine than it is for the average person without chronic illness.

I've thought about something recently about why I may be plateauing and I want ya'll's take on it...

I set my weightloss goal to 2lbs a week. I'm not much of an eater, so I had no problem staying under the 1460 calorie limit. But I repeat: I'm not much of my eater. Sometimes, when I total my calories, I find that I'm still under the 1200 minimum and that gives me such shame. I put a lot of pressure on myself to fall exactly between 1200 and 1400, yet I'm scared to even approach 1460 -- like that automatically means that I'll gain the weight back or something.

You're probably wondering why I gained weight at all if I'm not much of an eater. The answer to that is the high doses of corticosteroids I had to take for my lupus from ages 19-22 (I'm 23 now). Because I was put on them so much, I developed Cushing's syndrome. I was Cushingnoid until about 9 months after cutting out steroids entirely.

So, I have two theories about why I'm not losing weight and I want to know whether these are sane or not.

Theory #1) I have killed my metabolism by getting less than 1400 calories a day for at least a year.

Theory #2) Cushing's syndrome inherently makes you big. Was it simply impossible to lose weight before the Cushings went away? And since it only went away recently, I should count THAT as the beginning of my weightloss journey?

Maybe it's a combo of both. I dunno.

I know that I never seem to nearly approach the carb limit for the day; conversely, I accidentally go over my fat limit because cheese is my guilty pleasure (and many low fat varieties taste like sugar to me). But once again: I'm ALWAYS under my calorie limit. I don't think I went over since my first two days on MFP.

And here's where fear comes into it: I'm constantly bombarded with doctors telling me my weight is dangerous. I know it's not healthy to weigh 263lbs. But telling me how dangerous it is doesn't help me lose it. It just makes me feel scared and bad about not losing it fast enough -- ya know?

I know some of you have been overweight your whole lives. I have not. Before the prednisone, I weighed 100lbs. Back then, I ate like a pig and had a tremendous appetite. Prednisone made me never hungry, yet gain weight. It turned my body upside down. When I weighed 100lbs, I fought tooth and nail to gain weight; now I'm fighting just as hard to loose it.

And I'm scared it won't happen for me. Everyone around me -- family, friends, doctors -- thinks I'm not losing fast enough. I have so much pressure and I'm not a crier, but I feel like crying. I really do.

I just need some sane advice from some calm, rational people, people who know what I've been through and can offer wisdom instead of fear and put downs.

Thank you for reading.

Sl1ghtly

I think 'plateauing' is a great opportunity for a rest week. No ones physique ever fell off from a week of rest. In fact, most people come back stronger than before.

Plateauing isn't a bad thing anyway. Isn't the whole point of dieting and excersize to eventually reach a permanent plateau (maintenance)?

Get some rest, be mindful of your diet, go out and have some fun.

kissesdahling

Rest would probably be a good idea. I feel better when I exercise, but I think I need more of a "fun" type of exercise. Something that doesn't just release endorphins but actually makes me happy. I used to be really into things like softball before the lupus got bad, but now I can't be out in the sun or anything.

Shamrock_me

I think 'plateauing' is a great opportunity for a rest week. No ones physique ever fell off from a week of rest. In fact, most people come back stronger than before.

Plateauing isn't a bad thing anyway. Isn't the whole point of dieting and excersize to eventually reach a permanent plateau (maintenance)?

Get some rest, be mindful of your diet, go out and have some fun.

I think thats totally right. When I plateau I rest - eat less and exercise less OR eat more and exercise more. Kinda try to trick the body. I did a cleanse once just to detox my body that helped but you can't do that all the time. Sometimes its boredom. Your body gets used to something and you don't lose the same way anymore.
Look into a yoga or tai chi class or video in the resale stores. My sister and I wanted to do that as designated "US" time but our schedules kind of suck. We're thinking of just having a Wii night one night a week where we challenge each other to games. Loser has to bring the snack next time...

Hope you get over the hump soon!! Don't worry about what everyone else thinks, listen to your body first. Just stuff a sock in the voice thats screaming for sweets and goodies.. I do!!!

chevyg1rl88

I am new to fitness pal... I was going to try to do it prior to getting into a new flare pattern. Now my daughter was just recently diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. Which is where I was when I first started this interesting journey. Doctor has said ok, it is time for this family to put health first for everyone not just YOU. I have Lupus, Raynaud's, RA, Fibro, GERD, and osteoarthritis. For those of us inflicted my body hates me lol! So this tool is now for me and my daughter. I hope that I can be a cheerleader to you all and maybe find some support for myself. I can only walk limited and am starting water aerobics. I can't get on the floor let alone off so are there any good yoga dvds in a chair or standing I could work for stretching that are not to hard? I applaud all you ladies for your work, and don't ever get discouraged with plateau. It just means it's time to work it another way. You have come this far and 15 is a huge thing for someone with Lupus.

callmecorinne

I thought i'd reply even though i may not be of too much help. I am also diagnosed with Lupus and experienced weight gain because of my corticosteriods. About 15 lbs. Just wanted to see the answers to this thread. I have an eating disorder so I doubt anything i say will be of any value or help but i'd like to see the responses!

kellycasey5

Just my two cents.... I used to be very active and lupus or perhaps "lupus like" disease knocked me on my @ss. That is an understatement of a long painful journey that has cost me my self esteem, my favorite activities, almost my job, more money and time than is imaginable, and a 10 pound weight gain so far. I can relate to the side effects of weight gain, and dread hearing my sed rate is up every time because that means more steroids. But to hear your success, and how you have managed to get activity back into your life, is so incredibly inspiring to me. I have slowly worked in two 30 minute pool therapy sessions into my routine, and am now up to 45 minutes to an hour. It is only stretching and pool jogging, but it has been a challenge, especially on the days I have a hard time walking and am exhausted. This week I am adding a yoga dvd and the p90 x stretch dvd. Do not be hard on yourself....I would kill (maybe literally) to do 20 minutes of real exercise. To me, you are an inspiration. Do what you can, when you can, the best that you can. And on the bad days (or worse days) know there are people like me that look up to people like you! So be kind to yourself and know that your body will respond in time.

kellycasey5

PS..... I forgot to say that I think you are losing fast enough. And my professional opinion has some "weight" here!

monicalosesweight

I think you're doing a wonderful job. I agree with the posters about eating well. You're body needs nutrition. Do you have access to a pool? That's very low impact. I know its tough but we believe in you! Don't give up. It's tough but as you can see - there are tons of others here who support you. I sympathize as I've had friends and family who have illnesses that are really hard on the system (like Fibromyalgia and Lupus) and it's definitely a hard road but if you believe in yourself you'll make it.

springseternal

Considering the number of years your body spent being run through the ringer...in your words: "It turned my body upside down"...I think it's AMAZING that you managed 15 pounds in 75 days. Building up to 20 minutes when there are days that you can barely move is an incredible achievement of which you should be incredibly proud. Hang in there!