Can't Stop Losing Weight due to Health Issues - Help!

wellness333
wellness333 Posts: 14 Member
in Motivation and Support
I began using MFP at the counsel of my nutritionist after I lost 40+ lbs in less than 3 months due to health issues and medication changes. With many autoimmune issues, the combination of meds caused what was referred to metabolic anorexia, which just totally shut down my hunger hormone...

Now before anyone begins hating on this loser, I was just in the ER for my first attack of Gallstones which ironically was the Doc's now say was likely caused by the quick weight loss! Holy &%^$... I'd rather give birth than go through that again!

Now back to MFP for tracking my fat intake, I'm terrified for another roller coaster of weight loss as I've already lost another few lbs in only a few days as my appetite again has been desimated. BTW, have a mentioned I'm Celiac as well?

I'm an accomplished home cook with no interest in cooking, (I even have a food blog that's been sitting unattended since last summer) and a foodie with no interest in eating... BUT, at a healthy weight right now, I also have no interest in looking like a heroin addict in a month...

While not new to MFP, I'm new to the forums and looking for support. Feel free to friend me if you think you can help. Thanks for tuning in.

Replies

  • Lizzy622
    Lizzy622 Posts: 3,705 Member
    I am horrible when I have to cook for myself. My go to when I know I HAVE to eat but don't want to cook is a smoothie. You can make them so many ways, you do not have to get bored. My favorite is skim milk, banana and chia seeds.
  • aleesh_
    aleesh_ Posts: 137 Member
    I'm so sorry that sounds horrible :( I like the smoothie idea, maybe try some peanut or almond butter and go to a fitness store like GNC or a local family owned one and ask if they have gluten free weight gaining powder and drink those with whole milk.
  • Dulcemami4ever
    Dulcemami4ever Posts: 344 Member
    I don't have issues like you do, but the first thing I thought about was telling you to eat regardless of hunger. Fuel your body whether you are hungry or not. A lot of us do it now anyways. I know now that I eat three meals and two snacks, I sometimes eat when I am not hungry to keep my metabolism going and to meet my calorie goals. Maybe by eating things it will eventually make your body feel like eating. And this way you can continue to get your nutrients and be healthy. I hope this helps :(
  • theseus82
    theseus82 Posts: 255 Member
    Add nuts and beans to your diet. Just make yourself eat a cup of nuts every day. Nuts will have a good amount of protein and lots of calories.

    If you do nothing else, a handful or two of nuts will provide a lot of nutrition without any planning in the kitchen or effort in eating.

    Also, consider buying canned beans (flavored chili beans if you like) and eat those as well. Perhaps get a rice cooker and prepare white rice. It's very easy to do, and you could add whatever you like to the rice. Rice is very caloric. Look up a fried rice recipe.

    Also, consider adding a multivitamin supplement and a vitamin D supplement. But don't overdo the vitamin D. You only need a 2,000 daily unit pill every day. They make them up to 5,000 daily units, which is way too much. Also consider getting an Omega 3 and 9 supplement.

    If you're having trouble getting calories, eat rice, eat nuts, and possibly add beans. There is a reason that gold miners ate tons of "Pork & Beans" during the Klondike gold rush in the 1800's. It was a fairly complete set of nutrients and you can live on pork'n'beans for a while. If you're not a vegetarian, just force yourself to eat 1 can of that each day, at least.
  • wellness333
    wellness333 Posts: 14 Member
    I am horrible when I have to cook for myself. My go to when I know I HAVE to eat but don't want to cook is a smoothie. You can make them so many ways, you do not have to get bored. My favorite is skim milk, banana and chia seeds.

    Great idea, thanks. With fat free milk that wouldn't trigger the gallstones!
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,409 Member
  • susanmarnold
    susanmarnold Posts: 142
    I know a lot of people will tell you just to eat. I know it is not that easy. My sister-in-law (20 years old) also has medical/medicine that really affects her appetite to where she literally gets sick when she eats. It is hard. She is down to 85 pounds. :-(

    I hope you are able to get medicines changed around and it gets better. I know what a struggle it must be. Hang in there!
  • cuterbee
    cuterbee Posts: 545
    I work with kids and adults who have cystic fibrosis. One of the issues they have is difficulty gaining weight. Many add things like Scandishakes (they tell me it's better than Ensure), or sneak fat into whatever dish they are eating. You might want to have a look at some of their recipes; just Google chef4cf.

    Good luck -- having watched so many of my patients struggle with this, I think it can actually more difficult to gain than it is to lose.
  • freelancejouster
    freelancejouster Posts: 478 Member
    try things that are very dense in calories to try and get them into your system?

    or set up a schedule for eating, and eat then even if you're not particularly hungry. Even if at first it's just half a cup of soup of fruit, if you start there, you'll get used to it and can start adding onto that.
  • purple1butterfly
    purple1butterfly Posts: 634 Member
    I am now gluten free, milk,pork and yeast free. I have adapeted everything I make.
    Back to your post. My sons would not gain weight because of there medcine . I started to put butter into mash with an egg, full fat milk. If I could add something that added more proten/cals to fill them up I would do it.
    I forgot to say they both eat like I never feed them. I can put a adult size meal in front of my boy go and get mine from the kitchen by the time I sit down half is gone . He is 11yrs but has always been hungry child
  • wellness333
    wellness333 Posts: 14 Member
    Add nuts and beans to your diet. Just make yourself eat a cup of nuts every day. Nuts will have a good amount of protein and lots of calories.

    If you do nothing else, a handful or two of nuts will provide a lot of nutrition without any planning in the kitchen or effort in eating.

    Also, consider buying canned beans (flavored chili beans if you like) and eat those as well. Perhaps get a rice cooker and prepare white rice. It's very easy to do, and you could add whatever you like to the rice. Rice is very caloric. Look up a fried rice recipe.

    Also, consider adding a multivitamin supplement and a vitamin D supplement. But don't overdo the vitamin D. You only need a 2,000 daily unit pill every day. They make them up to 5,000 daily units, which is way too much. Also consider getting an Omega 3 and 9 supplement.

    If you're having trouble getting calories, eat rice, eat nuts, and possibly add beans. There is a reason that gold miners ate tons of "Pork & Beans" during the Klondike gold rush in the 1800's. It was a fairly complete set of nutrients and you can live on pork'n'beans for a while. If you're not a vegetarian, just force yourself to eat 1 can of that each day, at least.

    All good ideas. I do make rice in bulk and can pull out a few bites when "force feeding". The nuts have been a staple for me but I'm a bit nervous about them due to the fat content now with the Gallstones. I'm so terrified of another attack... Same goes for the pork and beans... I do get your point though and especially love the history lesson!

    Regarding the Vitamin D and multi, I take 2000 now; 1000 in the AM with the multi, and another 1000 in the late afternoon. Osteopenic due to the meds...

    Vegetarian Oh No! Carnivore, although my taste for red has definately been diminished. Genererally now only once every two weeks or even less often. Fish, Skinless Chicken or very lean pork seem to be my preferences for many months now. Thanks much for the reply.
  • wellness333
    wellness333 Posts: 14 Member
    I am now gluten free, milk,pork and yeast free. I have adapeted everything I make.
    Back to your post. My sons would not gain weight because of there medcine . I started to put butter into mash with an egg, full fat milk. If I could add something that added more proten/cals to fill them up I would do it.
    I forgot to say they both eat like I never feed them. I can put a adult size meal in front of my boy go and get mine from the kitchen by the time I sit down half is gone . He is 11yrs but has always been hungry child

    You can put me in the same boat with your sons! I have not avoided fats in order to maintain my weight but now I can not use fats due to the gallstones. Hence my problem... The weight is already dropping...

    Good for you on your adaptations with you allergies/intolerances. I miss cooking and doing the same. I hope to get back to it sometime soon.
  • bostonwolf
    bostonwolf Posts: 3,038 Member
    Are you restricting fat for health reasons? Because there are plenty of healthy fats you could be eating that would help you maintain or gain weight.

    I ask because on this list of causes of gallstones restricting dietary consumption of fat is not on the list.

    http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/153981.php
  • peace_pigeon
    peace_pigeon Posts: 120 Member
    Oh man. do I know where you are coming from (minus the evil sounding gallstones). I take pretty nasty meds for an autoimmune thing, and a lot of the time it is very hard to eat. I also lost too much weight. What helps me is exercising enough to get really hungry and eating little meals all day long. Greek yogurt always works, even if I have no appetite, and protein shakes can be really high cal (you could use skim milk and reduced fat pb with a banana and coco powder? Yum!). Good luck :smile:
  • SteadyEdina
    SteadyEdina Posts: 18 Member
    I've just had my gall bladder removed so I can empathise although mine tended to make me feel sick rather than cause lots of pain. I'm so glad i had it removed as I'm feeling so much better.

    When I was having chemo especially during the first week I had no appetite at all so I would have special meal replacement milk shakes that you can buy from a chemist then I would just basically eat what I fancied and try not to worry too much. I found that eating little and often was much better than having three regular meals.

    I think its important not to try and stress yourself out too much as you want to start developing unhealthy associations with food
  • wellness333
    wellness333 Posts: 14 Member
    Are you restricting fat for health reasons? Because there are plenty of healthy fats you could be eating that would help you maintain or gain weight.

    I ask because on this list of causes of gallstones restricting dietary consumption of fat is not on the list.

    http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/153981.php

    ER physician put me on low fat restriction. He explained that the fat intake will "activate" the release of bile of the gallbladder, to facilitate the breakdown of the fat through the small intestine which will potentially move the stones to once again block the ducts. (This is what caused the attack which occurred after a high fat meal.) He also shared that as I lost so much weight in such a short period of time, the liver overcompensates by creating extra cholesterol, which can lead to the development of gallstones. (I'm not a doc and am only summarizing in layman's terms his explanation.)

    Thanks for the article! I found it very interesting and the comments were interesting too.
  • lithezebra
    lithezebra Posts: 3,670 Member
    Are you restricting fat for health reasons? Because there are plenty of healthy fats you could be eating that would help you maintain or gain weight.

    I ask because on this list of causes of gallstones restricting dietary consumption of fat is not on the list.

    http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/153981.php

    Eating a lot of fat at once after gallbladder removal is a problem because the gallbladder is where bile is stored, and bile is what emulsifies fats so that they can be digested. But everyone needs fats. Gallbladder problems might necessitate eating fats in smaller amounts, and not too much at once.
  • wellness333
    wellness333 Posts: 14 Member
    Are you restricting fat for health reasons? Because there are plenty of healthy fats you could be eating that would help you maintain or gain weight.

    I ask because on this list of causes of gallstones restricting dietary consumption of fat is not on the list.

    http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/153981.php

    Eating a lot of fat at once after gallbladder removal is a problem because the gallbladder is where bile is stored, and bile is what emulsifies fats so that they can be digested. But everyone needs fats. Gallbladder problems might necessitate eating fats in smaller amounts, and not too much at once.

    Agreed!
  • gilberts3
    gilberts3 Posts: 37
    You can make protein shakes with low fat ice cream or fruits

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