Maintaining weight on horribly strict dietary restrictions....

cyvain · January 2017

I am trying to not lose anymore weight due to my chronic pain condition and how it affects my eating however so far I seem to have been unsuccessful. Although I haven't weighed myself very recently I have been consistently losing weight since the issue started. I was hoping for some tips on trying to maintain the weight loss if it is diet related and not part of the core pain issue.

dopeysmelly · January 2017

Not sure what you're asking. what dietary restrictions do you have to work with?

amyk0202 · January 2017

I'm not sure exactly what the question is either. If you are trying to maintain your weight, but are still losing, you need to increase your calorie intake no matter what your dietary restrictions are. You will just have to eat more of the foods you are allowed to eat. It will be easier if you are able to eat calorie dense foods--full fat dairy, nuts or nut butters, etc. If not, I would try to break up the foods you are able to eat into small portions & try to eat them through the day even if you aren't hungry. Track your calories & try adding 100-200 additional per day for a week or two at a time until you reach a consistent plateau. Weight loss & gain will always be diet related but pain can definitely affect your appetite.

capaul42 · January 2017

Have you tried those dietary supplement drinks/shakes like ensure? We've had to resort to those during my partner's flareups (Chron's) when he really can't have solid foods.

jgnatca · January 2017

Is your list of allowed foods shorter than your list of restrictions? Please share. Maybe we can come up with some creative presentation ideas.

I just made a new acquaintance whom I am pretty sure is a celiac. She polishes off a half dozen shortbread cookies at lunch.

nowine4me · January 2017

What are you NOT able to eat?

cyvain · June 2017

I had spoken to my GP about dietary supplements shakes but there are so many stupid requirement rules around them I don't fit for those apparently. I can eat potato, rice, fish/seafood, tomato soup, bread and butter, crisps, biscuits, mushy peas, sweetcorn, onion, ice cream and sweets but not chocolate. I think that's it unless I forgot something which my memory is so crap I may have done. And since posting last I've lost even more I'm now down to 60kg.

livingleanlivingclean · June 2017

cyvain wrote: »

I had spoken to my GP about dietary supplements shakes but there are so many stupid requirement rules around them I don't fit for those apparently. I can eat potato, rice, fish/seafood, tomato soup, bread and butter, crisps, biscuits, mushy peas, sweetcorn, onion, ice cream and sweets but not chocolate. I think that's it unless I forgot something which my memory is so crap I may have done. And since posting last I've lost even more I'm now down to 60kg.

What are you trying to avoid? That's an unusual list of "allowed" foods.

I'm not sure how you can't get sufficient calories eating those foods as many are calorie dense.

jenilla1 · June 2017

cyvain wrote: »

I had spoken to my GP about dietary supplements shakes but there are so many stupid requirement rules around them I don't fit for those apparently. I can eat potato, rice, fish/seafood, tomato soup, bread and butter, crisps, biscuits, mushy peas, sweetcorn, onion, ice cream and sweets but not chocolate. I think that's it unless I forgot something which my memory is so crap I may have done. And since posting last I've lost even more I'm now down to 60kg.

So then I would just go ahead and eat more of the foods on your OK list. There are a lot of fairly high calorie items on that list. Just eat more of them. Weird list - I'm trying to figure out what all these things have in common (or I guess maybe the things in common that they don't have...)

SLLeask · June 2017

That list has me very confused, why can you eat mushy peas but not ordinary peas? If you can eat bread and biscuits, why can't you eat pastry? If you can eat ice cream and sweets, why can't you eat chocolate? What's so special about sweetcorn compared to say broccoli? I think you need to say what's wrong with you in order for anyone to be able to offer help. You're clearly not a vegan or even a vegetarian, you aren't celiac or gluten intolerant, you aren't sodium intolerant or a diabetic. I'm lost, sorry.

cyvain · July 2017

I know the list is confusing it doesn't make sense to me myself, even the Dr's can't find a y thing physically wrong with me it's just a mystery chronic lower abdominal. Pain though they are saying being the the opiate based pain meds I have been on for so long isn't doing good me any good but it's gonna take forever to get off them. And it's not gonna be pleasant cuz I've been on such a high dose for so long now.

RodaRose · July 2017

cyvain wrote: »

I had spoken to my GP about dietary supplements shakes but there are so many stupid requirement rules around them I don't fit for those apparently. I can eat potato, rice, fish/seafood, tomato soup, bread and butter, crisps, biscuits, mushy peas, sweetcorn, onion, ice cream and sweets but not chocolate. I think that's it unless I forgot something which my memory is so crap I may have done. And since posting last I've lost even more I'm now down to 60kg.

You are trying to keep from losing, right?
Eat more fatty foods: ice cream, butter and biscuits. potatoes and butter,

Hamsibian · July 2017

Have you met with a dietician? See if your doctor can refer you to one. They may be able to come up with some ideas. I also have a restricted diet, and autoimmune problems have caused me to eat a lot more than what MFP gave me. Slowly increase your calorie intake until you find that sweet spot.

skymningen · July 2017

Does this have to do with histamine intolerance? But then the tomato soup makes no sense.
If this is a list your doctor gave you you should inquire more options. If this is a list which you came up with together with your doctor by eliminating foods which yo do not seem to handle well, then maybe you can slowly and carefully try completely different foods, maybe ones that are similar, and see if you can handle those.
Potato-carrot soup, Sweet potatoes, the like.
But generally you have some foods that offer you high carbs and fats, can get protein from the fish/seafood and peas, so you should be able to maintain your weight on this diet if you eat enough of it.

nxd10 · July 2017

My son also lives in chronic pain, which does make it hard to maintain his weight. He is on a very strict low tyramine, how histamine/glutamate, no grains, high protein, high salt diet. He also did a no gluten/dairy/egg elimination diet for six months. The low carbs makes it harder to gain weight. If you have issues with vomiting or nausea from pain, that complicates it too. What has worked for him is adding small amounts of fat to everything. My dad had to do this too. Find a fat that fits in your diet - I'm just using this as examples. So he'd make scrambled eggs with cream cheese. Put butter in his oatmeal. Add nut butter to smoothies. Add olive oil or butter to vegetables. Eat toast with butter. A few tablespoons of high fat (cream/butter/oil/nut butter) and you've got 500-1000 calories.

If you have trouble with fats (my husband does - he also has celiac), combine them with other foods (proteins) and make sure you have them move through your system quickly - fiber and stool softeners move things through but can also aid your digestion of them and minimize the upset they can cause if you're not digesting them well.

I would also suggest that if you're having trouble digesting things (sounds like you are) that you think about taking B12 and other B vitamin supplements SUBLINGUALLY. You just put the drops under your tongue. B12 really really really helps reduce chronic pain - especially in tendons but just overall aches. B12 is a big molecule and most of it is broken down in your stomach. If your guts don't absorb it well you are at a deficit and you're going to hurt. Taking it sublingually it goes straight into your system.

Good luck. I hope you have a good support group and a good pain therapist. They've made a world of difference for my son. This is a world I know all too well.

Maintaining weight on horribly strict dietary restrictions....

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