Chronic fatigue syndrome

Quick meals that you can prepare without a lot of effort. On good days that might mean making a big pot of chili in your slow cooker and portioning it out in freezer containers for reheating. I know that takes a lot of energy though, so another option, if you have the money for it, is frozen meals.

SmartOnes, Weight Watchers, etc. Small meals that you can pop in the microwave for a few minutes and eat. Get some bags of steamer veggies without sauce and pop those in after the meal is done cooking to bulk them out.

Do you live alone? Do you have a friend that can come over once a week or two and help you portion snacks into small containers? Buy big bags of pretzels, chips, nuts, whatever snack foods you like and would like to have on hand, and pre-bag them into single servings. Only do this with snacks you know you can practice moderation with!

When you need a snack, it's already measured out, just grab and eat.

You can do this with veggies too. Cut up broccoli, carrots, whatever you like, store then in your fridge with containers with dressing pre-measured. Eat as smacks or assemble info salads.

Cut up apples. Toss them in citric acid or lemon juice to keep them from turning brown. Pre-measure out peanut butter to go with them.

Shop on one day and prep the next. Or the day after that. I have fibromyalgia, I know you sometimes just don't have the energy.

Do a little every day if you can't do everything in one day. Plan out what you're going to do and check it off as you go.

It takes planning and more work to do this when your battling chronic illness, but you can do it.

Get a blood test done and check your vitamin D level, my ex-trainer found out that I have very low VitaminD in my body that led to me being exhausted at all times.

fitnhappyby30 wrote: »

Get a blood test done and check your vitamin D level, my ex-trainer found out that I have very low VitaminD in my body that led to me being exhausted at all times.

I agree with this. Hopefully you have been screened for any deficiencies already, but if not, get some blood tests. Moderate exercise was leaving me exhausted and I couldn't understand why I seemed to always be tired, even after lots of sleep. Turns out I was deficient in both iron and B12. Now that I am supplementing I feel much better and recover from exercise more quickly.

I have definitely tried to use snacks to get energy boosts and unfortunately too many high calorie ones are the main reason I became overweight. I have actually found that ensuring my main meals are well-balanced and filling has been the most helpful thing. Everyone is different, but for me I find it best to include low GI carbs with each meal. I have oat based cereal for breakfast, barley wraps or low GI bread at lunch, and low GI potatoes (called Carisma here in Australia), sweet potatoes or basmati rice with dinner. I then make sure I get some protein, some fat and fill up on veges with my lunch and dinner.

The key seems to be low GI carbs for me though - if I try to skimp on these I seem to crave snacks. If I eat sustaining meals, I tend to be happy with a piece of fruit, a coffee, a small amount of nuts or popcorn as snacks.

I don't have CFS, so can't offer any special advice with regards to exercise. But I just suggest you start really small with whatever you can manage. I started this time around with walking and I thought I would be bored, but to my surprise I am enjoying it and my legs are looking more toned than they were. I think walking has given me a good base level of fitness too, as I have now added in swimming and it was easier than I expected.

ETA: I forgot pasta...I find pasta great too, but I watch the portion size. I buy a high fibre pasta called Vetta; it looks and tastes like regular pasta but is more filling. Not sure what the equivalent is in other countries.