Dieting and losing weight with Endometriosis

Living with endometriosis makes it really hard to exercise and food is my last comfort, so changing my diet is really hard. Are there any tips to help me change my diet and lose weight? Any food products (UK) that are good for you but still tasty? (I have really bad sweet tooth). I hate the amount of weight I've put on due to lack of mobility, hormones etc. Anything will be useful :)

Replies

  • Candyspun
    Candyspun Posts: 370 Member
    I’m with you. Endo is why I put the weight on. OP, I’ve been at it for 2 months. I’ve lost 5.1kgs, one dress size on bust and hips and two dress sizes on the waist! (Us endos often have bigger bellies).

    Every day, I do what I can. The minimum, say when I’m on bed rest, is sticking to my minimum calories given by MFP. I still lose weight because they have built the deficit into the allowance.

    When I’m on bed rest, I at least commit to five minutes of stretching.

    I found that if I did this, then when I’m up and about again, I will ask myself honestly: ‘what CAN you do today?’ So, I would do the exercise my body could handle. The thing is, regular exercise decreases our pain and weighing less makes the process easier, too.

    So basically, the longer I’ve stuck with this, the more I can do. I’ll have days now where I’ll be having fun doing cardio, yoga, strength training, and bed rest days where I’ll stretch a bit, but mostly rest. Either way, I’m consistently losing weight and it’s making the endo much easier to cope with.

    I wish you all the best, and my two main tips are, stay with your calorie allowance no matter what and listen to your body every day to help you decide what exercise you’ll do. I’m happy to friend you, if you’d like.
  • Candyspun
    Candyspun Posts: 370 Member
    I forgot to say, I still indulge my cravings, but within my allowance. I’ve started finding low cal versions of my cravings, and they are just as good in taste. The longer I do this though, the less aggressive the cravings are. I’m in Australia, so I don’t think my brand recommendations will be useful to you.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    I think you've already exhausted "changing your diet", so I suggest changing your attitude and habits instead.

    You have gained weight because you've eaten a little too much, but consistently and for a long time.
    You lose weight when you consistently eat a little less than you burn, but you have to do it for a long time.

    Exercise can add to the calorie burn, but it can also make you more tired/hungry/sad, so you need to find something you like and not overdo it.
    Losing weight can make it easier for you to move.

    Food is supposed to be pleasureable, but consistently overeating is food abuse.
    What you like, is going to be subjective, habitual and situational.

    No foods are in themselves healthy (or unhealthy), it's about portions and proportions. A healthy diet is balanced and varied. You can eat anything you want (of course you have to avoid what triggers allergies), but you can't eat all the time or in unlimited quantities.

    You need to learn functional strategies to handle stress and negative emotions; food is a poor stress reliever.
  • Candyspun
    Candyspun Posts: 370 Member
    edited July 2018
    OP, another thing that stands out is ‘food is my last comfort.’ I understand this, because when you’re resting more, it feels like there’s less to do. I recommend finding other interests that can be done while resting, such as journaling, reading, I’ve even found skin care can be a fun interest that can be done even on sick/pain days, and I feel like it makes me feel pampered and treated.

    I’m sure doing your nails could also work just as well.
  • cherrymarie89
    cherrymarie89 Posts: 2 Member
    Candyspun wrote: »
    OP, another thing that stands out is ‘food is my last comfort.’ I understand this, because when you’re resting more, it feels like there’s less to do. I recommend finding other interests that can be done while resting, such as journaling, reading, I’ve even found skin care can be a fun interest that can be done even on sick/pain days, and I feel like it makes me feel pampered and treated.

    I’m sure doing your nails could also work just as well.

    I do other things like reading, constantly doing my nails and skin care, etc , but by my last comfort, I mean to say, it's the only part of my life that I enjoy and haven't changed. since dealing with years of bad flare ups I've had to give up almost everything I enjoyed, so Its difficult cutting out the bad foods I really love. I do admit I over eat, especially during depressive periods but I just started using this app again and hoping to gain some control. Thanks for your suggestions.
  • rose2_0
    rose2_0 Posts: 150 Member
    I think you've already exhausted "changing your diet", so I suggest changing your attitude and habits instead.

    You have gained weight because you've eaten a little too much, but consistently and for a long time.
    You lose weight when you consistently eat a little less than you burn, but you have to do it for a long time.

    Exercise can add to the calorie burn, but it can also make you more tired/hungry/sad, so you need to find something you like and not overdo it.
    Losing weight can make it easier for you to move.

    Food is supposed to be pleasureable, but consistently overeating is food abuse.
    What you like, is going to be subjective, habitual and situational.

    No foods are in themselves healthy (or unhealthy), it's about portions and proportions. A healthy diet is balanced and varied. You can eat anything you want (of course you have to avoid what triggers allergies), but you can't eat all the time or in unlimited quantities.

    You need to learn functional strategies to handle stress and negative emotions; food is a poor stress reliever.

    Do you have endometriosis?
  • rose2_0
    rose2_0 Posts: 150 Member
    Hi OP. I haven't been diagnosed with endo yet but something is terribly wrong and I'll be checking as soon as my new insurance comes through.

    I get you. When you're in that pain it's not about "changing your attitude". Sometimes I feel like it's an endless hell. Like I might not make it through the week.

    Exercise? Yeah, sure...when it's a week with just cramps and the cramps subside, but then there are the months you wake up every single morning sick to your stomach. This month I cried for my mom every single day. I'm a 32 year old woman. I didn't sleep through a single night the entire week. I am obsessed with fitness, and trust me...I wasn't in the gym.

    And I get that food is comfort. Not even just emotionally. Sometimes I just crave those carbs to settle my stomach.


    I think the best thing you can do is plan for it. Know that you lose weight by consistently eating less than you burn. Get tracking and logging your food. When that week comes do the best you can. Eat at maintenance if you need to. At the end of the month, if you have 3 solid weeks in a deficit and one at maintenance, you will lose. It might be slower but at least it's something.

    I'm struggling right now because I'm NOT in a deficit, so these weeks from hell (my period) are really putting me in a surplus.
  • Candyspun
    Candyspun Posts: 370 Member
    Candyspun wrote: »
    OP, another thing that stands out is ‘food is my last comfort.’ I understand this, because when you’re resting more, it feels like there’s less to do. I recommend finding other interests that can be done while resting, such as journaling, reading, I’ve even found skin care can be a fun interest that can be done even on sick/pain days, and I feel like it makes me feel pampered and treated.

    I’m sure doing your nails could also work just as well.

    I do other things like reading, constantly doing my nails and skin care, etc , but by my last comfort, I mean to say, it's the only part of my life that I enjoy and haven't changed. since dealing with years of bad flare ups I've had to give up almost everything I enjoyed, so Its difficult cutting out the bad foods I really love. I do admit I over eat, especially during depressive periods but I just started using this app again and hoping to gain some control. Thanks for your suggestions.

    It may be hard, but I believe you can do it. Another thing that is a great habit is to have a bottle of water with you when you’re in too much pain to move. I focus on my water goal and chug it! Lol. Maybe you could approach it like a person quitting smoking: use your hands. Other ideas to add to the above ones could be knitting, crochet, model building, anything.

    And honestly, I hear you. I still need bed rest during a flare and no amount of weight loss will change that. And I go crazy resting. It drives me nuts, because I get utterly bored and frustrated. If I rest long enough, my mind gets into the ‘it’s so unfair!’ Mentality. Add severe pain on top of that and it is really, really tough on our mental health.

    The good news is, we can address these patterns and work around it.
  • Candyspun
    Candyspun Posts: 370 Member
    I thought of some food ideas that might help despite being from different countries. Aldi has affordable, low calorie snacks for every type of craving. I think for most countries, that is the case.

    Also, I’m trying to drink less dairy and have a chocolate craving right now. I gently melted two Aldi dark chocolate squares into some unsweetened, low fat almond milk. It’s around 142 calories, but because it’s a hot drink, it’s taking some time to drink it, which means I can prolong the chocolate pleasure. It also has some iron and antioxidants.

    There’s also a biscuit pack I buy. There’s two biscuits in one pack, and it’s a hundred calories for the pack. But I can portion the biscuits separately so it’s 50 Val’s each! And it has gooey chocolate in middle. In Australia, it’s called ‘Morning Vale’ or something like that. But you can poke around in any supermarket and see what they have. I find eating a 29 calorie cheese triangle from Aldi (cowbelle is the brand, and I think America has it too, so UK might have it?) after something sweet seems to satisfy me and convinced me to ‘close off’ the snack, so I don’t seem to crave more. I know I’m trying to cut back on dairy, but I haven’t fully achieved it yet! I hope some of this helps.
  • FL_Hiker
    FL_Hiker Posts: 919 Member
    edited July 2018
    I feel your pain.. my endo is so bad somedays I can't even leave my home, just living is difficult so it's even harder to motivate myself to run. The movement also hurts even more. They say exercise is supposed to help but for me it does nothing. Nothing relieves my pain, but then it will just fade away on its own 🙁. Lucky for me I can barely think about food while I'm in pain... I talked to my OBGYN about my concerns and she just ignored me while she gossiped with her nurse.. I've seriously gotta switch doctors soon. I would love to know how others cope with the pain. I chug as much water daily as I possibly can, that helps a bit. I've never been over weight, and am a healthy weight and the pain doesn't subside. I've had to miss school and the things I love doing because of endo, it makes me so miserable.
  • rose2_0
    rose2_0 Posts: 150 Member
    FL_Hiker wrote: »
    I feel your pain.. my endo is so bad somedays I can't even leave my home, just living is difficult so it's even harder to motivate myself to run. The movement also hurts even more. They say exercise is supposed to help but for me it does nothing. Nothing relieves my pain, but then it will just fade away on its own 🙁. Lucky for me I can barely think about food while I'm in pain... I talked to my OBGYN about my concerns and she just ignored me while she gossiped with her nurse.. I've seriously gotta switch doctors soon. I would love to know how others cope with the pain. I chug as much water daily as I possibly can, that helps a bit. I've never been over weight, and am a healthy weight and the pain doesn't subside. I've had to miss school and the things I love doing because of endo, it makes me so miserable.

    It sucks that so many doctors and people in general don't understand this pain. Like I said above, I haven't been diagnosed yet but something is wrong. I get "take a tylenol", "drink water", "lie down". Tylenol is laughable. Sometimes I'm so sick I can't even drink water which obviously doesn't help.

    After all my research on this it seems like a pain killer is never prescribed. Is it really not possible? I can't live like this.
  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,754 Member
    Getting pregnant and giving birth cured me for some reason. No more pain, but my periods were dreadful.
  • Candyspun
    Candyspun Posts: 370 Member
    Getting pregnant and giving birth cured me for some reason. No more pain, but my periods were dreadful.
    I’m glad you’re not suffering, but there is no cure for endometriosis, and getting pregnant to cure it is a myth that has done damage to a lot of women.
  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,754 Member
    Candyspun wrote: »
    Getting pregnant and giving birth cured me for some reason. No more pain, but my periods were dreadful.
    I’m glad you’re not suffering, but there is no cure for endometriosis, and getting pregnant to cure it is a myth that has done damage to a lot of women.

    I still had endo. Whatever.
  • Candyspun
    Candyspun Posts: 370 Member
    I just wanted to add that thought for educational purposes because a lot of doctors still tout that myth
  • Candyspun
    Candyspun Posts: 370 Member
    rose2_0 wrote: »
    FL_Hiker wrote: »
    I feel your pain.. my endo is so bad somedays I can't even leave my home, just living is difficult so it's even harder to motivate myself to run. The movement also hurts even more. They say exercise is supposed to help but for me it does nothing. Nothing relieves my pain, but then it will just fade away on its own 🙁. Lucky for me I can barely think about food while I'm in pain... I talked to my OBGYN about my concerns and she just ignored me while she gossiped with her nurse.. I've seriously gotta switch doctors soon. I would love to know how others cope with the pain. I chug as much water daily as I possibly can, that helps a bit. I've never been over weight, and am a healthy weight and the pain doesn't subside. I've had to miss school and the things I love doing because of endo, it makes me so miserable.

    It sucks that so many doctors and people in general don't understand this pain. Like I said above, I haven't been diagnosed yet but something is wrong. I get "take a tylenol", "drink water", "lie down". Tylenol is laughable. Sometimes I'm so sick I can't even drink water which obviously doesn't help.

    After all my research on this it seems like a pain killer is never prescribed. Is it really not possible? I can't live like this.

    I'm in Australia, and in a fb group for endo. I know many endo sufferers who are prescribed heavy duty painkillers, but others have found it hard to re-fill their scripts, or have been accused of drug chasing.