Chronic Illnesses and Weight Not Budging
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danielbwest
Posts: 42 Member
Hi everyone,
I have Adrenal Insufficiency and have to take steroids daily. For those of you not familiar with this condition, your stress hormone, cortisol, does not produce an adequate amount, making it difficult for the body to fight off the stresses of daily life. This condition can very easily make you tired and can end up sleeping, from a couple hours to almost the entire day. Beyond that, I have a connective tissue disorder called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which has gifted me with a number of herniated discs in my neck and horrible low back pain and sciatica thanks to Tethered Cord Syndrome. Needless to say, my ability to be active is limited, due to pain, stamina, and other symptoms. If my spine didn't look like a train wreck, I would've been in the gym yesterday. I really loved working out, so to not be able to workout is a real blow.
That all being said, I am having a rough time losing weight. I have changed my diet, but the scale won't budge. Those of you with chronic illnesses and/or difficulty losing weight, please help me! What has worked for you? Would smoothies once a day be worth trying out? Thank you!
I have Adrenal Insufficiency and have to take steroids daily. For those of you not familiar with this condition, your stress hormone, cortisol, does not produce an adequate amount, making it difficult for the body to fight off the stresses of daily life. This condition can very easily make you tired and can end up sleeping, from a couple hours to almost the entire day. Beyond that, I have a connective tissue disorder called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which has gifted me with a number of herniated discs in my neck and horrible low back pain and sciatica thanks to Tethered Cord Syndrome. Needless to say, my ability to be active is limited, due to pain, stamina, and other symptoms. If my spine didn't look like a train wreck, I would've been in the gym yesterday. I really loved working out, so to not be able to workout is a real blow.
That all being said, I am having a rough time losing weight. I have changed my diet, but the scale won't budge. Those of you with chronic illnesses and/or difficulty losing weight, please help me! What has worked for you? Would smoothies once a day be worth trying out? Thank you!
14
Replies
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How long has it been since you started trying to lose weight?
How long has it been since you’ve seen any change on the scale at all?
How much weight are you trying to lose?
Do you use a food scale to weigh all solid food?
You don’t have to exercise to lose weight, and smoothies don’t have anything to do with weight loss. Weight loss happens when you consistently eat fewer calories than your body burns.9 -
I dont pretend to know exactly how it is for you but I can say with regard to exercise that I am less sedentary more sloth like. I just dont like moving around. I do on average about 30 minutes of exercise a week,, although over this weekend past I did 2 hours worth, but then I know I wont do any more until next weekend.
I have found so far, and its early days (5th week now) that just sticking to the deficit has paid off. Obviously I am very large now and its right at the start so this may well change over time but for me personally the exercise I think isnt the key, the eating is.6 -
Weighing food can make a difference because it helps you know exactly how many calories you are eating.5
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Not a doctor, BUT it's likely the steroids. Keep taking your meds, but just know that these are potent drugs and they can definitely keep you puffy (fluid retention), unfortunately. It also makes you retain sodium, and lose potassium.
Keep at it- NO need to do anything ridiculous!- just keeping weighing and logging, and eventually, it will come off!2 -
danielbwest wrote: »Hi everyone,
I have Adrenal Insufficiency and have to take steroids daily. For those of you not familiar with this condition, your stress hormone, cortisol, does not produce an adequate amount, making it difficult for the body to fight off the stresses of daily life. This condition can very easily make you tired and can end up sleeping, from a couple hours to almost the entire day. Beyond that, I have a connective tissue disorder called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which has gifted me with a number of herniated discs in my neck and horrible low back pain and sciatica thanks to Tethered Cord Syndrome. Needless to say, my ability to be active is limited, due to pain, stamina, and other symptoms. If my spine didn't look like a train wreck, I would've been in the gym yesterday. I really loved working out, so to not be able to workout is a real blow.
That all being said, I am having a rough time losing weight. I have changed my diet, but the scale won't budge. Those of you with chronic illnesses and/or difficulty losing weight, please help me! What has worked for you? Would smoothies once a day be worth trying out? Thank you!
I love to be active, but am often challenged by various physical issues that prevent me, so understand how frustrating it is to not be able to work out. Yes, I know it is possible to lose weight without exercise, but I'd be hangry.
Has your doctor given you a referral to a physical therapist who can help you design an exercise program that works for your condition?
I also took a look at your diary and see a lot of days that aren't logged, so that is a place to start. I also recommend weighing everything - no more entries like "Banana, 1 medium"
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Hello OP and I am sorry for your challenges - sounds like you are a fighter though !
As above, i would start with logging. Have you and your doctor talked about any form of anti-inflammatory diet ?1 -
kshama2001 wrote: »danielbwest wrote: »
Has your doctor given you a referral to a physical therapist who can help you design an exercise program that works for your condition? There is a place here that treats patients with EDS and Dysautonomia. Once I have a surgery date, I’ll have my pcp Rx PT
I also took a look at your diary and see a lot of days that aren't logged, so that is a place to start. I also recommend weighing everything - no more entries like "Banana, 1 medium"
Thank you for the feedback, I really appreciate it!0 -
@kshama2001 click on the “show previous quotes”, I answered once of your questions.0
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How long has it been since you started trying to lose weight?
How long has it been since you’ve seen any change on the scale at all?
How much weight are you trying to lose?
Do you use a food scale to weigh all solid food?
You don’t have to exercise to lose weight, and smoothies don’t have anything to do with weight loss. Weight loss happens when you consistently eat fewer calories than your body burns.
Q1. It’s been about a month since I started trying to lose weight.
Q2. About two weeks, I believe I lost 4 lbs that time.
Q3. An attainable, realistic goal of 20-30 pounds.
Q4. I have a food scale that I got when I was much more active. I can definitely begin using it again.
Thank you for the feedback, I really appreciate it!
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danielbwest wrote: »How long has it been since you started trying to lose weight?
How long has it been since you’ve seen any change on the scale at all?
How much weight are you trying to lose?
Do you use a food scale to weigh all solid food?
You don’t have to exercise to lose weight, and smoothies don’t have anything to do with weight loss. Weight loss happens when you consistently eat fewer calories than your body burns.
Q1. It’s been about a month since I started trying to lose weight.
Q2. About two weeks, I believe I lost 4 lbs that time.
Q3. An attainable, realistic goal of 20-30 pounds.
Q4. I have a food scale that I got when I was much more active. I can definitely begin using it again.
Thank you for the feedback, I really appreciate it!
Yes, using your food scale should help. You have a relatively moderate amount of weight to lose, and tightening up your logging becomes increasingly important as you approach your goal weight and your deficit gets smaller.
Keep in mind, also, that weight loss doesn't happen at a consistent pace. It's normal to go a few weeks with little movement on the scale, and then see a decrease of a few pounds. People often expect to see the scale go down every day, but that is generally not the case, especially as you get closer to your goal weight. As long as you ensure that you're in a calorie deficit, the weight will come off.
Finally, make sure that MFP is set at a reasonable pace of weight loss for you. With that amount to lose, you don't want to attempt more than a 1 lb/week pace of loss. As you get closer to your goal, a 0.5 lb/week rate will become more appropriate (or you can choose a slower pace now if you'd prefer). And again, you likely won't see your scale go down a pound or a half pound every week. You might see it go down 1 or 2 pounds every few weeks instead. This is due to normal water/waste weight fluctuations in the body and is completely expected.3 -
@apullum what’s interesting is, back in 2014-15, I was the fittest I’ve ever been. I was down to below 200lbs and ate extremely well. I was able to maintain and lose weight up until spring 2017. So, long story, short, this will be my first time losing weight without the gym, so I appreciate the feedback. I think the most challenging part for me right now is, I want to be in the gym because I know how to lose weight that way.3
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danielbwest wrote: »@apullum what’s interesting is, back in 2014-15, I was the fittest I’ve ever been. I was down to below 200lbs and ate extremely well. I was able to maintain and lose weight up until spring 2017. So, long story, short, this will be my first time losing weight without the gym, so I appreciate the feedback. I think the most challenging part for me right now is, I want to be in the gym because I know how to lose weight that way.
I think it's especially hard to adjust to eating less if you're used to working out and therefore being able to eat more. Also, when we get used to being active, a lot of us have psychological trouble with staying still. I know it drives me nuts when I can't run--both because I hate not running and because I hate not being able to eat my run calories Has your doctor recommended any activities that would be safe for you? 2 -
@apullum since my surgeon is out of state, it’s hard to communicate with one another, so it’s hard to say what are good exercises and what are not. I know that running, any weight baring exercises are off the table. Once I’m on my way to recovery, I’m going to hopefully return to Pilates. I did Pilates before and after my first neck surgery, and it worked very well as a complement to my PT program. However, this was all before I knew I had EDS and all these other conditions. That being said, I’m fairly well informed and wouldn’t do something that would jeopardize my body.
On another note, I totally understand what you’re talking about when you can’t run. It was such a stress relief for me, but tore up my knees. I hadn’t run since 6th grade, and my memories were far from pleasant. I started running in 2014 and the last race I ran was in 2016. There were times when I hated running because my ankles were not stable and the cartilage was wearing off my knees. I didn’t know this until later. I loved the community I ran with and am still friends today. If it weren’t for them, I probably wouldn’t have been as successful as I was. I ran 3 half marathons, 2 10Ks, and a couple relay races (1-5 miles).0 -
I did Pilates in grad school and I enjoyed it. I wasn't trying to lose weight or doing any structured exercise program, so it's hard to say what it did for me, but my instructor swore it helped her recover from a severe back injury. Hopefully it helps you too!
I know a lot of "retired" runners (i.e., people who stopped running due to injury) who are now cyclists. Maybe that's something you could do in the future, even if it's not possible right now?1 -
danielbwest wrote: »@apullum since my surgeon is out of state, it’s hard to communicate with one another, so it’s hard to say what are good exercises and what are not. I know that running, any weight baring exercises are off the table. Once I’m on my way to recovery, I’m going to hopefully return to Pilates. I did Pilates before and after my first neck surgery, and it worked very well as a complement to my PT program. However, this was all before I knew I had EDS and all these other conditions. That being said, I’m fairly well informed and wouldn’t do something that would jeopardize my body.
On another note, I totally understand what you’re talking about when you can’t run. It was such a stress relief for me, but tore up my knees. I hadn’t run since 6th grade, and my memories were far from pleasant. I started running in 2014 and the last race I ran was in 2016. There were times when I hated running because my ankles were not stable and the cartilage was wearing off my knees. I didn’t know this until later. I loved the community I ran with and am still friends today. If it weren’t for them, I probably wouldn’t have been as successful as I was. I ran 3 half marathons, 2 10Ks, and a couple relay races (1-5 miles).
I don't understand why being out of state makes it difficult to communicate with your surgeon. Call the surgeon's office and say you need a referral to a local physical therapist.
For that matter, your GP can refer you to a PT.1 -
I have chronic fatigue syndrome so have limited capacity for exercise amd activity. I have been lucky over the past few months and often walk for 30mins or an hour but not enough to make any significant contribution to my weight loss.
I have been very successful losing weight through managing what I eat. I set my calorie goal using a TDEE calculator (1500 calories) and I've stuck with it very consistently. I weigh everything I eat on a food scale or do the best I can estimating if eating out. I have lost an average of 1.8lb per week (starting at 201lb on 01 January this year). But of course there have been weeks where I've lost nothing, very little, or even appeared to have gained due to water retention.
If you are confident you're in a caloric deficit (through using a sensible calculator and weighing and logging everything accurately) then the weight will come off. Taking photos and body measurements as well as using the scale might help you see that you are losing fat.
Good luck, it's definitely hard work losing weight while ill but definitely possible. There is no requirement to exercise.2 -
amskinner87 wrote: »I have chronic fatigue syndrome so have limited capacity for exercise amd activity. I have been lucky over the past few months and often walk for 30mins or an hour but not enough to make any significant contribution to my weight loss.
I have been very successful losing weight through managing what I eat. I set my calorie goal using a TDEE calculator (1500 calories) and I've stuck with it very consistently. I weigh everything I eat on a food scale or do the best I can estimating if eating out. I have lost an average of 1.8lb per week (starting at 201lb on 01 January this year). But of course there have been weeks where I've lost nothing, very little, or even appeared to have gained due to water retention.
If you are confident you're in a caloric deficit (through using a sensible calculator and weighing and logging everything accurately) then the weight will come off. Taking photos and body measurements as well as using the scale might help you see that you are losing fat.
Good luck, it's definitely hard work losing weight while ill but definitely possible. There is no requirement to exercise.
Well done on the weight loss and getting out for the walks ! x0
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