Women 200lb+, Let's Astonish Ourselves This April!!!

jazzadesigns wrote: »

Hi I’m 53 and 5’6”. I can’t wear eye makeup now and have to cover my hives with foundation to go to work. I am going to be having a big interview in the next couple of weeks so I’m really not happy about it. Has anyone here ever had anything like this? Any help would be appreciated!

((super I feel your pain sweetie hugs))) As a long term sufferer of hives (2003-2021), and so does my mother-in-law and on my hubby's side great niece suffers with hives. I have some hints and tricks! Sometimes it just clears up, and you are fine - I hope that for you! But if you do make it to the allergy Dr because you still have hives, there are some things you can do.

Benadryl, or as I call it "bena-drool". I am currently immune to it, but at first it was every four hours especially at the beginning years. Now I take ginger root, which acts the same as benadryl, without any of the sleepies or whatever benadryl causes. Licorice root is "like" prednisone, I kept it for when I was out of prednisone, as a backup. It is not recommended for long term (of course neither is prednisone aka the devils tic tacs), but this stuff is for until you get under a Dr.'s care. If you are still breaking out, you will do a "safe food" test. You will take everything out of your diet, except for one thing (rice first three days if I recall). Then over three days, add one more food, etc. to see if you have a reaction to some kind of food. I recommend prayer here, because this caused me a hearty suspicion that "all food is poison and is trying to kill me because, hives". So I did a constant, panicked IF, and often was afraid to eat food - because I would not want to eat and get worse hives. For me it only seemed to be hives, or worse hives and we never seemed to figure out the trigger.

Be calm, be patient, I could only do it with prayer. As a side note, peri-menopause and menopause - there is an element of allergy changing that happens. I honestly think that is what affected my hives long enough to get off the prednisone in 2021 (possibly, I still don't know). Your immune system goes into some sort of overhaul and your allergies change. I am saying this because: if you have never been allergic to a thing, or always been allergic to a thing - that can mean literally nothing when you hit peri-meno or menopause.

For when it is tough and you are at home, oatmeal baths. Put oatmeal in a sock and put it on your face and in the tub. Just FYI, for me when the bath is too hot, this is bad for my hives. I have to take tepid baths/showers. Try to figure out if your skin reacts to too hot or too cold (at first the allergy Dr. recommended only lukewarm showers/baths). I only use Dr. Bronner's soap for everything, and jojoba oil for the face or if monster face oatmeal aveeno. When my hives are really really bad, I will use a no color laundry detergent like babies use. Make-up I was so hit and miss on, I usually just couldn't wear it - sometimes it would cause monster face, but it would definitely make my face itchy and I would try to buy other make-up etc nonstop. There are some lotions with oatmeal for the body, but again, I couldn't make them last long enough for my needs. I found it difficult to stay lathered, but they helped a bit until I could do something. For me, it was a game of limiting. I was never able to cure the hives, or figure out why they were there - but, I could make them a little less sometimes.

I also picked up a pretty constant routine of washing my hands. I can't remember if this happened during the prednisone (there were years that EVERY single time I left the house I got sick) or if my hands would get itchy, and I would touch my face? Not sure, but it is a good thing to do. Prednisone and licorice root impede your immune system, that is what makes them work. But, you might want to be more careful with your immune system. Because, for me when I would get sick then, overdrive hives with the illness. It was tough.

If you are overwhelmed with emotional stress - sometimes doing a physical relieve helps immensely. I listen to classical music, and have lots of silence in my life. I mean, lots of silence. I got to the point, where ANY emotion - even a good one, would overwhelm me. That is why I would read books, go for way less stimulation. I was absolutely desperate though, because sleep was severely impacted by hives. I would feel like I had burning thorns pressed into my flesh all night, and they were itchy. Mostly, I couldn't sleep. Again, I recommend prayer. At first, I got so angry that I couldn't sleep!! Ohh, girl I was angry!! That was a vicious cycle there. I also, began to fear sleep like food, because I knew I couldn't and it was "I am not ready for a whole night of torture again!".

I used to have pretty severe monster face. Even the pic I posted, my hubby was like, "I think your face might have been swelling" I would have my eyes, lips swell etc etc, but if your tongue starts tingling call 911 NOW! Also, if your throat starts tingling, do not pass go call 911. I had it for so long, and yet it only happened once and I had to get an adrenaline shot in the ER.

Also, only allergy Dr.'s seem to "get" the pain of hives, my regular Dr. would be "oh, you are probably stressing"... yeah, and then when they finally cleared up, "Oh, you must not be stressing". If you asked my hubby, he and I would both say "the hives ARE the stress". Allergy Dr's get the constant stress of it, GP's don't. I guess because they usually treat acute cases. Like, less than a week. Allergy Dr.'s are long term.

While I was a nightmare case, my great niece who I was sore distressed to see had severe hives as a toddler (poor baby - she is my hero! She stayed sweet, upbeat, and optimistic!) It has been 3 years since she has seen a hive. Praise be to God! My mother in law, who had them as a child into her adulthood - and her case was not as severe as mine - has not have hives in 15 years! So, I think I was unusual in the constancy of the hives, usually it is a come and go sort of thing. With some nice long breaks. (((super hugs))) I hope something in here will help you until you get to the allergy Dr! I also, hope it isn't very severe or you figure out if you have a trigger.

Hi everyone,

I'm totally new to using MFP Community and I'm also new to posting on a thread so this all feels a bit different!

It's really inspiring reading about all the work you are all putting in. I really feel like I need some support from people who know what this all feels like.

I am 37 years old and 233 pounds and I'm at the heaviest I've ever been. I'm quite active and have started doing a bit more exercise in the past few weeks so I'm proud of myself for that. But eating is my real problem... I am a real emotional eater - anytime I feel like I've had a bad day or feel tired, I think 'I need' or 'I deserve' treats...which is a lot of the time!

I don't want to be negative about my body because its helped me do lots of great things including growing two whole little humans. But I don't feel confident, I don't feel myself and I don't feel healthy.

So I'm here to start on my weight loss journey. I'd like to reach 182 pounds or under, maybe less after that.

And I can't work out how to tag people but I also love the Home Edit!

cowgirlslikeus86 wrote: »

I need to be back on the wagon. I dont even know where my wagon is.

I love this so much.

I've been a proponent of small change over time, but if you are a kind of all-or-nothing person, absolutely grab the reins of that wagon- yoga, no alcohol, no sugar, calorie deficit, log in grams, etc. Sounds bad to me, because I'm very much a slower-wins-the-race kind of person now, so here's an alternative to that:

If you're looking for a good starting place- maybe your goal is to make it to yoga today, even if you don't participate fully, and log everything you eat, maybe not even perfectly.

Maybe your goal tomorrow will be to do those same things AND find that thing that you can go to when you feel like having a glass of wine, but don't want to drink. For me, that's la croix, but I understand all the jokes about "it tastes like it was shipped in a cargo truck next to strawberries," or whatever. I have also been known for a chai at bedtime.

Maybe the day after that will be to dig out the food scale and log your food in grams along with the other things. Or maybe you find low-sugar ways of satisfying a sweet tooth. For me, that's greek yogurt with dark, dark, darkkkk chocolate and no-sugar maple syrup. If you need ideas, hit me up, I have the world's sweetest teeth, haha.

Motivation doesn't stick, because life gets in the way. But habits you build, and ways you make your life work with your goals, do.

This is practice for the way smaller-you is going to live her life. If you can't figure out how smaller-you is going to enjoy things in moderation, then there won't be a smaller you. I know from experience- I did the all-or-nothing approach, and it bit me in the *kitten*, and I regained all the weight.

You deserve to enjoy things along the way to smaller-you, and then smaller-you will have all the tools to stay that way.

Sorry, didn't mean that to turn into a soapbox, lol. As always, take what might help, and leave the rest.

Hi there!! New to this thread group. I really need help with my motivation. I used to love to exercise; now, I can't seem to get off the couch. I sit here and stare at my treadmill, stationary bike and unused fitness DVDs. I tell myself I need to get up and move, but I can't seem to find the strength to do it. I had Covid in January which left me with a post-covid bronchitis/asthma. After 3 months of uncontrollable coughing, my cough has finally stopped. I am using my inhaler as needed, but the need is getting less. Last week I was finally able to complete part of a workout. This week I completed one full DVD workout. I was super happy, but can't seem to get the energy to do it again. My body aches all over. How do I get through all of this? How do I get the strength to keep going when I feel weak and "frumpy"??? I've seen several comments about emotional eating; that is me!!! I eat whether I am happy, sad or angry. I eat good for a few days and then I feel like I need to eat unhealthy carbs and lots of sweets. I need help. I know I am late to the April tracking, but hoping I can at least get started with this group.

I am 48. 5 ft 3. CW 204 1st GW 190

April 20
April 27

I just really started on MFP the past few days. I have logged some off & on over the past couple months, but after watching some documentaries here recently (along with some family health concerns) I decided it's time to make a change.

Goals for the last 2 weeks of April:
☀️ Drink more water. Just in general, I just at this. At least 1 container a day.
☀️ Walk 2x per week for minimum of 20 minutes.
☀️ Make smarter food choices. Less crap.
☀️ Go out drinking less - empty, wasted calories.
☀️ Focus on reducing carbs/sugars/processed foods

SW: 300.7 (4/18)
GW: 297 (end of April)

Some of these are easy changes & things I had already started focusing on. Others will be a little more difficult. But I got this.

Good morning everyone!

Welp, as expected, TOM. Holding at 193.8, feel like the Michelin Man with bonus cramping.

But...


Alright, tag party time!
@seltzer_lover nothing better than little kid birthday parties! The best. Have fun!

@tlucas2017 I agree with @justanotherloser007 that you should really give your body a break. If you feel better when you move, maybe do something very low intensity, like walking slowly, and build up your distance/stamina over time.

Luckily for you, weight loss is mostly made in the kitchen! As far as that goes, start by just trying to log everything you eat, without judging yourself about it. Once you get a good feel for how you eat, see if there are changes you can make that keep you satisfied, like swapping cauliflower rice for normal rice, or maybe a protein bar for a dessert bar.

Also, welcome to the group!

@rockitwell86 I love the energy! Welcome to the best group on MFP!

@KeriA oooh,

We have to push through the activation energy to do those things we haven’t been doing.

I needed this today. I've been slacking on my weightlifting lately. Although today TOM is taking me out, so maybe once I stop actively wanting to curl up in a ball on the floor, lol.

It sounds like you're making a lot of good progress in a lot of areas, though! Your self-reflection helps me as a passer-by all the time.

@roz0810 it's just water, as long as you stay on target (which is harder for me during TOM too, )

Have a great Wednesday, everyone!