weight loss and disability or chronic pain

[zztopgirl]

Hi, I posted on the Paul McKenna thread but have just had a massive relapse and in loads of pain (understatement of the year) and on mega-strength painkillers.

I really want to lose weight, I put on a lot of weight and desparately want to fit into my old clothes again. I even got a new pair of jeans the other day as im getting depressed about not fitting into anything. I wondered if there is anyone out there in the same boat and how do you cope, its so easy to fall into comfort eating especially when in constant pain, lack of sleep and no motivation to do anything. Would also love to hear how anyone copes whilst on steroids and trying to avoid the dreaded weight gain, ive been trying my best to avoid taking steroids but am losing the battle.

Have done WW before and lost motivation after a few months but wondered if its worth trying again?

[Ted_Hutchinson]

Read VITAMIN D for Chronic Pain Syndromes (http://pain-topics.org/clinical_concepts/vitamind.php)
Watch Mayo Clinic Study Suggests Those Who Have Chronic Pain May Need to Assess Vitamin D Status (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JegTunHx6r0)

This Dr Dahlqvist's plan worked for me (http://blogg.passagen.se/dahlqvistannika/?anchor=my_lowcarb_dietary_programe_in) and doesn't cost anything. Worth investing in some coconut oil to make the transition from carbs to fat burning easier.

[linni]

I eat half of what I used to, but the more pain I am in the more I eat. I am trying hard not to snack, and just eat fruit or nuts, or juicing and smaller meals. I also try to drink water (I hate drinking anything). I too cannot fit into any of my clothes (except my jeans) but I refuse to buy a bigger size because I will just 'grow' into them! It is so depressing.

[Ted_Hutchinson]

I eat half of what I used to,I eat the same quantity of food as I always have

but the more pain I am in the more I eat. that is why it's important to get to the root causes of what is making the pain worse. This paper the origin of all pain is inflammation and the inflammatory response (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17240081) helped me understand I had to reduce all causes of inflammation if I was to reduce my pain levels. I took me far too long to understand that fat cells give off pro inflammatory cytokines that increase the amount of inflammation in your body and therefore the fatter you are the more pain you feel.

I am trying hard not to snack, One of the first benefits of a low carbohydrate higher fat diet was I stopped snacking altogether as I didn't need it. In fact I was able to skip meals while I was actually losing weight without minding.

and just eat fruit or nuts, or juicing The latest thinking on fat accumulation is that fructose, such as you find in fruit and fruit juices (and anything with high fructose corn syrup or sucrose, sugar) is particularly bad as starting the fat accumulation process. This talk explains what happens (http://www.abc.net.au/rn/healthreport/stories/2007/1969924.htm) but there is more recent research that supports what Lustig is saying.

It is so depressing.I don't think the situation is hopeless. If I can stop eating foods with wheat, Margarine (chemically processed vegetable oils) and omega-6 rich oils, Oils with a high omega-6 content. Eg. corn oil, sunflower oil, soya oil, peanut oil.Sweets, cakes, Danish pastries, fizzy drinks, juice .All sugar and sugary products. So can most other people.

Because vitamin D is fat soluble while you still have too much insulin and are burning glucose and storing fat your vitamin D is being locked up in fat cells and isn't doing you any good. Everyone who is overweight will inevitably have lower vitamin d levels so they need to take even more than everyone else or try to spend more time naked in the noonday sun.

[shykins]

i have a severe back problem and am often in a lot of pain BUT i have managed to lose weight

like ted i am a lowcarber (atkins) and i also exercise as much as i am able, yes it hurts but then i find if i dont exercise i get very stiff and then the pain is even worse

i just force myself to do these things, mind over matter sort of thing, i know its hard but only u can do it, look at what u eat, maybe try lowcarb (u can eat lots and dont need to be hungry), try swimming or some other kind of exercise

my rationale is that i cannot control my pain but i can control what i put in my mouth so it sort of gives me a bit of power back when all else is falling apart

good luck

[Ted_Hutchinson]

like ted i am a lowcarber (atkins) and i also exercise as much as i am able, yes it hurts but then i find if i dont exercise i get very stiff and then the pain is even worse

i just force myself to do these things, mind over matter sort of thing, i know its hard but only u can do it, look at what u eat, maybe try lowcarb (u can eat lots and dont need to be hungry), try swimming or some other kind of exercise

my rationale is that i cannot control my pain but i can control what i put in my mouth so it sort of gives me a bit of power back when all else is falling apart
Exercise is a problem for some people (esp like me with post polio) If I force myself to do things when I physically cannot it causes more damage to my muscles and I am laid up for longer than if I just pace myself and just push myself very very slightly above what is easy.
But you don't have to exercise to lose weight I didn't exercise at all but I found AFTER I lost weight I was better able to exercise and it didn't distress me nearly as much.
Here is what Robert lustig had to say about exercise.
OBESITY, DIABETES, FATTY LIVER -- EXERCISE the UPSIDE?: (http://www.melbourneclinicalmasseurs.com/Healthnews.html)
Dr. Lustig: "...... exercise is the best treatment. The question is why does exercise work in obesity?
Because it burns calories? That's ridiculous. Twenty minutes of jogging is one chocolate chip cookie, I mean you can't do it. One Big Mac requires three hours of vigorous exercise to work that off, that's not the reason that exercise is important, exercise is important for three reasons exclusive of the fact that it burns calories:

The first is it increases skeletal muscle insulin sensitivity, in other words it makes your muscle more insulin sensitive, therefore your pancreas can make less, therefore your levels can drop, therefore there's less insulin in your blood to shunt sugar to fat. That's probably the main reason that exercise is important and I'm totally for it.

The second reason that exercise is important is because it's the single best treatment to get your cortisol down. Cortisol is your stress hormone, it's the hormone that goes up when you are mega-stressed, it's the hormone that basically causes visceral fat deposition which is the bad fat and it has been tied to the metabolic syndrome. So by getting your cortisol down you're actually reducing the amount of fat deposited and it also reduces food intake. People think that somehow exercise increases food intake, it does not, it reduces food intake.

And then the third reason that exercise is important, which is somewhat not well known, but I'm trying to evaluate this at the present time, is that it actually helps detoxify the sugar fructose. Fructose actually is a hepato-toxin; now fructose is fruit sugar but we were never designed to take in so much fructose".

[shykins]

i agree u dont have to exercise to lose ,...i didnt exercise at all to lose my first 4 stone, i started swimming for my back and then proceeded onto the gym approx 2 yrs ago BUT i did find doing the gym helped me change my shape even tho i actually gained a few pounds back i got smaller

for my back condition keeping mobile is the most helpful thing even when its hurting but believe me i dont go mad in there!! mainly walking on the treadmill with dumbbells

of course we are all different and what fits our bodies most
x

[linni]

Wow - lots of interesting things to read - so am I making myself even fatter by eating too much fruit?