Needing suggestions to help lose weight....

[micromidget]

Back in the day when the Crohn's was severe and very active I could not keep weight on. Jump ahead 20+ years and well.....not so much I really need to lose some weight. (I could actually stand to lose well over 100 lbs but I'd settle for a whole lot less). I just don't know where to begin. :confused2: As we all know the foods that are usually recommended for weight loss and "healthy eating" would put many of us in the hospital. :yfrown: And when I'm hungry I'm not exactly a pleasant person so............... where to start. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[beth]

Eat less and exercise more.... I need to do the same thing, maybe 40lbs. No snacks, smaller meal portions, walk and cycle.

 

[Dexky]

Lay off or at least greatly reduce bread and crackers!!

 

[Misty-Eyed]

Well I decided that I need to lose some weight too as I had been putting on a few pounds since starting work. So far I've lost 8lbs in 7 weeks which is the first time ever that I've lost weight by myself. Not bad considering I though dieting would be hard due to not being allowed to eat endless supplies of veggies.

I asked one of my friends who is good with this kind of stuff and this is the advice he gave me;

'What I would do is find out your basal metabolic rate (there are calculators all over the internet) and then multiply that by an activity quotient...

1.1 - 1.9 depending on how active you are (I calculate myself at a 1.7... if you work at an office or are seated most of your day, I'd probably put down a 1.2 or so unless you regularly, i.e. more than a few times a week, play some kind of sport or are active above and beyond traditional exercise).

From that point, subtract 25% of your total calories. That is your deficit and goal for every day. This way, you're cutting a substantial enough amount of calories to see results over time, but it's not so much that it should be causing you problems. Every 6 weeks or so, eat at maintenance for a week, then go right back into it. Two cycles of that should get you close, if not to your goal already. It may take three.'

So for me.. my maintenance calorie intake is 2000 calories a day so I've been aiming to eat 1200 calories a day. But remember I'm short.. only 5'1 so most people would probably need slightly more than this. Calorie counting is hard and it takes up a lot of time. I just remember to read all labels of things I eat and eat portion sizes relating to that.

Eating little and often has also really helped with the hunger and I'm hardly ever hungry. It's also meant that I never feel full and my stomach feels a lot smaller for not being bloated all the time!

So at the moment I usually eat something like this;

Breakfast - 1 slice of toast and a cup of tea

Mid morning snack - A tuna wrap

Lunch- another tuna wrap or sushi and a small ginger bread man

Afternoon snack- banana or another low calorie biscuit

Dinner- basically half of what my family eats.. we eat healthily but usually quite large portions. I will take chicken skin etc off of any meat too.

Drink wise I'll only have one cup of tea a day with a spoon full of sugar. NO SODA OR ALCOHOL. Loads of water or cranberry with no added sugar. One capri sun at lunch time. You'll be amazed at how many calories are in drinks! They really add up over the day.

The reason to have the maintenance calorie week is to stop your body going into starvation mode where it doesn't want to lose anymore weight. I think this happens alot with us crohnies due to losing weight in the past when we've been ill. This really helped me start to lose weight again after it started to slow a little.

Just remember DON'T crash diet.. it's really bad for you. Losing weight slowly over time is the aim.

I also run a couple of times a week and do kettlebell training once a week to build up my muscles and I feel great for it. But if you aren't well enough to do anything quite that strenuous, then go for brisk walks as much as you can!

Hope this wasn't too much info!!

 

[archie]

Thats great advice and checking your metabolic rate is easy on the internet and it'll give you a rough idea where to start. Even eating 1 extra biscuit approx 100 cals a day will put on over a stone in a year so it's worth it to check your daily calorie intake, also the more you eat esp sweet things the more you crave therefore getting started ie the hardest part. Also a 15 min walk every day isn't also great for your health it improves your bone density which is often effected by crohn's and long term steroid use and it will help increase your metabolic rate therefore allowing you to have a few extra calories. A lot of people jump in at te deep end i.e give up all snacks etc and exercise to excess then after a week give up as it's too much like hard work, the key is gradually increase your exercise and don't deny yourself everything... everything in moderation is good. Good luck but the outcome is well worth it when you can fit into the next size down!!

 

[micromidget]

I'm grateful for all the advice. Every little bit helps. I've been trying to start slowly and make gradual changes. First and foremost I changed what I drink during the day. I have myself one cup of coffee in the morning, pack myself one SMALL container of iced tea with lunch and then spend the rest of the day drinking ice water. Lowfat milk, water and sometimes tea at home in the evening. I keep soda as a treat for when I go out. :ycool: I also try to not let myself get too hungry.. I find that I eat more when I do. I do quite a bit of walking at work (I work in a large jail in Texas) but to be honest I don't get outside to walk much right now...it has been too darn hot! We are moving to a new apartment in a month that has it's own fitness room and pool right next to our apartment. My husband and I are both looking forward to getting some use out of that. I forgot to mention also that my energy level has started to improve. I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea a couple months ago. I have been using a CPAP machine for just over a month and can not tell you what a difference it has made. :eek2: