Trying to figure it out...

[Kittee]

I'd like to lose some weight, about 30lbs to be exact but as we all know...living with Crohns is very difficult.

As many of you know I am recovering from the "flare from the 3rd circle of hell" currently so my stomach is very particular at the moment.

I discovered 2 days ago (on my birthday no less lol...) that Dairy is NO for me anymore. My DH took me to The Melting Pot for my birthday dinner and everything was fine until about 30mins after the cheese course. That meal shot out of me like a ROCKET. LOL :tongue: I was in so much stomach distress for the next 6 hours I swore to myself never again. Not to mention the pain that sent me to the ER was after I ate an ice cream cone 3 weeks ago.


So far salads, greens and fruit don't seem to bother me too much. So I guess I'm lucky that I could possibly diet like the rest of the world?

I also want to start walking some. I've been feeling a bit better after going back up to 35 ped but I am dropping to 30 tomorrow. I hope nothing bad happens like my attempt last week.


So all that being said...

Does anyone have any diet success tips?

I am thinking I want to try and shoot for 1500-1800 calories a day for slow and safe weight loss. Mileage may vary because I'm still having malabsorbstion issues atm. I haven't tracked how many calories I get in a day on average but I can assume it's pretty high especially due to the holidays. And yet my weight holds steady.



I'm also wondering if I should try to go Gluten free...I've heard of some Crohns folks having success going that route but dang..bread is a serious love affair of mine.

:duh:

 

[katiesue1506]

Hey Kittee... I dunno if I would focus so much on cutting cals if you are having malabsorption probs. Maybe a bigger focus on the exercise and the speed of your eating would help. If you focus more on slowing while eating, you'll feel fuller quicker. It's just that depriving yourself of cals could also be depriving yourself of nutrients. Also a bigger influence of water in the diet could help you feel fuller quicker.

I dunno though, I'm no expert. Good luck though!

 

[dollamasgetcrohns?]

I'd like to lose some weight, about 30lbs to be exact but as we all know...living with Crohns is very difficult.

same here, the reason that Cronees go Gluten free ( GF) is that they have been diagnosed with Celiac Disease or older DR's callit Celiac Sprue. You must eat alot of bread and wheat pasta before you get attg test inorder to show positive if you do not have the gene ( HLADQ2 or DQ8)then it is ullikely that you have CD . Although many people with CD are also Lactose intolerant so it couldhave been the gluten and thelactosethat sent you to the loo. That is so tipicle for people with CD one Crum of bread can leave you sick for a week. I tested positive for Crohn's and Celiac many people also are suffering from Neurological disordres due to malabsorption.
So back to loosing weight you know that I eatbecause I am in pain, I also eat when I finally have no pain!:ybatty:

 

[dollamasgetcrohns?]

I am new here I do not know why this popped up but thething is if you are positive for Celiac and you go Gluten Free you might start gaining weightif your gut starts healing. You can ofcourse count calouries and eat a lot of vegtables.

 

[BWS1982]

I don't know how to ask this any other way Kittee, and I probably don't have to, what is your height and weight? I only ask because of the calorie amounts you mention. You only have to answer if you want to, but you probably don't like many people, and it's probably rude of me (you can PM me if you want, I've helped many people, including my gf, if not no problem). I don't have an actual degree, but I know how to add or trim fat (or weight, or muscle, depending on the goal, for wrestlers for example)...I've even done it myself a dozen times for different goals.

Rambling and potential rudeness aside, I agree with KatieSue, and that I'd like to add, you probably would be cutting it too low with your caloric goal even if you focus on one. 1800 calories would be a bit low for most people who intend to also walk, and for just starting out on fatloss, and I'd put the metabolic maintenance level of that for someone about 140 pounds, average height, for a middle aged female, meaning, a woman of that stature and build would eat 1800 just to keep her build/size probably, genetics aside. I'm saying that's a really low amount of calories, most likely, at this point in time and for your disease. You don't want to starve a healing body, and you don't want to signal your metabolism to horde bodyfat by crashing that number, it won't end well either way.

If you have a good idea that you've held steady at the intake you've been on by what you mentioned, then you should focus more on portion size and eating speed, more water, like Katie said. You already have an idea for how much food it takes to maintain your weight by the sound of it, trim off about 15% of that (or 1/6th) in terms of the nutrient-void items. That should calculate to a couple hundred calories less than maintenance level, and you'd shave about a pound a week, and not lose any nutrients, ideally. Just remember not to make the Crohns worse, that is the endgame here, so to say. It can make or break things. I have walked that fine line before and lost MUCH work on goals myself, Crohns is priority one (add some of those veggies and roughage you mention too, almost no calories, just watch what you put on them)...

I hope I said things in a friendly manner, don't mean to have any condescending advice.

 

[Kittee]

I am 199 at 5'4.

Definitely in the "obese" category. Don't worry, I'm not embarrassed. If it wasn't for the increased risk of diabetes, heart problems, stroke etc, I would happily keep my "happy fat."

Haha.

So you think my caloric range is too low? All those weight loss programs on Discovery put those women on plans about like that.

 

[BWS1982]

Well, at about 1700 you might lose a good majority of just fat, it's hard to say, but you'd have to ease into it. An important factor is retaining muscle, it will keep you energized, and it will make sure what you lose will stay off (higher metabolism), the lower you go, the less likely you'll retain muscle, especially without weightlifting to tell the body to keep it. I think we are just concerned with both your Crohns and nutrition. The 1500 you said at first is what alarmed me. The 1800 is fairly okay at those statistics, but I'd use that as a minimum, and focus more on what you eat, when you eat, and the walking. The benefit here is that you've been steady at your food intake as of late, which is a big aid in initiating your plan. I'd still say cut about 1/6th of your food portions, of the ones that are void of much or any nutrition, namely sugars, because that will just make you hungry and feed the bad flora in your bowels.

Cheat once a week or so with a Crohns friendly dessert for motivation, but only if the rest of the week went as planned, that way you're not totally deprived and will probably stick it out better.

Are the women on Discovery those morbidly obese ones or the really overweight, like 300lbs and up? Because in those cases many times they can crash their calories because the immediate weight loss is more important than longer term consequences like lasting weight loss, because they don't have the luxury to ease into things or take it slow, you do. The doctors are also making sure every calorie counts, and that means they are being pumped full of nutrients either in the food and/or in pill or liquid form, maybe even in IV. They are also being monitored by doctors for signs their body is crashing or revolting to a major drop in fuel, I'm guessing too. I'm betting they probably don't have Crohns, either...

 

[Kittee]

Hehe so true.

Yes, I was referring to those women/men on the shows that are 300lbs +.

What you have said makes very good sense and I'm going to give it a try. I'm going to be more pro-active about my Wii fit as well.

I paid a good sum of money for it and I hardly use it. /bonks self.

 

[BWS1982]

I have this thing against Wii Fit, but that's not really as much an issue for average people who want to get fit, so it's good for you and others to use as a guideline. My thing is it uses BMI as a tell all, rather than a clue. It's just that there are people who would be completely misled by it if they use it and don't understand what BMI is. For example, you are 199, say you lose 12 pounds in 3 months, and you're upset. BMI will just tell you, you lost 12 pounds, and leave it at that, using your height as a guide with it. But, you may have pushed yourself, lifted weights, and lost some water retention by cutting down your sodium and staying hydrated, and in reality you maybe have gained 5 in muscle, lost 2 in water retention, and 15 pounds of fat. The details are neglected. BMI can change from any factor of your weight, be it fat, muscle, water, food, stool, anything. Along the index, one has to know all this and judge the progress with other factors, like how your clothes fit, your bodyfat results (even calipers will help), how defined your muscles have gotten, the circumference of your waist and limbs, etc... Afterall, most weightlifters and serious athletes are going to show up "fatter" on the BMI, and that is telling of it. Just make sure you know how it is calculated. Obviously people who put on 30 -80 pounds of muscle on average above the normal will think lowly of a system that says they got morbidly obese after all that work.

American BMI Formula=
BMI = ( Weight in Pounds / the square of your height (multiply by itself) ) x 703

Metric BMI Formula
BMI = ( Weight in Kilograms / the square of your height (multiply by itself) )

Keeping all this in mind, Wii Fit will be a great help, yes, use it, then play Super Smash Bros. Brawl, it's a sweet game.