Weight loss diets and Crohn's?

[BethLynn85]

So I have the opposite problem that many with Crohn's seem to have, and that's not being able to lose weight. I've tried weight watchers and con't seem to do anything with it. my doctor has me on a low residue diet, so all of the good fruits and vegetables that WW wants you to eat, I can not have. Has anyone found a diet that doesn't set off their Crohn's and still allows them to lose weight? I am trying to walk for exercise but find myself quickly exhausted. Thanks!

 

[Saralr]

Sounds a lot like me. I started juicing and that seems to be SLOWLY helping. I get my fruits and veggies without all the painful fiber. That and just trying to stick to other healthy food that I can actually eat.

 

[BethLynn85]

Does the juicing seem to break it down easier for you to eat it?

 

[hugh]

paleo or "perfect health diet",
-less processed foods

 

[Saralr]

The juicing takes out some of the fiber I can't digest and makes things a lot easier on my stomach. It has to be juice though and not a smoothie. If I just blend it I still get sick. Has to be only the liquid. No pulp.

 

[KyleB]

You need to find the right calorie amount to lose fat, tha't smore important than the type of diet.

 

[BethLynn85]

That is what I am wondering is if anyone has found a good calorie count they like or something similair that has helped them to lose, but not cause their Crohn's to give them issues.

 

[BethLynn85]

paleo or "perfect health diet",
-less processed foods

Doesn't Paleo contain a lot of nuts and fiber? At least that was my undderstanding.

 

[partlycloudy]

I'm a "fluffy" Crohnie too. I lose weight on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, but I must warn you it's a lot of work. By omitting foods with indigestible (for us) polysaccharides your digestion begins to recover and you can eat all those veggies and fruits you need to feel better and lose weight. I've been on WW and had the same problem.....I couldn't eat all the veggies to help fill up. I was hungry all the time and never really felt good.

I suspect on diets like SCD or those Hugh recommends all the fats and protein and good food level out the blood sugar. I know I have more energy eating this way and I assume it's due to both my inflammation lowering and my blood sugar being steady.

 

[Alley2231]

Doesn't Paleo contain a lot of nuts and fiber? At least that was my undderstanding.

Before I was diagnosed I tried a version of Paleo - pretty much it's fruits, veggies, meat & nuts/seeds. No carbs and no dairy. I couldn't do the no dairy part - I'm a fan of yogurt and it's good for you! . I'm also on a low residue diet and I am very slowly introducing new foods (Mostly fruits & veggies and mainly through smoothies), I wouldn't think of doing Paleo now with the current food restrictions or at least experimenting enough to know what my body can and can not tolerate.

 

[hugh]

Doesn't Paleo contain a lot of nuts and fiber? At least that was my undderstanding.

Doesn't have to.
A low residue paleo diet is possible and probably a necessary way to start.....

There was a great podcast by 'Balanced Bites'[1] but i can only find it on i-tunes,

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/balanced-bites-blog-talk-radio/id461802297
Go down to "#43 - FODMAPs, AGEs, and....." listen from 8:50 t0 19:46
(Not the 43rd listing, but episode #43)
there's a whole heap of 'like' and 'so' and 'you know' and it's all a bit 'valley girl' but all good information.

" So I went and looked up low residue diet because I didn’t know what it was. I never heard of it before, actually. And what it looks like, a low residue diet is doing is mainly pulling a lot of extra insoluble fiber out of the way or out of the diet, which is a good idea, to be honest..............So what the low residue plan allows for are things like refined white bread, cakes, cookies, pretzels, etc, candy, all of that. It’s just completely illogical, you know, that avoiding insoluble fiber would mean that we would then just eat tons of refined foods, so you know, I get really irritated by doctors who kind of recommend packaged garbage to their patients..............So, just you know, kind of keep that in mind, and if she wants to eat a lot of sweet potatoes and fish instead of, you know, salads, things like that, that’s fine..............There’s a huge variety of foods that are whole, real foods, so we just don’t need to be pigeon-holed to, you know, steak and kale, for example. So, just you know, kind of keep that in mind,"

"And there’s just nothing more rewarding than shifting that mindset from, oh I already stopped eating so many foods to hell, yeah, I can control my destiny and I’m not a slave to some like chewable, swallowable, gut irritating, inflammatory nutrient-poor non-optimal food that hurts me"


[1] Podcast Episode #43: Low residue diet, weight gain, cooking methods
http://balancedbites.com/2012/06/po...residue-diet-weight-gain-cooking-methods.html
(the transcript is still on the page but the only link that worked for me is the i-tunes one)

 

[Saralr]

Whatever diet you follow, I suggest trying out myfitnesspal. It's a website and an app. You enter what you eat (you can even scan barcodes with the app) and it not only counts your calories for you but it keeps track of the carbs, sugars, protein etc so you can adjust your eating to a good balance. If that's what you're looking to do. It has a few more extras too. Worth checking it out.

 

[alexga]

paleo or "perfect health diet",
-less processed foods

same here
with juicing fruits with spirulina powder

 

[Nancye50]

I'm in the same boat! I'm so thankful I don't deal with constant D and weight loss issues but dang, I could handle just a little bit of the skinny Crohn's !