I have been working steadily towards my goal of losing at least 20 pounds by the end of this year. I have been hitting the gym 2-3 times a week (depending on my wacky schedule), trying different foods to get better nutrition, and tracking my calories. With the exception of one day, a day on which I "pigged out"("pig out" for me equals normal portion sizes for a normal person) and ended at 1850 calories, I have maintained a balance of 1500-1700 calories a day. I am noticing my legs are beginning to tone up nicely, but I think I need to up my strength training on those arms a bit to get results.
So, have I lost any weight? NOPE - plus 1! How does that work?
My Stanford doctor says that the weight gain is probably due to the side effects of my medicine, as well as complications from the gastroparesis (starvation mode again). She did caution that if I couldn't lose the weight, I would have to go off the medication...which pretty much means Ensure and/or feeding tubes. My regular GI doctor also commented negatively on the weight gain. Oh yeah, and I am getting dumped by him onto my so-called primary care physician because I am now listed as "chronic"....doctor-speak for "we can't help you anymore because we don't know what the hell to do for you." That, and my assigned primary physician doesn't like white women very much; reverse discrimination is alive and well in Northern California.
I am looking at ways to become more physically active; unfortunately, I end up stuck on my butt for 6 hours or more STRAIGHT while tutoring (with no breaks). By the time I get home, I am so mentally exhausted I don't even want to move. Sitting on my butt never much appealed to me at any time of my life; I think one of the reasons I thrived in Korea is that I had to walk everywhere...and I loved it! Here, I have to take my car everywhere, as the "city" of San Jose is actually one freakin' huge suburb. I do occasionally walk to the local pharmacy, but I get strange looks from many people on the roads when I do this.
As for the weight problem, it is now confounded by the GP problem. I am having a nice little flare up of symptoms and have been existing on eggs-and-toast, noodles, and soup for the past five days. I am really beginning to loathe eggs in particular. I am actually quite uncomfortable as I sit here typing. I have been uncomfortable all day. The actual nausea comes back when I work out, but I fight through it as best as I can.
Prayers and well-wishes are much appreciated.
My opinion? Exercise doesn't mean shit when it comes to losing weight. it's all about the food. If you can't adjust the types of food you are eating, then try cutting 10% of your calories and see how the scale reacts. Just my opinion.
ReplyDeleteFor the love of god, please don't keep doing what you've been doing and wishing for a different result. You need to change something up.
I have already tried reducing my food, and I just gained more weight (and was hungry all the time!). I am trying to up my dairy products this week to get more protein; I also do whey protein as a supplement.
ReplyDeleteThe problem, as explained to me, has to do with "tricking" my body into burning calories rather than storing them as fat. I also have low blood-sugar issues (non-diabetic) that have to do with a sluggish digestive system (operating at 30% currently). Logic (and a more intimate knowledge of the digestive system than I care to think about)suggests that I convert food to energy too slowly, causing a "back up" in the rest of the digestive organs, which function normally.
I still think exercise is the golden ticket - it may just take longer. I am now the heaviest I have ever been in my life. The egg-and-toast diet (ha!), by the way, comes in at just around 1000 calories, and it has been about 5 days...