new and intro

hi,
I'm new to the group, and I'm trying to read enough to figure out who is
into the flame wars, and who will be good for advising me. So far,
it's a lot less flame based than many other groups.

I spent most of my childhood battling the pudgy kid look. As a gal in my
twenties I slimmed down and dropped to a size five, staying that way for
nearly fifteen years. When I hit thirty five, I started developing signs
of a genetic illness, and ended up gaining nearly seventy pounds. I'm
five foot three, (okay 5-2 and a half). Three years ago, I dropped
sixty-three of the seventy pounds. I was able to keep all of it off,
fortunately with little effort. It almost seemed that perimenopausal me
was destined to be thinner.
Then I got put on prednisone. I gained twenty pounds while on it, and
then dropped fifteen, slowly, after getting off of it. Now I'm on
specific pain and other medications, and I see that I've been steadily
gaining at least two pounds a month in the last few months.

I've cut WAY back on portions, and I've got an appointment with a
nutritionist. Because of my illness, I'm losing ability to use my
joints, and exercise is limited to isometrics and non-weight bearing
strenghtening physical therapy. I'm getting married in April, and I want
to get back to my "I feel great at this weight" feeling. That may mean
I'm a size five again, or it may mean a seven. It just means I don't
want to feel overweight and I don't want the joints to feel worse
because I've gained so much on this medication.

I know twenty pounds doesn't sound like a lot to most people, but on
someone my frame, it's enormous. Any advice, help, and encouragement
anyone can offer, I'm all for. I'll do the same.
Thanks

Cathe

Cathe B wrote:

I know twenty pounds doesn't sound like a lot to most people, but on
someone my frame, it's enormous. Any advice, help, and encouragement
anyone can offer, I'm all for. I'll do the same.
Thanks

Hi Cathe! I'm pretty new here myself and the support I've gotten here has
been a great help. I'm sure you'll find plenty of knowledgeable people
willing to help you along. I just wanted to say welcome!


--
PL
(320/298/170)
(First mini-goal: 299 Reached! 08/26/04)
(Second mini-goal: 279)


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"Cathe B" wrote in message
news
hi,
I'm new to the group, and I'm trying to read enough to figure out who is
into the flame wars, and who will be good for advising me. So far,
it's a lot less flame based than many other groups.

I spent most of my childhood battling the pudgy kid look. As a gal in my
twenties I slimmed down and dropped to a size five, staying that way for
nearly fifteen years. When I hit thirty five, I started developing signs
of a genetic illness, and ended up gaining nearly seventy pounds. I'm
five foot three, (okay 5-2 and a half). Three years ago, I dropped
sixty-three of the seventy pounds. I was able to keep all of it off,
fortunately with little effort. It almost seemed that perimenopausal me
was destined to be thinner.
Then I got put on prednisone. I gained twenty pounds while on it, and
then dropped fifteen, slowly, after getting off of it. Now I'm on
specific pain and other medications, and I see that I've been steadily
gaining at least two pounds a month in the last few months.

I've cut WAY back on portions, and I've got an appointment with a
nutritionist. Because of my illness, I'm losing ability to use my
joints, and exercise is limited to isometrics and non-weight bearing
strenghtening physical therapy. I'm getting married in April, and I want
to get back to my "I feel great at this weight" feeling. That may mean
I'm a size five again, or it may mean a seven. It just means I don't
want to feel overweight and I don't want the joints to feel worse
because I've gained so much on this medication.

I know twenty pounds doesn't sound like a lot to most people, but on
someone my frame, it's enormous. Any advice, help, and encouragement
anyone can offer, I'm all for. I'll do the same.
Thanks

Cathe

Welcome to the group, Cathe. I can certainly relate to the weight gain from
prednisone. I've had to take it a couple times this summer for poison ivy.
Even a few days on it usually results in a 1-2 pound gain for me. I'm 5'3
so I'm aware how much difference just a few pounds can make.

Beverly

"Cathe B" wrote in message
news
hi,
I'm new to the group, and I'm trying to read enough to figure out who is
into the flame wars, and who will be good for advising me. So far, it's a
lot less flame based than many other groups.

I spent most of my childhood battling the pudgy kid look. As a gal in my
twenties I slimmed down and dropped to a size five, staying that way for
nearly fifteen years. When I hit thirty five, I started developing signs
of a genetic illness, and ended up gaining nearly seventy pounds. I'm five
foot three, (okay 5-2 and a half). Three years ago, I dropped sixty-three
of the seventy pounds. I was able to keep all of it off, fortunately with
little effort. It almost seemed that perimenopausal me was destined to be
thinner.
Then I got put on prednisone. I gained twenty pounds while on it, and then
dropped fifteen, slowly, after getting off of it. Now I'm on specific pain
and other medications, and I see that I've been steadily gaining at least
two pounds a month in the last few months.

I've cut WAY back on portions, and I've got an appointment with a
nutritionist. Because of my illness, I'm losing ability to use my joints,
and exercise is limited to isometrics and non-weight bearing strenghtening
physical therapy. I'm getting married in April, and I want to get back to
my "I feel great at this weight" feeling. That may mean I'm a size five
again, or it may mean a seven. It just means I don't want to feel
overweight and I don't want the joints to feel worse because I've gained
so much on this medication.

I know twenty pounds doesn't sound like a lot to most people, but on
someone my frame, it's enormous. Any advice, help, and encouragement
anyone can offer, I'm all for. I'll do the same.
Thanks

Cathe

The only encouragement I can offer is that you've done an amazing job so far
managing your weight over the long term despite numerous obstacles. A
qualified nutritionist sounds like the way to go considering that you need
to get the most nutritional bang for your buck as your exercise is limited.

It helps me eat less to eat more frequently. On a given day I will eat 5-6
times in a day (every 2-3 hours) with a lot of those meals being only
100-200 calories and a reasonable balance of carbs/fat/protein. There are
people who don't care for eating that often and that's fine.

A few people I work with are on the South Beach Diet and some of them lose
weight with very little exercise. I've lost weight on SBD, but I exercise a
lot.

Best of luck with whatever you end up doing.

Jenn

PL wrote:


Hi Cathe! I'm pretty new here myself and the support I've gotten here has
been a great help. I'm sure you'll find plenty of knowledgeable people
willing to help you along. I just wanted to say welcome!


I've been catching up on the posts and it seems like a great group of
people.

C

Ignoramus30209 wrote:

It sounds like we should be taking your advice, and not the other way
around.

i



genetics helped..and I used to work out over three hours a day at my
best weight. Also did horseback riding and swimming... but boy my couch
and I have become close since I got sick.
C

JMA wrote:


The only encouragement I can offer is that you've done an amazing job so far
managing your weight over the long term despite numerous obstacles. A
qualified nutritionist sounds like the way to go considering that you need
to get the most nutritional bang for your buck as your exercise is limited.

Thanks.. I've also been talking to my gyno to see if the birth control
pills that were given to me a few months back weren't also an issue.



It helps me eat less to eat more frequently. On a given day I will eat 5-6
times in a day (every 2-3 hours) with a lot of those meals being only
100-200 calories and a reasonable balance of carbs/fat/protein. There are
people who don't care for eating that often and that's fine.


What is a good balance for c-f-p? I'm a bit lost on this, so I guess the
doc will help me on it.


A few people I work with are on the South Beach Diet and some of them lose
weight with very little exercise. I've lost weight on SBD, but I exercise a
lot.

Best of luck with whatever you end up doing.

Jenn


Thanks!!

C

Beverly wrote:



Welcome to the group, Cathe. I can certainly relate to the weight gain from
prednisone. I've had to take it a couple times this summer for poison ivy.
Even a few days on it usually results in a 1-2 pound gain for me. I'm 5'3
so I'm aware how much difference just a few pounds can make.

Beverly


I remember as a kid trying to get poison ivy on purpose so I wouldn't
have to go to school..oh if only that worked! sorry to hear that it is
such a bad issue that they had you on such a strong steroid!

C

Cathe B wrote in message k.net...
hi,
I know twenty pounds doesn't sound like a lot to most people, but on
someone my frame, it's enormous. Any advice, help, and encouragement
anyone can offer, I'm all for. I'll do the same.

Well I for one know our experiences differ so dramatically that I
don't have much advice for you.

Except find some sort of expert PT trainer to work with your physical
limitations to get you to burn at least one hour & 500 kcal/day of
quality exercise. Going at it from the diet angle alone is a lot
harder.

Heywood
232/183/182

"Cathe B" wrote in message
k.net...
JMA wrote:


The only encouragement I can offer is that you've done an amazing job so
far managing your weight over the long term despite numerous obstacles.
A qualified nutritionist sounds like the way to go considering that you
need to get the most nutritional bang for your buck as your exercise is
limited.

Thanks.. I've also been talking to my gyno to see if the birth control
pills that were given to me a few months back weren't also an issue.

BTDT!! I'm taking them strictly for the estrogen these days.

It helps me eat less to eat more frequently. On a given day I will eat
5-6 times in a day (every 2-3 hours) with a lot of those meals being only
100-200 calories and a reasonable balance of carbs/fat/protein. There
are people who don't care for eating that often and that's fine.


What is a good balance for c-f-p? I'm a bit lost on this, so I guess the
doc will help me on it.


That's a YMMV kind of thing and depends on your issues. For me,
perimenopause and the VLCD I used to lose a lot of weight have made me
sensitive to wheat so it seems - though not all carbs, plus I have some
medical issues that affect my weight. My ratio has been around 35% fat/40%
protein/25% carb give or take 5% on the carb/protein percentages depending
on if it's a big bean and/or tofu day. The fats I get come primarily from
nuts, avocados, olives and olive oil. It helps me to eat less and feel less
hungry most of the time and as Dally would explain if she weren't otherwise
occupied, it helps your skin and hair look fabulous.

Some experts recommend 40/40/20 (carb/prot/fat) or 40/30/30 or even 50/25/25
so as you can see it's all so relatively close.

Someone on this group will propogate a high saturated fat diet. This is
great if you want to lose your gall bladder ASAP. I already lost mine and
still get sick from too much saturated fat, plus regardless of what this
person will tell you, it's not really advisable to go heavy on saturated
fats. You seem to have enough experience with diet and weight loss to know
that though.

Calorie wise the basic recommendation given here has been to start with 10x
your weight in calories and if that doesn't produce a loss given a
reasonable timeframe, try 9x, then 8x, but try not to go below 8x without a
doctor's supervision.

Some people on this group count portions rather than calories.

Lots of different approaches for lots of different people. The main thing
I've learned and taken to heart is to find a Way of Eating (WOE) that is
comfortable enough for you to stick with - forever (or until the next issue
makes it necessary to change).

HTH

Jenn