Looking for a new way

[lisa1014]

I have been gaining weight lately. I have done Weight Watchers on and off for years, the problem is I don't stick to it. I think I need something that spells out what I can and can't have because with WW I can eat anything so I eat everything!

I have been very fatigued and depressed and think if I could loose some of this excess weight I would feel better.

Any suggestions on a good start or detox or anything?? I have an appointment with my PCP next week and plan to talk diet with him. As I am now having blood pressure issues and i believe they are related to the weight gain and the fact I spend most of my days resting.

Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated.

[JerryD]

You have stated exactly the problem with this disease.
It immobilizes you and it causes more related problems because you can't move as much as you need to help you keep weight off. It is a 'catch-22' kind of disease. I hope that you can find a way to control your weight, because the alternative is 'not good'. Good luck

[javaaddict]

I've been using a great app lately called "LoseIt." You can use it on a smart phone or computer. It's good because it gives you a budget - you input your food (it has a HUGE bank of things listed) and it calculates it for you. You get a big graph that shows how much you have left.

It will also calculate protein, carbs, fats, sodium, etc.

It's free! Worth a try - I love it because it never judges what you eat - just records it.

[lstrl]

Have you ever tried Spark People? It's probably similar to Lose It (you put in your info and it calculates how many calories you should eat every day, and you also log your food and exercise each day). It also has a very active message board and lots of tips, recipes, and pretty much everything you would ever want to look at for weight loss.

As for the diet itself, you could always try making some changes like trying to cut out processed foods and replace them with fresh foods instead. Maybe if you are craving dessert, you can replace whatever sweets you eat with fruit. I used to eat a bowl of strawberries every night (ok, I was bad and put artificial sweetener on them, but there are better alternatives like Stevia out now), and it kept me from going after junk food. I also became a big popcorn eater. You get quite a bit for not very many calories (if you go with the healthier stuff, not the movie theater butter type), and it's full of fiber as well.

It's probably a good idea to start by making small changes so you don't feel like you're depriving yourself. Then, after a while, you probably won't even miss a lot of the foods you used to eat. I remember after I went to a diet where I'd eat a piece of meat, a carb, and a vegetable for a meal, after only a month of doing it, I couldn't eat that high sodium processed crap because it was so salty tasting, I couldn't stand it anymore. This was stuff I used to eat all the time too. It's amazing how quickly your taste buds change.

[lisa1014]

baby steps is where I decided to start! I am forcing water instead of my daily soda-pop binges. I will say I have not had a pop all day so far, I do have a caffeine headache though. I am making sure I have fruits and veggies at every meal and have pledged to myself to pack my lunch instead of hitting the drive through. So I am hoping that these little changes will help jump start me into a new healthy lifestyle. I just wish I had my husbands willpower he can pass on desserts and things and I can't. So my answer is to not buy them at the store and only eat the things I have in my house. Although I would be much better off if the Easter Candy was gone too.

[JerryD]

Lisa,
I agree that it is difficult to know what to do to lose weight, aside from just denying yourself. I am watching this subject on Katie, right now.
We need to have healthy substitutes that are satisfying and available. I don't know these answers. I will keep searching because my life, health and lifestyle depends on finding the answer. I have found that I like to drink fruit smoothies. I bought a Vitamix, which, kind of, ******ed off my wife.
But I have lost 10lbs in the last month by watching what I eat, how much I eat and when I eat. It's a really tough problem that has to be solved. Good luck

[Melroche]

I lost 67 pounds by simply making the commitment to myself to "eat nothing that comes in a box"..so no processed or prepared foods. I make my own salad dressings...I cook my own food...

When I started...I didn't focus on low fat even...just cooked by me with nothing processed..no gravies in a pouch...no spice mixes...no pasta mixes in a bag..no hamburger helper...no McDonalds ever. After I became used to that I cut my portion sizes back by eating off of a side plate originally. That was hard because my stomach was so stretched I felt like I was starving...for a couple of days..just get through it. It's worth it.

My friends can't believe it...I wasn't going to the gym...just trying to make changes I could manage. Now I wouldn't go back if you paid me! Feel so much better...size 23 to an 8 over 3 years. Very slow...and healthy weight loss. It was a lifestyle change. Just constant.. consistent weight loss over an extended period of time. Good luck to you. A little willpower to get you over the initial hump and you will be on your way for ever healthier than before.

[nosrepmodnar]

Agree with Melroche

I was hit with a gout flare in october, spurred by new blood pressure meds and it stayed with me for almost 6 months.
I did a lot of food research and tried to revamp my lifestyle (don't call it a diet) to fix:
High blood pressure
Suppressed HDL, elevated LDL and extremely high triglycerides.
Gout
Moderate psoriasis
Depression
Sleep apnea
Restless leg syndrome
and our good friend MS
Recommendations for one diet conflict with the other, nutritionists can't see me on insurance because I am not diabetic, and my doctors have no clue about nutrition which is outstanding.
No one diet fit my needs and interested me.
I decided on kind of a Paleolithic diet, but not quite.

Every diet (nutritional plan) agreed on one thing: SUGAR BAD!
Natural sugars are tolerable but processed and refined are not.
I eat almost nothing from a box, can or bottle any longer.

Eat as much vegetables as possible in their raw form, I have a salad every day for lunch including well over 12 ingredients including meat and cheese with oil and vinegar dressing.
I snack on cauliflower, made hummus using eggplant instead of chickpea (paleo = no legumes) and dip it in that. delicious, nutritious and i can eat it from dinner to bedtime.

Breakfast is "egg muffins". egg whites, curry with vegetables baked in muffin tin to make individual servings.
two spoons of yogurt (not paleo) with 1Tb each of chia seeds, flax seeds and psyllium husks mixed in (gets real thick)

Dinner, I eat whatever is on the table, not putting bread, potatoes, pasta or other grain products on my plate.

I still eat meats, mainly chicken.
I eat ham and bacon that are nitrate and nitrite free and no high processed meats.
Still eat cheese (guilty pleasure) but I try and buy raw milk based.
I eat nuts for snacks, 4oz a day or so. raw. walnuts, almonds, cashews, pistachios, a few macadamias are good for you. again no peanuts, they are actually legumes.

Sorry I babbled, I get so excited because I feel so good!
I have lost 25 pounds so far, and have way more energy than I ever did before. Slow weight loss, which seems to be more favorable than rapid which i have done many times and put it right back on.
I am never starving, and rarely hungry any more, i have 2 cartons of ice cream in the freezer which I have had no interest in. I find myself not having lunch on weekends because I wasnt hungry and missed it, so I will pop a couple egg muffins to make sure I am okay until dinner.

Most importantly you have to find something you can do.
After a week my cravings went away, if they didnt I wouldnt be able to stick with this.
I even sauntered through the candy aisle and past the donut case (I was a 4 or 5 donut a week man) and wasnt even tempted to pick anything up.
My new candy are tangelos and apples.
My new popcorn is roasted cauliflower (for treat not all the time)
My new ice cream is frozen cherries, dont defrost they feel like sorbet balls when you eat them.

You'll need some support and a pat on the back every now and again.
Good luck, you will feel better when you find a nutrition regimen that works with your body.

[BigA]

I recommend what I've done - go on the OMS diet. It's done wonders for me in my 3rd year now. The interesting thing is that my blood sugar only recently dropped even though I have been on the diet for 3 years. That means there are benefits years after you start.

If you remove meat, dairy and anything fried, you will naturally lose the weight and be healthier. There are no easy methods, but there are simple ones such as OMS. Don't think about adding this super food or removing this one "bad" food. Change to a mostly plant based diet. I eat a whole lot of plants each day - pounds of them. And i'm not hungry and I enjoy my food.

Good Luck. Go to http://www.overcomingmultiplesclerosis.org/ to find out.

[Temagami]

No gluten, no dairy, light on the sugar. Avoid the gluten-free substitutes- tapioca starch and white rice flour are just as simple in the carb. dept. as white flour. Do a cupboard cleanout- if it is in your house, you will eat it.