Super annoying. I track my calories and eat between 800-1,000 calories a day and continue to gain weight. I also do pilates and walk an hour every day. AND STILL i keep gaining weight.
I know its from the meds and inflammation (it feels like I'm swollen). But it is still so disheartening. BLAHHHHH.
The end-- thanks for listening!
Posted by aperture (Member # 34822) on :
I can completely relate. I've gained 15-20 lbs during my first 2 mos of treatment.
I think it has something to do with my inability to get rid of toxins.
I was reading a bit of "Mold Warriors" last night and he mentions this type of weight gain.
Posted by glm1111 (Member # 16556) on :
Check into treating parasites which can cause weight gain. Google weight gain obesity + parasites. Parasites/worms can play a major role in Lyme disease and is often an overlooked co-infection of Lyme.
Gael
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Do a day here and there with more calories. Your body thinks you are starving it. (seriously)
Hope you make progress soon!! Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- Yes, indeed, you need far more calories than you are getting. You cannot get well on starvation rations.
It's hard but we must give up judgements about weight during all this - as long as we have an exceedingly good food plan and do what we can regarding non-aerobic exercise that will not stress but support our bodies.
You might consider this: Get rid of your scale and just go through each day with as healthful actions as you can.
THAT is the only measure that helps me. From time to time, I weigh elsewhere and I get no major shocks, sometimes a few pleasant surprises.
The best thing I ever did was to get rid of my scale, oh, probably over 12 years ago. Believe me, it did not give me license to become a Twinkie Queen. Not at all. I just do the best I can and it all works out.
I had to drop the judgement - and stop grasping at either a wishful number or punish myself over the real number - totally. It's not what we think.
As others mentioned, there are factors here that are far beyond what we were brought up thinking about weight. Far beyond.
As mentioned above: mold . . . parasites . . . infection . . . swelling . . . and more.
Specific details in this thread about those things and also how stress hormones can cause weight gain for those with lyme - and what can help: ---------------
Topic: Borrelia Weight Gain? -
Posted by momindeep (Member # 7618) on :
Lymetoo and Keebler are right...you need a minimum of 12 hundred calories a day or you won't loose any weight and your body will go into starvation mode. You need good calories which equals energy for your body to fight the good fight.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
PS.. What comprises the 1000 calories?
Posted by twicebitten (Member # 5412) on :
I know how u feel. I have noticed that no matter how I eat, when I'm feeling bad with lyme, more symptoms, I always gain weight.
I can lose weight, slowly, when I am feeling good. When my symptoms are bad, I can not. Doesn't matter what I eat, or how much I exercise.
I've just come to accept the fact. I have "fat" clothes, "regular" clothes, and "skinny" clothes. Of course the skinny clothes I'll probably never wear, but hey it's a goal!
Hang in there it will improve. Just eat what's healthy for you to eat, so when you're in remission, you can lose weight safely!
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- Just a thought. This has helped me. I do not utter the words "fat" or "skinny" or anything similar. I do not put a label on my size.
I might notice that my body is swollen. It is. I may say "puffy" and sure I wish things were different but when I see my puffed body in the mirror I no longer use terms that are judgmental and toxic.
I may see a puffy body but I see a body that is very ill. I'm puffed because I'm ill. Compassion kicks in and I feel much more soothed and understood (even if just by myself). It makes sense.
Like Popeye: "I 'am what I 'am" and doing the best I can.
To abolish toxic words and judgements is very freeing. This is where I feel benefits from some Zen workshop I took somewhere along the way.
Practice seeing without judgement. Start with other things. When you notice a judgment come to mind about a person, a photo, etc. if you can notice the judgment and then just say "Stop" to yourself, it gets easier to do this with your own image.
Make your home (and your being) a no-judgement zone. It can save your quality life during this challenging time and also enhance your appreciation of your true nature. -
[ 01-30-2012, 06:59 PM: Message edited by: Keebler ]
Posted by WhitneyS (Member # 25666) on :
I have naturally always eaten this way though-- even when I was healthy, so I don't feel like i'm starving myself and never have. I DO have days where i eat more, i like to eat, so it certainly happens :-)
Lymetoo: What comprises 1,000 calories:
Breakfast: fruit, almond butter and protein shake Lunch: Veggies, green juice and a little meat Dinner: Meat and veggies type Dessert: dried fruit and some chocolate
LOL-- yes, fat clothes and skinny clothes. Its not even that I feel like I'm fat, I'm not, its just that before i was sick I was an avid athlete and had been my whole life-- so i had never lived in a body that wasn't in really good shape, so naturally I feel icky.
Keebler-- thats exactly what it is too, its puffiness, and it changes dramatically from time to time. I know its from the disease, but its still icky! thank you for the kind words, you are absolutely right.
Gael-- YES i am working on Parasites right now, and every time I switch parasite meds I can feel different symptoms, like gassy bloat, or swollen abdomen, etc. So I do think this is going to be something I need to focus on.
Thanks for all the responses :-)
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- I don't think you are getting enough good food.
And I'm concerned about the evening snack feeding candida (and that will cause weight gain) not having any protein or vegetables with it. Nuts may work better for you at that time of day. Maybe with some celery or bit of tart apple.
NINE cups of vegetables a day - and some at every meal, especially breakfast - is part of the formula this doctor incorporated to get better: -------------
Thanks to HALEY for bringing this to our attention.
MYELIN SHEATH & MITOCHONDRIA SUPPORT discussed here:
Repair Damaged Mitochondria and Reduce Fatigue Up to 45%
- by Karen Lee Richards, August 6, 2010 -
Posted by Harmony (Member # 32424) on :
Haven't read all the other posts in detail, so this may be a repeat
I think there is really something to this:
try thinking about which foods you crave and then leave those out
I know it is hard, but just try it for 3 or 4 days, you can do that, can't you?
what I learned, for me, and it may be something else for you, but what works for me like oiled lighenting, is that I have food intolerances
with the nasty added quality that I crave the foods that hurt me the most
well, after a week or so away from them, I feel fine and the craving goes down
I, too, was on a calorie restricted diet and it did not work as it should - when a doc put me on an elimination diet and said to eat as much rice (calories!!) and turkey and olive oil as I like, with just salt,
I thought, yeah right!, I was eating three big plates of the stuff a day since I had been on the calorie restricted diet and was very hungry and I thought, man! all that starving was for nothing because I am eating all this now and the weight will shoot up
but it dropped like a rock
Like 8 pounds a week in the first week
turned out I was "intolerant" of gluten, eggs, dairy, and a number of other food stuffs that I regularly ate in my calorie restricted diet
now if I eat those items, I easily gain 3-4 pounds overnight, and I can keep them on and keep gaining, as long as I eat that stuff that bothers my body
the doc said it is fluid retention and a disturbed metabolism that is at fault when I eat the foods that hurt me
the solution is to start with something that is probably ok for you - think of things you could take or leave - like maybe rice and turkey and broccoli or something like that, start with that and add a new food in every 3-4 days to test your reaction and weight change overnight
if the weight shoots up you got the culprit
I would be real careful with dairy and gluten (wheat etc.) and eggs and even corn or soy
those often bother people, I found, in this context
hoep this helps and good luck!
Posted by WhitneyS (Member # 25666) on :
Harmony--
You're so right. I have notice certain foods that do this to me-- like corn. I am gluten, grain, sugar, dairy, egg and corn free-- just to be safe. LOL.
I have tried sooooo many different diets. i have Celiac too and have horrible digestion. Often I'll avoid something, then feel like my weight goes back to normal...and then it kinda goes back-- and I'm not sure it was the food or not.
I've been muscle tested for foods and its been kinda inconsistent. I am going to look into more muscle testing.
Thanks!
Posted by katiebobatie (Member # 28753) on :
i know how you feel!
i usually eat around 1000 calories a day, and i'm on a strict low-carb diet, but my weight continues to climb
i am honestly really proud of myself for how well i've handled it. if you would have told me years ago that i would ever be this big, i probably would have jumped out of a window
i try to be my own best friend and remind myself that it's not my fault, and i will lose the weight when i get better, but having others judge me is hard
most people don't believe you can possibly gain weight when living a lifestyle that would cause them to lose weight rapidly.
it's just so embarrassing to go from being so small to having your doctor tell you that bicillin shots won't hurt you since your butt is so big
plus everyone around me assumes i'm doing good health wise since i'm not losing weight.
i look SO different now, but everyone is always like "you look so good and healthy!" meaning "wow, you can't be that sick if you're that size."
even a lot of fellow lyme sufferers don't understand, because they can't keep weight ON from this disease!
i try not to be jealous, because any unwanted change in weight isn't good, and i feel sorry for everyone who is effected weightwise from this illness.
it's just SO hurtful when 90lb members here say things here like "it's as simple as calories in and calories out!" when that is not the case AT ALL for some of us.
SO many of our lyme symptoms completely defy the laws of science, so i don't believe it's fair to use the laws of science against those of us experiencing weight gain.
i am such a strong willed person, and i would NEVER just let this happen to me! i starved myself and suffered from an eating disorder for many years just to keep from gaining weight. then when i finally got brave and decided to start eating healthy i ballooned..
i have been eating healthier than ever the past few years, meaning i've actually been eating. yet now the world thinks i'm some lazy fat chick who sits around eating ho-hos all day, and i'm just lying when i say the weight gain is from my illness.
it sucks! with my experience having an eating disorder, i know every single trick in the book on losing weight, and there's no way i would be this size right now if there wasn't something seriously wrong with my metabolism.
i feel like nobody believes me though, except those of you here who are suffering from the exact same problem!
i feel so sorry for all of you dealing with this symptom Posted by momindeep (Member # 7618) on :
Awww Katie...I am so sorry for these hurtful thoughts you are having about yourself.
I am so sorry if I said anything offensive to you in my post.
There is an answer to your problem.
Perhaps...just thinking out loud...you could benefit from a "diet" that balances your PH or alkaline. When a body is Ph balanced it is much more difficult for body invaders to grow such as yeast, cancers, and bacterias and virus and of course Lyme.
I hope you find a answer soon and in the meantime you can let your heart and mind rest about this somewhat.
Posted by katiebobatie (Member # 28753) on :
thanks, i don't remember you inparticular ever saying anything hurtful.
i honestly can't get mad at people for not believing my situation, because if i wasn't going through it, i probably wouldn't believe it either!
i try to just not dwell on this particular symptom, and i tell myself that at least this problem doesn't literally HURT like all my other symptims.
i just get sensitive when weight is discussed. other than that, i'm good at pushing those bad feelings down.
i have never heard of a diet like that! thanks i know my acidic level is normally a 6.5 (so not TOO bad) so i'm not sure if that kind of diet would help, but it seems i've tried everything else so it would be worth a shot to me.
i have seen so many doctors for my weight, and all the llmds just tell me the problem will fix itself when the lyme and co-infections are gone. i feel like i'll be 500lbs by then though
my current doctor is trying to make me eat MORE, but i don't trust the plan, and refuse to risk it!
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i know my acidic level is normally a 6.5 (so not TOO bad) so i'm not sure if that kind of diet would help, but it seems i've tried everything else so it would be worth a shot to me.