Aa
Hello
Hello, I thought I would stop by and join this group. I injured my neck almost two years ago and it lead to spinal cord damage and herniated discs. I had a single fusion one year ago to relieve one of the three discs. I'm left with severe chronic pain and limited to any physical activities.
I use to run 36 miles a week, but since I quit running I've gained a bit of weight. I'm just now trying to get this weight I've gained off. I'm currently doing this with the Slim Fast Diet. So far it's been hard to stick with it, but I know I can do it.
I try and exercise when the pain is down. Exercise use to be a big passion of mine. Anyways it's nice to meet you all and I look foward to reading this forum.
I use to run 36 miles a week, but since I quit running I've gained a bit of weight. I'm just now trying to get this weight I've gained off. I'm currently doing this with the Slim Fast Diet. So far it's been hard to stick with it, but I know I can do it.
I try and exercise when the pain is down. Exercise use to be a big passion of mine. Anyways it's nice to meet you all and I look foward to reading this forum.
Physical therapy makes me go into unbearable pain. I'm assuming my disc below the fusion is on the spinal cord. I do have pain management and they are only treating with pain medications at this time. I just went through 14 spinal injections in 1.5 years and I've had enough, as those darn injections make the pain a thousand times worse.
Hahaha.. I have to deny these foods. Otherwise I will eat a little, then a little more, and I say what the heck and I eat a whole lot. The slim fast is going okay. I cheated a little this morning and ate 3 med sized pancakes after I had the slim fast. Hubby made the pancakes and they smelled so good. I won't beat myself up over it.lol I don't have a working scale, so I have no idea if I've lost weight this week. I feel better though by not eating any junk food. I forgot that junk food and sugar makes you feel icky and run down.
I just cut out my soda today. I ran out and the store is 30 miles away. Even though it's diet soda, I've heard it can be a culprit of gaining weight. Yay, caffiene withdrawal.
Thanks again for all the info. :o)
Hahaha.. I have to deny these foods. Otherwise I will eat a little, then a little more, and I say what the heck and I eat a whole lot. The slim fast is going okay. I cheated a little this morning and ate 3 med sized pancakes after I had the slim fast. Hubby made the pancakes and they smelled so good. I won't beat myself up over it.lol I don't have a working scale, so I have no idea if I've lost weight this week. I feel better though by not eating any junk food. I forgot that junk food and sugar makes you feel icky and run down.
I just cut out my soda today. I ran out and the store is 30 miles away. Even though it's diet soda, I've heard it can be a culprit of gaining weight. Yay, caffiene withdrawal.
Thanks again for all the info. :o)
COMMUNITY LEADER
I've lost plenty of messages/responses I've typed. LOL It's very frustrating and I often type them in word processing first, then copy/paste into here to make sure I don't lose it; I might have to copy/past a second time, but I don't have to retype it all.............
Do you have any type of physical therapy to help healing? Or pain management?
Since portion control is so hard for you, once the food is cooked and everything, try cooking just your portion, so that when it's gone, you have to stop eating. If you can be satisfied with a slim fast, you should be able to be satisfied with smaller portions.
It's good that you cut out chips and chocolate, but I'm not a believer in completely denying oneself things we like, because it too often leads to binging. I think it's much better to have a few chips or small piece of chocolate because then you can stop at a small piece, whereas if you deprive yourself for, say, several weeks or months, you really get a taste for it and will be much less likely to stop at small amounts.
I do know though that there are people who can't stop with small amounts and must completely deny themselves. I'm not sure if you are one of those or not.
By the way -- chips are one of my faves as well........I try to factor in a small bag when I plan my day.
Emotions can play an important part in our weight loss efforts. If your emotions are causing you to eat, try this: Whenever you get a craving, ask yourself if you are really hungry? Even if the answer is "yes", try waiting a few minutes for eating. You might find that you only "thought" you were hungry. When a craving hits, try doing something else -- take a walk, vacuum/sweep the floor, fold some laundry, anything to keep your mind and hands busy. I'd also recommend keeping a journal. Write down everything you eat and how you felt before, during and after you ate, what you were doing when the craving hit, or anything else you might want to put in your journal -- this will help you determine which emotions are triggering the craving/hunger and it might also help you learn to control it. You can use the food tracker here on med help, which also has a place to write notes, which could be your feelings, etc. Or you can use the mood tracker. I'm not sure if there's a way to track your pain levels, but that might also be helpful. I'd also recommend that you use the weight tracker -- that helps you know how well you are doing. We have a "weigh in" every Sunday morning, which we'd love to have you join.
In addition, the older we get, the harder it usually is to lose weight. AND last, but not least --- have you had your thyroid checked? If you had injuries to your neck, there's a possibility that there may also be damage to your thyroid. The thyroid controls quite a few of our body processes, such as body temp, metabolism, heart rate, etc. I have hypothyroidism and I guarantee, it changes everything!!! You might want to have that checked.
Do you have any type of physical therapy to help healing? Or pain management?
Since portion control is so hard for you, once the food is cooked and everything, try cooking just your portion, so that when it's gone, you have to stop eating. If you can be satisfied with a slim fast, you should be able to be satisfied with smaller portions.
It's good that you cut out chips and chocolate, but I'm not a believer in completely denying oneself things we like, because it too often leads to binging. I think it's much better to have a few chips or small piece of chocolate because then you can stop at a small piece, whereas if you deprive yourself for, say, several weeks or months, you really get a taste for it and will be much less likely to stop at small amounts.
I do know though that there are people who can't stop with small amounts and must completely deny themselves. I'm not sure if you are one of those or not.
By the way -- chips are one of my faves as well........I try to factor in a small bag when I plan my day.
Emotions can play an important part in our weight loss efforts. If your emotions are causing you to eat, try this: Whenever you get a craving, ask yourself if you are really hungry? Even if the answer is "yes", try waiting a few minutes for eating. You might find that you only "thought" you were hungry. When a craving hits, try doing something else -- take a walk, vacuum/sweep the floor, fold some laundry, anything to keep your mind and hands busy. I'd also recommend keeping a journal. Write down everything you eat and how you felt before, during and after you ate, what you were doing when the craving hit, or anything else you might want to put in your journal -- this will help you determine which emotions are triggering the craving/hunger and it might also help you learn to control it. You can use the food tracker here on med help, which also has a place to write notes, which could be your feelings, etc. Or you can use the mood tracker. I'm not sure if there's a way to track your pain levels, but that might also be helpful. I'd also recommend that you use the weight tracker -- that helps you know how well you are doing. We have a "weigh in" every Sunday morning, which we'd love to have you join.
In addition, the older we get, the harder it usually is to lose weight. AND last, but not least --- have you had your thyroid checked? If you had injuries to your neck, there's a possibility that there may also be damage to your thyroid. The thyroid controls quite a few of our body processes, such as body temp, metabolism, heart rate, etc. I have hypothyroidism and I guarantee, it changes everything!!! You might want to have that checked.
I'll try typing this again.LOL I've already tried to type out a reply three times, but I keep pushing a button that brings me to the page before and erases everything I've typed.
Thanks so much for the info! I can't move my arms too much, it sends me in unbearable pain. However, I can walk. My pain levels are around a 5/6 on the pain scale, so I have to take it easy and I do walk through the pain.
I love to eat. I knew I would run into a problem if I ever had to quit running. Portion control is so hard for me when the food is cooked and it tastes so good. I'm doing okay with the slim fast. I'm eating 1/2-1 bowl of cheerios for my snack in place of the replacement bars, it's much cheaper and fewer calories.
I've now cut out chips :( and chocolate :(, which are my two favorite junk foods to eat.
I've lost weight before. 100 pounds after my first daughter, then 80 pounds after the other two. It's much eaiser to lose the weight without a chronic injury. I know I've put on 20 pounds since October. For some reason I couldn't stop eating. My emotions are all over the place with the chronic pain, especially if I have to take more then one day at a time off of walking.
I can walk on the treadmill too, at an incline with the slower pace. YAY! I try and walk for an hour each time.
Thanks so much for the info! I can't move my arms too much, it sends me in unbearable pain. However, I can walk. My pain levels are around a 5/6 on the pain scale, so I have to take it easy and I do walk through the pain.
I love to eat. I knew I would run into a problem if I ever had to quit running. Portion control is so hard for me when the food is cooked and it tastes so good. I'm doing okay with the slim fast. I'm eating 1/2-1 bowl of cheerios for my snack in place of the replacement bars, it's much cheaper and fewer calories.
I've now cut out chips :( and chocolate :(, which are my two favorite junk foods to eat.
I've lost weight before. 100 pounds after my first daughter, then 80 pounds after the other two. It's much eaiser to lose the weight without a chronic injury. I know I've put on 20 pounds since October. For some reason I couldn't stop eating. My emotions are all over the place with the chronic pain, especially if I have to take more then one day at a time off of walking.
I can walk on the treadmill too, at an incline with the slower pace. YAY! I try and walk for an hour each time.
COMMUNITY LEADER
Welcome to our community.
Since you have what appears to be serious injuries, I can't recommend a lot of exercise, because I'd not want to recommend something that is not good for you or maybe even dangerous; but I wonder if your doctor/physical therapist has recommended certain exercises that might alleviate some of your pain. The reason I ask this is because I have an aunt who has compression fractures in her vertebrae and there are certain exercises that actually help eliminate the pain.
Aside from that - can you move your arms/legs while sitting in a chair, etc? There are exercises that can be done sitting down or with minimal movement, but of course I would never tell you to do anything without consulting your doctor first.
The slim fast diet is one of the "not so bad" -- so I've read and I must admit that I keep some of the shakes in my fridge for those times when I need something quick and easy.
That said, I don't think it's anything that you can stick with for an extended period of time, so even if you do lose weight on it, chances are that you will gain it back once you go off the diet.
I recommend that you start at "square one" and determine a proper weight for yourself, based on your height and body frame, then figure out how many calories/day you need, based on your current weight, height and activity level; then come up with a diet that you can live with for the long haul.
Any diet (remember a "diet" is what you eat, and will not necessarily help you to lose weight) -- anyway a "weight loss diet" must include all of the food groups -- protein, dairy, fats, carbs, grains.......in order to get the nutrients that you need; you just have to make sure that you can balance all of these groups.
One key thing is portion control -- I have a very dear friend who lost almost 75 pounds using only portion control. There are websites that will help you determine a portion size -- I'm sorry I don't now them all, but an example is that a portion of meat is approx 3 ounces or the size of a deck of cards. A portion of spaghetti is about the size of a tennis ball. Etc...........
Another thing you can do is split your plate into sections. Here's a website that might help with that:
http://www.webmd.com/diet/healthtool-portion-size-plate
By clicking on different foods, you can see what the portion size would be - compared to a computer mouse, tennis ball, baseball, deck of cards, etc. Being able to visualize the size of the portion helps to put it in perspective.
Notice that veggies are generally the largest portion sizes because they are the "bulky" foods with the least calories. Explore that site a bit and you will see the differences in various foods.
Okay -- try this out and see what you think; then let us know how we can help you further.
Since you have what appears to be serious injuries, I can't recommend a lot of exercise, because I'd not want to recommend something that is not good for you or maybe even dangerous; but I wonder if your doctor/physical therapist has recommended certain exercises that might alleviate some of your pain. The reason I ask this is because I have an aunt who has compression fractures in her vertebrae and there are certain exercises that actually help eliminate the pain.
Aside from that - can you move your arms/legs while sitting in a chair, etc? There are exercises that can be done sitting down or with minimal movement, but of course I would never tell you to do anything without consulting your doctor first.
The slim fast diet is one of the "not so bad" -- so I've read and I must admit that I keep some of the shakes in my fridge for those times when I need something quick and easy.
That said, I don't think it's anything that you can stick with for an extended period of time, so even if you do lose weight on it, chances are that you will gain it back once you go off the diet.
I recommend that you start at "square one" and determine a proper weight for yourself, based on your height and body frame, then figure out how many calories/day you need, based on your current weight, height and activity level; then come up with a diet that you can live with for the long haul.
Any diet (remember a "diet" is what you eat, and will not necessarily help you to lose weight) -- anyway a "weight loss diet" must include all of the food groups -- protein, dairy, fats, carbs, grains.......in order to get the nutrients that you need; you just have to make sure that you can balance all of these groups.
One key thing is portion control -- I have a very dear friend who lost almost 75 pounds using only portion control. There are websites that will help you determine a portion size -- I'm sorry I don't now them all, but an example is that a portion of meat is approx 3 ounces or the size of a deck of cards. A portion of spaghetti is about the size of a tennis ball. Etc...........
Another thing you can do is split your plate into sections. Here's a website that might help with that:
http://www.webmd.com/diet/healthtool-portion-size-plate
By clicking on different foods, you can see what the portion size would be - compared to a computer mouse, tennis ball, baseball, deck of cards, etc. Being able to visualize the size of the portion helps to put it in perspective.
Notice that veggies are generally the largest portion sizes because they are the "bulky" foods with the least calories. Explore that site a bit and you will see the differences in various foods.
Okay -- try this out and see what you think; then let us know how we can help you further.
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