Frustrated about challenges of losing weight with IBS
#236366 - 01/06/06 04:07 PM
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amo616
Reged: 08/16/04
Posts: 236
Loc: Ontario, Canada
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I would love to lose some weight but find it difficult with IBS-D. I can't snack on raw fruit and veggies because most of them my system can't tolerate. I cannot eat broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, onions, raw carrots (most of the time), cabbage, corn, apples, pears, citrus fruit, dried fruit, etc. I eat a lot of white bread because it is so soothing to my system and satisfies my hunger. Plus when I get sleepy at the office in the afternoons I eat chocolate (small amts) because I can't drink caffeinated beverages. I also find I crave sweets after dinner.
I would love to hear tips from people on how to shed pounds when half the time all you feel like eating is white bread and sweets.
I have resorted to babyfood fruit but it doesn't really fill you up ... kind of like eating a small cup of pudding. White bread is so much more satisfying! :-)
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Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Personally, I think the most important thing to remember when trying to lose weight is portion control (whether you have IBS or not). A lot of people forget this. Eating too many calories from anything leads to weight gain. An apple or orange generally has 70 or 80 calories per serving, while a serving of fresh french bread has about a 100. For some, like myself, I actually feel full longer when I eat the bread and suffer from less IBS pain. Also, like you, I can't tolerate much in the fruit or veggie category when it comes to snacking, but I don't think that is a terrible thing or means it is impossible to lose weight. Eating white bread and sweets doesn't make you overweight; it's simply eating too much of them (or anything for that matter  ) I always start the morning off eating fresh french bread and I eat slowly so that I stop at the first sign of fullness. As for sweets, I always have a cake, brownie, or cookie recipe cooked/prepared, but then I cut it into serving sizes and freeze them individually. Then, every afternoon or evening when I'm craving something sweet I go into the freezer, grab out one little baggie that has a serving of chocolate cake, defrost it for 30 secs in the microwave, and then enjoy! It is a very easy way for me to control my portions. Having a whole cake sitting on the counter made it too easy to eat 1/2 a cake at once! I like Heather's Peppermint Fudge Cake, but instead of peppermint extract I just double the vanilla extract and it is a very delicious, simple chocolate cake that is perfect for freezing. I also think incorporating protein is important. Lean meats, especially chicken, if tolerable, have a lot of substance for their calorie content. When I make a serving of white rice and 4 chicken tenders for dinner I feel satisfied (especially if I use a yummy marinade) and I've only taken in 300 or so calories. I really think we have to retrain ourselves to eat less. We become so accustomed to stuffing ourselves that I really think our tummies stretch! If you reduce your portion sizes little by little every day, soon enough you'll be at appropriate food quantities and you'll see the weight come off. And the next thing I say is not to make you feel bad, but more to encourage you: I started the IBS diet in november and I've already gone from 146lbs to 128lbs. I'm 5'7 and I have a 8 month old son- I've already lost the pregnancy weight thanks to this diet...and my tummy is happy about it too! And not to repeat myself again, but it's portions portions portions that you need to control. I only cook enough food for one sitting or (as mentioned earlier) freeze the extras immediately. If I end up cooking for my boyfriend and me, then I put my whole serving on my plate and the entire rest of the dinner on his, that way I'm not tempted to over eat.
I know you can do, you just need to work at it and pay closer attention.
Good luck and I hope I helped or inspired you a little
Amber
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Thank you so much, you make some excellent points.
I am very slowly trying to reduce how much I eat but it is very hard because I have some serious food issues due to having been on a forced diet for a year when I was 10. It totally messed me up. Food restriction is truly frightening for me. I am making some small steps. I gave up my mid-morning pigout on salty crackers for a toasted bagel with butter flavored oil spray and hope to go to a half bagel eventually. I eat a huge bowl of cereal with soy milk for breakfast and hope to reduce the size that. Steps like that. I have also started to exercise daily where I used to do it only 1-2 times per week.
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Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
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I suggest that you check out the fitness board on this site. Many of us 'report in' everyday to help motivate us in our weight loss or weight gain goals.
Particularly, on the top of the board is a sticky with a link to moderator ShellMarr's personal weight loss story. She's lost an incredible amount of weight while dealing with her IBS and her story was published in one of the newsletters not long ago.
HTH
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Insulin resistance may cause weight problems. Even healthy people may have it and not realize it yet. In the articles below, it talks about obese people, but there are different perceptions of obesity. For example I'm 5'1" and a weight of 140-145lbs is considered obese for me even though it doesn't look like it.
Anyhow, check with your doctor and discuss this possibility. Your diet may need to be adjusted. For example breads cause your sugar level to get high and if you're insulin resistant, it makes it more difficult to lose weight. If someone has Insulin Resistance and IBS it will be challening to overcome but not impossible. You'll have to find a happy medium between both these diets.
Good luck.
http://www.drmirkin.com/diabetes/D222.html
http://syndromex.stanford.edu/InsulinResistance.htm
http://www.aafp.org/afp/20010315/1159.html
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You call them small steps, but I think they are huge! You are doing so great. Realization and setting a goal or making a plan is crucial and that is what you are doing. You made an awesome substitution for your mid morning snack and you already have an idea where you may need to cut down portion sizes for other meals. Slow and steady will make the transition easiest and healthiest (both mentally and physically). I can definitely relate to having "food issues". I too had a few years of truly messed up eating habits/patterns and I really feel scarred from it. Others may find that silly to say, but it's true. Daily exercise should also help w/ shedding pounds and overall energy levels and health. You are really doing awesome! Keep up the hard work and take care!
Amber
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Good thought, and I have actually checked this out. This is not an issue for me -- yet, though I do worry about it as I have cousins and aunts with diabetes.
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Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
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I hope this isn't a duplicate --- I think I blew away my first response. Anyway, THANKS SO MUCH! Your responses are so awesome !! ! ! ! ! !
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Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
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I am intolerent to wheat and no veggies no fruit. I however lost 60 pounds with no bread or pasta.
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I find it very hard too. I too have problems with veggies and fruit, at least until I found Beano. The stuff has changed my life. I can now eat veggies with far less problems and fruitsmoothies with soy protein are a breeze. When I do eat something that the beano doesn't completely help with I drink a tea with fennel in it and that helps a lot. There are still somethings that I think I will always have problems with(like spaghetti sauce, tomatoes) but both the tea and fennel cut down the gas, pain and bloating. As for the sugar, big problem for me. I love it! But, I don't know if you are aware of this, sugar is a lot like...well ciggarettes in a way. The more you have, the more your body craves it. If you can slowly cut some out, it will be easier to cut out more and more. Here's a thought about the afternoon chocolate. If you can find a way to tolerate a smoothie, try adding a plain protein powder to it. The added protein should help to wake you up and you shouldn't crash the way you probably do on the chocolate(or any other type of caffeine)
HTH Alyson
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Everything in life happens for a reason, patience will eventually tell us what that is......
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I used to have a problem staying full and asked my trainer what I could do. He told me to fill up on protein and fiber to stay fuller longer, cut down on sugar so my body wouldn't crave it, and drink lots of water throughout the day.
I begin almost every day with a bowl of oatmeal and this keeps me full for at least 4 hours. Put a little brown sugar on it to make it sweet!
I also make protein shakes with egg white protein, half a banana, and almond milk for a snack. They're quite palatable and keep me full. No fat in the protein, but lots of energy!
If you can tolerate oatmeal, I suggest you make a batch of these low-fat bars! I make them and snack on them with abandon. They generally keep me full and provide me with a bit of energy.
Low Fat Chewy Fruit and Oatmeal Bars
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
One 8 oz. container soy yogurt
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
2 Tbsp. canola oil
2 Tbsp. nonfat soy/rice/almond milk
2 tsp. vanilla
1.5 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
3 cups oatmeal (uncooked)
1 cup diced dried fruit or dried cranberries (you can leave these out if you don't think you can tolerate them)
Heat oven to 350. In large bowl, combind sugars, yogurt, egg whites, oil, milk and vanilla, mix well. In medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt, mix well. Add to yogurt mixture, mix well. Stir in oats and fruit.
Spread dough onto bottom of ungreased 13x9 inch baking pan. Bake 30 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely on wire rack. Cut into bars. Store tightly covered.
They're delicious!!!
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It's good news that it's already been checked out. Your relatives might like to look into Alpha Lipoic Acid and talk to their doctors about it. It has been used in insulin resistant, and dibetic people to help regulate the blood sugar levels. Diabetics need to monitor their blood levels very closely though, and talk to their doctor because using it over a longer period of time may require taking less insulin medication.
I hope you have great success doing your weight watchers diet and control/stablize your IBS. You can do it if you hang in there.
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How much dry oatmeal do you cook for your morning breakfast?
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I use 1/2 cup dry oats and 1 cup water. That is enough to fill me up. If you need more or want to stay fuller longer, you can try cooking 3/4 cup dry oats with 1.5 cups water.
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In the past I used 1/4 cup, but found that I got hungry after a couple of hours. I'll try upping it to 1/2 cup and adding things to it instead of eating it plain. Thanks for the advice.
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I like to add bananas since they don't give me any trouble. I also microwave a small handful of blueberries in it (per Heather's advice in EFI.) It's really good that way!
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