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    Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of and finding treatments for complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.

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mirshine

Senior Member
Messages
469
Location
Dublin, Ireland
I know it's not a hugely important issue, but I'm wondering if anyone else is struggling with it?

I used to be fit and healthy, I ran and watched what i ate. Now I can do no exercise and while I still watch what I eat, a lot of the time it's whatever is easiest.

I've put on weight and feel very self conscious. I don't feel good about it at all.

Again, in comparison to all the other symptoms, it's very trivial. But I guess in trying to find positives it's yet another thing that has a negative impact.
 

belize44

Senior Member
Messages
1,662
I was the sort who always looked about ten years younger than their actual age, and then when I got sick, I started losing muscle tone and gaining weight. Now I am thirty to thirty five pounds overweight and hardly get out and walk anymore due to becoming short of breath, and exhausted. Sometimes I get despondent over how I look now compared to just seven years ago. Yes, it has a negative impact for me too!:(
 
Messages
1,478
Me too. I used to do all the shows, London, Milan, Paris, Grimsby....

well no, I wasn't what you would call a model potential, but people did say I looked younger than my age (or maybe that was just how I acted)......they don't say that anymore! I guess I have a problem getting old as well (48), and I have put on 2.5 stone since getting ill. Looking at photos it's shocking comparing what I looked like 5 years ago vs now.

they do say that healthy is 80% diet and only 20% exercise....I never liked exercising so don't really miss this, but the loss of upper body strength is embarrassing sometimes.

I think I might also have a mid life crisis going on (big 50 looming) and it certainly doesn't help my self esteem having to creep around like a 90 year old man.

Feel your pain. Let's hope that when they find a cure, the treatment will have an anti aging effect/weight loss effect.
 

mirshine

Senior Member
Messages
469
Location
Dublin, Ireland
Ha, it sure would. Although even enough energy for mild exercise and buying and making healthy food would be a start!

I used to look at least ten years younger too! I wonder if that's another common factor in ME :rolleyes:
 

Dechi

Senior Member
Messages
1,454
It was a very big issue for me, especially the first 15 months or so I had to stop training. I used to be very fit, I would train 7-10 hours a week and I loved putting on muscle.

After crashing badly for at least 10 months from trying to exercise even a little bit, I figured a way to still train. It's very minimal, between 12 and 15 minutes per week at the most, but it allows me to maintain a minimum muscle mass and feel good about myself. It took a lot of trial and error but I managed to create a program that works for me. Based on Dr Cheney's advice I found online.

Also, if you watch what you eat and reduce your calorie intake, it won't be so bad. My shape has changed a lot but I only put on about 4 pounds and my clothes still fit, after a 20 months of being mostly sitting or laying dow.

But yes, it is definitely very hard to accept. It took me a long time and I still am not completely over it.
 

TigerLilea

Senior Member
Messages
1,147
Location
Vancouver, British Columbia
I need to lose about 35 lbs to get back into a healthy weight range. I, too, can't do much exercise, and right now I have so little energy that I usually make what is quickest, rather than what is healthy. The weight wasn't so noticeable in the past, but now that my clothes don't fit anymore, you can't help but notice how fat I am getting. :depressed:
 

TiredSam

The wise nematode hibernates
Messages
2,677
Location
Germany
I was getting fed up with putting on weight and bulging out of my clothes, and as I'm too miserly to buy new clothes the next size up, too proud to have a pot belly, and too ME to exercise, the only solution was to change my diet.

I do zero exercise (including avoiding all walking), but have managed to lose 6 kg in the last few months and get back to being fairly slim. I eat musli, 0,1% fat yogurt, apples, bananas, boiled eggs, pumpernickel, lean slices of meat, tuna and sweetcorn.That's my breakfast and dinner taken care of, luckily I don't mind eating the same stuff every day. That just leaves lunch, which is usually a healthy cooked meal, often a weightwatcher's recipe or something similar. I never let myself feel hungry, if I need to snack mid-morning or mid afternoon I just eat more of the stuff from the above list (a boiled egg or an apple or a piece of pumpernickel with tuna and lots of salt an pepper) until I don't feel hungry (but not stuffed either).

Works for me anyway. Being a creature of habit with a high boredom threshold, obsessively disciplined and very vain has helped I think.

EDIT: I've found that having ME has made it much easier to lose weight, because as I never go anywhere or do anything apart from leaving the house during the day to work, I never have to worry about what to do when eating out at a restaurant or at social gatherings in the evenings or at weekends.
 
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TiredSam

The wise nematode hibernates
Messages
2,677
Location
Germany
So, do you cook this yourself or buy a weightwatchers ready to cook meal? Just wondering if it's easy to prepare or buy ingredients.

And I love the word pumpernickel :) I have no idea why
I'm very fortunate in that either my wife or sometimes my son (who's obsessively health conscious at the moment - don't know where he gets that from, although my wife claims to know ...) cook lunch, often from a weightwatcher's recipe book or some other healthy recipe, ie no fried food, fresh lean meat and vegetables or rice etc. You can buy weightwatcher's ready meals, although they're expensive and the portions are small, usually leaving me feeling starving.