Out of Control Weight gain

[Oliver3]

Here's an oatmeal recipe I find helpful:

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/282439/creamy-sweet-potato-oatmeal/
I eat this for breakfast a lot.

Heheh...chocolate IS life....it's so strange...it's the difference between me not feeling like crap and in PEM or not. Is it the dopamine, the sugars, the improving of the mitochondria...that and more?
M.e. just defies normal rules of eating.
If I stuff myself with say fish n chips ( I'm British) I feel great ( comparatively). If I try a life of counting calories, few carbs etc...I feel awful.. extremely anxious, weak etc...it's like there's too much of an energy deficit

 

[linusbert]

chocolate by itself is actually quite healthy, good fats and nutrition. its just the added milk and sugar which makes it unhealthy. if you can live with pure cocoa chocolate without added sugar its pretty ok to eat regularly.

 

[ChrisD]

Here's some advice you won't like

1) Restart these, since stopping them will cause more harm than any weight gain. Any weight gain they cause will be negligible compared to eating badly and being inactive (as you must be with LC or ME/CFS).

2) Get on a medication for your cholesterol. A heart attack will not make your long COVID better.

3)See a dietician for how to eat well when you can't exercise.

Thanks for replying, I should really have added some more key context:

1) I was already weaning off these medications anyway and transitioning to natural alternatives that are working.

2) my cholesterol is only just above range but still quite high for my age. Am using Niacin to keep it under control + statins will probably do more harm than good.

3) I've seen many a nutritionist and my diet is immaculate, whole foods paleo - lots of fruit and veg, yoghurt, protein etc. Don't eat any sweets or particularly sugary/Carby foods. Drink Water and fruit tea mainly.

 

[linusbert]

2) regarding that, watch some dr ekberg videos on youtube regarding that topic.
there are multiple things to take into account, LDL HDL ratio VLDL etc. a high cholesterol value between 200 and 300 he thinks to be OK or even good depending on other values.
i had 220 cholesterol with 55 hdl and 147 ldl. thats a ratio below 3 which is actually quite ok. but doctor wanted to use statins because its above 200 which is wrong because my cholesterol/hdl ratio as well ldl/hdl ratio are both below average risk. despite beeing slightly above 200.

the best thing to bring cholesterol ratio in good proportions is... TADA ... to eat MORE good cholesterol , means egg yolks.

also berberine might help with cholesterol.

there is also red rice extract which is basically the same as statins... though i dont know if i like that. it also has same side effects as statins. i dont like surpressing synthesis of cholesterol.

just make sure to get enough q10 and other cholesterol based substances.

 

[Wishful]

But, chocolate is life.

Alas, I think I've recently become intolerant of chocolate. I've been feeling extra groggy/sluggish for a while, and when I simplified my diet to check for possible causes, those extra symptoms went away when I stopped having chocolate. I'll have to do some more on/off testing to verify that. So sad.

 

[wabi-sabi]

Am using Niacin to keep it under control + statins will probably do more harm than good.

Niacin is not a safe treatment for high cholesterol- that is to say it doesn't work as well as modern medications. Here is the American Heart Association report:

https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000626
You might take a look at Dr. Lipid- Thomas Dayspring. He's one of the most respected lipidologists in the US. Gil Carvalho also does a good job explaining cholesterol and it's issues.

Here's Gil and Dr. Lipid:

Here's Gil on other cholesterol issues like atherosclerosis:

He's got lots of other interesting videos as well.

 

[kjetilv]

Here’s a good breakdown of the one and two meals a day plan if anyones interested. Definitely the best choise I’ve made to maintain healthy weight (it’s also reduced my ME-symptoms slightly, they were worse when eating often):

 

[Strawberry]

I eat very little and am also starting to pack on the weight.

I eat nuts or freeze dried vegetables in the morning, then a large salad with mixed vegetables and 4 oz of meat, and even tried zero meat in my salad. In the evening I take my pile of pills with about 10 oz milk. I can’t scale back any further. I’m not even certain I take in 1000 calories?

I’m fed up with weight gain and not being able to exercise. I never feel hungry. But I feel hopeless…

 

[Zebra]

I rapidly gained weight - going from 75kg to now 108kg.

Hi, @Chris

That is a remarkable unintentional weight gain.

Did it raise any red flags for your primary care physician?

Did he or she look for medical explanations?

In the U.S. physicians (and society) attribute weight gain and being overweight to personal failure, and it is greatly more complex than that, and certainly not even remotely true in your case given your work with a nutritionist and your overall diet. It sounds like you are doing all that you can.

I am not an expert in unintentional weight gain in any way, but some issues I've seen crop up in folks I've personally known include:

*Fluid buildup from heart failure
*Acquired or hereditary lymphedema
*Hypothyroidism (which I believe you have already addressed)
*Large tumors in abdomen or pelvis

Again, not a doctor, just sharing the prejudices I've seen family, friends, and coworkers experience and some of the underlying causes that were eventually diagnosed as a contributing factor.

I'm not trying to scare you; I just want to make sure you are getting the care and attention that you deserve from your physician.

 

[Zebra]

I’m fed up with weight gain and not being able to exercise. I never feel hungry. But I feel hopeless…

I'm so sorry to hear about your struggles, @Strawberry.

 

[Long Haul Mono]

My symptoms are noticably worse after carbs and I also put on weight super fast. You have mentioned you've already done keto but perhaps you could just do low carb instead?

I also has this problem. Weight would 'pile on' even though I was eating healthy and exercising (as much as I could).

I started looking at each meal, in particular if there was a bad reaction and/or if I crashed shortly after. In summary, it was the meals containing carbs.

Diet adjustments were made, predominantly dropping all carbs (as much as possible), increasing protein and (good) fats to compensate, ie I didn't want to starve myself which would have contributed to a crash.

To my surprise the weight 'fell off me' with little muscle loss. I even started to see a 6-pack.

I have read a number of posts suggesting a keto diet, and although mine is keto-like, I don't think it's the 'real deal'. It works for me (for now) and I think that's what the aim should be for others (as a suggestion and not medical advice), ie make the (small and controlled) adjustments according to what suits you, and don't force yourself on any diets that may increase the misery you're already experiencing with ME/CFS.

 

[linusbert]

I eat very little and am also starting to pack on the weight.

I eat nuts or freeze dried vegetables in the morning, then a large salad with mixed vegetables and 4 oz of meat, and even tried zero meat in my salad. In the evening I take my pile of pills with about 10 oz milk. I can’t scale back any further. I’m not even certain I take in 1000 calories?

I’m fed up with weight gain and not being able to exercise. I never feel hungry. But I feel hopeless…

someone recommended me Tudca, maybe read into that.

 

[Strawberry]

someone recommended me Tudca, maybe read into that.

I actually bought a bottle a few months ago, but keep forgetting why I bought it. So it sits unopened.

Thank you for the reminder!

 

[GreenEdge]

Here is how to loose weight and keep it off for good. This YouTube channel has many success story videos:
https://www.youtube.com/@myzerocarblife

 

[maddietod]

I eat in an 8-hour window and fast once a week. I eat low carb but not keto. I don't count carbs or fats, I just pay attention. I don't eat any sugar, or eat out.. I eat a lot of fiber to keep my digestion moving - chia and treats from choczero and julian bakery.

I've reduced by 15 pounds in 3 months, which is 1/2 of my excess weight. This is slowing down, but I'm not in a hurry. I like eating this way, so it should be sustainable.

 

[Judee]

I don't remember if her books pushed exercise so I would avoid that part. Also I think she went a bit too low on carbs but this doctor has a good principle on eating to heal your metabolism. https://www.amazon.com/Schwarzbein-...d=1685712015&sprefix=dr+diana+,aps,135&sr=8-3

I also don't remember which book I liked better of hers...that one or this one: https://www.amazon.com/Schwarzbein-...d=1685712114&sprefix=dr+diana+,aps,135&sr=8-1

She talks about eating whole foods...real foods and avoiding the other stuff. Anyway, out of all the diets I've tried over the years hers seemed most sensible.

I checked Hoopladigital and cannot find them there but your local library might have copies her books.

 

[Judee]

chocolate IS life....it's so strange...it's the difference between me not feeling like crap and in PEM or not. Is it the dopamine, the sugars, the improving of the mitochondria...that and more?
M.e. just defies normal rules of eating.
If I stuff myself with say fish n chips ( I'm British) I feel great ( comparatively). If I try a life of counting calories, few carbs etc...I feel awful.. extremely anxious, weak etc...it's like there's too much of an energy deficit

Then I think you should utilize whatever helps you with this disease (and PEM) and not worry about the weight gain as much for now.

I got so tired of dieting...you're right it creates anxieties we don't need and the world around us is rather obsessed with it. I actually started losing weight when I stopped dieting. Yeah it took about 15 years to lose 50lbs (shrug) and I haven't kept it all off (gained back about 20lbs of it) but I never went back up to that highest weight again.
(Of course some of it has to do with my long list of avoidance foods (things that make me feel ill) but I still eat well. The only time I go a bit hungry is the first half of my day when I have no energy to put food on a plate or chew it.)

Maybe if you still want to lose weight only semi stuff yourself with fish n chips...say like 3/4 of a plate instead of the full humongous amount.

Also have you been checked for any of the glycogen storage diseases? Just wondering since food makes you feel so much better.

 

[linusbert]

Also have you been checked for any of the glycogen storage diseases? Just wondering since food makes you feel so much better.

@Oliver3 i identified insulin raising foods as being beneficial for me. so basically all the bad stuff people shouldnt eat like sugar, protein, bananas, potatoes etc.
it doesnt even matter how much calories as long as its enough bad stuff in there.