By Elle Elàn on Monday, November 13, 2000 - 12:25 pm:

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to loose the 50 kilo's that I've gained over the last 10 years. 10 years ago I used to work out a lot, Then I started training on and off because the pain kept iterfering.Now I only have some simple exercises to maintain my muscletone but I really want to loose weight and these exercises won't do the trick!I can't go swimming because of an allergy. I'm not alowed to(and can't ) ride a bike like I used to, and I can't walk a lot;can't run at all.Please help! cause I really do LIKE to work out!

By Lin on Friday, November 17, 2000 - 04:44 am:

can you do crunches, sit ups, push ups, or lift weights? how about one of those new ab machines, the abroller and all the others that are the exact same thing, you can get one for 20 bucks. i am not an expert, i am just making suggestions to try and help....

By Gwen on Friday, November 17, 2000 - 11:35 am:

There are only two ways to lose weight. One is either to cut down on the amount of fat that you eat. The other is to increase the amount of exercise you do. Preferably one will do a combination of both these things. Weight Watchers run a very sensible diet programme. OK it costs initially but once you've reached and maintained goal weight it doesn't cost to weigh in each month unless you have put on more than 1kg. This isn'y meant as a specific plug for WW but I know from experience that their plan works and I don't feel deprived of yummies while shedding the flab. Exercise doesn't have to be gymnastic workouts. It can be as simple as adding a thirty minute walk to your daily routine, taking the stairs instead of the elevator or going for a swim. I try and fit in an aerobic workout at least twice a week but if I've had a bad night and the joints are screaming I don't feel guilty if I miss that day, instead try to compensate with a walk at lunchtime.
I think that part of the secret of losing weight and keeping it off is not to feel guilty on the days when we can't exercise, or go off the diet. Next day one can always get back on track. I recall Elizabeth Taylor one time saying that when she dieted she allowed herself a "controlled pig-out" one meal a week to satisfy the craving for fat/chocolate/alcohol etc. The rest of the time she stuck to whatever diet she was on at the time but that one meal was enough to help her keep on track the rest of the time. One of the things I have found is that as my body adjusts to a low fat diet the less I want these types of foods. Not buying chocolate biscuits or bottles of cream on a regular basis certainly diminishes the grocery bill too, so there's an added benefit!

By Elle Elàn on Sunday, November 19, 2000 - 11:45 am:

Thank you both for your suggestions! I already quit eating fat food years ago (gradually ofcourse) and you're right Gwen once you're used to eat low- and no fat you don't even like it anymore besides the heartburn it gives. I know the flaw in my diet are carbohydrates.I love bread and pasta's and rice. All wholewheat but nevertheless too many carbohydrates wich unused in my body turn into fat.So I try to keep the intake low. Problem really is the aerobic exercise I'm lacking. I used to walk and ride my bike everywhere (1: I don't have a driverlicence 2:I'm from Holland )But like I said I'm not allowed nor can I do those things anymore.I have to avoid walking stairs according to my pt and the pain in my legs on days I can't obey his orders tell me he's probably right. I have however heard about crunches as an arobic exercice by doing them by the 100. And although I at first did not believe in them myself, have heard good things about the abroller. Thing is, I 'only' have to loose 8 kilo's and I can use my skywalker again. For anyone having leg-joint problems and unable to go jogging or arobic-walking because of that, I can certainly recommend that thing ( not the light ones - they tend to 'wobble' about). Because the leg doesn't get hit by the floor all the time- so to speak - your joints don't get that blast everytime either while one can still have the aerobic exercice that walking provides! However,like most training aquipment it wasn't made for the very heavy people.So I think about going for the abroller.Thanks again for the input.And I'll keep my channel open for I'm interested in any suggestion.

By Sharon on Sunday, November 19, 2000 - 09:29 pm:

Elle Elàn,
You say that you cannot go swimming becauce of an allergy (I am assuming that it is to chlorine) if so have you thought about trying to find a saltwater pool or the ocean or even a river (I guess that i am lucky as I live in Australia and I also have on extra weight and can't exercise "Normally" becauce of my joints. But I have found that Water/Aqua aerobics are great as the water supports the body weight and the water adds resistance. You can also addapt these exercises to other water sources. Even just walking in the water is great or jogging (made easier if you wear a life jacket to take extra weight off of the legs. If you have an alternate water source then try talking to your Pt to get exercises that you can try there (but try slowly)to see how you react to each new exercise as you will probably find that some are painfull or even imposible. I too think that I have either HMS or EDS 3 as what I have read on the net sounds so much like me and some of family but the doctors here don't seem to know much about it so I don't have a diagnosis YET (I am 29 ys old)
Hope this helps

Sharon

By Elle Elàn on Monday, December 04, 2000 - 11:51 am:

Sorry Sharon for not responding sooner.I'm afraid the natural water is real c-c-c-cold out here exept for about three weeks a yr but you have to walk over human heads to get to the waterline 'cause 3\4 of Holland and 1\2 of Germany is lying on the beach by then.But now for the Good news:All of your support and advice has given me the strength to really pick up my diet and exercises again and I lost 3 kilo.Thanks gals,hope I can keep it up.

By Bianca on Sunday, December 31, 2000 - 02:26 pm:

I know these weight problems very well. I loved to do long hikes in the mountains, cross country skiing and now I even increase pain by walking up some simple steps for five minutes. And I had to loose weight, too- so no help by sports. I thougt that it would be very complicate, because everybody told me to do some sports. The only thing I can do is some Aquafit.
But I learnt that I had to decrease the calorie intake. Once I tried with less fat. Three kilos, not more.
Now I only count calories but eat also fatty things like choclate, but it gets counted int o the daily calorie intake from 1500 calories. And it worked. Now I have 20 kilos less (during a years time), but I am honest I am hungry during half the day every day.It helps my ankle pain so I think that it is really worth the hunger.
Another thing. I am allergic, too to chlorid in the water, but as I was told by a dermatologue it is because my skin is so very very dry. He told me that I may retry for an hour but afterwards I have really to cream my skin with some fatty cream. Now it works, but the cream has to be very fatty- a normal lipolotion does not work, it must be Bepanthen fat cream or Excipial fat cream.

By Gwen on Monday, January 01, 2001 - 11:07 am:

I have been doing the Weight Watchers 123 plan since August last year and have lost 7kg in that time. Not a very dramatic weight loss but it has been steady and consistent. I have found that having several vegetarian main meals a week has been a good way to lower the fat intake without having that desperately hungry feeling. Mushrooms are a good substitute for meat, as far as texture goes, as is tofu if you like it. I've found that having relatively more carbohydrates such as rice or bread is filling and if I really have a craving for something sweet that sucking (resist the urge to crunch) a boiled sweet is enough to take the edge off it. Gnawing on carrot sticks is also good and substituting pumpkin for potatoes also lowers the amount of calories.
I am also a great believer in one of Elizabeth Taylor's maxims, that once a week (and once only) one should have a controlled pig out. That is for one meal one can eat anything one wants. I try to keep mine for the evening after my weigh in. If I've lost I feel I deserve it, if I've gained it is my sign off for a bad week and the beginning of a more controlled week. The reality is that after being on a low fat diet one doesn't need very much "bad" food to feel satisfied. A large ice-cream or a scoop of chips isusually enough for me.
A lot of the success of dieting is in planning ones meals at least a day ahead. If you have a deep freeze make up several diet meals for days when you can't be bothered and would be more likely to have a fatty snack for convenience sake. I usually make double the quantity and put the other half in the freezer for such a contingency. Also many food manufacturers are producing low calorie frozen meals. I find some of the curries are particularly nice. Extra vegetables can be added as sometimes the quantities are a bit meagre.
The main problem I've run into is that I have to be careful about how much fibre I include in my diet as, like many others with HMS, I have irritable bowel. Many of the proprietary diet foods seem to have a lot of fibre in them, probably on the basis that food is less likely to be absorbed if it passes through the gut quickly. A check out of the Nutrition Information on the side of the packet will tell how much fibre there is.

By Simone Donnelly on Saturday, January 19, 2002 - 07:39 am:

hi
i am currently trying to lose weight, i have only been on my diet a couple of weeks. i gained an awful lot of weight whilst in hospital and i was in so much pain i couldn't get out of bed and then my rheumatologist told me not to do exercises without someone professional with me (sorry if my speelling and typing is awful i am having trouble with my wrists, i have been fdiong coursework all day) i was under a lot of stress at the time which made me more ill so i have moved away from home and i am thankfully slightly better i have been told that it is dangerous to do any exercise using weights so along with eating healthily i now go swimming once a week and badminton once a week, i know it doesn't sound a lot but i dont want to push myself too far so far though in two weeks i have lost 4lbs

simone_ashley@hotmail.com

By Kati Schroeder on Thursday, March 21, 2002 - 12:24 am:

Hey everyone!
Not sure if this conversation is still active but anyways...

I have pretty bad joint pain that prevents me from doing much of anything. I am not able to swim, ride a stationary bike for longer than five minutes on no resistance, I currently can't walk more than several yards at the most, and I am not allowed to lift weights or do any type of situps. I eat fairly healthy, and I am not eating much currentlly because of stomache problems from the meds I'm on, but I still have gained weight. Any ideas on how to drop a few pounds? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks - Kati

By Anita on Tuesday, May 28, 2002 - 03:08 pm:

I don't know if this will trigger any bells for people but I've been reading up about something called 'The Detox Diet' and it's not the usual crap!!!
It basically suggests that the chemicals in our foods (pesticides etc.) cause us to gain weight as a many of them are fat inhibitors that stop us from cleaning out our systems. I am on an organic diet and although I haven't lost any weight I am losing fat and becoming more toned, even though I had to stop all excercise for six weeks (I'm mad because I gym it 3 times a week, kickbox twice and do archery once...). I fully expected to put on either pounds or fat and it didn't happen!!!
It took months to start working but I wouldn't change it now.

Take care

Anita.

By lucy on Friday, June 25, 2004 - 05:00 am:

hiya how is everyone's diet going? judst read this thread! I am doing the w8 watchaers diet, and im loving it! Because with weight watchers you are in controll with what you eat and you add up your points yourself, aslong as you eat your 5 portions of fruit a day and drink your water (2litres a day) it will work!) there is no secret to the diet, it rocks!! It gives me a boost going each week and getting on the scales and seeing my weight go down! :-), it then encourages me to carry on. I find it hard to do exercise due to my pain with having HMS, EDS111 and RSD, but my weight loss is slow and steady which is good, it says in the books anywya that a healty weight loss is 1-2lbs a week so im doing ok!
reading the weight watchers mag helps me too, cuz you read other peopls stories and pick up tips, and also when i go to the meeting i stay for the talk an pick up tips there too.
anyway i was just reading through the messages and i came to this thread and i htoughti would post in!!
from lucy