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Post by Heather on Oct 19, 2011 21:45:08 GMT -5
I'm putting this thread here because it has more to do with physical symptoms than mental. If it needs to be attached to an existing thread, feel free to move it.
When I was in high school (10+ years ago) I had anorexia. Not the disorder, the symptom. I had severe depression and lost my appetite completely. I ate once a day to survive, but I never was hungry for it.
Now I am seriously paying for it. When I first started the endo diet (almost two years ago), I ended up losing a total of 48 lbs. I was down to 147, and at 5'9" that's a good weight for me. When I started working at the pizza place, I gained about 5 lbs from garlic knots. So when I quit, I was at about 152. I maintained that for a while, then my naturopath had me do this allergy elimination diet. I went up to 159 from that.
A couple weeks ago, I noticed I had gained weight, and cut out a lot of rice from my diet. I was having two bowls of rice cereal a day. Now I have one, sometimes I have rice cakes if I am on the road, and if I make something for dinner that has rice I'll have it as well. But I'm not eating nearly as much rice as I used to, and I don't eat any other grains. I guess any other carbs I am eating come from veggies.
So I've cut down on rice, and guess what? I have gained 4 more lbs. This is really pissing me off. I'm up to 163, having trouble getting into my corduroys. I've started trying to cut what I eat in half. I have about half as much cereal in the morning as I used to. If I have hummus, I have half what I used to. For dinner I have a much smaller portion, and when I have my peanut butter apple at night to take my pills, I put MUCH less peanut butter on it. It's too soon for me to tell if this is working yet.
When they said in health class that eating disorders can really screw up your body, they were not kidding. But this is ridiculous. I am also STILL waiting on the reports from my thyroid tests. I should call them, I think I filled out that paperwork a month ago.
On top of all this, I am starving all the time. Raw veggies or fruit by themselves do not fill me up at all. I can eat a whole bag of bake-dried apples (equivalent to 5 fresh apples) and be ravenous an hour later. It's like it just makes me hungrier. If I don't have something substantial (carbs or hummus or peanut butter, etc), I might as well not eat it. Even if I do eat something substantial, it only takes me 2-3 hours to get hungry again. I'm trying to wait until I am really hungry before I eat, but I'm pretty sure this is not good either.
I've also been working out over the past two months, but it's really just light strengthening exercises and walking once in a while. It's not like I'm bodybuilding--I really doubt this is muscle weight.
I've never heard of a thyroid problem that made you GAIN weight while being hungry all the time, so maybe it's not that. This is just so frustrating. I plan on talking to my naturopath about it when I see him (probably next month), but I wanted to know if any of you have gone through this or have any suggestions.
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Post by Karen on Oct 20, 2011 6:27:46 GMT -5
If you're hungry all the time, I'd question if you're getting enough protein? Protein takes longer to process than crabs, so your blood sugar levels stay more steady. They also fill you up more and keep you satisfied longer. Consider including a small piece of protein with every meal or snack if you aren't already. Do you have hypoglycemia? That jittery feeling thatr you need to eat NOW? If so, your adrenal may be involved. They help your body cope with stress, and if you're hungry a lot, they adrenals are under stress.
As for weight gain, I've found that you can eat all the right things and take good care off yourself, but if the endocrine system is off, your body can pack on the pounds no matter what. Fun, huh? And since your always hungry, your body might be thinking it is being starved and may try to store away more than it normally would.
I'm sorry you're putting on weight, I feel you! But despite what we are told all the time, there is a lot more to it than just calories in vs. calories burned. Get those thyroid results if you have to bang down the door of your doctors office!
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Post by hannahjex on Oct 20, 2011 9:06:07 GMT -5
I can't add much to what Karen has said but I hope you can get those results quickly and can sort out whatever imbalance it is soon.
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Post by Heather on Oct 20, 2011 10:42:42 GMT -5
Speak of the devil, I got my thyroid results today. For the blood test it says they only tested TSH and my level is 1.40. The reference range listed is 0.40-4.40 uIU/ml. This is what my ultrasound report says:
Reason for test: enlarged rt side thyroid
Thyroid ultrasound:
Indications: Large right side thyroid.
Examination of the thyroid demonstrates the right lobe of the thyroid measuring 4.38 cm long axis by 1.15 cm AP by 1.5 cm transverse. The left lobe measures 4.12 cm long axis by 9 mm AP by 1.5 cm transverse. This is within normal limits. There is normal appearance of the thyroid isthmus at 2 mm. There is homogeneous echogenicity of the thyroid bilaterally. There is no evidence of focal mass lesion.
No evidence of adjacent mass lesion is seen.
Impression: Negative thyroid ultrasound.
As for the protein, a friend actually suggested adding in red meat until I reminded him about the inflammation. I wonder if I could find some turkey bacon or something... what has protein in it besides meat, legumes and beans?
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Post by omaklackey on Oct 20, 2011 11:38:10 GMT -5
I'm in a nutrtion class right now so I hope I don't sound like a twit spouting off her newly acquired knowledge, but here it is. Did you know most of the rest of the world always eats rice and beans together every meal. If you have only rice or only beans you are only getting a percentage of the amino acids (protein) that you need. If you eat them together you are getting the full complement of protein and amino acids. That would address the issue of "feeling full". We actually were talking specifically about Vegetarians at the time and can they get the protein the need.
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jaye
Full Member
Posts: 165
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Post by jaye on Oct 20, 2011 14:09:47 GMT -5
As for the protein, a friend actually suggested adding in red meat until I reminded him about the inflammation. I wonder if I could find some turkey bacon or something... what has protein in it besides meat, legumes and beans? I've been wondering about this... I eat paleo or primal, meaning no grains, fruits in moderation, lots of veggies and high quality meats and eggs including offal twice a week and fish twice a week. Also, I do not eat anything sweetened. I had a visible reduction in inflammation when I went on this diet. Still do. It makes me wonder if all red meat is inflammatory or just industrial meats. I limit myself strictly to ruminants that are grass-fed and organic, or pastured organic chicken or pork. Also, I find that getting enough quality fats is really important. I eat the chicken skin, and don't trim fat off my meat. It keeps me full feeling for a really long time. I could comfortably eat only twice a day but I'm eating a lot in one sitting. Before my diet change, I would have to be snacking all day and when I got hungry, I would get sick and bitchy. It was like an emergency, feeling like I need to eat something now. Sometimes when I finally did get something to eat I would feel like crap for a couple of hours, like I experienced the fight or flight adrenal response. Anyway, I know I'm on the fringe but maybe a diet like this would help you. At first I had a hard time not losing weight and most people that do the primal diet seem to do it for weight loss. Just google Primal Blueprint or Mark's Daily Apple - there are even some other endo girls there and a ton of PCOS success stories. Another site I like is Archevore. It's Dr. Kurt Harris' blog. He has a nice list of changes to make in order of importance. Just a thought... And if anyone can explain what it is in red meat that's inflammatory, I'd be thrilled.
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Post by JC on Oct 20, 2011 14:55:10 GMT -5
I'm trying to wait until I am really hungry before I eat, but I'm pretty sure this is not good either. This might be the cause to your weight gain. Your body can become conditioned to thinking it is starving all the time when you do this. If your body thinks it's going to go long periods of time without food then it will store energy reserves in the best and most efficient way possible: fat tissue. Fat tissue is the most efficient energy storage in the body. So basically, if your body is trained to think it will be going long periods of time without food, then everything you eat will be stored as fat. It may seem like you're not eating a lot but if the little that you do eat goes immediately to fat storage then you'll gain weight even though your calorie count is low. It's actually better for you to consume more calories and eat multiple times a day than to eat only a few calories less frequently. It's good that you are trying to rule out a medical cause to all this first by going to your doctor and getting tests done. But I would really recommend NOT letting yourself go hungry and instead eat multiple small meals a day so that your body can use that energy right away rather than storing it as fat. I hope this helps!! It's frustrating to gain weight when you feel like you're doing everything right. I'm about the same height as you and I got up to 167 last year and it was so frustrating. It sounds like you have a really healthy diet but I think you just have to change the frequency of your meals and that might help. My biggest rule in keeping to a strict diet and keeping my weight down is to never let myself go hungry. I always try to carry a healthy snack with me.
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Post by Heather on Oct 20, 2011 15:06:35 GMT -5
What I mean by waiting until I get really hungry is usually no more than 4 hours after my last meal. I eat about 5-6 times a day (or more). An hour or two after I eat, I am hungry again. I used to just eat every single time I got hungry, and I've only changed it recently since I've been gaining weight. It might be worth another try though.
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Post by JC on Oct 20, 2011 15:12:38 GMT -5
Ohhh I see. Well geez! It sounds like you're really trying hard to figure this out! The protein thing crossed my mind too and I'm wondering if you're getting enough. Karla was right about the rice and beans. You get all 20 essential amino acids with just rice and beans alone. Brown rice is better (more fiber and protein).
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Post by Heather on Oct 20, 2011 16:04:19 GMT -5
Ugh, I hate beans. I guess I'll just have to deal with it and work them in, though. I also don't eat big portions--I don't eat until I'm full. I wonder if I should be doing this or not.
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Post by Karen on Oct 20, 2011 17:16:56 GMT -5
Hmm, even though your TSH is within normal, the slight enlargement of the right side warrants some further investigation. If I were you, I'd request free T3, free T4, and a test for antibodies, at a minimum. I suspect there's something more to it.
But, try the more-protein thing for a bit. There's the insulin-resistance diet that essentially aims to balance blood sugar levels by eating all meals and snacks with a protein/carb ratio. It's the pairing with protein that can really help balance out the blood sugar and make you feel like you're more full. My go-to for proteins are nuts. If you're not a big fan of some typical protein sources, you can find whey protein or other protein mixes that you can include in a smoothie. When I have one of those in the morning, I can usually skip my morning snack because I feel full.
Anyway, just throwing out some ideas. You've got some options to play around with!
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Post by 1234 on Oct 21, 2011 7:24:14 GMT -5
I'm not sure how this compares to your situation, Heather, but I did struggle with eating disorders for years. I was trying very hard to be a dancer, and my natural size (110 - 115lbs, 5 feet 1.5 inches) is heavy for a dancer, even a modern dancer. I started the anorexia/bulimia very intentionally, because I needed to be under 100 pounds, but even after I quit dancing professionally at age 22, the disorders stuck. My weight came back up to where it is now, but my eating was horrible. I was eating maybe 350 calories a day. really awful.
I know that eating like that for a number of years really messed me up, but the interesting thing for me is that when I started eating again (and I now eat about 3000 - 3500 calories a day), I didn't gain any weight. It showed me how starved I was, that as I started eating more and more and more, as the years went by, I never gained any weight. Really horrible.
I know it's different from your situation, but eating disorders really have long term effects on your overall health. My thyroid also seems to be a bit off, but I haven't started investigating that yet either. NOt sure that this is helpful to you, just some information.
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