The Health & Weight Support Thread

[ewi]

Everyone should exercise to some degree. It's good for your whole body...your muscles, your bones, your heart...etc. Will it increase your appetite? It could. But what does your therapist and doctor say? Have they given you the green light to exercise?

They say that as long as I don't lose weight it is ok. I honestly feel like eating disorders are treated like lesser problems, like when you fight with more mental issues, the weight and eating one is last on the list. What you eat is directly connected with how you feel, I understand that now, but I fear it is too late to change anything.

I wasn't able to exercise due to my depression, I couldn't force myself to shower, not to even mention going to the gym. And now I am weak, so weak. I really want to feel better, now, since I have more mental strength, I want to work on my physical strength. It is not only about gaining weight, it's about taking my life back.

There are those bodybuilder nutrients, protein supplements and other weird things, do you guys think it could help?

[littleblackdog]

They say that as long as I don't lose weight it is ok. I honestly feel like eating disorders are treated like lesser problems, like when you fight with more mental issues, the weight and eating one is last on the list. What you eat is directly connected with how you feel, I understand that now, but I fear it is too late to change anything.

I wasn't able to exercise due to my depression, I couldn't force myself to shower, not to even mention going to the gym. And now I am weak, so weak. I really want to feel better, now, since I have more mental strength, I want to work on my physical strength. It is not only about gaining weight, it's about taking my life back.

There are those bodybuilder nutrients, protein supplements and other weird things, do you guys think it could help?

I am going to message you.

[RWyvern]

Well according to my GP, I've managed to gain almost a kilo. Little ways to go yet, but at least there's progress ;v;

[Kestra15]

Bad idea.  It may help you gain weight but it won't be healthy for you. 

I wasn't going for healthy

 

What advice would you give to someone who simply hates eating? I hear people often enjoy food, it gives them pleasure, they sometimes award themselves with it and whatnot.

 

I suffer from eating disorder, it started 6 or 7 years ago, I take medications, go to therapy and all that jazz, and while it doesn't threaten my life anymore, I still can't gain enough weight to at least look healthy. I still have to deal with people being really concerned about how I look, how little I eat, how stupid I must be. Sometimes I try to explain, sometimes it just makes me so sad. I know how I look, I know it is totally unatractive, you don't have to tell me "you won't find a husband, you look sick, you are destroying yourself", what else can I do?

 

I'd love to just want to eat, like so many people around me. I don't fear family gatherings anymore, but I still have to force myself to eat almost everything. My diet is better than it was a couple of years ago, but it's not enough to gain those remaining kilos.

Can sport or fitness help me? should I restrict myself from sugar to eat other things? I just don't feel hunger at all. I don't feel the need to eat, and when I do eat, I feel full really fast. Not only full, but... you know, sick.

There are a range of high-calorie build-up supplements that we use for underweight patients who require weight-gain that are pretty good at what they do. Generally they come as soups and milkshakes, and you can get the extra-high calorie drinks that we prescribe as 'shots' a few times a day as well. The ones we use in hospital are either 'Build-Up,' 'Fresubin' or 'Fortisip.'

 

http://www.fortisipdrink.co.uk/

 

http://www.fresenius-kabi.co.uk/4746.htm

 

Normally for our malnourished and underweight patients we encourage a milkshake/soup three times a day, with the high-calorie drinks being between one and three shots a day. We also have the bottles of juice as well. Since these are all liquid supplements it is normally easier to get people to gain weight this way as it doesn't require large, stodgy meals and instead simply replaces some of your drink intake.

 

As well as those the other small things we do are:

 

- Milk drinks, especially using full-fat milk instead of skimmed and semi-skimmed,

- Cheese and biscuits as snacks,

- Using 'full-fat' versions of things like butter, squash, etc,

- Fruit are a good source of sugars.

 

If you can, see a dietician (NOT a 'nutritionalist') and get their advice.

Edited August 2, 2016 by Kestra15

[ewi]

There are a range of high-calorie build-up supplements that we use for underweight patients who require weight-gain that are pretty good at what they do. Generally they come as soups and milkshakes, and you can get the extra-high calorie drinks that we prescribe as 'shots' a few times a day as well. The ones we use in hospital are either 'Build-Up,' 'Fresubin' or 'Fortisip.'

 

Thank you so much The Nutricia ones were items I was really considering, now I am sure it is the right way to at least start gaining weight. They are small enough for me to drink without feeling full too fast, high in calories and other stuff I don't currently have in my body.

A long way in front of me, but I have hope. I want to feel better.

You guys are great, keep up the good work

[Predat0rs]

Wondering if I could get a buddy for weight loss support? I have tried other means of finding a buddy, but I am 100x more active & comfortable here on Dragon Cave.

[celesteon]

I'd love to be your buddy, except I'm one of those that need to GAIN weight lol. Changing your body weight through eating and exersize habits by yourself is really hard, isn't it?

 

Edit: grammar

Edited September 21, 2016 by celesteon

[Sashimi]

Bumping this old tread since I don't want to make a new one

 

I've always been normal weight, maybe even under that on the slimmer side. During the last few years I've noticed I've started gaining weight - not much, but so that all my "slim clothes" didn't fit too well anymore. That weight gain was probably purely because I ate a lot of chocolates etc. sweet stuff and loved it. I didn't mind it since whole my life I've been very slim. However, I did have some anxiety and depression now and then and easily tried to erase the bad mood with sugar.

 

After summer my boyfriend wanted to start this ketogenic/low carb diet(the diet is about cutting carbs and adding more fat), because he had heard it's good for brain function. He had always been a bit overweight, too. I wanted to do it also, for him that it would be easier for us to eat together etc - but I was also afraid to get too thin and starve myself. My parents were on that diet long ago and pretty easily lost weight. 

 

Well we've been on that diet ever since august and I've never felt better  I actually weight as much, but my clothes fit and I don't really have a belly - maybe I've gained muscle? And seems it's impossible to starve on this diet(or gain weight), or you're doing it wrong. It has affected my mind the most: I have never felt depressed during this time! Even though the winter has been really dark. Sometimes I miss eating sugar; but when I've had cheat days, it doesn't even taste that good. I love that I can still eat very dark chocolate(love it!) in small portions, and also nuts and nut butters 🥰

 

I don't know how long e are going to do this but at the moment I don't see a reason to stop. My boyfiend has dropped 15 kilograms, and I think his mindset is much better too, he's like a different human being. 

[cerimonster]

Hey Sashimi, thanks for bumping this thread 

I have PCOS (a hormone disorder  ) and I have found that in the past following a low carb/no carb diet, such as the Keto diet, and having a high protein, high fat intake has helped me lose weight in the past. I lost about 10 kilos in three months. 
 

Unfortunately though my cravings for sugar are something fierce and I struggle to stay away- I can't eat just one or two little things, it ends up being a massive box of whatever it is, and over the last three-four months I stopped with Keto all together and put that weight all back on. So, starting back at square one! 

I am looking to lose 50 kg (from 120 down to 70) and I would like to go from a size 20 in clothes, and I would ideally like to be a 14 or a 16, so drop 2-4 dress sizes.

 

I am a martial arts instructor, and I find it hard sometimes because even though I can be training up to four hours per week, and I am actually pretty fit for what I do, my weight... well weighs me down and makes me out of breath quicker and seems like I am less fit than I really am, so things need to change!

[lunalamoon18]

This thread is for weight in general, does that also include underweight people?

 

For some reason I just eat lots of bad food but I'm underweight and I find it hard to put stuff on and it sucks because there's not as much out there for underweight people. I'm trying to put on weight which is the opposite of most people and I feel alone. 😔

[Sesshomaru]

^ Most people here seem to be underweight, so I'd say so.

 

I'm happy to announce I've gained all my lost weight (25-ish pounds) back from my really bad bout of sinusitis last summer. My mom was joking a few days ago that she thought I'd predicted the coronavirus with how sick I was. I looked ****ing scary and emaciated, so I'm really glad my appetite is back. All I really have to do now is find the motivation to get toned at home. Sigh.

[StormBirdRising]

Not going to the gym or the swim club  is making it hard to maintain my weight. I usually have 1200 calories a day and everything I eat over that amount I have to work out and swim to burn it up. It is just too hard to stay on 1200 calories and the only exercise I have is walking my service dog. I can't weight for the gym and pool to open again, so I can eat like I used to.

[Confused Cat]

Looks like I'm back at what is not really "stress eating", but rather "procrastination eating".

"I have to do X and Y and Z, and I'm totally going to do all of that today, but not now because I have to eat something first. Eating is legitimate. I have to eat. No one can say I should be doing something else while I'm busy eating. I'm not 'not working', I'm just doing something that has to be done before working! ... Hey why are both my weight and the number of things on my 'to do' list constantly going up? I should do something about that. ... I'll just eat something first."

[StormBirdRising]

Exercise is recommended for the weight maintenance but also for the well being. You not only burn up calories but also burn up stress and release endorphins for the mental and emotional health, not just the physical health. Gyms and swim clubs are essential for all of these things.

[AngelsSin]

Actually when I needed to lose weight I didn't use a gym. I found a very free way to lose the weight. I walked and did stairs. I lost all of the weight and then some, too much to be honest. Went a little overboard with it. The thing with it is just be consistent. At first after my injury I was in too much pain. Then my pain got not 100% better but enough I could manage some exercises. But it was hard cause everything I did increased my pain. I had started to become afraid of stairs cause I was tripping on the stairs and was having a lot of near misses. When I put on the weight I decided to tackle both my fear and weight gain. I knew walking alone wouldn't be enough and my injury made using conventional weight loss methods unrealistic as I needed to move in the way that at first my body allowed and the pace I needed to set. Most workout equipment now is all electronic and you pretty much need to stay in motion or they shut down. I used the stairs and set my own pace. At first I could barely do anything, but that didn't stop me. I kept going back to it and slowly improved the amount I could do and the pace. I set a goal, I wanted to be able to go up the stairs for every building in the complex which was 13 x 5 story buildings. And I wanted to be able to easily do all of them. I achieved that goal. But before I got to that goal I took breaks as often as I needed, when I could I caught my breath and got a second wind and would continue. I pushed my limits (we often know what our limits are even if some stop way before or push way too far past them.) Sometimes too much as my hip would threaten to give out and I would have to stop for the day. So gyms and swim clubs not so essential for losing weight, relieving stress, or mental or emotional well being. Although they do work just as well. 😇

Edited May 28, 2020 by AngelsSin