I think this thread is a wonderful idea, I was looking for something like it about a month ago when I had a hard time and I gained like 7 lbs back.
I will be about a year in February, and it will be a year since my surgery next month. I am a bundle of fun medical things, some of you know I have lupus and fibromyalgia, two autoimmune diseases one attacks my body and the other causes me pain which makes it hard to exercise, I also have PCOS and hypothyroidism, which makes it hard to lose weight naturally.
I had a tumor in my pancreas so that was removed thankfully benign but I ended up without a spleen and 1/3 of my pancreas, so that makes me susceptible to infections and diabetes (runs in the family too).
I discovered recently that I have a kind of eating disorder/emotional binge eating and I am finding help for that, as well as therapy help since I moved from the midwest to the pacific northwest and left my entire support network there.
Even with all of those obstacles, I have managed to lose some significant weight, I had to repeat phase 1 when I first got here because I just let myself go, it was bad but not horrible, I went back on phase 2 just recently, about two weeks ago because another round of phase 1 seemed too far fetched and I just couldn't do it, it messes with my cycle (hormones are fun
) and makes me incredibly sad and depressed.
I wasn't able to exercise for the longest time so I controlled my weight with only diet, it was just too painful to exercise as Lupus and fibro make me have Rheumatoid Arthritis. I'm in my late 20's and everyone that I ever tell my story to always says that I am too young to deal with everything I have gone through, but I just know that I am lucky to still be here, and I do get more than a little impatient at seeing the weight come off so slowly; but I am trying my hardest, with basically no support from my family and my SO being the only one that supports me, which sometimes sadly is not enough as much as I wish it was.
So, here I am!
I have been trying to be more active on the forums but it's honestly hard to know where to post, there is an autoimmune disease thread/forum thing but no one is really active so I am posting here.
As for smoothies
chickadeee55, I have them as a snack because for me fruit is too much in the morning, too many carbs and it makes my blood sugar spike. They work great as a snack for me and fill me up for a while (I use frozen berries/banana/ or peaches as a thickener and half a cup of milk and 2/3 cup yogurt or 6 oz sometimes) or they are great as an after workout snack for me.
I do sometimes add some chia seeds to add more fiber and protein but I have to be careful because if I get too full then I tend to skip a meal which is not good.