Originally Posted by angelskeep:
It may not be conventional, but there is ALWAYS something you can do.

Seriously, just please understand: No There Is Not.

The electric wheelchair is not because I have difficulty moving certain parts of my body but have other bits that work which I can exercise with, it's there to prevent me from taking any exercise! It's there to make sure I don't do things like walking which I should not be doing. I was sat down with an Occupational Therapist for her to show me the least exertion ways of doing simple things like brushing your hair (I generally have several rest breaks whilst brushing my hair), opening a door, it's all about cutting activity OUT wherever it's possible to do so.

If you think of it in more familiar terms it's about expending the very least possibly number of calories, the more you can save the better, every calorie you can not use counts. If you can walk 3 steps instead of 4 then that's a victory. If you can walk no steps instead of 3, do that.

The commandment here is to reduce activity of all types to the very bone, as low as you can go. You know like when you go into hospital and they put you on full bed rest and you are not even allowed to even turn over without permission and they make you pee on a bedpan? Like that! Of course I am cheating and I am up and about regularly because otherwise it does your head in and you may as well not be alive anyway, but I'm not supposed to. It's not about my legs don't work, how can I work out my arms, it's about don't do stuff. Any stuff. If it uses energy, don't do it. Don't pick up the kettle, don't get yourself dressed, don't sit up. It is a whole body "just don't do it" thing. There is no part of my body that is exempt from the requirement to rest except possibly my brain. In this world wiggling your fingers counts as exercise. It should be only a short term thing that it's this severe (till about February) but even when I am allowed to do more stuff then first on the list is going to be everyday stuff like being able to take off my jumper if I'm hot and not worry in case it means I won't be able to make myself a drink later. The doctor's advice is not along the lines of rest your sore foot (leaving you with options to hobble, swim, ride a bike, etc.) it's a general rest order - "avoid exercise". Where most people think of "sitting down" as having a rest I think of "sitting up" as an activity!

I don't know that I can make it any clearer, I've been asked not to exercise, not to find a different sort but to not do it.

There are lots of people who plan meals but not all of us do. I'm more similar to yourself where I can eat apples every meal for a week and then I'm turned off but the sight of them for 3 months.
I don't plan my meals I just keep track of how many calories I consume in a day.
in a week I might have 14 bowls of porridge. I might eat nothing but mushroom soup for 4 days. At least 12 times a week I go to the kitchen and get nothing because it all looks terrible.
When I was in college I would realize I wouldn't eat for a day or almost an entire day so I do now try to eat more meals. If the only thing I want to eat at the time is chocolate I just add it to my calorie chart and try to keep the whole day under 1400 calories. I never eat things I hate ever. I never eat anything I'm not in the mood for ever.
most weeks I'll loose a pound or two, some weeks when I forget to eat a lot I'll loose 3-4 but I definitely feel better when I eat more.

If I were you I would just keep track of your calories every day. Your doctors should be able to recommend the best calorie range for your body and condition. With calorie counting it doesn't matter what you eat, just how much you eat. You should do some exploring with food- see what kind of healthy foods are out there. I had never eaten a squash before, now I love them. I eat 6-12 bell peppers a week, because they taste good on everything. Eggs are a lot lower in calories then I thought. It turns out I love broccoli if it's cooked right. The more different foods you have tried the more likely you can find something healthy that you think is worth eating.

I've decided on a midway point, that I will commit to eating a certain number of meals because otherwise it's really easy to let myself go for days at a time, I need to eat preventatively. More importantly, it gives me a framework to be able to tell people so that if I skip meals they can keep me on track and watch out for signs of going too far the other way. If I don't have a framework that I commit to, even only to myself, then I will be all over the place and anxious if I eat anything at all. I'm always hungry in the morning (all morning long!) so I decided I'll get up and have my morning snack first, then about 2 hours later breakfast so that the gap in between breakfast and lunch is not so intolerable, and having to force breakfast down is not so difficult either. A piece of toast first thing followed by a more extensive cereal and fruit affair about 10am seems more suitable - wonder why i have never thought of it before!! I think an alarm clock is going to help too, or else I find myself not realising I should have eaten until I'm way too hungry. Can't manage a food diary but a tick list would help - meals eaten: check!

pardon me if this appears a stupid question, you say you don't eat stuff you don't want, what would you do if you were really physically hungry, tummy tumbling and all, and you had three things in and didn't fancy any of them. do you just pick one and eat it, go out in search of appealing food, go without... what happens next?

Welcome Rose to 3FC, we are glad you are here and know that you will find a lot of support here which you already have. Keep reaching out and people will support you

I think you have to just decide what's more important.

I eat a lot of things I don't necessarily want in the moment but nutritionally they fill the current need. Life is like that sometimes.... there's not always room to be picky. If you gotta eat you gotta eat.

Best of luck with your goals, we're glad you're here!

You don't have to force eat food you don't like, I don't like raw tomatoes, I didn't like them yesterday, 10 minutes ago and I'm not sure I'd like them right now or tomorrow. so no way would I stick to a plan that made me eat them.

I noticed your one post said at the moment you like apples, but later on you wouldn't want to eat them. That seems to be one of your biggest obstacles, because it's true, most people like or dislike the same foods on an ongoing bases. It's simply planning to have an apple tomorrow afternoon, but it seems for you once tomorrow afternoon comes you won't want/won't like apples anymore.

Having regular meal times and if you are really hungry, yes, in that case force yourself to eat. don't go days without eating! If there are 3 things there to chose from, I'll assume you bought them because you like those things, so pick 1 portion and eat it.

You can start controlling your portions. Instead of eating the whole thing of biscuits, just eat half. Just buy 1 or 2 pieces of chocolate for the day, not several. It would be a start and you'd be reducing your calories.

With the being hungry all the time, if you can talk to your doctor or a nutritionist maybe going on a lower carb, higher proten diet would make you feel fuller...but make sure to check first because it's not for everyone.


good luck and welcome!

If there's nothing I like I will venture out for food. I'm lucky enough to live within walking distance of a super market and they're bound to have something that I like that is still relatively healthy.
If I'm craving something a bit more calorie heavy I'll try to eat lighter things for the rest of the day. Some days I will go over my 'diet' limit I'll just stay under my maintenance limit.
It might take me 3 times longer to loose the weight, but I've only got 30 ish more to loose.

Originally Posted by ringmaster:
Instead of eating the whole thing of biscuits, just eat half. Just buy 1 or 2 pieces of chocolate for the day, not several.

In my particular case it's the binge that matters, not the food itself. I actually have no desire to eat biscuits at all if I can't have 20, so I guess that helps a bit! ;) Troughing in large amounts of sugar gives me a physical high, either from the actual sugar all coming in as one big rush or from the psychological "naughty" of eating them all and breaking the "rules", not entirely sure. Single biscuits are just food.

I ate all my meals yesterday on my big chart. Yay! But day one is easy. One meal into day two and already I am tempted to have nothing because I can't think of what I want to have, though my tum is rumbling like a cement mixer. Gotta go pick something.

Originally Posted by :
With the being hungry all the time, if you can talk to your doctor or a nutritionist maybe going on a lower carb, higher proten diet would make you feel fuller...but make sure to check first because it's not for everyone.

Unfortunately it's just a side-effect of my current hormone treatment, no matter what you eat you never really stop feeling like you want more food because it messes with that part of your brain. I have just had to start saying to myself (out loud if necessary!) that eating more food won't help. One sandwich doesn't make me feel full, 20 sandwiches doesn't make me feel full, so many as well have one sandwich. Otherwise it's just fruitlessly chasing the dream. Here's hoping that come Feb when the treatment hopefully tails off I'll finally stop wondering if there are many calories in a mouse mat. :devil: