3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community - New Member

Hi everyone! My name is Erin, and I'm from Southern California. I used to visit this website way back in the day before it had forums, and after a recent failure with Atkins, I decided to head back over and see what was going on. And look! There's forums now! (For a long time now, it seems.... boy was I out of the loop.)

So for the part about me and weight issues:

I'm 28, and have celiac disease. As a side effect of this going undiagnosed for so many years (about 7 or 8 years - we're estimating), I gained a great deal of weight. I was at 156 for the longest time, and wanted to lose another 16 pounds. I used to do kickboxing and running, and ate a fairly healthy diet, and then I started mysteriously gaining weight. That got gradually worse, along with fatigue, constant indigestion and gastro-intestinal "issues" (you can use your imagination with that, if you must), migraines, female problems (or rather, a distinct lack of the usual monthly female "problem") and the craziest cravings in the entire world. Even my pregnant friends were in awe of my cravings. They were almost universally for things like meat and vegetables. I went off my vegetarian diet, and started including meat, but I've always been a veg-head so adding more vegetables than what I'm already eating is kind of difficult (even my mother will tell you I like brussel sprouts more than pork chops). Bottom line with the food: My doc tells me not to go below the amount I'm already eating, even if it means I don't lose weight, since I'm trying to recover from what is essentially malnutrition (it's a complicated thing to explain--just remember, the small intestine is what celiac destroys, and it deals with vitamins and nutrients, whereas the large intestine, which celiac doesn't touch, handles calories--so I'm fat, but malnourished).

Anyhow, with the weight gain I also developed plantar fasciaitis, a problem with the tendons in the feet. I let it get bad enough that my doctor told me to go on bed rest for a couple of months. I ignored him, of course. It eventually healed up pretty good after I got a desk job, but I still have flare-ups if I go running, or if I walk too much in any given period of time. It's painful, and it's not a kind of pain you should just "work through" since the pain is actually the tendons tearing. As far as other "mechanical" issues go, I've "loose" joints, which means certain things, like biking make my hips pop painfully. Anything that involves rotating those rotator cuffs too much or with too much weight. I've dislocated my shoulder reaching for the seatbelt in the car before. It's ridiculous.

I also have eczema, something I found out at a visit to the doctor three weeks ago. Who knew? It explains my general skin sensitivity, however. Chlorinated pools make me itch...

So my goal: Lose enough weight that I can start running again; strengthen the muscles in my arms, shoulders, and back. :strong:

The riddle: Since my diet is fixed, I have to do this through exercise. How do I do that without exacerbating my hips, feet, or skin? :?:

The solution I'm currently researching is introducing weight training, and keeping up with my usual walking schedule--about 1.5 miles no more frequently than every other day, and at a talking pace.

I'm hoping someone here will have some advice for me. I've been browsing through the weight lifting forums here, and there's lots of good stuff. But in a more general sense, I'm hoping there will be folks here who have some smart ideas about what other strategies I can use as well. I'm sure I can't possibly be the only person with a fixed diet who has physical limitations, and needs to lose weight.