[illustratedwoman]

Hi everyone!

So a bit about me - for the first time, i'm seriously struggling with weight gain.
I'm a former dancer/martial artist who has always been, if anything, underweight.
Then, i ran into some health problems compiled with a spinal injury. Even with that, i managed to keep things under control, my weight never getting out of the 120's. Then this past year, my asthma and autoimmune illness (Hashimoto's Hypothyroidism) has kept me pretty ill. My weight started to creep up into the 130s, so i started doing daily yoga and cut out the wine. The scale went back down.
And then i started getting sick a lot more, my asthma getting a lot worse and my energy began plummeting. My thyroid med dose kept getting switched because my levels were fluctuating like a damn metronome and my weight slowly crept up to 148 from 117. It was crazy.
So i got it back down to 132 and slowly going down steadily.
Then BAM - a few weeks ago, i landed in the hospital with pneumonia with asthma complications - almost died, and i was put on prednisone - i gained 10 lbs in the space of a week (i've been on it once before and had massive weight gain but it came off as soon as i stopped). Now my face is bloated and from the side it looks like i have a double chin if i tilt my head down. I do NOT look the same . I can't seem to get below 138 and it wants to creep back up to 140 no matter what i do.
I'm used to being between 117 and 125.

Right now, my diet is basically sauteed veg with small portions of rice and a protein like fish or beef - i get it from the Asian market down the street so beef is very thinly sliced. I cook Japanese/Hawai'ian style mainly, especially lately - because i noticed that when i began cooking more for my live-in boyfriend than for me i also gained a little weight. Go figure, lol. He's totally cool with the dietary change as he digs my cooking.
I will usually have sweets maybe twice a month as i usually don't crave them except during my period.
The SUPER frustrating bit here is that for the three weeks i was out of hospital i ate no carbs and drank no alcohol and my weight stayed the same. I was still on the steroids though. Sigh.

Sorry this is so long. So right now, i walk a lot, do light Pilates when i can, and eat small portions of all of my cooking. I'm hoping this approach works and that now that i'm on inhalant steroids the weight will start to drop.
UGH! So frustrating because my energy is so low all the time and my breathing is such a struggle lately. It's like my body has it out for me.

[dawnlouise]

Hey there! For one thing, give yourself some credit because it sounds like you've been through a lot....

While I'm not a doctor, so I don't know about the steroids... the only thing that you might look into is metabolic adaptation? Maybe you're not getting enough calories so your body is just holding on to everything it can. Have you heard of this before?

I feel like walking and pilates are good activity choices to keep your activity consistent, but not super stressful for your body.... it's got enough stress already as it is!

Welcome to the forum - I was a member years back and got some great support when I needed it. Just keep doing what you need to do and your body will get there!