I manage my issues with neurontin (nerve blocker) and flexeril (muscle relaxer). I'm still in pain, but without them it would be worse. I try to prep and prepare breakfast and lunch for the work week, but I end up hungry all day. I'm sure part of it is me compensating for being so tired. If I eat something (especially sugary) I will get a burst of energy, and I get to enjoy something, since it feels like I don't get to enjoy things I used to.

I used to go to the gym 5 days a week. I used to go to back to back spin and yoga classes. I used to do boot camp classes. I used to be almost 100 lbs lighter. I recently had reduction surgery and quit smoking, in preparation for the procedure. I gained about 20 lbs from quitting the 20+ year habit.

I'm wanting to get more focused on weight loss. I know that nutrition and exercise need to get nailed down. I try to do yoga style stretching, and need to be more consistent. I looked into seeing a nutritionist. My insurance covers them, but only for certain reasons. When I asked them to explain how I can verify if it will be covered or not, I was told that I had to go see a nutritionist, and would not find out until after I incurred the cost, whether it would be covered. Gotta love US insurance.

Looking for any tips and advice. Just thought I would put this out there, to see if I might get some good ideas for how I can get myself going in the right direction. I really want to get this weight off. I know my pain levels will go down, if I do.

Thank you.

I've got fibro, ME/CFS, and am waiting to see rheumatology because we suspect Sjögren's and lupus. I know it's rubbish not being able to do what we used to, but these conditions do limit us, and we have to be gentle with ourselves.

I'm going for a small calorie deficit, I think between 100-250 cal (haven't quite worked out what I currently burn yet), and concentrating on getting good nutrition. I have to make sure I don't get low blood sugar too, so there's lots of strategic use of wholegrains, plus sufficient protein and fat to keep me satiated. I'm happier than I expected doing this, because goodness knows any way of feeling in control of your body is a relief when you're this ill.

I can't exercise to the point of burning extra calories, I am doing it to help with pain instead. The physio got me doing smaller amounts, more often.

I don't have the same issues, but did have a lot of body pain a few months ago. I also had some bowel issues, and tried something called a "low FODMAP" diet. This is not for weight loss, but rather an elimination diet to see what foods one reacts too. You do this diet for a couple of weeks, then start adding foods back. Turns out I am severely gluten intolerant. It was not until I had a gluten exposure after a few months off of it that I realized gluten really affected me and my pain. I did have times when the pain was better for a while. (probably when i was doing low carb and able to stick to plan well) and I had been having a time with low pain, until that exposure. Then it was pretty painful for a couple of weeks. Since then I have heard from a few other people who did this elimination diet who have found that certain foods really affect their pain.
I have been doing Dr Fung's obesity plan diet since that time, doing well with weight loss and and also with pain.
Hope you will find a path that helps both issues for you.

I recently read this article, and I think it's important in understanding how much we can control our metabolism (not as much as I thought).

vox (dot) com /2018 /9/ 4/ 17486110 / metabolism-diet-fast-weight-loss

I have seen a lot on the low foodmap diet. I may have to try that out some day.

Here's the FM stickie, in case you can't see it on your device, I'm most often on my desktop for this forum. (makes it waaaay easier to find stuff.) https://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/die...-198-a-10.html
Liana

good luck on your goals!

If you are still reading this, do you know how much your recommended daily calorie intake is?

And did you know that just by lowering your body fat percentage by 10% you can increase your lifespan by 5-10 years?

Eating is a coping mechanism.

I don’t drink.
I don’t smoke.
I don’t do drugs.
I eat to cope. I’m addicted to processed sugar.
My college roommate, who was an alcoholic, asked me to go to a few AA meetings with her - if you swapped the words comfort food with alcohol, I could identify with almost everything said there.

I’ve always exercised regularly, even obsessively, even at my heaviest, but you can’t out exercise a bad diet.

Every few years I go on a fast for several months, which takes super human effort btw, lose the extra 25–40 pounds - then gradually gain it back over 2–4 years with bad habits creeping back one food choice at a time.

Basically, the only time I stay at a normal weight if I refrain from anything processed, especially things with processed sugar in them. No cheat days because it’s a slippery slope.

A friend of a friend who lost a couple hundred pounds and has kept it off for years said that he just came to terms with never being full after a meal, ever again. He eats mainly single ingredient, whole foods - no processed sugars..

My biggest pet peeve is someone sticking cake or chocolate in my face saying things like “come on!! just one won’t hurt!” - Would you give a recovering alcoholic a beer saying “come on! just one won’t hurt!”?

Cheat days work for some, not for others. They definitely don’t work for me in the long-run.

Part of the reason why I gained the weight back over and over again, is because I lowered my boundaries and accepted trigger foods from people as to not offend them.

My people pleasing days are over. I know what works and doesn’t work for me. I don’t care what anyone else’s opinion is or what a latest study says, or what worked for aunt Judy or my stylist’s cousin’s friend. I’ve lived long enough to know my own pitfalls and bullshit, mainly: “just this one won’t hurt.”

Exercise on regular basis and control your diet.

Sorry to be so blunt, Gary017, but you obviously don't know much about fibromyalgia and lupus. People with FM or lupus cannot exercise like 'normal.' Exercise causes extreme pain and fatigue and studies have shown that the energy pathways in our mitochondria are impaired, and it takes twice as long for us to recover from exercise (lactic acid clearance and DOMS - delayed onset muscle soreness.) We generally have to concentrate on the 'controlling your diet' part of the equation, but of course if it were as simple as that, no one in the world would be obese/overweight.
Liana

I have fibromyalgia and I feel on my skin what it is like to live in pain all the time and still worry about fitness.