Time for me to take a break?
 

So I've been sick for months. It started with a bad cold and possible strep throat. That turned into bronchitis. Before I was through with that I started getting IBS symptoms. My doctor gave me a tentative IBS diagnosis last week. Well exactly one week later I woke up to excruciating pain and ended up in the ER with a kidney stone. So now I'm sitting at home with a ureteric stent. A tube that goes from my kidney to my bladder, that comes out next week. I feel like ****. I'm in pain and can barely eat.

I've been doing weight watchers, and have had great success until I started getting sick. Now I just can't be bothered to count. I can barely eat as it is, and have to avoid fatty foods because they make things worse. So I'm thinking I might just try to maintain right now. I'm actually up almost 8 lbs, but I'm sure it has to be from the medication and retaining water, because I have barely eaten 3 full meals since tuesday and Im severely constipated.

Is it a bad idea to quit now? I don't want 'getting sick' to be the reason I give up and pack all the pounds back on. Can I maintain without counting and measuring? I can use the scale to make sure Im not gaining, but I'm worried about giving myself a too much of a break because Im feeling sorry for myself.

All of that sounds miserable! But...

are you going to stop keeping track of how much money is in your bank account?
are you going to quit paying your bills because you feel bad?
are you still brushing your teeth and taking care of yourself?

Eating well is self care. And even more important now with your health issues. Tracking your food can help you see what it causes your gut to act up, and can help you make sure you are getting the right nutrients to help you heal.

Don't worry about the scale for now, take a break from that, but keep up the tracking.

It sounds like your body is pretty much stressed out. Maintaining until you get your health back would probably be the best idea. Your body needs the calories to heal. Once you get your health back, you can go back to your weight loss.

I can imagine your mind is feeling foggy while your body is feeling sick, which makes the process of keeping track of your food and weight difficult. However, it's very easy to put the pounds back on when you stop keeping track. I think you should keep recording what you eat as much as you can. Keep counting calories as much as you can. Keep up with the healthy food choices and keeping track of serving sizes as much as you can. Exercise and move as much as you can. Weigh yourself as often as you did before. You can do this without packing on the pounds! Just don't stress yourself out about it.

Above all, don't give up!! Instead of focusing on the weight loss, focus on your health and not gaining. Don't fall in to a poor me or a junk food funk. This is merely a bump in the road! A big bump, but not worth giving up everything you've worked for so far.

forget all that for a while. you need to do whatever is best for your health right now.

Eat to heal! The body needs more calories when healing. You may increase yours mindfully, or at least take comfort in the fact that easing up a bit on counting is not likely to do damage to your progress. Don't go overboard, of course. :)

If you feel up to it, try to channel the mental energy and effort you were putting into weight loss into eating to heal yourself. Read up on what's best for your body and go out of your way to eat healthy. Veggies and good quality protein, likely - or whatever provides great nutrients and micronutrients without aggravating your IBS. Get creative! Or get someone to help you, if you're not up to preparing foods for yourself. Edited to say -- if you focus on eating well, and trying to stay mindful, you're unlikely to do all your progress. Hopefully you'll maintain or only blip up a bit (minus water flux). Focusing on eating well will help you get back to fighting form the fastest, so you can get on with your goals.

The scale will be a big old liar until you heal and the medication drops off. Water weight just goes nuts with both those things in play. Try to make sure you drink extra water to support all the work your body's engaged in.

I hope you feel better soon!

I say take care of yourself first and foremost. Make sure you are eating nutritious foods, but certainly don't focus on weight loss right now, focus on healing your body.

Thanks everyone! "Eat to heal" is exactly what I was thinking. I'm not worried about losing anything right now, I just dont want to gain back everything I worked so hard to lose.

I say, eat to heal, too. Focus on what your body needs, and what foods to avoid, that would prevent it from healing. Ask your doctor about what s/he would recommend, too—that'd be sounder advice than ours, I suppose. You won't be 'giving up', you'll be taking care of yourself in a sensible way.