Postby Indiana » Sat Sep 11, 2010 6:43 pm
Warning this is an epic novel.
I believe I have found the cause for not eating and for other things.
I have eaten to be healthy since 1999. I never started on my quest to drop pounds just to get my diabetes under control. Dropping pounds was a bonus. I fear now I have really messed up my body from not eating for so long. Long ago I had to eat 3 meals and 3 snacks at a certain time each day with my diabetic meds. Although normally tight control is done with Type I I decided to do tight control to keep my diabetes in check. After having to eat 3 meals and snacks and at certain times I decided I only wanted to eat when I was hungry. That isn't working now. I need to find a compromise.
I go days doing well and other days – forget it. Straightening this out is harder than eating healthy. Although my foods are healthy, my overall eating plan for today wasn't healthy. 520 calories is not a good thing. I have messed up my body so badly that when I don't eat like this I'm not dropping pounds. I don’t need to be dropping pounds. I’m content with the few pounds I need to lose at 1.2 to 1 pound a month. My body thinks it is in starvation mode and holds on to everything.
Thanks to each of you Harriet, Lynlee, and OKay with your ideas it set me on the right track to figure out what was going so it didn’t take as long.
Lynlee you said to “try to eat one each of the main meals no matter what hour.” That made me think of having milk at least for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. When I have hot milk I either have it plain or do as you do – just a touch. A chocolate flavor but not overwhelming.
Harriet I got to thinking about the “unlimited” list. I need to watch sodium, and vitamin K. Also, try to include magnesium rich foods and potassium rich foods.
I kept thinking about the list and what I could snack on from the list. Besides liking all of them (OKRA though – I give my share to OKay). I have been snacking on blueberries. I have a bowl I put my vitamin K allotment in for the day and reach in for one or two. I could do the same with the other things that are vitamin K rich. By putting my allottment in a bowl then I can still have a green vegetable or fruit for dinner. Maybe they would kick-start my eating. HRH’s unlimited is a nice comprehensive one. Mine is a bit narrower:
Mushrooms
Radishes
Tomato (fresh)
Tomato, low sodium (canned)
Tomatoes, Cherry & grape
I think Josh Rubin nailed it on the head when he said: "You have to get healthy to lose weight, not lose weight to get health."
OKay you set me on the quest for checking meds by asking me what was on my menu plan and why I didn’t eat it. I didn’t answer you. I was just plain not hungry. So why wasn’t I hungry? There had to be a cause. Then when you said eating is influenced by so many factors that is what sent me along with what Lynlee and Harriet to research my meds.
I always check the side effects of my meds when they are new. I look at the “major call the doctor or go to ER” ones. I didn’t pay much attention to the side effects that can be bothersome.
Well I looked up each one and did a spreadsheet. Lo and behold, it is my meds contributing to probably 90% of it.
I take 20 meds daily. Some of them twice a day. It looks like for me when meds are added that have the same side effect that another one has then it is cumulative.
Not eating the number of meds::
5 – Intermittent abdominal pain
4 – Anorexia
10 – Nausea
3 – Gastritis
I don’t have nausea but I think it is not feeling hungry. I thought the anorexia was interesting.
The bad taste and loss of taste have cleared up but:
2 – Bitter Taste
2 – Loss of Taste
Some of the other things that have been happening now make sense.
1 – bronchospasms
2 – cough (I knew this one)
2 – dry eye
2 – dry mouth
5 – fatigue
12 – headache
6 – Insomnia
2 – muscle pain
So I had an aha moment with my :
infrequent bronchospasms
infrequent dry eyes
dry mouth
fatigue isn’t limiting but it contributes to late in the day
headache – more frequent dull headaches – not enough for tylenol
insomnia I just couldn’t figure out. I haven’t been sleeping
Muscle pain in my legs when I do go to bed infrequently
So although they are lesser side effects for me when it is several meds that have the same thing it makes me more prone to have the side effect.
I can’t change my meds – they work and what they fix are more important than the side effects. Know I know what it causing some things I can look for fixes.
This is going to be a slow process because I need to try one thing at a time to see if it works. If I try more than that at one time – which one worked.
My first thing is milk – I’m going to have a cup of milk for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. One reason to see if it helps my stomach and kick starts eating.
Thank you ladies you each took me on a different path that ended at the same place – meds.