Any ideas please on how to lose weigh... - Lung Conditions C...
Any ideas please on how to lose weight whilst on Prednisone and completely inactive due to heart stress? Really struggling with this now :(
Rotten for you - probably the wisest thing is to call the BLF Helpline on Monday on
03000 030 555
and/or speak to a nutritionalist at your G.P. surgery. Referrals to the nutritionalist can also be made by physiotherapists who run Pulmonary Rehab groups.
Pred stimulates the appetite part of your brain which then makes you feel hungry so you think you need more food. The only way to lose weight is to eat less than your body needs. So you need to be careful about what you eat. i log and weigh all my food to see what the calorie count is (im on 1200 a day) although i can increase this with calories i gain through exercise.
For example yesterday i had the following;
Weetabix x 2 with skimmed milk - breakfast
Salad with light feta cheese and a jelly - lunch
Pepper and chorizo omelette with 100g oven chips - dinner
4 cups of tea, skimmed milk and no sugar.
I even had enough for a gin left.
That's not to say its easy, it's not. I put 2.5 stone on with steroids and I've still got a stone to go. Definitely speak to your GP about a referral to a dietician at the local hospital or they may have nutritionalist at the surgery.
You say you can't exercise at - not even swimming? Has your GP told you not to. I'm not saying I don't believe you but I thought I couldn't exercise and it wasn't until I saw my respiratory physio that I realised I could and should. It's funny what the body will let us do when we push it (with agreement from the doc of course).
Good luck.
Marie x
My 10 year old was on 60mgs of pred daily
She put on loads of weight but with the weaning off program she thankfully lost it all
Hi sssteamy, Don't know whether you like apples or not but when I had to lose 2 stone very quickly my surgeon told me to eat apples. I cut down on my portion sizes and ate the apples. It worked. Good luck I know how depressing it can be when you are on steroids and feel like a beached whale (I am sure you do not look it by the way). Try it anyway. Maximonkey
I was on 20mg of prednisolne for 2 years and had slowly increased in weight untill my transplant consultant told me that steroids don't put the weight on. He wanted me to loose weight and said that If I eat less I would loose it.
I had always blamed the steroids up till now but I listened to what he said and cut back on sugar and the amount I ate.
Well it turned out he was right because I'm now at my target weight of 12 1/2 stone having lost the 24 lbs he asked for.
I now have a better chance of surviving the lung transplant operation thanks to him.
The other bonus is I feel so much better, my breathing has improved, my shoes laces have got closer and easier to tie, I am walking record times on all of my timed walks so he was correct I was eating too much for the amount of activity I was doing.
To loose weight you have to eat less than you need was his words.
Good luck sssteamy97 you'll loose it with determination as I know it is possible. 
If you get the answer, you should patent it!
I would not challenge yourself to lose weight whilst on oral steroids, maintaining your present weight may be a hard enough challenge. Oral steroids usually make me crave carbs. Loosing weight is too much. Your body needs good nutrition to repair itself and aid healing!
On that, try and strictly limit /control your empty calories, mainly carbs! If you are overweight, younalready have this energy 'on board' so to speak!
Good nutrition, lean protein and fresh veg is the way forward. Also portion control!!
Also, don't get over hungry! Little and often, every three hours, may help you to control your eating!
If you need to lose weight quickly, look to the cambridge diet.
Good luck
Kevin
I need o lose weight - I am extremely sedentary at the moment. I am hoping that when i go to the PR assessment, I will get advice on that.
Someone told me that if you visualise yourself exercising it can help. Not tried it...there may be something in it... worth a go?
