Has anyone out there gained weight actually *because* of their brain injury?
I had my TBI twelve years ago. Beforehand I was a little overweight, a size 14 but wanted to be size 12. Yeah, pretty normal in girls I've found.
However after my TBI I've put on weight, a heck of a lot of weight. Nearly 10 stone. It's directly linked to my self esteem and for that reason my esteem is rock bottom. Which has led to other problems too of course.
I've tried dieting the whole time and fallen off the wagon every time - I've lost my discipline.
Can anyone else relate to this at all? It'd be great to hear from you X
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saville75
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I had a whiplash and a related concussion at the beginning of January and I took weight during the lockdown period which in Italy lasted almost two months, at least ten kilos. Now, I am trying to lose weight slowly and I lost around five kilos. There is the lockdown effect, for sure, but I think that the lost of interest for pleasure, for instance music in my case, probably due to concussion has contributed too. I am slowly revovering with my own forces as the neurologists I consulted are unable to detect my problem as I am negative at CT scan and for them it is (erroneously) enough to eclude any brain injury. So be patient and try to lose weight slowly without forcing your full recovery process: I am sayng this to myself too.
Thanks Chuncho, you're definitely right about lockdown - that's contributed to my weight gain for sure. I've been looking after my three year old since the nurseries closed which at times can be hardgoing and I've reached for the biscuit tin oh too many times. Yes I need to lose the weight slowly rather than these fast losing fad diets. They say the slower you lose it the slower it goes back on...
I cant relate to weight gain, but with my husband he has gained 3stone since TBI, 1.5stone more prior TBI March 2020. I have been doing high protein, vitamin D meals to support fatigue and behaviour though.
But I am mindful, as i personally think there is a link especially in early stage managing fatigue with TBI.
How is your fatigue levels to carry out physical exercise, were hit and miss as I find his mood impacts on exercise (well physio at the moment) and as we go one day at time with clear structure, im not at stage to structure a whole week to pinpoint fitness regime,but hope i can in the near future.
Have you a friend or loved one that can be your Mr Motivator once you know structure/routine for exercise with fatigue managed.
Im sorry i dont have answers or guidance but interested in this topic. All the best.
Hey there New_beginning, thanks for getting in touch. In terms of fatigue it was obvious at the beginning as I'd have a full night of sleep, get up at lunch time (!), eat lunch then go back to bed until my husband returned from work. I did that every day for around three years after my TBI. I think there still is fatigue now, even though people around me wouldn't notice it that much. I tire more quickly than I used to and have to take breaks a lot more often. I find that annoying in myself, but that's my character I suppose.
I've spoken to my friends and husband a lot about this. My husband has tried to support me through the diets I've been on over the years, but has admitted to losing enthusiasm these days as I always fall off the wagon. Though I don't like this, I can see why he feels the way he does. But I do find it a bit demoralising - feels like I must do this alone a lot which doesn't help my mood.
I've gained a stone this year.... I've been so hungry!
I'm broadly attributing this to the SNRI, lockdown, less exercise, and less impulse control post TBI ( more likely to finish a packet of biscuits than just eat one). Plus I notice that I'm more likely to reach for a snack than go and drink water and take a break - when I manage my fatigue well, I'm less likely to snack.
However I definitely put on weight when my son was small - and there was a whole period after that when I got caught between not wanting to obsess about reducing food in front of him - because ironically at that time at the emphasis was on teenage anorexia -and having a lot of food around when he hit his maximum intake time. Luckily he's grown up into a slim six footer, so evidently I managed to keep him fairly clear of issues with food 🤣
I've never been super thin, and I really enjoy good food, and so I have also dieted a lot. My longest lasting success had always come when I've fitted the diet around what I eat normally, rather than fitting myself around a diet programme. Also cutting anything out totally seems doomed to failure long term. So a flexible plan around dull old calory counting seems to work best for me... Save time by calorie counting whole meals that you would usually have.. even the realisation that pizza on Saturday lunchtime was taking a whole day's calories was a wake-up call I've never forgotten ! 🤣
On the practical side try the MyFitnessPal app or similar for daily calorie and nutrition checking - if you link it to one of the exercise loggers like Googlefit it allows you to eat more during the day, because it takes exercise into account.
Lockdown was good for me because I finally found my baseline activity level that I can tolerate without getting fatigued - trouble is, it's really low, compared to what I was doing beforehand (including graded exercise on a crosstrainer).
However yesterday I got back on the crosstrainer, and today I'm going to calorie count on MyFitnessPal! Though interestingly writing this message = one banana.... #shouldhavetakenabreak lol
Finish a packet of biscuits rather than just eat one - oh I'm with you on that one!
Ah, see my success with dieting (although not successful enough) has been Slimming World - so replace your sugary and fatty food with fruit and veg, but you can have the problem food within reason. I'm not good at counting calories so it keeps it simple. Yet at the moment I'd rather eat a tub of Ben and Jerrys than an apple. So I don't eat the apple hmmm
Ah and the exercise malarky - I bought a FitBit ages ago and the wrist strap broke a couple of months ago so I've left it in a corner somewhere. Yeah funny that eh. I've actually ordered a new one and am going to try and do some walking during the day when my boy's at nursery. That's the plan anyway - but will I actually carry it out? Watch this space x
Gosh yes, if you fancy Ben and Jerry's an apple really doesn't cut it 😊
I think I've decided that it's almost better to eat the forbidden thing first - rather than diligently fill up on the healthy options and then still cave in and get the first thing I thought of... 🤣
That's a tough one on the Fitbit! I think I like mine, motivating when I've walked loads, less so when I've stayed on the sofa ....
What I meant was try and make any diet around what you normally eat, but less of it where needed, otherwise the transition back to your 'normal' food is too difficult. I did get shot of two stone that way, and kept most of it off for a few years. But being home with fatigue doesn't match up with the three mile walk I'd built into my commute 😱
The MyFitnessPal app works like a food diary and counts your calories for you, plus gives you a nutrition analysis at the end of the day (which, geek that I am, I really rather like...) I'm trying to nudge myself back into dieting now because I'm way over what is healthy for my height, and don't want to add any more risk factors to my life.
I only lost weight last year because the drug I was on made me lose my appetite ( a side effect I could live with..) and I think I'm going to follow through on the hormone thing though.
Ok now - hands up - when I posted yesterday that I was going on my crosstrainer and using MyFitnessPal, I didn't manage either 😱 Though I did go for a walk..
Trying again today...wish me luck 😊
And good luck with a walk while your boy's at nursery 😊 every little has to help x
Ah see, my (mis) behaviour is a bit different. I spend approx half an hour eating the entire tub ob B+J then feel guilty and decide to have a few apples on top of that, to convince myself that it's OK, I'm still on my diet, after all look what I just ate?! Wow I'm trying to delude myself whilst knowing perfectly well that I'm *not* on the diet at all!
But I see your point about making the diet work around yourself. As my husband and I often agree on, if you lost the weight, kept it off and never needed to diet again, then these commercial diets would go out of business wouldn't they?
Funny you should mention a drug making you lose weight - I was put on a drug that did the opposite. I have loads of pills for a variety of things (27 a day) and was put on amytriptilline for my sciatica. In two weeks I put on a stone and my Slimming World leader lady asked me what was going on. Neither of us could make any sense of it til she asked me whether anything at all had changed. When I came off the pills I lost the weight in the same short time!
Good luck with the crosstrainer. I'd say the same about a walk today though living in Glasgow, it's drizzly, wet and as the Scottish say dreich out there...
Love the B&J followed by apples - it might actually be better than my version....
I had amitryptline for a while too - interestingly that was when I lost weight when I came of it and switched to a new one, come to think of it - hmmmn, I wonder.
You're right about the commercial diets, they actually need you to go back on them again - sound point.
This conversation is great, because I'm having the ' get in shape conversation' with myself at the moment and trying to remember what has worked.
Not being too hard on myself works, oddly enough, being able to fall off the diet spectacularly occasionally, but still get back on it again. It takes longer overall, but allows you to be fallible/ human. But probably only works if you aren't seriously depriving yourself of a food you really like - because that's quite miserable ( I remember a low fat diet that excluded cheese....what can I say?) It's obvious that when you stop the diet, that cheese is going to be right up there, with no picture of suitable portion size to hold you back....
Pairofboots' suggestions sound right too.
My (slim) ex-mother-in-law (who couldn't afford to put on weight because of her arthritis) always said 'put what you normally would on your plate and then halve it' - which seems a bit too extreme - but taking a quarter off might be ok?
I'm convincing myself here 😊
Dreich is a great word. Very drizzly and murky here too actually - I'm on the south coast... But I'm going to plant some bulbs today ( after the morning nap/ meditate thing...)
Didn't crosstrain yesterday either....Watched a Zoom art talk on UK wartime propaganda posters though, which was rather good.
Not being too hard on myself - ha! Everybody I know has said to me multiple times that I shouldn't be too hard on myself. Thinking about it, all professional counsellory types too! It's my nature and I can't seem to stop it. Temper it a little but that's it. In my career that part of me kind of worked, as it made me work as hard as I possibly could - although there are plenty who'd say that that's not necessarily a good thing to do...
...oh and dreich, yeah. I think it almost sounds onomatopoeic - the work itself sounds dull, damp and a bit windy! Your zoom art talk sounds interesting. Art is one of my passions, has been all my life. If you're interested at all Jen, I have a website (should I be doing this on here, probably not) lucyodonovan.org
Oh great, thanks for the link Lucy! Talk was really good actually - he was just gently pointing out some of the finer points - would have been even more interesting to someone that could remember that era I suppose, but I hadn't considered it as a particular genre as such. This was the chap - lovely speaker, made some of the artists and work come alive.
The 'don't be too hard on yourself' is a bit tricky, isn't it? Can relate to that, have been pretty driven particularly over the last 20 years or so - probably always was though... as you say normally it's a successful strategy in the medium term at least...
I'm lucky in that a good friend, I met her in college, is a similarly driven perfectionist, and it's like holding up a mirror to each other over the years - we can spot it in each other, but not usually in ourselves. I think we're always muttering versions of 'be kind to yourself' at each other...
Can't help thinking that a little bit of drive can't hurt, can it??
I'm fascinated that having anticipated my 'crash-out' last week, and basically gone with it, how very much better I've felt since Monday though - makes me question how much I still tend to overshoot my basic capacity for activity ordinarily. That's a tricky one - I'm doing very little compared to pre-me. One to ponder!
Website looks good, Frustratingly I can't see your portfolio on my android phone - will see if the links are ok on my laptop later. Seems to me that you are a pretty impressive person... Be kind to yourself 😊 x
I do feel a routine blood test to check your hormones. My husband had one at 5th month, levels no where near what it should be like, but i gathered that with fatigue. But in spring going to request another blood test, as think its due December but with flu season in mix with covid no way is he going, plus with recent ICP monitor stitches taken out, the anxiety taking to appointments and planning is literally unbearable. Maybe look into it, and when ready book blood test when safe to do so. You could use this time planning, put motivation quotes up, pictures of your previous figure and spend time monitoring your fatigue and food patten to determine best time for physical activity.
It's just a possibility but might be worth speaking to your GP about as a fairly simple test can help you to see if this is the case. Your doctor should be able to give good advice on losing weight in a healthy and sustainable way too, so it's well worth a try.
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Yes I can relate to this. Prior to my stroke I was around 12st. I was reasonably fit. I'd trained in martial arts, and taught physical interventions as part of my job, so I exercised most days.
With regards to martial arts, although I was good, I worked hard to be as technically skilled. The art I trained in was akin to what is now MMA. I was a lightweight compared to many of my opponents by at least 5st. I had a magic weight in mind of 14st to be the weight to improve my physical presence. I came close a couple of times, but always slipped back to 12st.
Following my stroke, I was less active, and some of the medication I am on have raised my weight up to 18st. This was a slow increase. I've never been vane, so it was at my annual MOT that I found that I was gaining weight, while loosing muscle tone. This fact was not ignored by the DWP fit for work medical assessment.
The only way to loose weight is to eat sensibly and increase activity. "Diets" will never work on their own. Most diets work on the principal of limiting the amounts you eat or omit certain groups of food. These in the short term seem to work, but they are generally unsustainable.
The only way to reduce weight is to use more energy/calories than you are taking in.
We often eat too much for the active, as a general rule, if you look at an average dinner plate, if you look at your hand, a potion of a food group is roughly the amount you can fit on the palm of your hand. Other things that can help is to increase how long it takes to eat a meal, so instead of using a dessert spoon, use a tea spoon, this gives you stomach time to realise when it is full, another thing is to use a smaller plate.
There are more severe way of loosing weight, but you should consult your doctor before embarking on these as they can have serious complications. The one that is becoming more common is bariatric surgery, but these are life changing, in good and bad ways in equal measures. Also following surgery, it is still possible to gain weight despite the reduced stomach capacity, the stomach can stretch.
All really useful stuff there I reckon Pairofboots - I'm totally with you about eating sensibly and slowly. The fad diets of "lose 4 stone in 4 days!!!" makes me laugh actually. If it *does* work then I'm guessing you can do it to fit in a dress at stupidly short notice but it certainly isn't for me. And I don't do dresses! Sorry I shouldn't joke. The exercise thing is something that should definitely go along with changing what you eat. I've become a lot more lazy since my TBI though, which I find really embarrassing. But as my husband points out - if I exercise, change eating and start to lose weight then that'll spur me on further...thanks for your message x
I can absolutely relate. I initially put it down to the fact I was no longer working and therefore less active...but also my eating habits play a huge part in this. In the early days post BI I either forgot to eat or forgot that I had eaten and ate again... which added to the problem. Eventually things levelled off and I remained stable at about 20lbs heavier than I wanted to be...that stayed for a few years and then my Mum died. Initially after she died I lost weight but as things progressed the weight slowly piled on until I realised I had to do something about it
Spring of 2019 I joined WW through the free programme via my GP. I stuck with it after the free period ended and in 10 months managed to lose 3 stone. It was an easy plan for me to follow because I have write everything down anyway (I have the memory of a dead goldfish) so keeping track of what I ate wasn't hard for me. I felt great losing weight and wanted to lose a little more... and then along came lockdown and WW meetings stopped...
and being in the most vulnerable group the food parcels came...and there was nothing healthy in them apart from a bag of apples...when the food parcels stopped online shopping took over and it was too easy to drop things in the basket...delivery day was always a surprise because I never knew what I had ordered. Also had to start "eating by numbers" due to the use by dates on the food the pickers selected for me. I think without realising I was adding snacky things and of course eating them when they arrived. So now I find that during lockdown I have put back on half the weight I lost with WW.
I have a hundred different "reasons" (excuses) for the weight gain but I know I need to tackle this again.
I hope you will find the motivation to take the first steps towards improving your health - and that is how I looked at it. I was aiming to become healthier rather than thinner even though healthier included losing weight.
You are worth the effort it takes. You will feel amazing when you do it...and I say when and not if because you can do this and when you are ready you will do it.
Oh I can't tell you how much I relate to what you've said there iforget. I'm sorry about you losing your Mum, it's no wonder that it led to weight gain, totally understandable. It's great to hear that WW has suited you though - the idea of losing 3 stone in 10 months? Wow well in there! But the food parcels situation must be so hard - not only with the fact that you need them, but also that you won't get a choice of food. I can't think of a potential solution to that other than wait until this lockdown nightmare is over.
I love your reasons / excuses. I do that. Reasons - yeah, yeah, they're "reasons" in my dreams, I'm simply trying to dodge the bullet and blame something or somebody else. Anyone but me. But hey, it's ME that puts the food in my mouth, so how can it be anybody else's fault?! I totally agree with you - I need to become healthier rather than thinner. That's why I like being in Slimming World - their tag line is that it's not a diet, it's a life change. And that's what I need a definite life change. That doesn't involve me stuffing myself with tubs of ice cream while watching Netflix...
I find being lonely add to by eating too.....a quick "happy" boost from a bar of dairy milk or a cream cake......and, as stupid as it sounds, I forget I have eaten and sometimes re eat because I trick myself into feeling hungry
Yep, similar, and I utterly frustrate myself with it!
Know what I should be eating...I just don't!
I can't understand why I can't find the "hook" that will get me motivated.
There are many valid reasons that I struggle...
MEDS - I'm on Gabapentin/Codeine/Sertraline for the RTA stuff and steroids for asthma.
FATIGUE - I'm operating on about 3 functional hours a day at the moment, deteriorated a lot in last 2 years, and use sugar to keep me going as it seems to hold off the tremors when I need to get myself home etc; and I'm often just too exhausted to cook.
MOBILITY - struggle to walk so exercise virtually impossible.
However...
I also have large portion sizes, snack when bored, and I'm a classic "eat my emotions" girl.
I also genuinely believe I'm addicted to sugar! I know that's not technically a thing. But it should be!
The benefits of weight loss are so significant that it just befuddles me why I can't do it!
REDUCED PAIN
INCREASED MOBILITY
INCREASED ENERGY
REDUCE CHANCES OF ANOTHER STROKE
MORE SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE
REDUCED COST
All of these would make a phenomenal difference to my life. Seriously! It's ridiculous that I've not got this sorted.
The only time that I naturally lose weight is when I'm happy and/or really focused on another life goal and when I'm trying to survive through days of high pain, extreme fatigue, and a brain/ body that I just can't rely on anymore then those two things are not looking likely any time soon.
So I need to find a "hook", the motivation that keeps me on track through all of life's regular trials, and the thing that stops me putting that spoon (tub!) of Ben and Jerry's in my mouth!
Any advice would be really welcome!
(I already batch cook on good days, buy ready meals for bad days, and naturally love healthy food - I just need to reduce portion sizes and kick the sugar. It's not so much diet advice I need as the magic seed of commitment)
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