I am newish here. I’m in my 30’s. I live in East Midlands, UK. I have multiple health issues, including severe fibromyalgia, depression, anxiety, BPD, back issues, and autism. Medication doesn’t work for me - only taking 5% off the problems. What I find worse about fibromyalgia (apart from the pain) is the fatigue, depression, muscle twitching and inability to loose weight. And I find there’s a lot of ignorance on this disabilities. Because we look normal and push ourselves, most people think we hypochondriacs or we look OK. But in reality and even on a good day, we still feel absolutely crap.
I love to loose weight as I’m 4-stone overweight, which doesn’t sound a lot. But it is when you are only 5”4 tall. I’m a size 20-22 in most stores. I struggle to exercise because of my disabilities and because of my ongoing disabilities, I’m a picky eater. I do love certain foods though to death, but only a limited groups of food.
By the way, I don’t sit there eating take always, greasy foods, 20 meals a day, alcohol everyday, bags of sweats everyday, etc...I know people not believe me and think I’m making it up. I try to only consume between 15000-2000 calories a day as I log my meals on my fitness pal most days.
I think a lot of my weight is due to the lack of exercise but with my disabilities it’s very difficult to achieve this. Plus, I suffer with social problems so I don’t leave my home a lot.
I would to do a vegetarian diet but I’m finding it hard to have a variety of food, and cook food that is easy for someone like myself with disabilities.
My down fall is chocolate though. I’m terrible if I’m at my sisters though as I pig out on her chocolate and crisps. But obviously, I can’t dictate to my sisters not to bring in rubbish, but it’s like I’m addicted to chocolate. My main meals are pretty healthy though and I do drink lots of sparkling water each day.
My main meals are low to medium in fat overall each day. But I do admit, I do have a lot of carbs. So I don’t know if having medium to high carbs may be the culprit to me loosing weight or not, as I’ve seen some ppl who have loads of carbs and they are stick thin.
I would like to meet other like minded people especially in the central part of East Midlands. Anyone like to talk openly.
Rather a lot of people with an FM diagnosis are actually hypothyroid, as the symptoms are almost identical. Doctors & a lot of endocrinologists, are generally clueless about this condition, & rely on inaccurate blood tests rather than symptoms to diagnose this, & don't always treat effectively when the diagnosis is clear. Another issue is the medication commonly prescribed for FM: painkillers, anti-inflammatories, muscle relaxants, anti-depressants, etc, have the effect of reducing the production of thyroid hormones which exacerbates this illness. The Thyroid UK forum on here is an excellent source of information & help for people struggling with the symptoms you mention. Something to look at, print, & perhaps show to your GP: thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...
If you If you tick enough of the hypothyroid boxes, your GP needs to request free T4 & T3 blood tests, as well as essential nutrients, vitamin D, folate, B12, & iron & ferritin. Any deficiency in these minerals, which need to be up near the top of the testing range of NHS standard "normal", can prevent our thyroid hormones being created & absorbed. Your symptoms can also be caused by any of these low nutrient levels.You also need testing for both of the antibodies for autoimmune Hashimoto's thyroiditis, which causes approximately 90% of hypothyroid cases. Some people reduce their antibodies by going gluten free (a minimum 3 months to remove gliadin antibodies from the body & feel the effect) or excluding all dairy. Gluten in particular is a trigger for an assortment of autoimmune disorders. Rarely tested, & commonly needed is magnesium. This is essential for our nervous function & hormones, as well as good bone health. You may feel the benefit for taking chelated magnesium at bedtime with just water or having a long soak in an epsom salt bath with at least 500g. Low magnesium, & other nutrients, can cause sugar & other food cravings, nerve, muscle & skeletal issues, as well as poor sleep. Getting a good night's sleep is another essential for our wellbeing. People lacking in good quality sleep have other hormone imbalances, causing reduced leptin and elevated ghrelin levels. This causes over eating & weight gain. A good night's sleep has the reverse effect.
It may also be good to try doing the Barnes basal body temperature to back up whether you're hypothyroid as we're often a lot cooler than average: regenerativenutrition.com/c... A liquid thermometer is recommended, though I found a cheap digital fine for proving my body temperature was consistently low as I'd felt cold & symptomatic for nearly 40 years.
You may need to do some tough love with regard to your dietary intake as calories are not created equal. Avoid all processed foods whenever you can, & eat a wide range of unprocessed foods: anhinternational.org/wp-con... Print this to stick on your fridge door or download it to your phone for reference. Perhaps have a straight chat with your sister regarding her helping you to become healthier. If she cares, she'll stop eating junk herself. Crisps are usually cooked in unhealthy sunflower oil which is extremely inflammatory as it's not a naturally processed food, as is margarine. Milk chocolate is high in unhealthy fats & sugar which have no health benefits, & unless we can burn them actively as calories, empty nutrition carbohydrates are not our friend.
I'm vegetarian & have a varied diet including lots of high fat/high density nutrients. I eat chocolate every day, but opt for a few squares of >70% cocoa chocolate that's high in nutrients. Do some swaps for healthier oily foods & eat nutritious almonds, walnuts, & brazils, as well as health seeds such as chia, pumpkin, sunflower, & linseeds. These also contain protein & are low GI foods, so they're more filling. Add more unprocessed foods to your diet: fruit, vegetables, lentils & beans. I make soups & stews in the winter that are easy, warming & filling, & aim for eating at least 90% healthy foods at home, & the occasional unhealthy food or drink when I'm out.
Don't compare what skinny people eat with yourself as you don't have their genes or lifestyle, & vice versa. One of my running friends eats about four times more calories & 90% more carbohydrates than me as she trains for marathons & hill running events. I eat quite a lot of sugar as I eat fruit every day, but restrict the number of processed sugar & starchy foods that I eat to small portions & fill up with plant foods. It's important to ensure you have enough protein to tell your brain it's doesn't have to go into storage mode. I aim for 40-50g a day of unprocessed protein, about 60% from plant sources, the rest from probiotic kefir, & sometimes a little cheese or small portion of grains. I avoid unfermented soy which is sneaked into processed foods as this reduces thyroid function.
Having good gut health is important, as is having good digestion in general. Hypo/FM people usually have low stomach acid & slower digestion. This leads to poor digestion & low nutrient absorption. Something easy to do before you eat a meal is have half a grapefruit to increase the acidity in your stomach so your food is better digested. Some folks like to take a few teaspoons of organic apple cider vinegar in a little water before meals. The natural apple cider vinegar contains a probiotic that benefits gut health, so if you do this, look for a brand that's labelled as containing the "mother" & has a layer of probotics at the bottom of the bottle. Give it a gentle jiggle before pouring, to mx this in. I did this for a few years & found it helpful, then swapped to drinking fermented kefir for probiotics & nutrients. There are dairy free options, but best made ourselves as shop bought aren't so high in probiotics. Each of us has an average 2-2,5kg of bacteria in our guts which are important for absorbing nutrients & helping our bodies produce essential hormones. A healthy diet with lots of fibre & healthy foods promotes good probiotics, & a bad diet with processed sugar & junk food leaves us with toxic bacteria in our guts. This leads to all sorts of health problems, including autoimmune disorders. I avoid foods that are not naturally low fat as they're padded out with chemicals, & I avoid artificial sweeteners as they are toxic to out gut bacteria & bodies. Fruit aside, I limit sugary foods, but prefer sugar to chemical alternatives.
Getting a good night's sleep is another essential for our hormones, metabolism & general wellbeing. People lacking in good quality sleep have reduced hormone levels of leptin and elevated ghrelin levels. This causes over eating & weight gain. A good night's sleep has the reverse effect.
Before getting to grips with my hormone issues, I tried restricting the hours I eat, so my body spends less time digesting food, & more time in repair mode. This helped me lose some weight & feel better. I thought it would be hard, but found it easy when I started to feel better after a few weeks. I have a shorted eating window during the day, not eating until late morning, & have a cut off point early evening, then only drink water until late next morning. In winter I aim for 14 hours minimum fasting time, & at least 16 hours in summer. A few mornings a month, or if I'm away from home, I'll eat earlier or later which now feels a bit odd. Some people find eating normal calories 5 days a week, & only 500 on two non-consecutive days helps them lose weight, cope with pain/hormone conditions, & feel better.
Do join the Thyroid forum as the admins & clever folks on their are amazingly knowledgeable & helpful.
I've some past posts on this forum regarding what I've written, & if there's anything here you don't understand, please ask.
as with all addictions you have to overcome them before they overcome you.. i think deep down we all know that but keep on finding excuses for them.
just think how much better you will look and feel if you can only cut out what you eat at your sister home..can you not take something with you that you can munch on ☺
The “bring something with you that you can munch on” is a great idea, Hidden . I bring snacks with me everywhere I go for emergencies and also for when I get hungry and know that there’s no gluten free items where I have to go.
Welcome to the Healthy eating community. You've had some great replies already, and I just wanted to add that there is also another community in Health Unlocked which is called 'Fibromyalgia-action-UK' - that you might find helpful. A link is here if you want to have a look:
I hope you'll enjoy participating here in the Healthy eating community too - we have lots of great Topics and it's a friendly and supportive community.
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