Dietician wants me to lose weight

[shaz53]

I am CKD 4 with a eGFR of 24 with only one kidney

[Hidden]

May I assume that you've already been on a kidney-friendly meal plan? Assuming you have, have your nephrologist and dietitian come up with an amount of weight for you to shed and a calorie limit for the day? Since this is Summer for you, it's a perfect time to begin an appropriate outdoor exercise program. Did the doctor give you some guidance as to the best way to begin and have you set goals and started?

If the answers are "No" then perhaps davita.com would be a place to begin for kidney-friendly meals. I'm not too familiar with what's available in Australia but the recipes are seasonal and you can pretty much select meals that will be easy to prepare and each one gives you a calorie count along with the mineral count for potassium, protein, phosphorous, calcium and sodium. From there it's easy to adjust or substitute as required.

[shaz53]

Hello Hidden

I have to answer NO to the questions

the Kidney nurse said just cut down on the potassium, protein, phosphorous, calcium and sodium, sugar

my nephrologist and dietitian seems to be on different levels , and I get regular 6 months checkups but have not seen or talked to my kidney specialist in years

it annoys me as I don`t real know what to expect and have the feeling that I have to get worse before anyone cares

[Hidden in reply to shaz53]

The nurse gave you some good advice but since you should never eliminate any or all of those minerals, your nephrologist will be able to guide you on that.

I know next to nothing about your medical coverage "down under" but being at Stage 4 and with your current GFR you should be seeing your nephrologist on a regular basis. If not, find a different one that will work with you. If you go to the DaVita site for the recipes you'll also find a Store there. They have a lot of excellent downloads there that can give you information on CKD and its effect on other health issues you may have.

Try this website for individual modules for you to learn more about your CKD. You can go at your own pace and it will give you answers to any questions you have and if they don't those are the questions to ask your new nephrologist. kidneyschool.org/mods/

Good luck to you and come back for more help and information anytime.

[lowraind in reply to shaz53]

That seems to be the usual way things go with diagnosis.

[Hidden in reply to lowraind]

I completely agree, however, the usual way doesn't mean its the right way.

[lowraind in reply to Hidden]

What can we do to change the usual way?

[Hidden in reply to lowraind]

I can't tell anyone what to do but I can tell you what I've done and continue to do. Through all the research I've done and continue to do I began to join various organizations to receive their newsletters. The ones I've done are listed here.

kidney.org

rsnhope.org

homedialysis.org

davita.com

aakp.org

pharm.ucsf.edu/kidney

kidneyfund.org

Through those listed and a few others, I find out about new trends, treatments, and possible legislation and if I post it here I usually send in a comment to 1) State Legislature Representative, 2) State Senator, 3) Office of the Governor, 4) U.S. Congressman, 5) U.S. Senator, 6) appropriate business leaders and businesses in general who are stakeholders (Fresenius and Baxter to name a couple)

If you want to begin on a smaller level add /advocacy to the NKF or DaVita URL and get specific information related to those websites.

If that is still too intimidating for some, bring it up to your doctor(s) every chance you get and find out what they discussed at medical conferences and other gatherings and see if you can change it one doctor at a time.

[shaz53]

should be seeing your nephrologist on a regular basis -- I agree Hidden

DaVita site -- I am a member now

[Betsysue2002]

Well as ive said before i am certainly no expert with all this and i DONT like exercise but id like to pass on my exercise plan. It seems to have worked ... ive been doing it for 21 years now ........

Start slowly. If youre like me trying to do it all at once is discouraging.

I get up and after a bathroom visit i walk for a half hour every day. i do that 5-6 days a week.

But i didnt start that way.

First of all i do it in the house ... i dont like to do it outside and i dont like to sweat and by walking in the house i can wear what i want and by doing it for a half hour i know exactly how much i do.

I started out about 5 mins for awhile then went to 10 mins/15 mins/finally 20 mins for a long time/now the half hour for several years now.

If i dont walk immediately i just dont walk so i do it ... immediately.

What im getting to is that you can use all that as a basis for other exercise ... it's a comfortable place to start ... at least for me and maybe not overwhelming for you either.

[LJMusgrove]

Hi Shaz, I am in Australia too. Dubbo to be exact. I think we just have to be proactive ourselves because unfortunately the medical profession don’t know us like we do. So yes walking is the best way to exercise & I found a great app called EasyDietDiary that has Aussie products etc in it so you can track your calorie/kj intake. I have lost 6kg since November just using that and a some exercise. You put in your height, age, weight etc & it tells you how many kj/cals per day you should be having. It is very good & it will take a load off your kidneys.

The other thing is, is your dietician a Renal dietician?

I also recommend this book...free on the internet. The author will send you a chapter each week & I found it a real eye opener, to the stage where I went vegan, except for egg whites. Just need to keep an eye on blood results to ensure you are getting everything you need if you go to those lengths but I think it is (you are) worth it! Stopping Kidney Disease by Lee Hull.

Forgive me if I have said this before but I found kidneycoach.com is an Aussie as well so the information can be easier to relate to, but the US also has some terrific websites as Mr Kidney says 😃

All the best!

[jobeth in reply to LJMusgrove]

I have been reading his book too. I hadn't done much about following it as I was beng too lazy to cook separate for my self and my husband. I had eaten well but got lazy for a couple of months. My GFR went to 10. I had raised it to 13, but when I got lazy it went back to 10. I have now started doing smoothies from the Outback Vision Protocol. Don't know if it will help my vision, but it is all based on fruits and vegetables with some nuts and seeds. I have been on for about a week, but seem to mostly get 2 rather than the three smoothies. I have started reading Lee Hulls chapters again now that I have more chapters that I can read all at once. I am now eating mostly vegan although I do eat limited amounts of things if I am in a situation where I am out. I get my blood work taken in a couple of days and will see if it has helped. I am waiting for Mr. Hull to finish the chapters on diet, as it would be nice to see what he eats and how he figures out what each person's kidney load is. My doctor wants me to start dialysis, but I don't feel sick yet, and I told him I wanted to wait and see if I can control by diet. His book really lets us know all of the things that affect our kidneys.