Hi everyone.. I’m looking for some advice !! How can I possibly lose weight when I’m so fatigued and can hardly walk ? My legs are a real issue at the moment and I’m so tired that I just about get through the day !! I’m still working but really don’t know how long I’m going to be able to carry this on for !! I’m literally asleep as soon as I sit down
I’m desperate to lose weight. It’s a catch 22 situation, makes me feel really down
any help much appreciated
Hi Lowblow, the best few tips I found for me were: Not to eat anything after 8pm. I think it should be 7pm but I couldn’t manage that. Keep drinking water but don’t eat until light breakfast following day. Breakfast for me is usually 1 oatabix with water in a mug. The other thing for me was smaller portions on a smaller plate. Lots of veg, But only small portion of potatoes. Then add a portion of protein such as Chicken, fish etc. & avoid sauces. If having cheese your portion would be the size of a small box of matches. . So after 5 months I lost a Stone and this was without any exercises. And I didn’t allow myself any alcohol.
Same here, it was eating within a 7/8 hour time period that helped me, so if you are planning a late dinner then either have a very late breakfast or none at all. I also cut out refined sugar which made a huge difference and lost a stone in around 6 weeks. We have to remember too that if we’re not burning the calories we don’t need them in the first place 😉
Yes, you’re right, thank you for the reminder🙂. I’d forgotten about cutting out the sugar. I did this challenge on the Healthy Eating forum for a month with other people and it did make a big difference in loosing weight. Really spurred me on.
I can always tell when I’m away with family for a few days, eating rubbish, my whole system slows down, brain fog increases, energy levels drop etc I love being a rebel at the time, but takes me a good few days to get back on track, it’s horrible stuff lol
I found there were alot of things I had to let go of during the recovery months.
Alcohol and exercise were the two main things. Both them deplete B12. I think they can both be considered a 'stress' on the body, so anything stressful should be avoided.
For a while I just woke up and sat on the couch and luckily could work from there. But I actually started to lose weight since I was so deficient and it messed with my metabolism.
I was sad that my overall body shape and fitness started deteriorating.
But all I could do is accept that I couldn't exercise anymore and let my body to the work while I put everything on hold.
For the sake of your mental health, I would suggest trying to accept that you can't do much about it at the moment. In 6 months maybe, but in the meantime accept that it's a very slow and incremental recovery process. Listen to your body. If you can't walk, then rest. And any weight management will have to be shelved until you're much better.
Dido! Let that worry go. Focus on recovery. Keep doing shots and give yourself some self love. It takes time but you will get your energy level back and then start loosing. Narrow your scope of worry to the very basic things - keeping up with the shots, keeping your job and your mental sanity.
I agree also on the alcohol and exercise.
Hang in there. I was I. Your shoes. Things get better!!! I still do EOD shots.
Yes it can become a vicious circle.
My daughter is just told to lose weight????
No understanding or help.
She has very 'clean' diet .
Her metabolism is very off.
I witnessed for s week what wax eaten.
I woujd be a wreck.
Easier said than done.
My cholesterol has really got high since b12 deficiency. I think not enough exercise.
I cannot exercise in the way I used to.
I don't mean the gym but walk distances.
Cycle ,swim.
I've slowly increased distance to 0.6 mile maybe 1.3 miles .
Bit cannot fo anything when I stop!!
Not cycling or swimming yet.
As you are in paid work I imagine you in survival in a different way.
Time constraints ect.
I'm trying to eat the same but less of it.
Drinks I'm having to reduce is fruit juice .
50:50 water I have with iron .
Drinks of any sort apart from water can be loaded.
Very difficult as with fatigue we always hope food will 'pick us up
Hope you get help if wanted.
Or find a way .
T c
Hi,
I asked my GP almost the exact question you're asking the forum.
Their answer was "Try riding your bike a bit"...... and I thought "If only".
I used to try some simple gentle stretching exercises in the bath when my symptoms were really bad. They didn't help me lose weight but helped to keep me flexible and the warmth and support of the water helped the pain.
I got very bloated and had various fungal issues eg ringworm, athletes foot, thrush, dandruff etc due I think to my immune system taking a real bashing from the deficiency.
I found cutting out gluten and reducing sugar in my diet reduced the bloating and fungal issues.
Thank you everyone for all your responses .. I will try the things suggested.. I’m suffering fatigue so badly , been asleep again this afternoon.. makes me feel so lousy but I literally can’t keep my eyes open when I’ve been to work .. My feet also hurt so much at the moment .. I’m 5 weeks in and have injections 8 weekly so don’t think this is helping …
How do people cope with work I’m struggling so much
When my treatment started it took a couple of months before I could do anything more physical than sitting on the couch. When just starting out, you could try these exercises intended for seniors or those recovering from serious illness.
In-Bed Exercises : m.youtube.com/watch?v=R3UIy... (wow this video is old ha)
Seated Exercises: m.youtube.com/watch?v=8BcPH...
Standing Exercises: m.youtube.com/watch?v=mQLzN...
Upper Body Exercises : m.youtube.com/watch?v=VR7Qn...
If you are looking for more here is a playlist with a good collection of "exercises for seniors" that contains some more challenging or lengthier movements - m.youtube.com/playlist?list.... Obviously take care not to push yourself to do any kind of exercise that looks too difficult or any movement where you feel any discomfort or pain. Please check these with your doctor for safety before you try them and be very very cautious during the workout to keep within your body's limits and do not push through if you feel any kind of pain or discomfort.
Just 5 minutes a day of one of the senior exercises could be a good start and then see how you feel after it and how your symptoms are doing the next day or two following the workout. I really don't know anything about weight loss but I wouldn't think too much about that right now, physical recovery will take time and patience. Just be kind to yourself and remember that slow progress is still progress.
I aspire to being able to recover enough fitness to complete the workouts in the Natural Movement "Restoration series : m.youtube.com/watch?v=5Kdv4....
My real answer would be to not even think about losing weight until you have made some progress in healing. I found I was overeating and eating lots of very sweet food when I was ill, I think my body was desperately trying to get me some energy from somewhere.However, it sounds like it is really bothering you so you could look at your diet rather than thinking about exercise - I can’t remember the stats but weight loss is mainly down to diet, not exercise. It is hard to maintain a healthy diet when you are exhausted but i would focus there as good food should aid your recovery as well as helping you lose weight. I dislike restrictive diets so I tend to focus on eating foods packed with nutrients rather than focussing on cutting certain foods out.
Try Essentrics /Classical Stretch - Miranda Edmonde-White & her daughter Sara.
They have their own streaming service but also play on PBS in the States and Canada. The workouts on PBS are only about twenty-five minutes.
They also have a few freebies on YouTube and still sell DVDs.
If you have any kind of eating issue at all emotional eating etc I hope you dont mind my mentioning over eaters anonymous. There are lots of zoom meetings you can attend from home and it seems to work miracles. I am in similar situation, tried allsorts to lose weight and hardly able to walk due to knee pain but am doing well since joining this group.
Hi - I am in a very similar situation to you. One thing I wondered was whether it might be possible for you to take a period of sick leave, or a leave of absence, to give you a bit of time and space to focus your energy on recuperating, and starting to improve your physical health? I find that trying to manage work takes a huge amount of effort and energy (whilst unwell), leaving nothing left for outside of work.
I am freelance, and have taken some time away from work earlier this year, which helped. To be honest, I think I need to take more time away from work now - but being freelance feels a bit vulnerable, so it may not be possible for me.
When I was employed (many years ago) and working in a large company with a HR department, I was really unwell with an autoimmune condition, which meant I was regularly late, or missing half days on a regular basis due to pain. I realised I had to do something, so I had a meeting with HR, and requested an immediate two-week period of unpaid leave (during which I had lots of physio, and started to do some swimming) followed by six months of reduced hours. This really helped.
It might be worth speaking to a HR person at work, to see if it might be possible to agree a temporary change to your work situation. Or if you are really feeling unwell, seeing if your GP can sign you off for a couple of weeks?
Take care..
Hi Lowblow I'm the same, can't do much exercise and have been following The Harcombe Diet since 9th May and I'm one pound off losing two stone and feeling so much better. The book is called "Stop Counting Calories and Start Losing Weight" and is very interesting reading. I'm not saying you should go on this "diet" but thought you might like to do some further research if you are interested. Wishing you much success 👍 and hope you feel much better very soon.
I’m the same B12 deficiency n Parkinsons thrown in as well. I cwd not lose weight eventually breaking the scales at 22 1/2 stone. On feb 4th 2022 I started using an app called nutracheck simple to use on phone or tablet. You load your details in where required and I set my target as 2lb a week with sedentary lifestyle. Then it sets u a calorie intake everything goes in your mouth gets recorded on app diary. If the food got a barcode u can scan it. It’s the easiest n best diet I’ve done eventually becoming a lifestyl. Great community forum to help and encourage you. Last week I got my 4 stone loss award. Plenty more to go. It’s worth trying in my opinion. Good luck take care
My experience is that weight loss is much more about diet than exercise. Unless you do aggressive weight training and or lengthy aerobics often, the calories burned are not enough to make a substantial difference. (ie: I walk at a moderate pace for an hour/day and it is estimated I burn a little over 100 calories)
I am very underweight now, but 20 years ago I was about 30 pounds overweight. I got diagnosed as borderline diabetic so I got serious about losing weight. I cut simple carbs, increased complex carbs, only eating small servings of starchy ones, started the day with a high protein smoothie, etc. I lost 15 pounds in about 3 weeks. I continued to avoid “white” foods (think potatoes, rice, pasta, etc. and lost another 15 pounds within a few months. I ate a lot of vegetables and really cut back on sugar. The weight came off easily. I am not saying it was easy but I found eating less and eating the right things made losing my extra weight so much easier. I think what you eat matters more than the number of calories. Balanced regular meals with no snacking is key.
I had previously exercising daily and was still overweight. It was changing my diet that made the difference.
Best of luck. Start small, maybe with some high calorie, less nutritious food you eat. Cut that out and find a healthy substitute. As you lose the weight it gets easier.
A number of years ago I lost about 55 pounds/25 kilos on what's generally called the "Atkins" or no/low carbohydrate diet. The great thing about it is you can eat all the non-carb foods you want, and still lose weight without being hungry. I am able to exercise and have kept the weight off on a sort of "Mediterranean" diet I now eat. There's plenty of info on line if you search "Atkins Diet."
Thank you all for your tips and advice .. I will be taking this all on board !! Really appreciate your time and answers .. don’t know what I would do without you all
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