I have been trying to lose some weight by going on to a sugar free diet, I have been so disappointed as I am still gaining weight . I thought I had avoided carbs also, but, in my ignorance had been eating loads of fruit. I hadn't realised until today that it contained so many carbs and calories in the amounts I have been eating. I have posted this in case anyone else may not realise that fruit is not good with pred in large amounts.
If we take out the glucose factor our bodies will use the fat we have built up to give us energy so hopefully, I am going to try this and see if it works.
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Riversnan
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It's the taking less exercise as well most definitely. I felt more bouncy on a higher dose of Pred in the summer and was going for longer walks. I'm fatter now on a lower dose with limited energy and motivation.
I agree, I have been feeling very lethargic lately,so....I am going to get my backside out of this seat and go for a walk. That's down to you making me feel guilty, so you have helped me, thank you, Sheffield Jane.
With pred it does seem that you need fewer calories than if you were not taking it just to stay the same weight which is annoying. If you are eating fruit it is better to have it whole rather than making smoothies. The body needs to break the fruit down rather than a blender doing it for you!
- and if you scroll down this second one you will find links to guides for carb content for other foods. Thye are done in pictures so much easier to see and understand than a long chunk of text.
PS - don't know much about WW but I do know several people on pred who have been successful in losing a lot of weight using the Slimming World approach. Personally I find it mind-bogglingly complex, cutting carbs is so much easier!
That's all good advice from you both. I have to admit to having got quite down about the weight gain, I have never Known this before as I have always been able to lose it.
I am going to check out the websites and see if I can work something out. If not weight watchers or slimming world.
I think most people get down about the weight gain. When I knew I would have to take pred, that was the first thing that I thought about was the weight gain. I mentioned it to a doctor friend of mine who said don't worry you will lose it when you go off them! I also got paranoid about getting a moon face.
I just feel very shallow worrying about weight when I am really so pleased that I have my life back thanks to the pred. We. Can't help how we feel when we look in the mirror.
I've been happy so far to not have gained weight even with Christmas. I put this down to the Intermittent fasting which we do daily (rather than twice or three times per week). We've been doing it now for at least 6 months, it is our norm which is why I have stopped counting. There is plenty of research around to back this up and there is other research saying it is not good for those who have adrenal issues.
In November we cut out 2/3rds of our bread consumption...it was in my eyes healthy Organic Rye bread, but still a shop purchase which opens you up to hidden sugars. This was part of a removing gluten from our diet with an idea to reduce inflammation in the body. We now rarely eat bread however we don't get all tied up in knots if we eat bread on offer in a restaurant. My friend comes over once every couple of weeks and brings baguettes for lunch...we enjoy and then go back to our normal which is no bread.
We've just this last week stopped buying chocolate (in France so not so sugary). We'd been eating a few squares each evening along with my current obsession home made Rice Pudding. So, chocolate has stopped and I am going to make less rice pudding too (honest I am ).
I have found the most useful thing for me is to up protein which means for me, I am rarely hungry and not needing to bulk out on carbs. I've just had a cuppa and a few Pistachio's ..biscuits would have been nice and I know that the empty calories of sugary items will not last and encourage hunger pangs once the initial sugar high has dissipated.
I am so glad that I cook from scratch most of the time...it makes it far easier to avoid the hidden sugars in products you'd not expect them to be in. Many, many "Low Fat" products have more added sugar to make up for the loss of taste.
Just curious, how can you fast every day? Isn't that what the distance between evening meal and breakfast is - hence break fast? How can there be time in the day for another fast?
Means no breakfast! I eat dinner about 8pm and then generally don't eat again until a late lunch next day at about 1pm. If those timings don't suit the idea is to eat during an 8 hour window, leaving 16 hours of "fasting". I don't 100% fast, I take milk in my morning 3 mugs of tea
I'm all for cutting out another meal to think of things to serve...
I would be incapacitated if I lived like that. Headache, shaky, cranky... you name it! Besides, I need to eat early so I can have my pred. And a small snack a little before bedtime so calcium dose doesn't bother me. Our evening meal is usually around six, and I've found if I have nothing else before midnight bedtime I wake up hungry in the wee small hours. Different strokes for different folks.
Same here as for IdasMum - you can't just do it - I didn't go from eating 3 meals a day and snacks to just 2 meals a day overnight, It's like reducing pred, slowly does it! Not that i have ever snacked really - which always seemed to make it unfair I was so cuddly!!
I do sometimes snack on nuts but it is within that 8 hour window - I rarely eat before 1pm. For me it fits as I really can't summon up the enthusiasm for breakfast, never could. But I very rarely snack eating something along with a cup of tea anyway, the cup of tea is enough.
There are felt to be many benefits of intermittent fasting - as this explains
As the first writer says - I didn't get there deliberately really, it just so happened. But it suits me - and helped me lose a lot of pred weight without suffering hunger pangs and feeling deprived. I really do hardly ever feel hungry .
Yes, I used to get very cranky and shaky before my main meal of the day. Symptoms like low blood sugar...not ideal when trying to cook a meal. If I ate breakfast I would be hungry within 2 hours and obsessing about the next meal and never really satisfied until I'd eaten my "dinner". Even knowing that perhaps some of that was psychological it didn't help and yes, I could wake up hungry sometimes although it would be rare to eat before bed. Now I rarely feel hungry until midday and all those sugar highs and lows are a thing of the past.
I would never have believed this would work for me but it does.
I take my pred with a little milk and so far so good.
And just how is this supposed to help us? I calculate that my bedtime snack, which is sometimes 4 oz of kefir, is no more significant than PMRpro's multiple cups of early morning milky tea or your milk. and therefore I am "nearly" fasting for thirteen hours anyway. I do not get hungry during the day. Have a nice well-balanced high protein breakfast, snack with mid morning tea, very light lunch (sometimes forget to eat it) small snack with afternoon tea, light supper, miniscule bedtime snack. I think if I were to leave out breakfast I would be stuffing my face by suppertime. I do not like eating a big meal in the evening and in many ways breakfast is my favourite meal of the day. So, like I said, different strokes....
I'm with you on breakfast - most important meal of the day for me, giving me fuel to get moving, and fitting in with my pill-taking. Before PMR I used to do the 5:2 fasting regime, which I felt extremely well on and did lose a chunk of weight. Sadly I haven't been able to get to grips with making it compatible with my life as it is now - especially the hunger pangs that I believe are triggered by the pred. It's enough to concentrate on balancing meds, timings and different types of foods - and remembering to fit in enough walking to help my bones. How complicated life has become!
Back in my 20s I used to fast one day a week. Didn't do it for too long. I distinctly remember one day consuming a whole cup of honey, having just meant to have a taste.... And it was at this time that I collapsed from low iron and although no one asked me about my eating habits at the time I did wonder if it was a factor, So no more fasting for me.
Reading the links, interesting. I'm not convinced that it's best for everyone but I can see its usefulness. Just checked my current BMI and as it's 18 I'm not a candidate anyway (whew, one less thing to worry that I'm doing wrong).
Thank you Heron for your contributions. I feel better now as I am skin and bone too and try to eat as well as possible with high protein, fat and low carbs but just checked my BMI on google and wish I hadn't! Down to 2 mg with some discomfort so hopefully things will improve soon
Whisper, I have, apparently, shrunk two inches since my salad days, so I used my shorter height to calculate the BMI. If I were still under the illusion I was as tall as ever, I'd calculate it as 16.9.
I only know about my height because I got measured when I had my DXA scan. I was rather horrified because so unexpected. Can't figure out why I still seem able to reach things on high shelves as I always have.... Mind you, they did jam the measuring thingy down rather hard on my head, probably took off at least a half inch more than they should have!
As you have said HeronNS , different strokes for different folks.
As a morbidly obese 61 year old who has spent 50 years overweight, assorted diets, plenty of judgement from others etc it feels good to have found a regime that works for me (and who knows, it might work for someone else which is my reason for sharing ) and controls potential weight gain with steroid use.
None of us know how it feels to be in another's shoes. I know some very thin people who need to eat little and often and some others who seem to be able to eat whatever they want (healthy and unhealthy) and never manage to put on an ounce. I envy them and wish I knew how come some of us show every tiny morsel we eat when others don't.
I drink tea with ilk and I drink black coffee or water during the 16 hour fast, so it's probably better to describe it as a food fast. PMRpro I am pleased to read your experience, it's good to know I am not alone
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The things pred does to blood sugar & weight – oh joy…
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