I have always struggled with my weight. I have always had a belly. Sigh. While weight has always been an issue for me, I learned to live with the fact that I would never be thin. I learned to love myself for who I was. I learned to live with what I had to work with and figured as long as I was healthy, then life was good.
When I went to the doctor in March 2010, I made my husband go with me. You see I had been attempting to lose weight for over 2 months at that point. Walking up to 5 miles 5 days a week, hitting the pavement for another 3-6 miles twice a week with my hubby, doing yoga, eating right (I was following the Weight Watchers Point System, which had helped me lose 20 pounds a couple years before) and I had actually gained weight in those 2+ months.
The doctor basically ignored my complaints of not being able to lose weight. That is why I had my husband go- so he could back up my claims. As someone who is overweight, I am often met with skepticism when I tell a health care professional that I am trying to lose weight. I was trying and not cheating. I was upset that I had found no results and in fact the opposite was happening. No matter how much we continued to bring the subject up, my doctor brushed it off. He was more involved in diagnosing me with fibromyalgia.
Less than a month later, my bowel complaints began. What should have caused definite weight loss, didn't. In fact I continued to gain weight. After some tests for the bowel issue, I gave up for awhile. I continued to exercise but I didn't watch my food intake as much. When you hurt all the time, sometimes comfort food is just what you must have.
After almost a year of bowel issues, I finally addressed them again. This time I went to a gastrointerologist. I was sure a diagnoses would be found and maybe they could explain my weight gain. After many, many tests and procedures, they too had no answer. They were sure I should have been losing weight, consistently, with my issues. Instead I gained so they began to question my claims. I guess I could have invited them to stay with me for a week or so. Then they could have seen first hand my issues. However I just decided to once again take a breather.
So what is going on? Why would my body refuse to lose weight no matter what I tried? After leaving a couple of messages on line on some fibromyalgia help boards I think I have my answer. One of the complaints among many fibro sufferers is the inability to lose weight, no matter what they do. For some reason our bodies seem to feel the need to hang on to those pounds, possibly as a defense?
There are so many symptoms of fibro that are not widely listed when you do a search on fibromyalgia. I honestly have had times when I was sure that I was suffering from something vastly different because I had such strange symptoms only to go on a message board where I was able to find several other fibro suffers having the same problems.
While I can deal with many of fibro's issues and complaints, I still am frustrated at my inability to lose the added weight that I have put on these past couple of years. I probably will not ever completely get over this frustration. Which maybe isn't a bad thing......as it keeps me trying. It keeps me moving when I would much rather be curling up in a ball. Thus I continue to move forward.....
When I went to the doctor in March 2010, I made my husband go with me. You see I had been attempting to lose weight for over 2 months at that point. Walking up to 5 miles 5 days a week, hitting the pavement for another 3-6 miles twice a week with my hubby, doing yoga, eating right (I was following the Weight Watchers Point System, which had helped me lose 20 pounds a couple years before) and I had actually gained weight in those 2+ months.
The doctor basically ignored my complaints of not being able to lose weight. That is why I had my husband go- so he could back up my claims. As someone who is overweight, I am often met with skepticism when I tell a health care professional that I am trying to lose weight. I was trying and not cheating. I was upset that I had found no results and in fact the opposite was happening. No matter how much we continued to bring the subject up, my doctor brushed it off. He was more involved in diagnosing me with fibromyalgia.
Less than a month later, my bowel complaints began. What should have caused definite weight loss, didn't. In fact I continued to gain weight. After some tests for the bowel issue, I gave up for awhile. I continued to exercise but I didn't watch my food intake as much. When you hurt all the time, sometimes comfort food is just what you must have.
After almost a year of bowel issues, I finally addressed them again. This time I went to a gastrointerologist. I was sure a diagnoses would be found and maybe they could explain my weight gain. After many, many tests and procedures, they too had no answer. They were sure I should have been losing weight, consistently, with my issues. Instead I gained so they began to question my claims. I guess I could have invited them to stay with me for a week or so. Then they could have seen first hand my issues. However I just decided to once again take a breather.
So what is going on? Why would my body refuse to lose weight no matter what I tried? After leaving a couple of messages on line on some fibromyalgia help boards I think I have my answer. One of the complaints among many fibro sufferers is the inability to lose weight, no matter what they do. For some reason our bodies seem to feel the need to hang on to those pounds, possibly as a defense?
There are so many symptoms of fibro that are not widely listed when you do a search on fibromyalgia. I honestly have had times when I was sure that I was suffering from something vastly different because I had such strange symptoms only to go on a message board where I was able to find several other fibro suffers having the same problems.
While I can deal with many of fibro's issues and complaints, I still am frustrated at my inability to lose the added weight that I have put on these past couple of years. I probably will not ever completely get over this frustration. Which maybe isn't a bad thing......as it keeps me trying. It keeps me moving when I would much rather be curling up in a ball. Thus I continue to move forward.....
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ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog. I can really relate to what you're saying about gain when you're trying to lose. Like I said, I've been using MyFitnessPal and after 3 weeks, of mostly being under my calorie goal I only lost 1lb. My doctor even comment on several days that I was way below my calorie intake telling me I needed to eat more, yes, I know it's not good to eat too little too. Anyway...4-5 years ago I was diagnosed with Poly Ovarian Cyst Syndrome. I had many of the classic symptoms including: borderline high sugar, low HDL (good cholesterol), borderline high blood pressure and being over weight. She game me a diabetic medication and had me take some classes on eating right. I lost 30lbs, was biking and felt great. Unfortunately we moved, twice, and I can't find a doctor who will even test me for POCS much less prescribe the medication. See, since I'm eating right, I've corrected the blood sugar problem and the cholesterol problem. In fact, my doctor bragged to me about how low my bad cholesterol was and what great numbers I had on my blood work. I am taking high blood pressure meds and my blood pressure looks "fantastic" All of that to say, I feel frustrated and hopeless, because you know I gained that 30lbs back and then some. So I started looking into surgery a couple of years ago. I knew I'd never have the by-pass, but the lap-band looked interesting until I discovered all of the issues with it. That's when I discovered the gastric sleeve. And you know the rest of the story.
ReplyDeletePlease keep in touch on your weigh loss journey. And check out MyFitnessPal. It's a great way to keep up with your food and exercise diary and to track your weight
Thank you so much!! I definitely will look into it and I will enjoy keeping in touch to see how you do. I am struggling to find a doctor who will even begin to listen to me and my weight woes. If eating healthy and walking 20+ miles a week at a very strong pace didn't help- then what does? I have cut out almost all processed foods, cut way back on sugar and fat and I watch the scales continue to climb- but you understand that!
ReplyDeleteI am just curious and am going to have to do more research on the sleeve. I had 3 c-sections and a hysterectomy though-- so I know I have more than a TON of scar tissue that is a mess in there.
Thank you so much for stopping by!! As I said, I cannot wait to see how you do!