Losing Weight: Part 1, The Reasons

Thanksgiving at a friend's home: you'd think my kids had lived an "Oliver" life!

There seem to be dozens of ways to gain weight if you're a person who suffers from CFIDS/ME/CFS and/or fibromyalgia and I do believe that I've had the dubious honor of having gained for each one of the reasons at one time or another.  It's a real problem because, let's face it, the way we look DOES affect the way we feel about ourselves.  No matter how much we tell ourselves that all we want in life is to be healthy, there IS the little part that we quietly add, "and to be a normal weight."  It's not surprising because before we became sick, we usually WERE at a decent weight.  

Today I'll just pick out four reasons why we often gain weight.  Some I've gone into before, but others are new to this blog.  Tomorrow I'll post a few tips that have helped me with the ways I try to lose weight, an ever-increasing list.  But today, some of the "causes."  Remember: knowledge (or acknowledgement) is power!

• Insomnia.  If you don't get enough sleep, your hormones go all out of wack and you start to gain weight like crazy.  For more on this, see the post I wrote about this here.
• Medication.  Despite huge vigilance, a few years ago I was on entirely too many medications (around 50!) and we were able to cut the number down, as well as the dosages.  It was hard work and sometimes I think I would do well to go back to a few but when I think this, I also think, "at what price?"  I do have a couple that I may need to start back on but will be talking to my GP about this because I'm not sure of the benefits vs. happiness factor with my weight.  "Proper weight" is not just about looking good - were it only that easy.  It also gives us a bit (ha!) of a self-esteem problem that, like it or not, does accompany the weight issue.  And let's face it, it's hard to lug around extra poundage. 
• Overdoing it.  Every single time that I overdo it - and it doesn't take much to get into that state - my appetite soars and the poundage comes on in spades.  Just sitting downstairs in the kitchen as preparations went on around me on Thanksgiving and then sitting at the table for dinner was way more than my body could realistically handle.  I've not weighed myself since this out-of-control eating started and as a result, I know I've gained at least 10 pounds, if not more.  I've more or less given up until tomorrow since it's hubby's birthday today and I knew that stopping the eating and then "starting again" with his birthday again would just be too much.  So, tomorrow I start to give myself the pep talks and maybe by Wednesday I can start those first three days that are so hard to get through as you're trying to get back to "eating right."  See this post for more on the "eating right" and losing weight the healthy way right here.
• Stress.  We had the painters in the house for two weeks and then there was all that running to the ER and testing and that all proved to be too stressful, which led me to overeating - a real understatement.  Now I have not only the holiday weight to deal with, but all the stress-induced weight gain of something I had a lot of trouble dealing with.  It had to be done.  Now the weight has to be dealt with.  End of excuses or lamenting from and for me!  Get with the program, self! (Unfortunately the work is not completed yet.  I'll have to come up with some sort of way to deal with this better!)

And yes!  Make sure you check with your doctor to see if there is something new going on with your body that is causing the weight gain or lack of weight loss. You may need to explore the possibility that you've developed a new issue that needs to be addressed (like me when my weight went super wacko and it was because of the hypothyroidism) or if there is a medication which you might no longer need or can take in a lesser dosage.  

Weight is the bane of most women, especially in the States.  If you've had the misfortune to add medical conditions, things get that much harder.  Some medications I know make it harder for me with the weight but my doctors and I feel that I have no choice but to continue on those medications.  I try to work around the meds, but that's not easy.  Remember that foremost is your health.  THEN establish the weight which you are comfortable to live with, but be realistic about the number.  

Finally, remember that body image is not always right: we are often our worst enemies and think we look much worse than we actually do.  

And that's it for today.  I hope everyone's feeling their best, only better.  Ciao and paka!

A Bit of Happiness, A Bit of Sadness

We've been much too serious for the last few posts, so I thought that today I'd try  (emhasis on "try") to lighten the load a bit for those of us living this nightmare condition known as CFDIS/ME/CFS and fibromyalgia.

Some of you may have noticed by now that one of my most-read posts is the one in which I wrote about the fact that even we sick want and need our beauty routines, which can be found with this link.  It perks me up, most definitely, if I can find a day that no matter what, I'm going to have a few hours in which I have the energy to indulge and make of it what I need - just a little time off from my stupid, hated CFIDS/ME/CFS and fibromyalgia - when I can self-indulge and pamper myself!  So come on: we can do it!  

I'm convinced that the first part of the equation is to buy something really decadent and if hubby or life-time partner gives you a look, you give him/her a look right back so he/she will never again complain about the cost of women.  Instead remind him that it is the woman who is the multi-tasker, going back thousands of years when "men" had to go out and hunt (la di da!) for the food while sad and exhausted woman stayed in the cave with the toddlers, usually one or two still breast feeding, while taking care that the toddler(s) who would inevitably try to crawl into the fire stayed away, all the while trying to cook up some food for the family - and that granddad was given smelly rags of all sort (greenery ones, of course) to take care of the abscessed leg, which would either kill him or, when desperate measures are called for, the leg would get amputated and then THAT would indeed kill him off.  Heck, woman was probably so overwhelmed by the men that she probably sent out gentle (and not so gentle) hints that it was time for some fresh meat, just for a moment all to her own without high maintainance "hubby" for her sanity.  She knew she couldn't take on hubby's job of killing animals (though how she'd love a few minutes to herself and most likely could have done a better job of it!) but knew that if she weren't in the cave, things would seriously deteriorate, all because she knew that if she weren't in the cave to multi-task, things would go awry, like REALLY AWRY!  Too many people depended upon her and the family wouldn't/couldn't survive more than an hour without her presence.

(Please pretend that there is a transition here!)  Last week, I have to admit that I was feeling a bit depressed, as I am indeed now.  I know that much of this is due to chemical changes due to the huge assaults that my body has sustained.  Whereas before I'd known I'd been most definitely in the sad stage, I'm now precariously on the edge of sadness and depression,  building up to the depression phase.   And the crazy part is that I feel that I have no right to feel sadness or depression since, in so many ways, I've been so much luckier than most.

I know that we should be responsible for one's own happiness, but I was never built that way, and after so many decades of trying to change myself, I know that it's not going to magically appear in me now at my advanced age.  Things will sky-rocket towards Christmas, something I dread with every fiber of my being.  Couldn't we work on getting the house in order, finish the old projects and skip all the expense of Christmas, which has become certainly too commercial and makes everyone crazy?  

If you're a mom who goes all out for Thanksgiving and Christmas, what are some of the strategies you've developed?  I really would love to hear them!

Until next time, I hope everyone is doing the absolutely best they can be, only better.  Ciao and paka!

P.S.: Sorry if I sound loopier than usual.  The back pain is horrendous and I can barely get up without passing out.  How much more can this stuff keep going on?  Next post I hope will be a beauty post, so maybe I'll be able to fulfill the happy, happy, happy!  I know that I really need to lighten up, but it's a bit of a problem when recovering from surgery and feeling worse than before. :)