I need some support please.

I do not post here often, that is my bad because the little time I spend here, I see you guys are great. As the title says, I need some support, or a butt kicking maybe or a combo. (Just please do not kick too hard as I bruise easily). I went to T.O.P.S. a long time ago and someone in the meeting actually said if you can not do a full 30 mins every time you work out or walk or whatever you do, do not bother to do it because it will not do any good. Well, that left a really bad taste in my mouth. I am 5'3 and about 285 pounds. I am in pain alot ( of course) and I can not do anything for 30 mins. I went for a walk today on my lunch, and went a very short distance, about a city block and my back and hips and legs were hurting bad. I am trying to do the right things but days like this make me want to give up. Thank you guys for letting me whine and I appriciate any advice or anything. 

Have you ever been tested for Celiac Disease?  CD is a malabsorptive condition, and up to 40% of people who are diagnosed with CD are overweight (this goes against what the medical community has been taught).

If you do, indeed, have CD (or Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity [NCGS]), the LAST thing that you want to do is have Weight Loss Surgery., as you will be compounding one malabsorptive condition (CD) with another malabsorptive condition (WLS).  If you have CD and you go on a Gluten-Free (GF) diet, you will more than likely find that the pounds start to fall off without you doing anything other than eliminating gluten from your diet.

I know about CD because my youngest daughter was diagnosed with it last April.  Since then, I have been on a GF diet and have dropped from 275 lbs. to 237 lbs. while eating all of the foods that I love.  It is, without a doubt, the EASIEST "diet" that I have ever been on!  The other benefit that I have found - quite unexpectedly - is that ALL of my bloodwork numbers have improved, the arthritis in my knee disappeared within 24 hours of going GF, and I have more energy than I did when I was a teenager.  The reason that all of this wonderful stuff happened is that for the first time in a long time my body was absorbing ALL of the nutrients that I ingested - it's that simple.

For more information, please go to www.celiac.com to find articles, forums, websites, and more things that deal with CD and NCGS.  There is even a section on the forum dedicated to stories of people who have struggled with their weight prior to their diagnosis, just to start losing weight after going GF.  Please, please, please go and get a Celiac Screen Panel done before you go any further down the WLS path - I would hate for you to ruin your health needlessly.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me - I can send you copies of articles that I have run across in the course of my personal research (free of charge - I am doing this for my own education, but I want everyone to know about this!).

Teresa Koch
Fort Worth, Texas 

Thank you Teresa, I have wondered about that before.  I am just curious, is there a reason you thought that, CD may be the case with me?  I will look into it further, thank you again for replying and I will research that. 

Actually, there wasn't anything in your post that made me "think" that you might have CD.  I just know that for our family if it hadn't been for our daughter being diagnosed, we never would have considered the possibility.  As a matter of fact, Rebecca is the only one who "tested" positive on conventional blood tests - and she didn't have ANY symptoms!  I happen to have the skin manifestation of CD, Dermatitis Herpetiformis, but I never would have known what it was had it not been for Rebecca's CD diagnosis.

The reality is that SO many more people are Gluten-Sensitive than have actual CD, but a person has to have a CD screen run first to determine if they do, indeed, have it.  Only 3% of people who have CD actually know that they have it, yet almost 1% of the general population is believed to have it.  That's a LOT of undiagnosed Celiacs!

If you go to www.celiac.com , there is a link there which lists all of the health conditions which are known and suspected to be associated with untreated Celiac Disease.  If you have 2 or more of those conditions, you are more likely to have CD.  Many people have their blood tests come back negative for CD, yet they still have problems, so they try a Gluten-Free diet.  If their symptoms clear up, they can safely assume that they are gluten sensitive.

The best thing about the GF diet is that we have been able to eat ALL of the foods that we love - REAL ranch dressing, baked potatoes with butter, sour cream, and cheese, Snickers bars, ice cream, chicken-fried steak with gravy, etc. - the only difference is that the flours that we use when cooking are gluten free (you can find these in many different stores or online).  We have been eating "full" fat foods (real butter, sour cream, cheese, etc.) and have actually lost weight and seen our bloodwork numbers come down significantly.  My doctor (PCP) was skeptical, but the results don't lie, and now she is looking into the GF lifestyle as "the way to go" for all of her patients!

I don't know where you live, but chances are that you have a Gluten Intolerance Group (GIG) chapter nearby.  They can be a wonderful source of information, and most GIG's offer a Restaurant Guide that tells you what is "safe" at various restaurants.  Now, be aware that if you want to have the same results as we have, you CANNOT eat any gluten whatsoever - there is no such thing as "gluten lite"......

My suggestion would be to request your doctor to run a Celiac Screen for you, and then do a "trial" GF diet.  You will want to do it for at least a couple of weeks, preferably for a month.  Don't be discouraged if your weight "yo-yos", because what will be happening is that your body will be converting fat cells into muscle, and muscle mass weighs more.  The weight loss will be slow, but it will be steady over time.  I have "lost" 5 pounds, then "regained" it over and over due to this process, but the net result has been a 37 pound loss over a period of 10 months.  I would probably have lost more, but I like to drink Cokes, and I don't like to exercise.......

My husband told me that if I DID quit the Cokes and started exercising, I could probably lose weight faster, but I told him that I am "conducting a scientific experiment", and I can only have one variable.  Nobody believes me when I tell them that I am losing weight simply by eliminating gluten, so I am going to see how far this takes me.  So far, so good!  I am confident that I will be able to lose most, if not all, of my excess weight - it may take 3 or 4 years (maybe 5 or 6), but I figure it took me a while to put it on, so I can be patient.

Also, my skin isn't sagging like you see in so many people who lose weight so quickly on WLS.  Since I am eating so much dietary fat, my skin is actually kind of glowing now, and my face is nice and soft.  Plus, some of the complications that I have read about several years after surgery sound EXACTLY like the conditions that are seen in people with untreated CD - it can't be a coincidence that both situations involve malabsorption.  The main difference is that one of them (CD) is very treatable.  Even with a reversal, someone who has had WLS will NEVER get all of their intestinal tract back, so there will always be some form of malabsorption - not something I want to do at all......

Good luck, and please keep me updated!  I am always available to answer questions.  PM me, and I will send you my contact information -

Teresa Koch
Fort Worth, Texas

 That person did not know  what what they were talking about, I once did a program where one of the ladies was teaching on exercise and she said, if all you can do is barely walk, then you need to get out there and BARELY walk! as you continue you WILL begin to stretch your endurance to longer and longer times and and be able to do more, I have found this to be true with myself, certain things I started Like the eliptical machine for example when I first started I could only do like 6 min, then I worked my self up to 35 to 40 min, and it is a breeze for me now! I still break a sweat but it feels good! not like Im not gonna make it! dont throw in the towel, exercize is so very important to your overall health and every little bit helps, just make sure you are doing Something everyday and then when you can push yourself to do just a little bit more do it! glad you posted and came here for the support you need!

take Care!
Michelle 

Thanks for the compliments, jennifer!!! Hey we all need support, in buttkick or huggie format - we try to fill the bill needed!

I am just about to post on my doc visit today - my weight is back UP, I saw a number I did not want to see on that scale. So, when I type advice, i am talking as much to myself as I may be talking to you.

Yeah, if you have scouted around here much, you already know that most of do think exercise is important, but it is only about 80-90% of the equation.  It is good to get as much as you can done most days, then as you drop the weight, add in more.

Exercise tones, conditions, but actual weight loss, unless you can do 1-2 hours a day of heavy sweating, is not that likely. Ever noticed that a half hour on the treadmill burns  = about the caloric value of ONE cookie???? That may be what that TOPS leader was really trying to say...and it  matter to have it in perspective.

Focus on doing what is needed to tweak your food plan! What have you tried?

Girl, any day that you get your muscles in motion is a good day!  Have you ever heard of, if you don't use them, you lose them? 

Start with what you are capable of doing and then work your way up from there.  If you are out of shape, doing what you did today IS the equivalent of thirty minutes!  If you are having problems with your hips and legs, maybe you could try water aerobics.  Our Sherrie does them and they work wonders for her.   

Mary

They were giving you old advise. the newer thinking says you can do 10 minutes of walking 3 times a day and have the same benifits as 30 in one shot. Every time you move, you get your metabolism going a little. It's my hardest thing, too. But there are some really goo excercise folks on this board, so you are in the right place.
Jan

Thank you so much ladies, I need to keep checking in to keep myself accountable. It is just frustrating to want to do the right thing and being told it will not do any good. Thanks again for the words of encouragement and good advice. I have heard more then once tha****er exercise may be good for me because of the pain, I have not done it for two reasons, I am not at all a good swimmer and I feel very self conscious about a bathing suit. It feels good to talk about these things with people who understand.

Thanks again and I hope you are all well!

Jennifer....Hi, I'm Sherrie and 62 years old (270-280 depending on whether it's a good week or not) and have MASSIVE varicose veins.  I also need a knee replacement and therefore can't do anything excep****er aerobics.  I go to the local Y where they have a class for seniors (also lots of other classes for those younger).  I can't begin to tell you how freeing it is to be in tha****er and not have the force of gravity to deal with.  I can jog and do jumping jacks and cross country ski moves and MOVE and have fun.  I wear a bathing suit with a pair of swim shorts over it (to cover the worst part of the top of my legs).  You could also wear a tee shirt.  You see many different combos....ALL SIZES (I'm not the largest) and people from all walks of life.  You do not need to know how to swim at all....you are never in water deeper than chest height...and can even be less than that if you wish.  One guy in my class (about my age) has lost 125lb in two years with just the water aerobics and "staying away from buffets" (his language).  I chart my food on Daily Plate and they state that  an hour of water aerobics burns 500 calories.

Jennifer....give it a try.  You will feel so good about yourself.  I love it once I get there...it's just making that first step that's hard.....showing up that first time.  I've made good friends and we have such fun.  Please ask any other questions that you may have.....Sherrie