| Forum | Topic | Date | Replies |
 |
|
|
|
| Fitness | pain in my abdomen | May 07 2008 20:47 (UTC) |
|
| *waves hand* Hi, I've had 7 abdominal surgeries, and two were c-sections. From your description, you may have developed adhesions (scar tissue) from doing too much, too soon. I completely agree with Amethystgirl, please go see your doctor. Getting back into shape comes after you are fully healed from your c-section. That is major surgery you've had, plus you also had a baby. So there's a double-whammy for your body right there. When you are fully cleared to resume exercising, you need to find a good place to work out that will help you with modifications until your abdominals get stronger. I'm really happy to say that after taking the time to fully heal AND taking the time to let my muscles get back into shape slowly and safely, my abs are much stronger than they ever were before. You can do this too. |
|||
| Fitness | advise on yoga for beginners | Mar 11 2008 13:36 (UTC) |
3 |
| You might also consider adding Pilates to your work out routine. You'll work your core (abs) a lot, as well as your arms and legs. I do both yoga and Pilates and also free weights (not every day of course)--I really like shaking up my work out and using my muscles in the different ways each program offers. |
|||
| Health & Support | Did you know that anorexia is not a disease? | Mar 11 2008 13:34 (UTC) |
3 |
| I think of appetite as a desire for a certain kind of food or taste or texture while hunger is my body's signal that I need fuel. So I might have an appetite for chocolate but I'm not really hungry. I just want that taste. |
|||
| Health & Support | Post-Op? What now? | Mar 01 2008 17:34 (UTC) |
2 |
| Yes do ask your doctor. Chances are excellent she will say walking is fine, but you really do not want to run the risk of complications by doing more than you should sooner than you should. Think of it this way--say you can't exercise for four weeks. But you do anyway and perhaps tear open your incision. Now you are looking a much longer exercise restriction. I know from personal experience that those restrictions really do matter. |
|||
| Motivation | Good habits that helped in the long run? | Feb 26 2008 14:13 (UTC) |
3 |
| I like to chew my calories and I find I stick with my eating plan best when I don't drink my calories. So that means I don't drink beverages that have calories because that's not going to satisfy my desire to EAT. So I have carrots on hand always, also apples--anything that's crunchy/chewy and not calorie dense works for me. When I do choose to have a drink that has calories it's because it brings me pleasure and adds to my meal enjoyment--generally that will be a glass or two of red wine. And I make sure I have the room in my calorie budget. Also I will echo the hot drink idea. I don't drink hot tea very often, instead I drink hot water all day long. I stay well hydrated, I am not taking in more caffeine than I need and it's got zero calories :-) I call that win/win. |
|||
| Fitness | OMG! NO AB WORKOUT for awhile!! | Feb 20 2008 19:43 (UTC) |
2 |
| Heheh cool re the caps lock, it was very distracting. And yes I know you have a great chance of 100% recovery--but I was serious about following any restrictions your doctor gives you post-op. I did not follow those restrictions which contributed to my incisional hernia in my lower left quadrant (having six major abdominal surgeries did not help either). What does your doctor say about walking? Swimming? Things like that which don't directly stress your abs? |
|||
| Fitness | OMG! NO AB WORKOUT for awhile!! | Feb 20 2008 16:39 (UTC) |
4 |
| I had an incisional hernia from multiple surgeries. I got it repaired, and followed my doctor's exercise restrictions to the letter (I did NOT want another hernia).
I'm fully recovered and my abs are great. BTW next time, take the caps lock off please. |
|||
| Health & Support | Post-ED weight loss - any success stories?? | Feb 20 2008 13:56 (UTC) |
1 |
| Yes I did it. I am in recovery for anorexia and had put on probably 10 to 15 unwanted and unneeded pounds. I don't know the precise amounts because weighing myself is a huge trigger. How I did it was with fear and trembling! I did NOT want to go down the anorexia path again but really did want to be at a healthier weight plus I'd gotten out of shape. Initially I cut back on portions and added in semi-regular exercise. That was working for me, but my husband had also gained weight and I was looking for any tool I could find to motivate him and help him with his own weight issues. He'd previously lost weight using a calorie counting site (FitDay I believe) but didn't like a lot of their features etc. In July I found this site and starting messing around with counting my calories. I was VERY nervous that the calorie counting would be a trigger but it's not. The scale still is, so I couldn't tell you what I weigh, I just know I've dropped clothing sizes and my doctor is fine with where my weight is. I also really got serious with the exercise. I work out six days a week, alternating some form of aerobic exericse (running is my preference but we've had a very cold and icy winter), plus either weights or power yoga. I can see muscle definition that I never had before, not at my worst/lowest ED weight. The biggest difference for me is that food is not my enemy and neither is my body. In fact, I wish I'd figured this out years ago--that I could be this size and so healthy. |
|||
| Motivation | Trouble with the 20 minute rule | Feb 15 2008 17:08 (UTC) |
16 |
| How about a nice big glass of water before you eat? And maybe afterwards too? I can't recall where I read this, but apparently our tummies want a certain amount of VOLUME and don't care about the calorie counts of that volume. So fill up with calorie-free water! |
|||
| Health & Support | Energy levels and depression | Feb 12 2008 18:16 (UTC) |
4 |
| I reported a post violation for post #5. Cold, depression is hard. Since you just started refeeding, its no wonder you are struggling. That's a lot of change. Do you have a counselor you can talk to? How about your parents? |
|||
| Fitness | week 5 in Couch to 5k seems too hard | Feb 11 2008 12:27 (UTC) |
7 |
| Don't even worry about week five until you get there. Seriously the best thing about C25k IMO is that it really gets you to the end point, and does so flexibly. I repeated days within specific weeks myself until I felt ready and able to move ahead. The plan itself tells you to repeat if you need to--this isn't a competition with anyone but yourself and your preconceived notions of what you can do. |
|||
| Health & Support | annoyed with threads | Feb 08 2008 15:48 (UTC) |
5 |
| How can someone with 100 pounds to lose be annoyed at someone else asking for posts that center around healthy eating habits, healthy ways to drop weight, and healthy ways to maintain that weight loss? When people post about master cleansing diets or weird combinations of food or (my personal pet peeve) diet pills, how does that help your 100+ pound to lose person? Bottom line is we all need to focus on HEALTHY ways to maintain/gain/lose the weight. |
|||
| Health & Support | anorexic friend hasn't eaten in 74 hours!!! ADVICE???? | Feb 07 2008 14:24 (UTC) |
8 |
| I want to add on to Joanne's post. Don't feed the monster--don't get all worried and anxious to your friend because in a sense that is giving the ED positive attention. IMO--and this is my opinion only--you do more good if you can say "I love you, and I won't watch you self-destruct because I cannot participate in that kind of behavior." |
|||
| Fitness | Just started exercising and don't feel too well ... is this normal ? | Feb 06 2008 17:48 (UTC) |
6 |
| How about sticking with the walking until you are in a little bit better shape and have lost just a bit more weight? You may be really stressing your joints and overdoing it at this point. Far better to go slowly and stick with your lifestyle changes than rush in doing too much, and then quitting because you feel sick and nauseous. Congrats on the progress you've made already, esp since you have had knee and bone issues! |
|||
| Weight Loss | 25BMI? No Thanks. I am Happy at 26! | Feb 06 2008 14:29 (UTC) |
5 |
| That's cool you are basically happy where you are--but consider checking with your doctor to see if where you are is also where she/he would put you for your health. I never trust how I feel about my body, emotions are strange things :-) So I trust my doctor. |
|||
| Fitness | Do you judge people exercising? | Feb 06 2008 14:22 (UTC) |
52 |
| I'm so tickled to see visibly unfit or heavy people working on getting healthy that if I didn't think they'd be offended, I would cheer them on. I know starting a fitness program can be daunting. Instead of thinking the rest of us are judging you, consider that maybe we are really glad to see you taking that step toward better health. |
|||
| Health & Support | Question for women who have recovered from an eating disorder | Feb 03 2008 15:56 (UTC) |
7 |
| Hi Tahitisweetie123,
I am in recovery also and have been for over 10 years. I am not terrified my eating disorder will return, but that's because I have done a lot of work to identify my triggers, and just as important I did the work to figure out why I developed an eating disorder in the first place. I partially agree with Joanne that eating disorders are choices. Where I differ from her is that I don't think they are choices until we have realized/acknowledged what's going on. I know for me, I didn't even realize that by restricting my food or by playing the weight game with the scale and the doctor that I was allowing my eating disorder to control everything I did. Plus in my case, my mother contributed mightly to the whole development of my ED. There's another thread around here where the OP asked when we first started being body/diet aware. Well I can remember sitting in the bathtub at four years of age (yes, just four years old) and my mother telling me "You don't want to get fat, Elizabeth!" So I grew up with a mother who had a very disordered relationship with food--I think even if the other contributing factors had not existed, I would still have struggled because of the abnormal food/body image environment I grew up in. However--all that to say that once I did acknowledge I was restricting, once I did drop down so far I had to buy pre-teen clothing as an adult (and couldn't rationalize that away), then I had to also take full accountability for what I'd done and was doing with regard to food. Today, I pay attention when I start to feel fat. My feelings about my body often are NOT rooted in reality but are a symptom that something is amiss elsewhere in my life--food and body stuff just happen to be what I can and will get obsessively controlling about. So when I feel fat (and still fit in my clothes) then I have the chance to figure out what's going on elsehwere. As far as time lost--well it wasn't really lost. I just chose to spend a lot of emotional energy on something very destructive. I made and continue to make amends to those I hurt either by worry or by setting such a self destructive example. I refuse to wallow in regrets though, that's just letting ED have power over me again. OK book is done. |
|||
| Health & Support | Girls recovering from EDs... how often do you weigh? | Feb 03 2008 01:46 (UTC) |
2 |
| Joanne, are you me? That is EXACTLY what I did, and when I've tried to tell people that, I know they think I'm a little odd.
I'm competitive, and seeing the number just set up that cycle of knowing I could (and would) weigh less next time. No scale in my house! |
|||
| Health & Support | Girls recovering from EDs... how often do you weigh? | Feb 02 2008 18:11 (UTC) |
7 |
| I never weigh myself.
My doctor weighs me when I see him. Knowing my weight is a trigger for me. |
|||
| Health & Support | Recovered people! | Jan 31 2008 14:54 (UTC) |
2 |
| Hi Little butterfly== First, let me say good job on reaching out for help here. I hope you are also reaching out for help with your friends and family, since we can only offer so much, eh? I do not call myself recovered because I don't think we ever truly elinimate EDs from our lives--I see it as a journey, something I must stand guard against and be aware of as I move through life. So even though I've been healthy for over 10 years, I will not say I used to have anorexia, I will say I am in remission and doing well. Let me tell you some of what I've gained in life: Body awareness. I used to be so disconnected from my body, almost disassociated, like it was this thing I carried around with me. Between the work I did in recovery and things like yoga and Pilates, I am very in tune and enjoy my body now. Energy. Wow this one is huge. I didn't realize how much mental energy ED took; certainly we all know that we get drained physically when ED is in full force, but the mental drain is huge too. Belief in myself. After going through the recovery process (during which time my husband divorced me for unrelated matters), I realized I wasn't stupid. So I finished my BA with a 3.75 average, and completed a masters with a 4.0 average. Not too bad! Healthy relationships with friends and family. Now that I have energy to share, I am free to be myself. My relationship with my sons is at a really good place, and I'm very happily married. One of the best things I did while in therapy was to figure out what my triggers were. It's not always possible to avoid them, at least not if you live in the real world, eh? So along with figuring out what they were, I also needed to develop strategies for when/if I found myself in situations where I couldn't just step away. For example, God love my mother but she certainly adds to some of my triggers with her own unhealthy relationship with her body. My whole life she would want to know what I weighed and when I was younger would essentially force me on the scale to find out. Well if you'fe read any of my posts, you know that for whatever reason knowing my weight is a HUGE trigger for me because I will make it my mission to weigh less. Nowadays when my mother asks (and yes, she still does even though I'm almost 48 years old and SHE is 70!), I just smile and tell her I have no idea. Lately she's told me I'm too thin--and I handle that by telling her (truthfully) that my doctor is fine with my weight and that he would tell me if I needed to gain. While recovery does take work, and IMO it doesn't ever truly end, I do want to say that it does get EASIER. You develop the good, healthy habits and pretty soon you won't have to fake feeling good or enjoying eating your calorie allotment, you really will. <<HUGS>> I know other will chime in here too--and sorry for the book. This is something I feel passionately about. |
|||
| Fitness | holding in my stomach while i walk? | Jan 31 2008 02:46 (UTC) |
|
| A really good Pilates teacher I knew suggested two activities to do in your normal life: First, any time you are driving and you come to a stop sign or a red light, tack your belly button to your spine and puff your breath out (like HA HA HA but no voice). Second, when you are walking for exercise, tack your belly button to your spine every time you exhale. Those are two small things you can do that will help encourage abdominal toning. |
|||
| Health & Support | Endoscopy/colonoscopy | Jan 30 2008 16:06 (UTC) |
|
| I think yearly pap exams > prostate exams . . . plus we get the other <ahem> orifice checked too! | |||
| Health & Support | NOTHING as liberating as going out for burgers again | Jan 30 2008 15:28 (UTC) |
5 |
| I got a little teary-eyed reading your post. Isn't it amazing what small thing can help break ED's hold? BTW love your naming it ED, I'm gonna shamelessly steal that from you if you don't mind. One of the small things that happened to me to help break ED's hold on me was when I was in the hospital and an internist who'd been called in to consult about my care gave me a look and said "Do NOT lose any more weight." I don't know why that helped but it did. No one else had ever been so direct with me, there was much pleading and wailing and gnashing of teeth but no one had ever just said STOP IT. I wasn't entirely done with ED at that point but it did mark a turning point for me. |
|||
| Health & Support | What to do when you've lost your period... and *don't* want it back? | Jan 30 2008 00:59 (UTC) |
1 |
| To all of you posting that you have to take hormones after a hysterectomy--NOT true. Yes, many women do. Lots do not. It's a personal choice. Or you can have JUST the uterus removed, leaving at least one ovary in there and you have no need for HRT. |
|||
| Weight Loss | What is the healthiest thing i can get from IHOP? | Jan 30 2008 00:44 (UTC) |
8 |
| Bet you can order oatmeal. | |||
| Motivation | Mother in laws comments not helpful | Jan 29 2008 22:38 (UTC) |
2 |
| OR you could be even more polite about it and say "I appreciate your concern--rest assured my doctor is pleased with where I'm going with my weight." For every one of you who immediately jumps on the jealosy bandwagon -- just think for a second. It seems FAR more likely to me that the MIL is attempting (in a misguided less than polite way) to express her opinion and her concern. So maybe instead of ratcheting up the tension with the MIL, assume GOOD motives and respond pleasantly. You might really be surprised at the response you get. For my part, it's my mom who says the "oh you are too thin" line over and over again. And since I have a history of anorexia, she tries to play that card as well. So believe me, I practice what I'm preaching here. I know my mom loves me (although I do think in my case my MIL loves me more :-)), and she is expressing her concern in the only way she knows how--sort of nagging and judgmental but still concern. Fortunately my doctor is very pleased with where I am and I just tell here that--no worries, Mom, my doctor is happy with my weight and I'm definitely eating. |
|||
| Health & Support | Spotting on the Pill.. Responses please.. I am freaking out. (girls only please!) | Jan 29 2008 17:37 (UTC) |
16 |
| I always had break through bleeding on the pill and ended up being on some freakishly strong dose and STILL had break through bleeding. I'll echo other posters and say give your doctor a call--she can answer your questions better than we can, plus you can find out if anything is actually wrong. |
|||
| Motivation | This isn't working!!! | Jan 29 2008 17:20 (UTC) |
11 |
| Well then (since you are measuring, and btw good for you!), keep in mind you didn't gain the weight in two weeks. So yeah it may take a while for your body to get with the program. Stay faithful though--you've started a life long journey of much healthier eating. One positive side effect is losing weight, and there are others, too. |
|||
| Health & Support | Endoscopy/colonoscopy | Jan 29 2008 17:04 (UTC) |
4 |
| Oh Berrywrap, you have my complete sympathy. After just the one prep (Miralax not GoLightly), I was so sick of Gaterade that I know I won't be able to drink it again until I have to have another one. And here's a slight tangent of a vent--when will more comfortable mammograms be developed? You can bet your bottom dollar that if men had to have their testicles flattened between two heavy sheets of plate glass a new method would be developed . . . |
|||
| Fitness | Quiet Exercise | Jan 29 2008 17:03 (UTC) |
5 |
| I'll be trying to figure this out too, as we leave a house in Kansas City and move to an apartment in Boston. I'm really not sure what to do--I prefer to run outside but obviously Boston has pretty nasty winters and that's not always or even often going to be possible. Joining a gym takes a lot of money, and to be honest there's part of me that says well it's MY home too. I don't want to be an inconsiderate neighbor but I'm also not willing to give up my current fitness level. So yeah, I'll be watching this thread too. |
|||
Join Calorie Count - it's easy and free!
Advertisement
Advertisement
Recent Activity
 |
jfresh444 added kankan213 as a friend |
 |
New forum message Zumba by jensensweighin 02:53 |
 |
New journal post Saturday night blues by avantslot 02:51 |