Hold On--Weight!!!

Hello, Upsiders!

First things first: I told myself I'd post every Monday, but college has got me swamped (okay, yes, I did just waste an hour practicing writing with my non-dominant hand, but let's not talk about that). I'll really try to post once a week for now, and when things start to even out I'll probably post on Mondays, or Sunday nights--but for now, I'm sorry, I have no way of knowing when I'll get a good chunk of time for writing.

In this post, I want to address something that affects a lot of people--whether you have CD or UC or not--and that is losing and gaining weight. Losing or gaining weight is all fine and dandy if that's what you want to do, but it's 100% awful if you have no control over it. I guess sometimes it's nice to lose a pound or two during the day (or gain a pound or two if it means you ate some really good food), but I want to focus on the weight that we're not planning for. I hope there are people out there that can relate when I say that UC (or Crohn's) is wrecking my body and, consequently, the way I feel about it.

Let's get personal for a moment: I've had body-image issues for awhile. Up until very recently, I've had lots of issues with my weight. Some days, I'd feel good about myself (hey, I like eating--nothing wrong with that!) and some days, I'd pinch and poke my tummy and wish I could just take some scissors and snip it all off (horrible). Finally, I came to terms with my weight--if I really had a problem, I would've done something about it by now. I was happy and I could eat what I wanted whenever I was hungry, and I didn't feel bad about it because it was my choice to eat.

So, happy ending, right? WRONG--enter ulcerative colitis, stage right.

At the beginning of this whole debacle, I weighed 198 lbs. I'm 6'2, so just imagine a tall gal that looks a little lumpy but otherwise average weight. Could stand to lose a few pounds. Whatever.

After a couple weeks, I was 185 lbs.

Then 170 lbs.

Then back up to 185 lbs.

I stayed there for the past couple of months, but now I'm on Prednisone and gaining weight like a growing golden retriever puppy. It sucks. My face has always been round as a soccer ball, but it feels weird and spongy now--even touching my cheeks makes me want to die of embarrassment. I feel like a balloon.

So, that's what I want to talk about.

If you're having the same issues I am (I hope someone is, otherwise this whole post is a waste!), I hope you can find help in my tips. If none of this applies to you, or if you don't find any help in my advice, let me know! Tell me your advice in the comments because God knows I need advice, too!

Pick a mind-numbing hobby. We're all familiar with Medication Munchies--and we can't just stop taking our medications--so how can we avoid snacking all day? My advice--find a hobby. It doesn't have to be good. It doesn't even necessarily have to be fun. It only has to be something to occupy your mind and, preferably, your hands. Maybe take up finger-knitting or, even easier, just tie a bunch of knots in a string. It could literally be anything (remember how I said I'd wasted an hour writing with my non-dominant hand? That's the kind of easy, mind-numbing hobby I'm talking about). If your hands are busy, you won't have any time to eat! **Disclaimer: I'm not saying you shouldn't eat. You have to eat. Obviously. From what I've read (but I haven't read everything), it's best to eat lots of small meals during the day, so use your mind-numbing hobby in between those small meals, to avoid snacking and overeating. In my case, Prednisone makes it a lot easier to gain weight (between being constantly hungry and water retention, who wouldn't gain weight?), so the best thing for me is to avoid mindless snacking. Maybe it's different for you, and it's definitely not my place to tell you what to eat or when to eat--everyone is different!

Low-sodium is Good-sodium. This is probably good advice for anyone, but especially for you Prednisonies out there. If you've looked into the recommended Prednisone diet, you'll see that (as far as I can tell) everyone agrees that low-sodium is the way to go if you don't want to gain weight. Now, I don't know about you, but I love salt. I knew from the beginning this "low-sodium" thing was going to be hard. But I'm determined. Somewhere on the internet, I read that it's "easier to control your diet than to lose the weight once it's there," or something like that, and I definitely agree with that. Keeping track of nutrition facts and the amounts of calories, sodium, potassium, etc. you eat is difficult, but--personally--it's much better than gaining the weight and then feeling bad about myself. **Another disclaimer: It's not bad to gain weight. Gaining weight is good if that's what you want to do, but I'd rather gain weight on my own terms than on my medication's. All the good food I love can wait until I'm done with Prednisone, then I'll eat and gain whatever weight I want. On my own terms.

I'm off track--what was I saying? Oh, yeah, low-sodium. My advice is to do a butt-load of research into the foods you typically eat. I know that real adults or people that live with real adults (also called parents) can usually spend time planning and cooking their meals, and that makes it a lot easier to plan for a low-sodium diet. It does, admittedly, get a little harder when your options are limited, due to money or where you live (re: college (re: gross)). It took me a very long week to figure out which cafeteria foods are the lowest in sodium, and what combinations of foods I can eat to end up with a good-but-low amount of sodium at the end of the day. It's still difficult to plan out my meals, and sometimes I have to do some impromptu Googling to find out that yes, I can have applesauce, or no, I can't have those salty crackers (that one should've been obvious), but I'm getting better. All I have to say is do your research, keep a food journal, and don't get discouraged. Well, you can get discouraged for a moment (we all do), but then keep going! And don't forget that you need other things too, like potassium and protein. Here is a link to a page about the recommended Prednisone diet (basically "less sodium, more potassium"), so feel free to have a look around: ( https://www.ucsfhealth.org/education/ild_nutrition_manual/prednisone_and_weight_gain/ ).

Contour, Baby. It doesn't even have to be strong, makeup-artist contour. I am--at best--mediocre at applying makeup, and a beginner at contouring, but it makes a huge difference. Maybe it's some sort of placebo affect, but either way--I feel more confident. My face is pale and moon-face-y, so contouring is one step I take towards looking like a human and not a ball of uncooked dough. I honestly know nothing about where exactly you should contour, so here's a link to a Cosmo article about it: ( http://www.cosmopolitan.com/style-beauty/beauty/how-to/a43730/face-shape-contour-map/ ). Also, don't worry about getting pricey makeup! I use cheap makeup--along with most of the population--and it's fine. If you want to spend some more, go to Sephora and ask them about contouring and all that jazz. I'm sure they can find something expensive somewhere (that's a joke because everything is expensive). If you're a man--you can contour, too! You can go with makeup-artist intensity, or something more natural-looking. Here's a link to an article about contouring "for men" (I say it in quotations because it's literally the same as regular contouring, just on a guy's face) ( http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3309048/Beauty-blogger-helps-men-transform-faces-contouring-like-Kim-Kardashian.html ). I prefer natural-looking on myself, but it's up to you!

Okay, Upsiders, this ended up being a really long post--and I didn't even get to say everything I think about Prednisone and weight gain! I also have lots and lots to say about foods to eat, but I'll save that for another day--okay, I can't help it. A small flour tortilla with some peanut butter and honey is a really good, mostly low-sodium snack (depends how much peanut butter you use, honestly). But that's all you get for now!

xx

Three Cups of Tips

Hello, Upsiders! I really hope you're looking for some posts on living with UC (good ol' ulcerative colitis), or Crohn's Disease (CD), or else you might find yourself in the land of TMI pretty soon. If you're not here for either of those topics, I do have a lot to say about many other things--if you stick around, you might hear all of my irrelevant views on whatever's happening around me! Good. Ready?

Well. Before we get into anything, I'm probably supposed to say that I'm not a doctor in any way. I don't ever plan on giving any actual medical advice ever (and really, what advice do I have--I've had UC for over three years and couldn't figure it out, I am very clearly not a doctor). If at some point I say some medication or food works for my UC, that does not mean it will or won't work for you. It's frustrating and stressful. It sucks. I wish there was one medication for all of us, but alas--we are clearly not the lucky ones.

So, the quick version: I was officially diagnosed with UC on Feb. 14, 2017 (happy V-day, amiright?). As of posting this, I know it's only been a little more than a month since I was diagnosed, but I've already run into about a hundred problems and try as I might, I can't find any real tips on figuring out a life with UC. (Here's where I clarify that I don't have Crohn's, but most of the websites I've visited have the two connected, so I really hope my thoughts can help you guys and gals, too). I'm sure we've all tried joining the internet groups or the forums about Crohn's and colitis, but my short time looking into those made me feel like I'd missed the train by about ten years. Every thread seemed to be filled with replies from '06/'07 and I know for a fact that there are tons of people diagnosed with colitis or Crohn's daily, but where are they? 

Probably stuck reading the slideshow articles about Crohn's or UC. You and I both know those slideshows aren't necessarily wrong--getting enough sleep, exercising, and having a good support system are all important for living with CD or UC, or literally just living, but they get mega-repetitive really quickly. When I look up "tips on living with Ulcerative Colitis," I want to know the nitty-gritty shortcuts (lifehacks, if you prefer). I want to know the weird things people come up with when they're forced to change their living habits because of UC or CD.

Now, I'm sure there are a lot of you lucky ducks that either haven't had a flare-up in awhile, or you only get them once in a while (I repeat: lucky ducks), so maybe the symptoms don't affect your life so much. I do appreciate that the symptoms still suck, whether they hang around for a week or longer. For those people, I suggest you hang on tight and hope for a short ride, but for those that have, hypothetically, a three-month flare with no end in sight, it's hard to not come up with ways of cutting corners (or maybe I'm just inventively lazy). 

After all that writing, I guess it's sort of a let-down to admit that I've only come up with a few ideas for living with UC, but this is only the beginning! And, next post won't be so annoyingly long-winded. I swear.

Here's my thoughts on living with a bad case of the "Flare-sies" so far:

Get a TV tray for your bathroom. I know it's weird/gross to consider at first, but think about it. We all know that trips to the bathroom can take anywhere from twenty seconds ("I thought I had to go but I guess not!!") or like, twenty minutes (okay, no one should spend twenty minutes on the toilet, but sometimes that's what it feels like), and maybe, like me, sometimes you run a little late and can't afford not to multitask while you're in the bathroom. Therefore, TV tray. Personally, I use it for doing my makeup when I'm in a hurry. It's not weird. 

Stop trying to convince yourself you can eat That Food. If you're like me, you need to hear this. And, if you're like me, you probably ate a food today that you suspect might be causing some problems, as much as you don't want to admit it. We all have foods that we like, but unfortunately those foods don't always like us back. I love food. All of it. I love eating it. I had a breakdown when prepping for my colonoscopy because I couldn't eat anything. Not even because I was hungry, I just wanted to eat. And then to go through all of that, just to be told I couldn't eat some of the things I like to eat? I think we all go through a little bit of denial--or at least a tiny feeling of But I've Eaten _____ Before, And I Was Just Fine! But now you're not "just fine," and you have to accept that some foods are gonna do you dirty that never did you dirty before. Maybe at some point you'll be able to eat those beans again, but definitely not during a flare! If it makes you feel worse, stop eating it (this might sound like an obvious idea, but I think I subconsciously wrote this for myself (stop eating Flamin' Hot Cheetos!!))

Find someone to talk to--even if it's a dumb blog. I know the "having a good support system" tip is overused, so I've decided to rewrite it. A good support system is, well, good, but it's not always realistic. Let's be honest, the topic of what you do in the bathroom is generally seen as gross (at least in American culture). The most progressive, ground-breaking idea we have about bodily functions is that Everybody Poops. Really. And while everyone else can live happily in a Febreze-scented world where everybody might poop but we don't know for sure, we don't really have a choice, which means your best bet at a support system would be other people with CD/UC that are familiar with what you're going through, or, even better, shouting into the blog-void with the confidence of an old army general that's brought all his/her troops back from the battlefield (or, uh, the bathroom). It's probably a good idea to try to find other people to talk to, but sometimes you just need yourself and a little time to write it all down. 

There will always be more to write on the topic of "My Life Was Just Fine Without It, Thank You," (also known as UC or Crohn's, or literally any other disease or condition), but that's where I'll end it for now. 

xx