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
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