getting a bit chubby......

[lawson8879]

Hi all - how is everyone....

Well the ONLY good thing about this thing was the I lost 1 stone in hospital which was amazing.

However, I now LOVE chocolate whereas before my bleed i was not bothered, and boy do I need the chocolate.

It is as if my body needs loads of sugary treats......and apples!!!!

I have put on 6 pounds already with lack of exercise, but am so bored all day I literally cannot stop.

Any snack ideas to give you a boost without my bottom getting even bigger???!!!!

[Gill C]

I've put on lots of weight since my op & have just recently joined a weight loss programme. They have given me a list of 100cal snacks so I'll tell you some of those (you're allowed 2 a day)

2 small pieces of fruit (apple. orange, )

banana

12 grapes

5 tomatoes

unlimited cucumber, pepper, carrots celery or cherry tomatoes

1 choc digestive or hobnob

2 bourbon creams or ginger nus

2 finger kit kat

1 bite sized brownie

1 mini dairy milk bar

5 jelly babies

1/4 tin rice pudding

1 pot yoghurt

1 pot choc mousse (small)

2 ryvita or rice cakes topped with low fat cheese spread

2 oatcakes

5 breadsticks

1 small pack low cal crisps

8 pringles

22g mixed dried fruit & nuts

22g sweet popcorn

1 slice toast with marmite (no spread)

100g cottage cheese

2 mini babybel light

I do love my choc too & I've managed not to eat any this week. If I do buy a bar I eat it over a week, one strip a day isn't too bad & you have to have some treats. You could try having prepped carrot sticks etc in the fridge to munch on & have a low cal hot choc drink if the craving gets too bad

Good luck hon, its not easy for sure

[Winb143]

I have put weight on since SAH, I have been on 2 diets in a week but the chocolate is so lovely. ahhhh scream

Buy dark choc and just have a square a day, wean yourself off lol

I had a craving for choc also.

I saw a tall man when I was in cuckoo land or coma and he said you have been good so treat yourself and he had a large tray of sweets which I could not reach so he threw them and as I turned to get a chocolate I saw my husband

and daughter and I felt so sad I went to them. Dream? I am not sure.

Keep trying to diet I am on one lost 6lb plus but not walking very far doesn't help.

Be Well

WinB143 x

[sarahk67]

Hi there,

I was exactly the same, lost a load of weight in hospital and then couldn't stop eating chocolate when I finally came home - and still can't!!

Mind you, I had an enourmous sweet tooth before the SAH, but now I'd be eating it morning, noon and night if I didn't reign myself in. Don't worry about the weight gain, I think it happens to us all and down to the enforced inactivity of the situation we find ourselves in and not through choice.

I did start to do abit of stretching a couple of months in (on the floor where I knew I was safe) and moved on to a pilates DVD, a very gentle one I hasten to add, to get my legs moving abit. I also have a dog, so built up my walking day by day (much to her relief as she was starting to resemble me, aka a beach ball with legs!)

Now I've started back at work for a few hours each week and that's helped shift a few pounds as well, but like I say, it's been a totally gradual thing. I look at it as I put that weight on (about a stone) over a course of six months so it will take about the same to get off. I think we've all been through enough without adding a strict dieting regime into the pot.

I felt the time was right for me to start moving, but if not sure, then best to check with your doctor first. But like I said, be kind to yourself and do what suits you- we're all in the same boat and I take it as a sign that we must be starting to feel better if we're getting worried about what we look like again!!

Sarahk x

[Louise]

I was the opposite I used to love chocolate now since the SAH don't have a sweet tooth, yeh I know good for me but doesn't mean to say I don't put weight on some days I'm not in the mood for walking but what a good list that is from Gill.

My cousin is doing the Herbal life she's lost pounds...

[Susan McGoldrick-Meerdink]

I thought it was just me! I lost lots of weight in the hospital but since I've been home alone gained it all back and then some!!! I find I just can't stop eating. It doesn't matter what it is...... but I just try to put stuff in my mouth. I think I eat more when I have a headache and am tired.... which now is all the time!!! LOL!!!!!!

[Jules]

Me too I've put on nearly a stone

I like your dream Win - I have definitely developed a sweet tooth.

[iola]

I have always had a sweet tooth and when I came home I did not want a thing to do with sweets. Not the case now. I have found my sweet tooth. I always like something sweet after I eat. If I restrict myself I just eat more in the end.

Boy, I wish I had nice dreams like Win.

Iola

[MaryB]

Must respond! After looking up what a "stone" equals to a pound in the US I am feeling a bit like a smarty pants today! I had gained so much weight the past several years that I was even fibbing about how much I lost so I could skip the fact that the scale read that amount!

I have worked really hard on my weight and I have lost nearly 2 stones? Augh, that maths and conversion thing! Or 24 pounds or my denial that I was not that heavy I still say 15 pounds! I still have plenty to lose. But I truly basically eat the same stuff every day. Breakfast is steal oats, hemp milk, cranberries and nuts or a no salt, no sugar peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat bread. I just do not give myself many choices.

Not to have choices is great for me as I hate to make any decision at all! Plus I stopped my acid reflux meds and now I cannot eat any fried food without paying for it dearly!

I only eat chocolate at work as I do not buy any junk food at home. But at work I can down a bag of candy like it is a race.

Maryb

[Louise]

Sometime the eating like that Susan is the brain, only have good things in the house that way there's no temptations..

[hwyaden]

We love graze boxes in our house - they're my weekly treat and healthy to boot. I love the list of goodies above - i'm going to print that off and keep it in the kitchen!!!

[MaryB]

I find for myself and from what I have read if I do equal amounts protein and sweets ( fruits) I am ok. But I am amazed that a 1/4 of a sandwich of my almond or natural peanut butter does satify my sweet tooth and hunger.

[Teechur]

Maybe the high sugar cravings post SAH is that it's the brain's fuel is glucose and when it is healing it requires more. When I first got out I seriously wanted to mainline sugar. I don't know if you have Peeps in the UK but they are sugar covered marshmallow or in other words, sugar covered sugar. I wanted to INHALE those things following my SAH.

In addition, I went on a medication for my headaches that caused me to gain 9 pounds in one week. The only good part was that prior to that I was on a medication that made me not want to eat (Topamax) and I had lost 7 pounds so I was at a good weight. Unfortunately I gained another 4 pounds. I'm down about 4 of those 11 pounds, but still can't seem to get the others to budge, and I do watch what I eat very closely. I journal my food and exercise almost daily (unless the headache makes it impossible, so a few days a week I may not be able to).

So I feel your pain in the gain department. A few pounds up (I want to be 125, I'm 132) may not seem like a lot, but I'm a personal trainer and weight loss coach and it's a little embarrassing not to be able to get those last 7 pounds off. However, it's all medication. I'm still on a lower dose of the amitryptiline and it just hates me. I wish I knew what was making it do that.