<p>Barnardmom- Welcome, we all feel your pain.</p>
<p>Have you had your thyroid checked?
I am assuming with Crohns you are pretty well monitored by the doc. How many calories are you consuming daily? If I was in your position, I think I would see a nutritionist. I think we have discussed on this thread or maybe it was the other one, that maybe you are not eating enough calories and your body is in " starvation " mode,</p>
<p>I eat ton of fruits every day. I do not know if it is too much, but fruits are my primary food, the other types are far less with protein types being the smallest intake of them all, I do not care much about meat (I do have it, not frequently), I love fish, but averall I most likely barely make the protein requirement or I might not even make it.<br>
I notice that 100 calories from the piece of bread are not the same as 100 calories from the fruit. So, I stopped paying attention to how much fruit I consume.<br>
2016Barn, the only suggestion I have is swimming. Swim and you will lose. It affect me more than other exercices. Another suggestion is NOT paying attention t being hungry, you will get used to it, it is just training your brain, it needs to be trained like other parts of our body. While other parts might be impossible to train to certain condition (not everybody can look like bodybuilder without drugs), brain seem to be much more sensitive to your own wishes. Being busy really helps me. If you type, write, saw, swim, walk, push up, do garden work, clean the house, YOU CANNOT EAT at the same time. This is the key. Do not sit down, get very busy.</p>
<p>2016, wow you have worked VERY hard to get where you are! You have done so many right things and it must be frustrating to get beyond the point you are at now.</p>
<p>Suggestions:
Log your foods on the Livestrong site and look carefully at the MyPlate application. Have you done this before? Looking at the exact composition you are eating (input of calories, sodium, etc.) vs. the exercise (output) can be very eye opening.
[MyPlate</a> - Food Diary & Food Calorie Counter | LIVESTRONG.COM](<a href=“http://www.livestrong.com/myplate/]MyPlate”>MyPlate Calorie Counter)</p>
<p>Talk to a doctor or better yet, a nutritionist you can trust. They will know about your disease and food limitations and should be able to help you devise a plan. You are WORTH the time and expense of a visit with a professional! And the fact that you have succeeded before is a good sign that with some professional guidance, you will succeed again!</p>
<p>And finally, come here to share your successes AND your woes. We are good support!</p>
<p>Looks like Sally22 and I had some similar ideas!!! :)</p>
<p>2016mom, I hit a plateau at around 60 lbs. that lasted for almost three months. (I am also working on a weight loss goal of 100-110 lbs. What seemed to break it was increasing healthy, low fat protein – esp. fish. Given your Crohn’s, though, I’d see a nutritionist. Your Crohn’s doc may be able to refer you to someone with specific knowledge. </p>
<p>I know not all insurance carriers will cover nutritionists (my ins will pay for a one-time visit), but the nutritionist I saw at cardiac rehab was covered as part of their services. It may be covered under your Crohn’s treatment plan. I’d argue that it is most cost-effective for your insurance to see someone who can help you with eating in a way that keeps you healthy and losing weight.</p>
<p>Back from a nine day cruise…gained four pounds…not too bad. It will take a LOT longer than nine days to lose that four pounds. BUT hey…food was awesome and I ate a ton of it. I’m now officially back on the wagon.</p>
<p>2016mom, I am in awe of your significant weight loss. I can imagine how frustrating it must be to have been on a plateau for so long. I hope that you will be able to find a way through it. </p>
<p>I have a thought, which I will offer in case it’s helpful. I’m not sure what carbs you are eating; you mentioned not eating whole grains. Some people with autoimmune conditions find that their conditions improve if they eliminate gluten, even people without diagnosed celiac disease. (I know that there is some controversy about whether or not Crohn’s is an autoimmune disorder.) There is another, related school of thought that the modern strains of wheat are bad for us (see Wheat Belly). I was thinking that maybe it would be worth trying a wheat/gluten-free diet for a while?</p>
<p>I am also reading Wheat Belly and am so happy to see you all starting to discuss this. The Doc who wrote this book, William Davis, stopped his own diabetes by eliminating wheat. He has treated hundreds of his own patients now for all kinds of things by removing wheat. He even reports that schizophrenia is linked (pretty convincingly) to wheat consumption. He has some talks on Youtube:</p>
<p>[Wheat:</a> The UNhealthy Whole Grain-Part 1 - YouTube](<a href=“Wheat: The UNhealthy Whole Grain-Part 1 - YouTube”>Wheat: The UNhealthy Whole Grain-Part 1 - YouTube)
[Wheat</a> Unhealthy Whole Grain2 - YouTube](<a href=“Wheat Unhealthy Whole Grain2 - YouTube”>Wheat Unhealthy Whole Grain2 - YouTube)</p>
<p>I have to say, I have avoided eliminating wheat because it just seemed too hard. However since watching the videos and reading the book I am now 5 days wheat free and, the most striking thing is that I don’t feel hungry despite having a full stomach. I usually have food cravings even if I’ve just eaten and have a full tummy. So frustrating! But as soon as the wheat was gone, the urge to eat despite being full is gone! We’ll see if weight loss follows, but I am less concerned w/ that than just feeling well. Various stomach problems have been part of life for a while; lactose intolerance and so forth. Will be pretty interesting to see what happens over the next few weeks. </p>
<p>Lots of rice in the diet in the last few days!</p>
<p>Hugcheck–suggestions for you.</p>
<p>Rice is good, but you might try quinoa and barley. Sometimes you just need something to soak up gravy or sauce, right?</p>
<p>You can also find that there are lots of other carbs available if you stop thinking “sandwich” or “wrap” (or pizza) and just think differently about what to put on your plate. Carbs such as beans, butternut squash, or apples are good, filling foods to go with the meat, fish & salad. </p>
<p>And for baking you can find lots of delicious recipes online that use almond meal instead of flour.</p>
<p>That’s interesting, Hugcheck. I’ve read Wheat Belly and found it persuasive, but I have not yet completely given up wheat. I have found substitutes. Trader Joe’s makes brown rice pasta that is very good, and they make brown rice tortillas that are as good as wheat tortillas if baked with a sauce (as in enchiladas). I make pancakes with one cup of flour replaced by 1/2 c almond meal, 1/4 cup ground flaxseeds, 1/4 cup buckwheat flour. So I’m working toward it, because I’d like to give the wheat-free life a try.</p>
<p>Some schizophrenics have been found to have celiac disease, and there have been some case studies that reported remission of psychotic symptoms when patients were placed on a ketogenic diet. So it appears that some schizophrenics may have gluten sensitivitiy and/or celiac disease.</p>
<p>Thanks all. I think a nutritionist is a really good idea. I’ll ask my GI the next time I go in. As an aside, my GI tells me repeatedly he would rather have an overweight patient than an underweight patient due to the nature of the disease. A bad flare can cause a 30-40 pound weight drop very quickly so he wants me to have a cushion. But I don’t need as much cushion as I have right now 
</p>
<p>When I’m following the high protein/low carb diet, I eat very little wheat. I usually would have a banana (need the potassium daily) with eggs for breakfast. Then protein of some sort for lunch with a probiotic yogurt (good for my gut anyway!). Dinner is when I might have some wheat product… usually in the form of pasta or a noodle, but only 1/2 c. The rest would be primarily protein. The other carb I would eat a lot is breadcrumbs… as breading for chicken or in meatballs/meatloaf, etc., so that would contain wheat. My last boss read Wheat Belly and really bought into it. She and I talked about it a lot together. I journaled my food on Sparkpeople. </p>
<p>I’m definitely in the camp that Crohn’s is an autoimmune disease. Immunosuppressants are the meds that help me and that’s enough to convince me! </p>
<p>I very well could be in a starvation mode without realizing it too. Sometimes I’m not absorbing and that happens. Usually the exercise counteracts that effect. I’m wondering too if my extremely low Vitamin D level at last check is somehow affecting my ability to lose weight. I also get extreme muscle cramps at night when I’m exercising regularly. Maybe the nutritionist would have ideas about that. Usually it’s dehydration or potassium but I’ve been making sure I’m hydrated and eating my bananas so perhaps it is Vitamin D related. I try to get them to prescribe cruises for me to get my Vitamin D up, but they won’t do it ;)</p>
<p>My GI also believes our body has “set point” weights that we reach and have a hard time getting beyond. This current weight has to be one of my set points. As soon as I started getting treatment for the Crohn’s, I zoomed up to this weight within weeks! </p>
<p>Historically… I was about 135-140 through high school and thought I was the fattest girl that ever walked the planet. College brought the freshman 30 so by the end of freshman year, I was 171. I joined weight watchers that summer and got down to 135 again. Sophomore year, I went back to 171. I joined weight watchers that summer and again got down to 135. These seem to be set points for me. What are the odds that I’d be exactly 171 both times? Junior year, I gained the weight back and didn’t go home that summer so I just kept gaining 
From graduation til around age 25, I hovered around 225. At 25/26, I zoomed up to 270 and stayed there until I got pregnant with my D. I only gained 4 pounds with that pregnancy and at my 6 week postpartum checkup, I was around 240. So yeah, I basically lost weight while pregnant. I was almost back up around 270 when I got pregnant again. 270 seems to be one of my magic numbers too. It is the highest I go before I panic and make myself get serious about losing again. That’s where I was when I lost the 65 pounds in 2009. But here I am, at 205, unable to get below that 200 mark. It would mean so much to get below that! I got to 202.6 by the end of the weight loss challenge. I think if I can break this plateau, I’ll get down to 171 easily…lol. It is one of my magic numbers, it seems. The weights I seem to hover at are: 270, 240, 225, 205, 171. </p>
<p>My real goal weight is 159. That’s still overweight for my height (5’3") but gives me the cushion my GI wants and gets me out of the “obese” BMI range. There are advantages to the Crohn’s. I do not absorb cholesterol! My cholesterol is around 160 most of the time no matter what I eat. My blood pressure has always been great (100/65) and my blood sugar is fine. I’m lucky that way… to not have most of the things that come from being chronically obese. Then again, a Crohn’s patient who is chronically obese is really rare too.</p>
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<p>This caught my eye. I have a friend with Crohn’s who has thankfully not had a flare up for a while. But she said that she was put on immunosuppressants which made her gain a lot of weight. Even after she stopped the meds, there was some weight that she was never able to get rid of. It was like her body made a new set point for “normal.”</p>
<p>2016Barnard, It’s interesting that you seem to “settle” at particular weight values. In terms of wheat intake, I think that the idea behind Wheat Belly is that you need to eliminate all wheat. The Trader Joe’s brown rice pasta is very good. My kids eat it and don’t even realize it’s not “normal” pasta. They won’t eat whole wheat pasta. And almond meal works really well for breading chicken.</p>
<p>I hadn’t heard that wheat had been linked to mental illnesses, jym. Is the idea that the wheat causes inflammation in susceptible people, and the inflammation causes the psychiatric symptoms?</p>
<p>Well, vacation was great but the last 24 hours has been anything but … (although I’m still happy from a vacation week high):
<p>Oh well … I still have my tan and my exercise last night was cleaning out a wet basement.</p>
<p>I went to the doctor today for a annual physical that typically isn’t exactly annual for me. She went through things with me and towards the end she looked at me and said “You know I have to tell you to lose weight, right?” I asked her to look at my current weight compared to when I was there 5 weeks ago for some allergy/ear infection issues.</p>
<p>I had lost 11 lbs since my last visit 5 weeks ago. She was pleased with that and told me to keep it up. </p>
<p>I seem to having the eating part of the equation down. I still need to figure out how to add exercise into it.</p>
<p>Pssst, Bajamm, that is when you go ask Coach iDad over on the other thread to help you come up with a plan. I’m serious, he can probably help you out.</p>
<p>Oh no, poor snowflake! You need to sit down with a nice rum drink and look at vacation pictures!</p>
<p>Bummer Snowflake. But love you "at least I still have my tan"attitude!!</p>
<p>Bajamm, so what are your exercise resources ? Things like:
What amount of time do you have to dedicate to exercise at least 3-4 times a week? 20 mins each time? 40?
What “place” options do you have? Are you in a warm or cold climate? Do you have a fitness center available to you?<br>
What kind of exercise do you like or are you WILLING to do? Walk? Exercise machines? Workouts on DVD? Exercise classes?
What have you done in the past?
And don’t laugh at this one… Do you have suitable exercise clothing? Not fancy, but comfortable and something that makes you feel like “when I wear this I feel good and want to exercise!” I think it makes a difference!</p>
<p>When you answer some of these ?'s you might be able to see a plan formulate in your mind. And BIG congrats on the 11 pounds!</p>
<p>Not sure of the theory behind the correlation between gluten or celiac issues in schizophrenics, nymom. Wish I did. It’s interesting. </p>
<p>Bummer about sickness and flooding and lost phones. My s had his backpack stolen in cancun with his brand new ti-89 calculator when he was in HS. Those suckers were expensive back then. Probably still are. </p>
<p>Keep up the good attitude. I need a swift kick in the rump to get the holiday weight off.</p>