How does one do that? I have been on LC for two weeks now, & have stopped losing, even though I follow the diet. I have CFS & right now it's very bad, & I can't do any exercise, so it seems that I would have to starve to lose weight in this situation...anyone else losing without exercising?

Eve

MeezerMom, I hear you! I'm going through a really bad time, too. Yesterday I did all right--made it to town to run errands and pick up a few groceries last evening and walked until my legs just ached. Today I just feel like being buried in a hole would be a good option.

When I can, I walk, but unfortunately that's sporadic. It seems when I walk it does help with a little weight loss. I've been at this for nine months, and last fall I was feeling pretty good. Then after the holidays I caught the flu and that did me in for five months. Since then it's been up and down, down and up with more down-time than up. I just get started walking regularly, then end up back down for weeks on end and feel like I've lost every bit of progress I made.

I'm planning on starting a candida diet this next week to see if that will help. I've had too many yeast problems in the past to let this one slip by me any longer.

I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one. Before this latest down hill journey, I was walking at the mall every morning, riding the exercycle 30 minutes a day, & rebounding for 15 minutes every day, now, I sit on the bed & watch TV or I sit here on the computer, not very condusive to losing weight! I try not to be down & depressed, but oh how I envy those people that feel good & have energy & can work out! I'm off to check in at ediets & weigh in with my 1/2 pound gain this week....sigh...

Eve

I believe everyone stalls the 3rd & 4th weeks as their bodies adjust to this new way of eating. I have been doing this for 3 months and have lost weight without exercising or doing low calorie. Of course, I had over a 100# to lose. I wish I had started low carbing when I first got sick 15 years ago. I had never believed in low calorie dieting and had always exercised to maintain my weight.
From all I've read this way of eating balances all the hormone levels and may help in healing our imbalances. Concentrate on the health benefits of this way of eating.

Eat less, Exercise more?

Hi,

I am on day 18. I was bedridden with CFS/Fibromyalia for 6 months then housebound with it for the next 3 years. I am now truly starting to beat it and have noticed alot of fluctuation in my pain and fatique levels since I started the LC way. I have not truly excercised except for one day. I still have lost and am going to work on excercising (even if just a little) when I can. Losing weight is #1 priority for me. I believe, after weight is gone, pain and fatigue has to improve!!!
So, my input is don't get frustrated about excercise. If you can't then you can't. But when you can, do it. In atkins forums they talk more about the food then they do the excercise...and they are losing!!!!

Keep up the great job! Remember, depressing thoughts and being overwhelmed is your worst enemy.!!!

You are a winner and you are going to be excercising again!!!

JIMSBRIDE

Hello, everyone! I'm a 54yo female with cronic pain from a herniated disk with leg pain and numbness. I'm hoping to lose enough weight to go for surgery sometime early next year.

I know what you mean about the pain and fatigue being bad one day and then bearable the next. Walking for me is only to do the absolute bare minimum before I have to sit down because my legs hurt and burn so bad.

I've been low-carbing since 5/31 and I've lost 21.5 pounds without exercising. Any success is a victory for me at this time.

Meezermom,
I have had FMS,CFS, and MPS for 11 years now and I know how tired and painful it can be. I have had times where it would take me almost all day to unload and reload the dishwasher as I would have to rest between putting away just a few dishes.
I have had days when I was bed and wheelchair bound and other days when I could get around with 2 canes.
What has worked for me the most is a class of very gentle yoga with a registered yoga therapist. I take Svaroopa yoga and many of the exercises are done lying down or seated but probably any kind of gentle hatha yoga would do. The class I was in was for the elderly and disabled. The instructors gave us props to help us into poses and never tried to force us to do anything to increase pain.
I did home practice as was suggested a few days a week and found my pain and fatigue decreased and my stanima increased to the point that I can now walk without a cane and be up and about for a few hours and do some house work and gardening with some resting in between projects as well as walking for exercise.
I don't know if yoga would work for everyone but it did work for me to the point that I got kicked out of the gentle class and my practice has been kicked up a notch and I can keep up! Yoga is exercise and I found it empowering.
I hope you soon have a respite from your pain and fatigue.
Take care,
Nancy

Hi

I'm new here and hope you don't mind me jumping in.

I've had CFS and MFS for 12 years, and although some symptoms have eased (brain fog mostly) FMS has remained a constant.

I have a small frame and am comfortable and look decent at around 115lbs, but little by little have gained 12lbs over the last two years. I tried low carbs but I was still gaining, and getting quite depressed because I knew that exercise would cause an FMS flare-up. Two weeks ago, someone recommended rebounding (jumping about on a mini-trampoline) and, although wary, I bought a cheap Walmart one to give it a go. I set it up where I almost had to walk over it, so that it wouldn't be a chore to get to it, and started a very gentle bounce without lifting my feet, for about two minutes, several time a day for the first week.

At first, I thought it couldn't be effective. It was too much fun and way too gentle. My muscles ached after the first attempt, but not the FMS pain. Just the sort of pain a healthy person would have from a workout. Eventually, I increased my time and my bouncing. Yes, I still get pain, but no more than after doing no exercise BUT in two weeks I have lost two pounds and half an inch off my waist.

The moral is that we can exercise if we do it in ways that don't strain the joints/ligaments and I heartily recommend rebounding.

Hi,

I don't mind you jumping in & no pun intended! I am delighted to hear about your successful weight & inches lost! I need all the encouragement & motivation that I can get...I am taking care of my chronically ill oldest furkid & so my stress level is on tilt. The CFS has been very bad lately. I keep gaining & losing the same two pounds, making me even more depressed, as I have not gotten the scale to move lower than 126 in a very long time. I fear I will never get into my clothes that fit. I have a "good" rebounder & I sat it up in the living room, so I would have no excuse to not use it everyday...."wrong", I will use it one or two days & then skip a week. I am going to try to do better, even if it's only 10 or 15 minutes, that's better than none, right? Thanks for your input!

Eve

Eve

I know what you mean abuout fitting your clothes. A lot of people ask why I am concerned about "a little bit of extra weight" but when it's all round your middle and tum, a little bit goes a l-o-n-g way.

I also know that it can be hard to get motivated, especially when you are exhausted and everything hurts. When that happens to me, I just tell myself that I'll stand on the rebounder for a minute or two, that I won't move or jump or anything silly. Of course, as soon as I'm on it, I can't just stand there!

You are obviously having a hard time at the moment, and I will keep you in my prayers, but put some good music on (I like Blues) and get on that thing. It really will help you not to feel quite so emotionally low. I've found that on the rebounder, I can pretend I'm dancing with the best of them and it's a bit of a morale boost.

Martlet

Just wanted to add my experience to this.

I have found that when I first start LC, the best thing for me is using weights as opposed to aerobic exercise. I hurt so bad from FM that I can't even think of walking until I get some weight off.

I just started again yesterday and will start using weights after about a week when my body is getting used to it. I do upper body one day, lower body the next. Start very slowly with light weights.

Hope this helps

Hi Meezermom,
I agree its so darned difficult to lose weight when you are so doggone tired and in so much pain. I have FMS and I try to keep as active as I can, I do go for walks, joints permitting, but its so frustrating.

I look after my 21 mth old grandaughter so she keeps me active and I guess thats considered weight lifting too LOL

My daughter has a treadmill and other exercise equipment here, which I tried a few times just taking it easy and was in agony for a week afterwards! I would love to be able to exercise, to go to a gym and get fit but I know that I can't.

I was hoping diet alone would be the answer but I am running out of patience

sandi

Hey everybody,

I'm a Doctor of Chiropractic and am currently getting a Doctor of Naturopathy degree and I deal with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue all the time... with fantastic results.

The answer to your problems do not come from just one source. Meaning you can't expect to just change your diet and expect all these symptoms you've been having to simply go away.

These are complex conditions and are a result of problems on many levels with the way your body functions. By the time the problem get this severe, the internal "groundwork" has been laying down for years to decades.

Areas that must be checked include:
Irritation to the nervous system. This is what Chiropractic is all about and is the first, best step to immediately alleviating a great deal of the pains you are feeling.
Next is checking for nutrtional deficiences. This is best done using a hair mineral analysis test and will give mineral levels in the body. With this information, specific nutritional supplements can be given to balance your chemistry and help with the underlying cause of the problems.
Next is checking for heavy metal toxicity in the body, especially aluminum and mercury. These toxic metals can cause a myriad of symptoms including widespread pain and loss of sleep. This is also determined by the hair mineral analysis test.
Next is checking for possible food allergies. We all react differently to those things we are allergic to; some break out in hives, some get headaches, some swell up, some get pain. THese must be identifed, eliminated, and removed for lasting improvement to occur. Good news is there are ways to remove allerigc reactions from many people which gives you the ability to return to eating those foods without the reactions.

These are just a short list of the areas I check in relation to CFS and FMS. There are others but this is a good start and much more than any other doctor I know of does... ad its the ony way to "peel bck all the layers" and eliminate the problem.

I don't recommend taking supplements until you know you need them. Too much of a supplement you don't ned can unbalance the body even further and make matters much worse. Just becuase something worked for someone you heard about does not mean it will work for you. We can all have the same symptoms, but for a widely varying range of reasons.

Get to the CAUSE, and the symptoms will always go away.

Yours in Good Health,

KajunDC