Getting chubby on Neurontin

[Lernica]

How are we supposed to keep our weight down if we can't exercise???? I have put on 6 pounds since January and I don't like it one bit. (At 5'4" the weight is quite apparent.) It doesn't help that I was catapulted into menopause in November/10 by a hysterectomy. Help!!! I keep thinking that if I could just eat like a French woman (like a bird) I will keep the weight off. But I'm sorry, I'm not a bird. Any suggestions??

Feeling chubby and not happy about it,

Lernica

[Griff522]

I don't have any words of wisdom but I do understand how you feel. I've put on 10 lbs and I'm 5' 5". I was a little thin and 5 lbs wouldn't have hurt but the extra 5 is bugging me big time! I'm just trying to watch what I eat, because I had fallen off the wagon and was eating junk! Walking and pushups are okay to do, but i absolutely HATE pushups. Probably because I'm such a weakling. I just do some modified versions.

[Violet M]

Lernica, I don't know if these strategies will help but here are a couple that I use:

1. Eat as much as you want as long as it's the right foods. I eat giant green salads with yummy things like strawberries, blueberries, dried cranberries and nuts on them.
2. Eat dessert only once a week but make it a really good one.
3. The rest of the week when you are tempted to eat dessert just say to yourself "it's not worth 5 minutes of pleasure for 24 hours of guilt".
4. Eat a large box of fresh vegetable sticks almost every day but do it while you are doing something else that keeps your mind off the veggies -- like sit at your computer and read the forum while you are eating them. Throw in a potato chip in between the veggies once in awhile if you have to.

OK, so you're eating like a rabbit -- is that any better than eating like a bird?

Oh, one more thing -- no soft drinks or juice (too many concentrated calories). Eat a piece of fruit instead.

[Lernica]

Hey Violet,

Thanks for the tips. I am a total health nut and already eat the way you do but am still putting on the weight. I never eat dessert or drink juice or soft drinks, and I eat lots of veggies. Big salad every day, minimal low-cal dressing. I eat no junk food whatsover. Maybe I eat too many nuts or starchy carbs? Even though the starchy carbs I eat are all whole grain -- brown rice, home-made healthy muffins (no fat), oatmeal with nuts for breakfast. I also only eat low-fat dairy products, including skim milk and 1% plain yogourt. I only eat enough to stop the hunger and never overeat. But the weight is still creeping up! Ugh!!! I feel like I look like I've aged ten years in the past four months. Needless to say my hubby and kids insist I look fine, even though I cannot fit into any of my pants and am wearing Juicies (fancy sweatpants) every day. Not liking this weight gain one bit.

Lernica

[calluna]

In our house we are great proponents of primal eating. If you've not come across this before, a good place to start is Mark's Daily Apple. His 'Primal Blueprint 101 is here.

Basically - no sugar, no grains, no starches. Lots and lots and lots of vegetables, a fair amount of fruit, good quality proteins of all sorts, and plenty of good fats. Minimal dairy products - basically, cheese, butter and cream in moderate amounts, plus home made probiotic yogurt - full fat of course. Gentle exercise as much as we can manage. It works for us.

Low fat and low cal stuff is completely out - things like that are invariably full of starches and sugars. Really hard to lose weight whilst eating all that stuff.

[Lernica]

Calluna,

How long have you been eating "primal" (ie. a caveman diet)? Do you have kids? I cannot imagine eating no grains; they are a very important part of my family's diet. All the grains we eat are whole grain, not refined, and we eat no sugary foods. Also I don't think I could stomach all that red meat. We eat mostly fish and poultry instead.

Regards,

Lernica

[calluna]

First off - eating that way definitely does not mean that you have to eat a lot of red meat. If you read on that website, his wife doesn't eat any red meat at all.

We've eaten this way on and off for about ten years now - we keep falling off the wagon, and every single time our health suffers, so we get back on again! Before that, for many years, we stuck to whole grains - brown rice, and wholewheat flour, and wholewheat pasta. These days, none of the starchy stuff at all. And no sugar whatsoever, absolutely none.

We eat very little red meat. We do however eat a lot of vegetables and plenty of fish and eggs. And when my daughter is here, we eat vegetarian - it is perfectly possible to eat this way and not eat any meat at all.

Yes, I have kids. My youngest was brought up eating this way - they are all grown up now, though.

We really don't miss grains at all - we fill in with more vegetables. For instance if I make something like keema - using minced turkey probably - instead of serving with rice, I'd serve it with shredded stirfried cabbage. Mashed cauliflower and broccoli does very well instead of mashed potatoes. And I make piecrusts using ground nuts instead of a flour-based pastry.

[pianogal]

How are we supposed to keep our weight down if we can't exercise????

Well, if you're STANDING most of the day you burn a lot more calories than people who sit on their butts!

I just decided to stop caring about my weight till I stop hurting. After 8 years of this, about 3 years ago I decided to use food for comfort (which I've never done in my life). I know, this is wrong... but I don't care. lol I'm 5'2" and have always been around 110 but now I am about 10-15 pounds over... and I just stay there... do I care? no. I can diet when I'm well. It's hard enough being in pain to worry about how I look. Of course, if I go up another 5 pounds I will care... I am not about to balloon out to any extremes... but thankfully my version of pigging out only means being 10 pounds more than usual and just staying there. Whew!

But that's just my stage in the grief process. the "I don't care about anything" stage.

hahahaha

there's too much to handle already anyway

but to those of you with the willpower power to you!
(you know, I think my willpower has gone down since I had my daughter... she wears me down... yes, that's it!)

[Violet M]

I am a total health nut and already eat the way you do but am still putting on the weight.

Wow, that's hard, Lernica. I'm not sure I have any more good advice other than to say that I am vegetarian (grew up that way and hate meat) but I think food is to be enjoyed and you can't cut everything good out of your life. I'm kind of on the same page as Pianogal, I guess -- you need to have some pleasure in your life when all you are dealing with is pain day after day and if you can keep your weight reasonable without becoming a blimp then maybe you don't need the extra stress of cutting out everything you like.

[ezer]

Lernica,
I have the same experience with Neurontin. It really messes up your metabolism and I never completely recovered from being on it a full year.
To me that was the worst medication. It makes you so lethargic also.
if you can tolerate it, Topamax that is in the same category as Neurontin, makes you loose weight (it is used off label for weight loss).