Follow
Share

I am trying to see if there would be support for a new discussion thread for caregivers that are trying to diet. A place that they could immediately go to for emotional support when the will gets weak. So many of us seem to ruin our health as soon as mom/pop moves in. We forgo our own MD appts., forget to take our meds, never hear any words of encouragement,give up on our own appearance, simply cease to exist as an individual. I don't want to replace the "whine" thread, it is very important and I use it myself.Also it seems many of use due to our caregiving situation are prisoners in the house and can't go to weight watcher meetings, support groups, live in rural areas etc. This could be a place as close as your computer. I look at this site even late at night, I would love to be of help to someone that is trying to stay out of the refrigerator at 3 AM. Just thought I would throw this out there to see if there is any interest.

This discussion has been closed for comment. Start a New Discussion.
1 2 3 4 5
There is no doubt that weight gain is a common problem among caregivers...

www.agingcare.com/questions/weight-gain-and-caregiving-175873.htm?cpage=4

I think for many of us the double whammy of caregiver stress and menopause make even the idea of dieting especially hard. I know I should reign in those high calorie binges, but when boredom/stress/lack of sleep hit I really don't give a cr*p about my weight, just give me the cookies! And when I do follow a healthy diet for a few weeks I just end up pi$$ed off, as I don't actually lose weight, just stop gaining. I'm so not ready to give up just about the only gloriously sensual pleasure that I have left. Just sayin' ...
(9)
Report

well I know my mother moving in with me has been horrible for my diet and health. I lost LOTS of weight by pure exercise before she moved in and was so proud of myself. It took almost 3 years but I was healthy and Happy !! A year and a half since mom moved in and all my efforts have been pretty much flushed down the toilet. my exercise and diet random at best, now days. There are days where a box of cupcakes are my only friend......lol I'm surprised I'm not eating one now as I'm reading this....lol.
(3)
Report

When Mother broke her neck and our lives changed forever that day,I had already been working hard on a diet.Through all the walking at the hostpital and the constant chores and never stopping,I have lost 185 lbs. and kept it off now 9 years.My top weight was 296 lbs.and today,i weigh 104 lbs.I wrote down every morsel and stayed under 1000 calories a day.I ate yogurt,oatmeal,and slimfast...and I got all my upper teeth pulled and dentures and I started to make an effort at going to the bathroom the right way.It has taken alot of hard work and effort but I am very grateful I did it then.My ortopedic surgeon is very proud of me too,because he had already done aurthoscopies on both my knees.Also,Mother and I would never be able to fit and manuever in her tiny handicapped bathroom with my past weight.
I have fought my weight since the third grade.Iv'e done every diet you can imagine from Tops,Teen,Dieteria,Elaine Powers,Herbalife,etc. and even colonic enemas.I also went to Over eaters Anonymous but after I'd loose some weight,it would always come back with more.Growing up in the 60's,there were no clothes for fat little girls and I will always be grateful to Mother for the clothes she made for me.In the 80's I worked at a ladies plus size clothing store called Catherine's Stout Shop.Later they dropped it to just Catherine's which is still in bussiness today.When I worked there,I got bigger than I ever had and wore a size 32 pant and a 4x shirt.My weight has held me back with some things in my life and now I do have health problems for carrying so much weight for so many years now,especially my feet and I have horrible arthritis.
Anyway timbuktu,I think this is a great thread for us caregivers.I know I could gain back every pound and atleast 50 more.
(4)
Report

I know its very hard to eat a healthy diet for me and my Husband. My MIL is needing to gain weight, therefore she requires everything with "gravy" for dinner.. Chicken pot pie, mashed potatoes and gravy- sausage and gravy.. Good grief ! also she always wants sweets. I used to keep these items out of the house! The other issue is I can no longer get to the gym regularly. I would need to have someone sit with her. I feel like my own health has been on hold for a year.
(1)
Report

My mother moving in with me destroyed a whole year of getting almost 50lbs off .I have regained every one of them in the 3 yrs. she has been here. She has a shopping trip once a week and brings home soft drinks,candy,chips. I feel like a recovering alcoholic living in a bar.The thing is I have to outlive her because if I don't she has NO ONE, I am an only child and she is an only child, no nephews,nieces, cousins. Also , I have no children.If I want to have any kind of life I have to get this weight off. I feel like I am carrying around another person.Some days are better than others but I have got to find another way to reward myself other than with food.
(3)
Report

Okay for all you caregivers out there, TAKE your meds today. No matter how tired your are, TAKE a shower.Now if I will just listen to my own advice. Really, though if anybody needs to talk, I am always roaming on this site, so much good info.Trying to curb emotional eating is rough,I deal with it everyday.
(3)
Report

Timbuktu, great idea! I bet lots of us will benefit.
(3)
Report

My downfall is candy and always has been.I go through spurts of enjoying different kinds.Sugar,I love it!
(0)
Report

It probably adds to my moodiness though to have the ups and downs of sugar but I crave it...
(1)
Report

Dang it lucky, now you made me want candy....
(1)
Report

Why did they add a stack of choc chip cookies as hug? Now I want to go buy a bag. Cannot eat just one.
I don't smoke or drink. Given the relatives and their dramas, it's a fight not to just eat a snack since I have to swallow so many comments. It's so hard to choose living healthy. Thanks.
(2)
Report

Cookies and ice cream -- if it weren't for those two things I would have no trouble with weight.

Another thing around here is my mother likes fried foods. Even though many are saying that food fried in vegetable oils are not unhealthy, it still does add a lot of calories. She complains when I cook grilled foods. Then she worries about her weight.

Aha! I just solved my own problem maybe. If she sees the grilled food as diet food, she might see it as tasty, instead of a punishment. Then we could have lower calorie food without me having to cook two separate dinners.

BTW, I grew up a fat kid. I'm glad now that I don't really want to eat that much. Cookies and ice cream, though, are real temptations. Nom nom. Maybe it is good that we tell ourselves we don't really like to eat more than the amount we need to keep us going -- use psychology on ourselves. And maybe I could convince myself I don't like cookies & ice cream anymore.
(1)
Report

great idea - i need to get back on track
(0)
Report

Up right now at 0247 trying to resist eating.Fortunately to lazy to graze so I am doing laundry instead.I have already been yelled at by mom for the first of many for the day because the dogs(including hers,especially the one I did CPR on a couple of days ago) are barking as are most of the dogs in the neighborhood,we are very rural and EVERYBODY has dogS.That 6 pack of Cokes she brought home are starting to look good mmm.....
(0)
Report

Hey I just realized, What is up with that stack of chocolate chip cookies as a hug?
(0)
Report

I am going to say this just once because I actually would prefer usually to live in the USA but right now UK seems favourite. Do I seem off topic? Well no

Now US researchers from the government-affiliated National Institute on Ageing have found that even having a BMI (Body Mass Index) just one point over a safe level, speeds up the onset of dementia for people aged 50 or over. For people who are seriously obese, they could develop neurodegenerative disease years a decade before they would have if they were a healthy weight.

HOWEVER

In the UK a study has shown that Being underweight was linked to a 34% increased dementia risk, while being severely obese reduced dementia risk by 29%.

So I am staying in the UK clearly British fat people don't get dementia as quickly as US fat people do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(2)
Report

I am in the US and this would explain why I feel stark raving mad at times,lol!
(1)
Report

yep, caregiver stress and menopause I gained 20lb and fell off the "wagon". 24/7 care for my mom for 5 years and I headed for the chips and beer, cigs every day. I haven't been to the gyno or had a mammogram or seen a therapist in 7 years since this all went down. Lord, writing this down makes me how badly I have treated myself and how well off my mom has been.
(1)
Report

I haven't seen a dentist in 2 years, my mom will see one again next tuesday. She also has a yearly dermatology and opthamology appts coming up, I don't.With cancer treatments,foot problems ,pain treatment procedure and maintenance appts. I have taken her to the MD around 52 times for just this year and it ain't over yet.I get stressed just being in the car with her, most MD trips are 80 mile roundtrips on an interstate and I mentally start telling myself all the great food I am going to get into if I can just make it back home(we pass a Jacks' at the exit).
(1)
Report

tinbuktu, you need to schedule an appointment with the doctor for you. There might be something that is creating your food cravings. One thought that I had when you talked about how good that coke looked in the wee hours was if you might be getting diabetes II. Then another thought I had is you might need help getting out of the stress-eat-more stress cycle. Food can be an addiction with triggers that elicit the food-seeking behavior. First, make sure it is something like diabetes or some other metabolic disorder, then work with someone to break the cycle of addiction.

What are you doing awake at 2:47 in the morning. I think it is against all laws of nature to do laundry at that time. If you crave a coke, your body might be telling you that it needs water. I do hope it isn't a sugar thing, but you do need to go to the doctor to check.
(0)
Report

I was so stressed out over my loved one's dementia diagnosis and subsequent care that I lost about 30 pounds. I was stressed and also so busy, I didn't have time to think about food. I had to force myself to eat.

After things settled down, I then lost 10 more on my own while trying to eat right. I still need to get more activity though. I have a foot problem and am not supposed to walk for exercise. I need to get a bike and join the Y so I can swim. They are on my to do list.
(1)
Report

I lost weight around the time my father died. I was running around like a crazy person, doing all the things that needed doing. I gained it back after a while, but I wasn't too concerned. I've been about the same weight for 20 years now, with a little up and down.

My SIL came to visit. I told her I'd put the weight back on. She asked me why I hadn't worked to keep it off. I wanted to tell her to frak herself on her old smug high horse. She is fat as a teddy bear herself, so needs to talk to the mirror and not me. :3

Women are so focused on weight, aren't they?
(1)
Report

It's just so nice in those wee early morning hours because nobody is awake,especially "mommy dearest".Just me and the dogs,although my poodle went ballistic over something outside and "MOM" scolded for waking her. Not to worry , she gets plenty of sleep, being on so much morphine falling asleep isn't hard for her.I am an emotional eater,never eat because I feel hungry.I use food as a reward for dealing with stress and my mother is a MAJOR source of stress.If it were a perfect world I would have her in her own house with 24/7 servants and I would maybe visit occasionally maybe. With the help of a therapist I have set boundaries but it takes a lot of internal strength at least for me to maintain those boundaries.I do drink at least 2 liters of water a day, after 5 bouts of kidney stones I did get myself off Cokes but again its the "comfort" effect of food.Thankfully I really don't like sweets,but things like cheese, meat,sauces,fatty food is like Ativan to me.
(0)
Report

OMG I just want this day to end. It is cold outside so I am cold, never mind that my thermostat says it is 73 degrees in the house. I am in hibernation mode, I want to eat enormous amounts of comfort foods and crawl into my nightie and spent the rest of the day in bed with a book. At the very least I want some cookies with a giant cup of coffee. And I want my mother to be quiet, because today I am feeling very snappish, and I just might bite!
4:53, only another 4 or 5 hours to go...
(1)
Report

And Halloween is coming and all the magazines and tv are all fun of chocolate candy, cookies and such........going to wear my Austin Powers Fat BaxXXXd yet again! I am trying....walking more and trying.....but once you are a certain age,,,!!
(0)
Report

I;m in for the site!! When mom got sick and I had to deal with her hospitalization and getting her into rehab here, and Dad ALZ ( much worse than she had let on) I lost 30 pounds fast. Then the y came back... oh boy did they! I was holding plump but stable until we finally went on a vacation this year.. yep.. 10 more lbs. I feel good when I look in the mirror, but then I see a photo of myself and say "WTH"!!! I also love my beer, and salty foods. But I am trying again to get things under control. So thank you all in advance for the support! Winter is coming and I am also a comfort food hibernator.. and Mom eats so little that we cook alot trying to tempt her
(0)
Report

Welp, I put myself back on the "wagon" now that both of my parents are in NHs... not losing weight, but at least I wont be damaging my liver any more with that ontop of my arthritis meds.
(2)
Report

Timbuktu, thanks for telling my story, emotional eating, losing 50 lbs (need to), take meds, take shower. Was happy enough keeping my weight very slowly dropping, a total of 7 lbs. last year. Gained it back when eating french fries, bread, mac 'n cheese too often, choc. cake, ice cream, tortilla chips and fritos chili chips.
Now, not feeling as well, that's the best reason to lose back the pounds lost, and then some. I know what's bothering me, but cannot share it. Getting ready to finish some pre-winter projects, separate my diet needs from my picky husband's needs, then design a plan for weight loss. Saw something so inspiring on Ted talks that I am going to try. Will look it up for anyone interested. It's not a diet, but a game. It will help, because gets one moving.
(0)
Report

Ok, here's a thought. Maybe even if we can't make it to the gym we squeeze in mini exercise sessions during the day. After reading this post I did some arm circles, some standing stretches and a few side to side leg lunges.

I need to dig out a pair of dumbells and leave them in a safe place but where I can see therm. Good idea for a group. I am anxious to squeeze in more mini workouts today and by mini
I mean mini. Even thirty seconds or one minute is good. It all adds up.
(1)
Report

What I am going to try to do today is take mini walks in my yard.I have 1200 feet of chain link fence around my yard and will try 3 separate 10 minute walks around the yard, it's a start.
(3)
Report

1 2 3 4 5
This discussion has been closed for comment. Start a New Discussion.
Start a Discussion
Subscribe to
Our Newsletter