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Hi everyone,
I think this might be a question for Marybeth, but I thought I'd check in with you all here.
I've been on the chicken and potato diet for several weeks now, and it's really helping me get my flare in check. However, I'm gaining a little weight - just a few pounds right now, and I wanted to ask if you had any suggestions. I don't want to have to go out and buy new clothes, and of course I want to stay in a healthy weight range. I'm eating much more chicken than potatoes (I basically eat a whole chicken in a day) because I know that carbs are usually culprits in weight gain. But people have also told me to eat enough fat if I'm eating mostly protein, so I've been eating the skin with my white meat. Lots of calories there. Obviously I can up my exercise output, but I'm just concerned about how healthy a diet this is (!) when I'm just eating mostly chicken with a tiny bit of potatoes and applesauce. Any suggestions?
Thanks so much!
Elizabeth
How to manage calories?
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Hi Elizabeth,
I can totally relate to the weight gain problem. Meat was never my mainstay, but now, I eat an abundance of chicken, and for me to change from white meat chicken to dark meat chicken, was huge. I do that just so I can get a little more fat, but I can't comfortably eat the skin. Before MC, I had always concentrated on fiber-like foods with a small amount of meat/chicken. Always watched my carb intake.
But, now, so many GF foods stem around starch, corn, rice, and many of the bars (which I do keep handy), are so full of carbs, that I find myself limited. Breads were always whole grain. Now, everything is white bread, whether I make it myself or buy it. Everything seems white, except for veggies, which I cook to death, and I don't know how many nutrients I'm getting from that.
It is really hard to limit fat and carbs on a GF diet, I am finding. I do love peanut butter/almond butter, and I also carry packets of almond butter in my purse. And, I wonder what will happen if and when I ever get fully well from this MC. Would I continue the habit of white bread, starches and high carb items that seem to be of comfort for my tummy right now, or can I change back to mostly raw veggies, like I used to do and lean meats such as white chicken meat? This is such a different way of eating, but I must say, comforting right now. I just hope I can give up these high carb foods and bar snacks that I seem to carry with me, just in case. But right now, getting well is priority, and something seems to be working, albeit, slow.
I remember Tex has always stated the first thing is to get well, then we can think about gradually adding other, more normal, foods to our diet. Maybe, as a change at dinner, you could just eat a bowl of Rice Chex(and nondairy milk) or something like that with a small amount of almond butter. The packets are just 90 calories each. Or a few nuts (walnuts or almonds) I favor peanuts, and get the kind without salt. I always keep Gatorade (low calorie) in the fridge for those D times. I always feel I need to replace potassium/salt, and bananas are handy for that also. I do eat about 3 bananas a day. There again, I feel guilty due to its high glycemic index.
It is really hard to balance all this, and I do a poor job of it, but I figure if I'm still alive by evening, I'll work on the next day, and the next, until I get well.
I can totally relate to this dilemma. Elizabeth, just get well first. It's easier on the brain!
garina
I can totally relate to the weight gain problem. Meat was never my mainstay, but now, I eat an abundance of chicken, and for me to change from white meat chicken to dark meat chicken, was huge. I do that just so I can get a little more fat, but I can't comfortably eat the skin. Before MC, I had always concentrated on fiber-like foods with a small amount of meat/chicken. Always watched my carb intake.
But, now, so many GF foods stem around starch, corn, rice, and many of the bars (which I do keep handy), are so full of carbs, that I find myself limited. Breads were always whole grain. Now, everything is white bread, whether I make it myself or buy it. Everything seems white, except for veggies, which I cook to death, and I don't know how many nutrients I'm getting from that.
It is really hard to limit fat and carbs on a GF diet, I am finding. I do love peanut butter/almond butter, and I also carry packets of almond butter in my purse. And, I wonder what will happen if and when I ever get fully well from this MC. Would I continue the habit of white bread, starches and high carb items that seem to be of comfort for my tummy right now, or can I change back to mostly raw veggies, like I used to do and lean meats such as white chicken meat? This is such a different way of eating, but I must say, comforting right now. I just hope I can give up these high carb foods and bar snacks that I seem to carry with me, just in case. But right now, getting well is priority, and something seems to be working, albeit, slow.
I remember Tex has always stated the first thing is to get well, then we can think about gradually adding other, more normal, foods to our diet. Maybe, as a change at dinner, you could just eat a bowl of Rice Chex(and nondairy milk) or something like that with a small amount of almond butter. The packets are just 90 calories each. Or a few nuts (walnuts or almonds) I favor peanuts, and get the kind without salt. I always keep Gatorade (low calorie) in the fridge for those D times. I always feel I need to replace potassium/salt, and bananas are handy for that also. I do eat about 3 bananas a day. There again, I feel guilty due to its high glycemic index.
It is really hard to balance all this, and I do a poor job of it, but I figure if I'm still alive by evening, I'll work on the next day, and the next, until I get well.
I can totally relate to this dilemma. Elizabeth, just get well first. It's easier on the brain!
garina
Elizabeth,
I found when I started feeling better that I didn't eat as much in each protein serving as I had when healing. Maybe you could gradually reduce your 'dosage' on the chicken, Elizabeth? Perhaps you needed it when flaring - I really do believe that protein is essential in crisis mode. I agree about making sure you have adequate fat, too.
I eat none of those GF products you mention, Garina. I eat very low carb, though I do eat some sweet potatoes, potatoes, winter squash, etc. I don't believe in low fat at all - I know we have to be careful not to overdo the oil when we're reacting, but I truly believe that fat is essential to health and healing. I don't think it's ever necessary to include 'empty calories,' but I am kind of hard core about stuff like that. My feeling is, when we're sick, we need our food to work on our behalf, more than ever.
I lost a lot of weight when first sick, gained some back, and now it's dropping again, very gradually. I'm probably between 125 and 129 now, at a little taller than 5'4" - a lot more than I weighed in college, but I was at the absolute bottom of the BMI scales for normal weight, back then.
I sometimes use fitday.com or nutritiondata.com to check out a couple of days of intake. It's never quite what I think it is. I don't have the fortitude to maintain that practice regularly, but it's revealing to give it a try from time to time...
I found when I started feeling better that I didn't eat as much in each protein serving as I had when healing. Maybe you could gradually reduce your 'dosage' on the chicken, Elizabeth? Perhaps you needed it when flaring - I really do believe that protein is essential in crisis mode. I agree about making sure you have adequate fat, too.
I eat none of those GF products you mention, Garina. I eat very low carb, though I do eat some sweet potatoes, potatoes, winter squash, etc. I don't believe in low fat at all - I know we have to be careful not to overdo the oil when we're reacting, but I truly believe that fat is essential to health and healing. I don't think it's ever necessary to include 'empty calories,' but I am kind of hard core about stuff like that. My feeling is, when we're sick, we need our food to work on our behalf, more than ever.
I lost a lot of weight when first sick, gained some back, and now it's dropping again, very gradually. I'm probably between 125 and 129 now, at a little taller than 5'4" - a lot more than I weighed in college, but I was at the absolute bottom of the BMI scales for normal weight, back then.
I sometimes use fitday.com or nutritiondata.com to check out a couple of days of intake. It's never quite what I think it is. I don't have the fortitude to maintain that practice regularly, but it's revealing to give it a try from time to time...
IMO, as we heal, our malabsorption problem will slowly fade away, and as that happens, it becomes easier to gain weight - but to counterbalance that, (if it becomes a problem), we can usually begin, (slowly), to add more veggies and fruit back into our diet, to bring the ration back to a more normal balance. Our body will usually let is know if we're trying to make those changes, (or increase the amounts), too quickly, and there's no point in trying to force it, because it has the final say. 
Tex
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Wow Sara! I am always "floored" when I see people, whose height is the same as mine, weighing very much less than I do, and I am not overweight. I have been at your current weight, and was totally emaciated. I am one of those people whose bones are really big and heavy. I used to be very worried (when I was young) about how much I weighed. I could never, ever wear less than a size 8 at my thinnest. My daughter, who is way taller than me, used to be a size 4. Now, after 3 kids, she is a size 6.