Does anyone else turn to eating junk food thinking that the sugar boost will stop you feeling so exhausted ?
I have put on weight over the last year, turning to food both as comfort eating and in the vain hope that it will give me more energy… I’ve read all the advice re ensuring you eat a healthy balanced diet etc etc but I get so exhausted I just don’t find I am able to shop and prepare good food and/or want to eat it, so I reach for the chocolate bars and biscuits.
I know it is not going to give me ‘real’ energy but it is a habit now which I just don’t seem to be able to break.
Does anyone else do the same and/or have any advice of how to break the habit.
I have recently got a puppy, thinking this would give me a purpose in life and the incentive to walk more and in turn hopefully stop the weight piling on further… but so far I am failing badly in terms of being able to cope with the puppy (its a collie x labrador) and although I walk her twice a day, I am exhausted after 20 minutes walk. I have always wanted to get a dog for companionship, my partner would only agree if we got as he put it ‘a real dog’ (I wanted a shetland sheepdog) I would happily have got a rescue dog but he said it had to be a puppy… so we have ended up with a very demanding and energetic (but lovely) puppy which I am struggling to cope with !!!
My previous dog was a spaniel. I began to struggle to give her decent walks. I was exhausted and she was still raring to go. I decided to invest in a scooter. Suddenly I could go further and faster – it was the perfect solution. Admittedly it won’t do anything to help with your weight problem but it will help with an energetic dog.
I found that I once more looked forward to going out and could take pleasure in “walking” the dog because I wasn’t wiped out for the rest of the day. I have a wee dog now and although he doesn’t need anything like the same amount of exercise I still take him out with my scooter most days.
I can relate to some of what you’re saying. Although I don’t usually crave junk when I’m tired, I often find I want to eat more carbohydrates for the energy - things like more pasta & rice.
Eating more protein will help you feel fuller, so might help stop the cravings. A friend of mine is a very keen cyclist and is on a low carb/high fat (LCHF) diet. He has no more than 50g of carbs a day (which is pretty extreme for a LCHF diet - 130g is more common), and 100g (I think) of fat. He’s lost quite a bit of weight doing this, even though it sounds counter-intuitive to lose weight when having so much more fat. But the idea behind it is that the body can learn to get it’s energy by burning the calories from the fat rather than carbs, so it will then burn off the excess fat you have in your body.
And as well as losing weight, he has much more energy throughout the day. He got more tired at first while his body got used to it, but now he has no highs & lows like he used to have. I wonder if part of the reason for that is that he’ll be eating hardly any gluten. But if you google LCHF diet you’ll find out more.
In terms of managing the fatigue, what I always do is cook extra, then have the leftovers for tea the next day. And sometimes I’llcook a big pot of something like a curry or chilli, then divide it into portions & freeze them. If I can Ialso chop in advance, so I’m not having to chop & cook all in one go. Or using bags of stir-fry veg from the supermarket is another easy option.
Hope you get some good energy though. And sorry you couldn’t get a sheltie, they’re gorgeous woofs!
Love the reply about the scooter … I must admit, my daughter (who has cerebral palsy) uses an electric wheelchair all the time and I’m going to visit her soon so I might pinch her chair when she is in bed and see how Amber (thats my dog) gets on with the walking with me while in the wheelchair !
Also thanks for reply re diet LCHF- I will definitely look into this . I did try the Lighter Life diet a couple of years ago which works along the idea of no carbs and just having sachets 4 times a day - it did work and I lost 1 1/2 stone but it was expensive to follow and I couldn’t stick to it 100% for more than a month.
I think my main problem is my mind set, I have got to get myself more positive about my life and not get dragged down by everything (not just the MS) and then I think I will get back on track re food - but it is easier said than done when I feel low, stressed and not in control of my body or life !!! hey ho I guess I’m no different to many others …so I just need to kick myself up the bum and hopefully get myself to a better place.
Thanks again, I am finding this forum site very helpful - it is lovely to know that there are people who do understand and who take the time to try and help me by giving me ideas and support.
I eat the lowcarb/high fat diet as well and my fatigue is well controlled - my hunger for carbs has disappeared. I find coconut oil to really help - it is satisfying and makes you feel full.
I cheat occasionally and crave sugar and bread after for a couple of days.
It’s not an easy diet to set up - you need to buy a load of stuff like almond flour, desiccated coconut, coconut oil, chia seeds (great for the gut) flax seeds (also great for the gut!) and psyllium husks (apparently great for the gut, but I keep forgetting to buy them).
I eat full-fat Greek Yoghourt, kefir, butter, cream and have an ace recipe for apple crumble!
I know that when I’m very fatigued, my body lies to me. It tells me it wants food, carbs, sugar, ice cream.
I can definitely recommend this diet for people like me who are at risk of type 2 diabetes.
We’re having a new kitchen fitted and have been living on takeaways. The boys love it, but all I’ve been eating is salad, chips and fruit and I feel deprived. I’m craving a decent meal - veggies with meat or fish. Don 't think it’s given me any more energy, feel just the same, although mentally I feel like I’m not doing myself any good. Heather
Totally agree with this, looking back to when my symptoms started flaring up, I was starting to pump up with junk food and diet coke/coffee to keep myself as awake and ficussed as I could.
Now that I am tracking my “nuances” there is a definite correlation between sugar consumption and relapse.
I can relate to your post. I have recently been on a phased return to work in the afternoons and have been so tired I have been eating chocolate before going and during to keep me awake. Then I come home eat tea (craving carbs as I am so tired) and lie down all evening. Unsurprisingly I am putting on weight. Before going back to work but after being well enough to do so I was starting to exercise again and feeling better, but now I am so fatigued am am just useless and spend all morning in bed too. It’s a vicious circle of bad eating and sleep for me.