Obesity and faith

[rapunzel77]

My husband and I have struggled with our weight for years. I did something to me knee shortly after I got married about 4 years ago and the pain wouldn’t go away. I asked the doctor what is wrong with my knee all she said was that they were pissed off because of the weight and she told me to get exercise, so I did. I joined a health club. I exercised everyday after work. I also went on a diet. My husband and I both did. We started to only get whole grains, fruits, vegetables, etc even though it cost us much more than we probably could afford. We both lost weight. I lost 25 pounds. Then, I plateaued. No matter how much exercise I was getting and no matter how much of the right food I was eating, I wasn’t getting any thinner and to make matters worse, my knees felt much worse as well as my arms after exercising so much. I was discouraged and in lots of pain. Then, I wasn’t able to get to the health club do to a change in transportation and now…I have gained all the weight back. I’m still trying to eat better, that is the healthier stuff but it isn’t making my weight go down. I honestly gave up . It is very discouraging.

 

[jwashu]

Isn’t gluttony one of the seven deadly sins? It could be a faith/moral issue.

Personally, I think some parents of obese children should be prosecuted for abuse. Not all, but some. Because with some people, it really is just neglect of their parental responsibilities.

So are you going to be the appointed judge and jury? I think assuming that people who are overweight or even obese are that way because they are gluttons. I know you said some but not all however your statment is the perception of many people.

I have 4 sons, my oldest in 9 years old, 5’4" tall and 150 lbs… he is overweight but not bad for his height and build. Out of the 4 boys he eats less, especially less sweets, than any of the others by a long shot and they are all thin. He eats a very balanced diet of vegtables, fruits, and mostly lean meat and fish… however I’m overweight, if you saw just the two of us would you judge that we both overate? and that perhaps someone should call scan, that I might not be a good parent or provide proper nutrition and activities for my kids? Would you know from afar I had at one time lost 180 lbs and kept it off for 7 years by working out 6 days a week but gained it back working numerous hours to provide for my growing family? No, you would know none of these things.

My point is not about me at all, the point is that there is no way to know.

It’s kind of like the Protestant minister who said parents should hit their sons if they showed any signs of being effeminate to keep them from being gay. Not only was he promoting child abuse but he obviously dosen’t realize that there are a lot of gay men are probably more masculine than he is… it’s not a predictor, it’s a stereotype. Same thing with gluttony and being fat…

I think they key is the old notion of not judging a book by it’s cover…

Joe

 

[Cat]

My husband and I have struggled with our weight for years. I did something to me knee shortly after I got married about 4 years ago and the pain wouldn’t go away. I asked the doctor what is wrong with my knee all she said was that they were pissed off because of the weight and she told me to get exercise, so I did. I joined a health club. I exercised everyday after work. I also went on a diet. My husband and I both did. We started to only get whole grains, fruits, vegetables, etc even though it cost us much more than we probably could afford. We both lost weight. I lost 25 pounds. Then, I plateaued. No matter how much exercise I was getting and no matter how much of the right food I was eating, I wasn’t getting any thinner and to make matters worse, my knees felt much worse as well as my arms after exercising so much. I was discouraged and in lots of pain. Then, I wasn’t able to get to the health club do to a change in transportation and now…I have gained all the weight back. I’m still trying to eat better, that is the healthier stuff but it isn’t making my weight go down. I honestly gave up . It is very discouraging.

Please have your knee evaluated by a competent physician. Please don’t wait around.

I hope this story, MY story, helps you to get going on this.

I did the same thing you’re doing. I had the strong impression from doctors that the reason my foot hurt was because I was fat, and that if I would only lose weight, the pain would go away.

So I tried and tried, and I walked and walked and did dance classes and elliptical workouts and exercise videos–no appreciable weight loss, and my foot hurt even more.

Eventually my foot hurt so badly that I couldn’t put weight on it. In 2007, I was leaving work by 1:30 p.m. (I’m supposed to work 7:00 am. - 3:30 p.m.) because I couldn’t put any weight on the foot, which made me kind of useless at work. I would go home from work, grab a frozen towel, and sit on the sofa for a few hours with my foot elevated and iced, until the pain went away enough for me to be able to limp around the house. We usually went out for dinner because I couldn’t stand long enough to be able to prepare any kind of meal, and I couldn’t clean up after the meal, and my poor husband didn’t have the time to do all this.

At this point, I was still trying to exercise. I had giving up walking outdoors because the foot was so unreliable I was afraid I would fall. But I joined a gym and faithfully did 20-40 minutes a day of elliptical workout.

Lost no weight, and hurt so much that I sometimes couldn’t drive myself home.

Meanwhile limping on my right foot was putting all kinds of pressure on my left knee, but I didn’t realize that at the time. More later about the effects of this.

FINALLY, a good doctor in my parish (I had just become Catholic) told me that I should come and see her, so I did. She did extensive testing (X-rays, followed by MRIs), and that’s when I found out that for years, my posterior tibialis tendon had been broken.

The doctor had recognized this because SHE had the same type of injury (although her tendon was merely torn, not broken), even though she was thin and athletic and about 15 years younger than me. But her feet were very flat, and that’s what had caused her injury.

I had been walking around without ANY support for the arch in my foot other than whatever shoe I happened to be wearing at the time, which usually was a sandal, since I couldn’t find any shoes that I wear that didn’t give me blisters on my toe. (Because my arch was collapsed, my foot was turning inward, so my weight was resting on my big toe, and this meant that the toe took all the weight and ended up getting blistered from the friction of the shoe and the pressure of the pavement/floor).

Also it turns out that the WORST THING I could have done is walk on the foot or put weight on it (e.g., elliptical workout), since that just made the arch break down even more.

So much for trying to lose weight.

(continued next post)

 

[Cat]

(continued from last post–sorry for delay CAF had computer problems last evening!)

By waiting and waiting to lose weight so that my foot would stop hurting, and continuing to walk and do workouts on it, I had allowed the arch to completely collapse, and now my poor foot was completely deformed. It would take a complete construction job to even begin to repair the damage, and the doctor would make no promises about what the results would be.

But if I didn’t get the foot repaired, I would not be walking on the foot in a few years, but instead, I would be walking on the inside of my lower leg–try doing that. Talk about looking like Igor.

The doctor told me that she didn’t see how I had been able to walk without screaming in pain, let alone do an elliptical workout. She said that must I have a very high threshold of pain.

The surgery to repair all this damage took five hours. I was sick for a week from all the anesthia.

I was completely off the foot for three months, and in the fourth month, I started physical therapy. After four months, I was able to return to work with a crutch.

But it took me more than a year before I was able to do even a short walk around the park because my muscles were so weak, and the foot was incredibly weak and stiff. I used a crutch for almost two years. I couldn’t stand long enough to take a shower, so I showered sitting on an orthopedic chair.

I had to do six months of physical therapy (three times a week) on the foot, and then another six months of physical therapy (three times a week) on my knee.

You see, that poor knee developed arthritis because my limping and the extra weight had placed an extra burden on it.

Injury to the posterior tibialis tendon is the most common injury of overweight women in their 40s who also have flat feet.

IF you find that you can no longer walk on your tippy toes, be extremely suspicious that perhaps you have either torn or broken your posterior tibialis.

As for how I am now–I’m super! I have lost 80 pounds since the surgery (pay attention, everyone–that’s been FIVE YEARS AGO! That means that I have lost approximately 13 pounds a year, or ONE POUND PER MONTH! I’ve done weight loss, and I’m doing weight loss the way all the doctors tell you to do weight loss–very, very slowly. Bob and Jillian would be horrified, but you know something–what I’m doing WORKS! Fast weight loss is a myth.)

I can easily walk two or three miles outdoors and I do so several times a week (while praying a Rosary).

I also do about 40 minutes of pedaling a recumbent bike. I don’t do the elliptical any more because it does more harm than good for me. I wish I could get back to it, but I enjoy the pedaling and the walking.

In 2009, I had a second surgery on my other foot when that posterior tibialis broke, but since the foot hadn’t been deformed, the surgery only took an hour and was done as “wakeful sleep surgery,” which didn’t make me sick. I was off work for only three weeks, and only had a few months of physical therapy. The doctor was able to do a much simpler surgery in which she placed an orthotic inside of my ankle to keep the tendon from ever breaking again. I never have any pain from this foot. It’s strong and flexible and kind of pretty compared to the other foot, which looks like a monstrosity–but at least I have a foot. I’m not complaining at all!

That foot is still painful at times, especially during damp weather. It is very stiff and inflexible, and three of the toes are numb (which makes playing the pipe organ a challenge, but my daughter, a physical therapist, says that playing those pedals is excellent therapy for my foot!). Again, not complaining–I’m so glad to have a foot, and it never hurts so bad that I have to leave work early, or sit on a sofa with ice.

It’s so NICE to be thinner (I’m still at 190, so I have some weight to lose), more active, and healthier–my lab results are better than at any time in my entire life! My cholesterol is well below 200, and my lipid ratio is perfect. My triglycerides are way low, and all the other labs are amazing, the labs of a 20-something!

rapunzel77 and anyone else reading this, PLEASE do not assume that you hurt because you are overweight. GET your pain checked out. If the doctor gives you the run-around and tells you to lose weight to ease your pain, go to another doctor and keep going until you find a doctor who will stop blaming your aches and pains on weight.

It’s a viscious circle–you need to move to lose weight, but if you hurt, you won’t move, and you WILL eat (because food is comforting).

So you need to find out WHY you hurt, get if fixed, and then you will eventually be able to move and start getting healthier, and that will motivate you to begin fixing the problems you have with food.

So PLEASE, PLEASE don’t wait! Get moving and get a doctor who will help you instead of telling you something that you already know. You’ll be so glad that you did!

 

[MissRose73]

I am a larger woman and also a life long Catholic. I’ve struggled with my weight and eating since I started going to university a few months out of high school. I worked in a fast food place where you got a free meal each time you worked (which worked well for me at the time coming to work after classes or going to work then class after with no time to go home to eat decently), and the healthy options tasted like cardboard back then so naturally it was the less healthy options.

I will have to seek out a doctor that can help me out regarding my weight. Past doctors have just tried to put me on diets/exercise regiments and give me prescription weight loss medicines which did not work at all. I do have issues with my feet, sometime my back, and also my knees due to various injuries like falls and tumbles.

My mother probably thinks I am a glutton and stuff, and tries to dictate to me how I will lose the weight in terms of what I consume & how to exercise. She has never been large in her life. She tries to do the same for other family members like my father and nearly 13 year old nephew who are also overweight. Anytime she sees something about weight on tv or other forms of mass media, she HAS to tell me about it. Tuning her out is very difficult.

I know I am not perfect regarding my weight & it will be a struggle for me for life. But its made me more mindful of other people’s struggles that may not be visible to the naked eye. Most people think I eat a lot, that’s the cause of my weight issues. Actually, I’ve reduced my overall portions but trying to reduce my intakes of fats, sugars, and salts are my issues, as we must have bits of those things in our diets but not in large quantities.

 

[Debora123]

I doubt anyone means to “bash” anyone else, and especially not the very poor or those with the sort of health problems which make losing weight difficult.

That said, there are plenty of things the rest of us can do:

-First off, you can simply monitor your calories, and then cut back. Even if you only eat cookies (God forbid), you can still go from 2500 cal of cookies a day to 1800 cal of cookies a day.
-Second, if you have time to watch tv, you have time to exercise. There are a ton of free online workout videos, check youtube, google videos, etc.
-Third, drink water! It’s practically free, and it’s one of the best things for losing weight!
-Finally, if at all possible, cut back on eating out. Sure it requires more work and planning, but restaurant food is usually more expensive and/or more calories.

There really is no “secret” to losing weight. You have to burn more calories each day than you take in.

Eat less, eat healthier, and don’t sit on your butt!

One of my personal rules is that I never EVER drink anything that is not water. I don’t drink soda, I don’t drink coffee, I don’t even drink juice. I don’t think people realize how much of an impact it makes to simply drink nothing but water… and it’s so easy!

I also haven’t had McDonalds and Burger King type food in like 10 years. Yuck!

One last thing - after you have dinner, DO NOT sit/lay down and watch TV. Go for a short walk. Or if you can’t, try cleaning the house. Even the simple things can go a looong way.

 

[MrsFlapjack]

Reading through this thread has been really eye opening. I will definitely make more of an effort to see through an obese person’s eyes.

Obesity is an issue that does bother me a lot though. I have been in my normal weight range my entire life, but my husband is obese. He was about 20 lbs. overweight when we got married but over the past 13 years, he has gained 60 more pounds. He takes more meds than a lot of older people that I know, and has all the health problems associated with obesity. We are expecting our 6th child and it has always bothered me that he makes no attempt to try and lose weight. Doesn’t he want to see his kids grow up? Doesn’t he realize that if obesity destroys his health, we will be doomed financially and emotionally? He just doesn’t seem to care, and it has hurt our marriage.

I tried for two years to get him to lose weight. When I cooked dinner, I made a meal for the kids and made a seperate, healthier meal for him. I also bought Healthy Choice meals for him to take to work for lunch. Did he lose weight? No! He gained more weight over those two years. Why? Because he goes out and eats with his buddies at work all the time. Eventually, I gave up.

He just doesn’t think about how many calories he is consuming when he eats. It’s not uncommon for him to eat an entire package of smoked sausage for dinner, or three quarters of a large pizza. I will think to myself,“Do you realize you just ate 2,300 hundred calories for dinner?”, but I don’t want to make him angry so I keep it to myself. Sometimes in the middle of the night, he will say his blood sugar is too low and go eat half a carton of ice cream. I realize he needs to get his blood sugar up, but those calories count too! Does he have to eat 1,500 calories in ice cream to get his blood sugar up?

I fear the only thing that will motivate him to lose weight is a health scare. Getting a Dr. to look him in the eyes and say,“You will die if you don’t lose weight.” But I will try to look at it more from his point of view.

 

[Cat]

Reading through this thread has been really eye opening. I will definitely make more of an effort to see through an obese person’s eyes.

Obesity is an issue that does bother me a lot though. I have been in my normal weight range my entire life, but my husband is obese. He was about 20 lbs. overweight when we got married but over the past 13 years, he has gained 60 more pounds. He takes more meds than a lot of older people that I know, and has all the health problems associated with obesity. We are expecting our 6th child and it has always bothered me that he makes no attempt to try and lose weight. Doesn’t he want to see his kids grow up? Doesn’t he realize that if obesity destroys his health, we will be doomed financially and emotionally? He just doesn’t seem to care, and it has hurt our marriage.

I tried for two years to get him to lose weight. When I cooked dinner, I made a meal for the kids and made a seperate, healthier meal for him. I also bought Healthy Choice meals for him to take to work for lunch. Did he lose weight? No! He gained more weight over those two years. Why? Because he goes out and eats with his buddies at work all the time. Eventually, I gave up.

He just doesn’t think about how many calories he is consuming when he eats. It’s not uncommon for him to eat an entire package of smoked sausage for dinner, or three quarters of a large pizza. I will think to myself,“Do you realize you just ate 2,300 hundred calories for dinner?”, but I don’t want to make him angry so I keep it to myself. Sometimes in the middle of the night, he will say his blood sugar is too low and go eat half a carton of ice cream. I realize he needs to get his blood sugar up, but those calories count too! Does he have to eat 1,500 calories in ice cream to get his blood sugar up?

I fear the only thing that will motivate him to lose weight is a health scare. Getting a Dr. to look him in the eyes and say,“You will die if you don’t lose weight.” But I will try to look at it more from his point of view.

Doctors are being urged by the medical profession to take a more aggressive approach with their overweight or obese patients.

The problem is, for a lot of overweight or obese people, the “death scare” approach just piles on more stress, and that causes them to eat even more. Doctors know this, and so they are hesitant to look someone in the eye and tell them “You will die if you don’t lose weight.”

I don’t know if this will help or not, but if your husband is into watching TV, see if you can get him interested in The Biggest Loser. There are other weight loss shows on various cable networks, too, but since we don’t have cable, this is the only one we’ve watched regularly.

It has its flaws, but for the most part, it is very motivating, and it is very entertaining. I would say that BL is responsible for helping both me and my husband stick with trying to become more healthy in our eating and exercise habits.

Perhaps if you and your husband get interested in Biggest Loser, he will be able to face what he surely knows about his own health and begin taking steps to get healthier.

The BL cookbooks are awesome, BTW. The pizza recipe is really good.

BTW, those Healthy Choice and other frozen meals are wretched. I would encourage you to stay away from stuff like that for your husband. The meals are so small (usually only 300 calories) that he probably would need four or five of them to feel full, and that of course defeats the purpose. Also, the servings of veges with these meals is so miniscule. And many of these meals contain huge amounts of salt to make them palatable. Just stick with real food–there are ways that a person who is trying to lose weight can eat gigantic amounts of food and still consume 300 calories; e.g., by eating a ton of vegetables (yummy!), or eating a huge salad (with a very low calorie dressing such as a vinagrette). I actually have a BL recipe for cabbage casserole, in which cabbage is used instead of pasta or potatoes–it makes a huge 13X9 inch casserole, but the entire casserole is only 1200 calories (so one serving is only a few hundred calories).

Best wishes to you and your family, and I hope your husband finds his way soon.

 

[mellowcalico]

I know my doctors are being more aggressive about weight. They told me to lose 20 pounds to help my knee… the problem is, I was losing weight (I was steadily losing about 4-5 pounds a month) when I injured my knee and now NOT being able to exercise (well) is hampering my weight loss. I really can’t cut food more without making my body go into starvation mode. But when they tell me to lose weight I feel like saying, “what do you think I’ve been doing? It was during exercise to lose weight that I hurt my knee in the first place!” But to be fair to them, I am a new patient and they don’t know that I’ve already lost more than 20 pounds since Thanksgiving.

I am back to exercising a little, just not at the same intensity as before. Luckily it’s keeping me in a “holding pattern” and it looks like I stopped that limited gaining (the swelling in my knee is down too, so I am wondering if what another poster said about my weight gain being fluid around my knee being true).

Interesting about only drinking water… I only drink water and tea (but I don’t put anything in my tea so it’s kind of like dirty water… well, hot dirty water, lol. I can see where putting sugar or even artificial sweetener might change things as far as weight loss go).

I do eat at McDonalds though… I love their southwest grilled chicken salads for the price. It only has 230 calories (I use the lime as dressing, but sometimes I add half the dressing they give you which is only another 50 calories). Although since I am doing Weight Watchers, it’s the points that count and a salad (grilled) at McD’s is 8 points–not too bad for a meal since I get 29 points a day). Points are based off of carbs, fat, protein, fiber… and calories.