Chenelle’s Chronic Life: Getting healthier and losing weight, one smoothie at a time

In a previous post, I talked about how through medications I have gained a lot of weight.

Throughout my entire life, I have always struggled with my weight. My weight problems are genetic.  My father’s side of family has always been on the heavier side. On my mother’s immediate side of the family, no one was obese.

My mother struggled with her weight in her later years because of the long-term prednisone use, but she never had weight issues in her younger years.

My father always struggled with weight his entire life. He would tell me stories about his weight going up and down throughout his life. Before I started my weight loss journey, my father had lost 100 pounds by simply changing his eating habits and exercising. It inspired me to finally get all the weight off that I wanted. About two years ago, I started my weight loss journey and by the end of 2015, I had lost 60 pounds. In January 2016, my doctor, wanting to treat my energy levels, put me on an anti-anxiety medication to give me more energy. I never really been a person to look at the side effects, only the serious ones. Unfortunately, even though my doctor knew my weight loss journey, prescribed me this medication without the warning that it can make you gain weight. It was also my fault for not looking.

The medicine started making me feel absolutely better, but within one month’s time, I started to realize I was gaining weight.

At first, I thought it was because I had slipped off the gym a little being consumed with grad school and I had recently got into a relationship. I started to pick up the pace again in the gym. I didn’t gain but I didn’t lose either. After several months went by and increased visits to the doctor’s because of my sinuses, the weight kept creeping on. My doctor seemingly forgot that I had lost 60 pounds and said to me “so what are we going to do about the weight”. I was frustrated because I was doing everything I could. At that point it had been two years since I’ve had red meat or pork. I do not drink soda and when I want a taste of juice, I get a bottle of water with a juice packet (those 5 calorie packets). I don’t eat bread and when I rarely do, it’s whole grain. I was exercising two-three times a week and I looked at him with anger when he said “so what are we going to do”. The things I told him, I felt were going in one ear and out the other. I knew in the back of his mind that I was eating chitlins, pasta, and fried foods everyday. I just walked out the doctor’s office and said I’m just going to go harder.

Shortly after in August 2016, I had a routine upper endoscopy and colonoscopy. Days after the procedure, I started to feel an unbearable pain in my stomach. The doctor said that it was relatively normal to feel the pain a few days after the procedure, but the pain started to persist well after a week. By the time September came, I feel into a deep depression.

From the pain in my stomach and a recent doctor’s visit, I realized I gained most of my weight back. I went back to the primary doctor and I literally started crying in the office. I said to him, I am doing everything and my weight keeps going up and up. I had literally gained 7 pounds in one week while exercising!

Though there are many challenges with lupus, one year after my diagnosis, I had my weight under control. The next year, it was all back on. The doctor seen my frustration, looked at my medications I was taking, and said “oh yes, this medicine can make you gain weight”. He put his head down. He immediately took me off the medication and I lost 15 pounds by the end of 2016.

And well after that, it has been a stand still. With the constant pain in my stomach and being on prednisone more than 4 times this year, it has been rough to get the weight off. I felt like I was at my last end and was just going to give up.

After speaking with several health and fitness professionals, I started to try the smoothie route. I make my own homemade smoothies, no self-made products. I am trying to drink a smoothie for breakfast and then gradually move to  breakfast and lunch, and for my dinner a chicken or fish meal with vegetables. The ingredients I put in my smoothie are:

• ginger
• cherries
• raspberries
• strawberries
• almond milk
• and a hint of honey

Over the years, my weight has always been a challenge. Although I was athletic as a child, I still was never the “skinny” girl. Throughout the years,  I’ve always seemed to manage when my weight got too much out of hand. I will honestly say as I’m typing this today, I am the biggest I have ever been. It has become depressing and a challenge. But I know I got this, one smoothie at a time. This week I have already lost 5 pounds.

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