Body shape poll

Why don't you do the ectomorph, mesomorph, endomorph options (body type) as well....that will help a lot since some body types are naturally prone to be thin as well as prone to certain diseases.

I'm an ectomorph...5'8"...always been thin and have become a bit "thicker" during my middle age. I do covet it, however...

During the years of my first flare until diagnosis (in my early 30's) I went from about 128 down to 109 pounds. I steadly increased to around 135 - 140 over the years. From age 49, my weight increased to 160 and I'm now down to 150ish at age 53.

I can afford to lose a few more pounds and exercise more to produce more tone and strength.

Add body type in your poll.....

quincy

There isn't a place for me in the poll. My case is "I am larger now than I used to be." Or "I currently am overweight but never used to be". :(

I'd be interested to see how relative body weight correlates with location of UC and frequency of flares. It seems to me that weight loss (or poor weight gain) might be related to more time in flares with decreased transit time, and/or to more involvement of the upper colon.

My son seems to get a flare every time there is pressure at work. He was diagnosed at 13 it went away and did not come back till about 23 with a new stressful job. Thereafter 4-5 times when things get stressful. He is a chronic workaholic. The advice to change job is not an option for him.

I've always been underweight. I'm 5 ft and 84 lbs. Last summer before/when I was diagnosed, I lost 12 lbs. But after starting medication, I regained the weight in 6 months! It was very exciting. (But I still look scrawny.)

i put myself in the always overweight, but that's not true.. it was only true after i was diagnosed and put on pred and stuff.... there wasn't really an option of used to be thin now overweight

I was always pretty much under weight till I hit 50 now im over weight but Im 5'8 so its not to bad. about 150 now.

I have always been overweight... since I was a baby! Even with UC, I remain overweight. I lose weight when I diet... and I actually lost weight during my pregnancy... but I still remain overweight. I rarely lose more than a couple of pounds during a flare.

I asked my GI about this once. He said that not all IBDers are skinny and that many with mild cases do not struggle with weight loss because they get all the nutrients they need. I remember saying to him... if I have to have this lousy disease, can't I at least be thin? ;)

severin- i don't think that "natural" body weight makes sense to some of us. Our bodies change naturally anyway. I was 19 when dx'd so i wasn't fully developed when pred came into the picture. I'm now 30. UC or not my body would have gone through a lot of changes. The meds just make it worse.

I have had UC for over ten years and in that time have been every weight possible. As a kid i was always underweight. Teachers called my parents thinking i was anorexic. i was about 5'8" and 100 lbs. but my family was always overweight. Everyone of them on both sides. So genetically I'm predisposed to being overweight.

I think it depends on the age you were dx'd and the meds you have been on. I don't believe i have an "average natural weight" becuase my body has never been allowed to naturally do anything due to pred. Women reach their "natural" body weight in there twenties. Most of mine was spen on steroids.

Hopefully some day i will be able to answer this question but becuase of this DD and all the meds I don't think i will ever know my "natural" body type. I just have to deal with what I have.

I was thin ONLY the first year I was diagnosed (I lost 30 lbs in two weeks). But after that first year, I was always as average as it gets. After menopause I started gaining and I am about 25 lbs over what I want to be.

I was lucky that I didn't get moonface or gain weight no prednisone. But I can sympathize with all of those that gained a lot of weight, even though they did nothing to cause it. That would suck. :(

I've been naturally thin. After my stint on pred in 2006, I developed a "thicker waste" that I haven't been able to shed. So, now after losing some weight with this flare, I'm back to what I was then - but my body shape is still thicker in the waste than I have been in the past - but it seems to work okay and I'm pretty okay with it. It seems every time I get ready to start toning up, I flare again...

So, I don't know what to answer. I've been thicker for two years now, but am not overweight according to charts...