How do I lose the belly weight post-Pred?

I meant to add something. I went to a Sport ND one time who did a body composition on me (a Bod Pod) and was amazed at my level of lean muscle mass. But I had the belly. She said even if I went into a "normal/healthy" weight range, that my belly would not go away. It's just the way some people are designed. My mom weighed like 95 pounds and had a little belly fat. Nowhere else but there. Get yourself to a healthy weight but a flat stomach may never come. The fact that you had a BMI of 16 and still stored fat there kind of indicates the same.

Weight training can help you lose any weight that you might have. There are some exercises classes you can take that are group weight training (look for things called "body shape" or something similar). They typically lift light weights for higher reps, so you won't need to worry about herniation as much. Be more worried about herniation with sit-ups. Try planks and other "non-crunching" ab exercises instead.

I am having the same problem... In April last year I had a really bad flare where the doctor told me I might die due to toxic megacolon and was put on 80 mg of IV pared for 10 days and then 50 mg of pred reduced after that.. I am in my 14 th year of uc and each time I have a flare I am finding it harder and harder to lose the pred weight... Some people are lucky that they are loosing it But I'm finding it hard too. I exercise and watch what I eat but it isn't working... I walk 3ks and have cut sugars, takeaway, carbs etc down to very limited and am still finding it hard.
My doctor has told me my weight is due to the high steroid use for long periods of time and that the steroids are causing me to retain fluid also.
He is now sending me to a specialist to have my kidneys etc checked as he thinks the steroids use has caused so many other issues...
Oh I put on 7 nearly 8 kilos whilst on the pred and have been off it now since sep 2013 and have not lost one inch of weight...

Okay guys, I have finally read all your posts and checked out all the links - and now I'm knackered! >_>

The take-home messages I got are:

- Forget a flat stomach; it ain't happening
- Soy is looking for somebody to go hiking with
- Mixture of cardio/weight training
- Bodyrock scared me away
- Try Lugol iodine
- Do stretching before exercise

@delta - The use of iodine appears to be controversial in autoimmune thryoid disase. More info here.

@sheree - I feel your pain :-/ Not sure how long you've been taking steroids for, but they will ruin your health over the long term. The only way I was able to get off steroids was surgery. I'd consider the possibility, especially if you can have a j-pouch.

Anyways, I've decided not to do anything about my diet for the time-being. I can't face two boring things at once, so I'll just start with one and optimistically hope that the other will follow in due course. I'm going to try to work out an exercise plan over the next few days; watch this space... >.>

we're rootin for ya nice

notsosicklygirl said...
NO CARBS and cardio has to get you there!!! My problem is that I have no discipline to stop carbs.

So, no lemon and sugar pancakes then? <_<.

We had Shrove Tuesday a month early, 'cos my mum wanted to use up some lemons: so nice.

soystud said...
we're rootin for ya nice

I walked to the doctor's! :p

I'm looking up local gyms/sports centres... :-/

No, you're right. Or, rather, that's exactly what the article says: selenium in particular seems to be the culprit.

"I walked to the doctor's! :p "

awesome nice !

I was gonna go for a hike today but with the wind chill it's only about 10 degrees, so I just walked around the pasture with the dogs for about 20 minutes - I dug out my cold weather stuff so tomorrow i'll be good to go - I'm shooting for about an hour or so - we'll see -

dang it's cold tho !

I walked to the doctor's again! :p

(To get a blood test done. It was too cold and windy for me to enjoy the walk, unfortunately. I don't mind cold, but wind is just annoying tbh.)

@Callah - I would not have known that; thanks for the info.

One thing the recent walks have shown me is how unfit I am. In 2011 I was a member of a walking group and I think I was fitter then than now :-/ Eventually I was discharged because the Crohn's caught up with me. Even though the group only had about 5 people (it was a council-run initiative), the woman who run it carped about me missing sessions - excuse me, love, I had turned up regularly when I was still well enough to and not in hospital because my colon was trying to kill me.

Anyway, a different walking group might be a good place to start.

Debating what to do beyond walking though; whether to join a gym or just find stuff to do at home. The latter is a lot cheaper, provided I don't need any expensive gear.