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Just because you spend a lot of time on the toilet, that does not mean you are not absorbing nutrients. It only takes a short time for digestion, like 30-60 minutes.  Dehydration, not malnutrition, is associated most with colectomy.

If you have something going on to interfere with digestion or cause protein loss (like Crohn's disease, UC, short bowel syndrome, or enzyme deficiency to name a few examples) you will gain weight.

Jan

Last edited by Jan Dollar

If you do not want to keep gaining weight, you need to eat less. Without your diseased colon your gut is more efficient in absorbing the nutrients from food. 

Eat less food (smaller portions), and you will not gain weight. You also will spend less time in the bathroom.

Some people have trouble gaining weight post op, but not all.

Jan

I'm not sure eating less is the only solution.  Our system has changed and I do believe it has become very efficient, however I also believe that it feels like it is starving due to eliminating with in an hour. So what to do? Well I have been eating less and less the last 15 yrs and I have very slowly gained. I wish I could figure out the "trick" to make my body believe I am not starving. Of course eliminating sugar and grains is very helpful. I have tried everything!  I would love to hear from more out there! There is more to our problem then just eating less. I truly believe that

The other part of the equation is exercise. It is true that of you restrict your calories too much, your body will perceive "famine" and just reduce your metabolism. You need to exercise daily to keep your metabolism up. 

I had to go through medical weight management to acheive signifigant loss. I still stuggle with it.

Jan

People's metabolism technically should have a set rate but that gets messed up with things like medication (cortisone is a major perturbator), illness, disease, sleeplessness (causes our hormones to go way out of wack and creates hunger), starvation-binging-starvation cycles that we get into due to our condition (surgery-recovery-surgery)...

Things that can ratchet up our metabolism are exercise (regular, sustained exercise like long walks, gentle climbing, swimming...), muscle mass (the more muscle you have the more calories you burn which is why men tend to burn more calories than women: leaner muscle mass), weight bearing exercises increase your muscle mass and help you to burn more calories long after the exercise is over, good regular sleeping patterns (difficult if you have an unruly pouch), a high protein/low carb diet (meaning less bread, pasta, cake, pastry, sugary products and unhealthy fats) with good lean proteins like fish, chicken and lean meats along with green vegetables (cooked well that can be very well tolerated by your pouch).

Unless you have a thyroid problem that can throw your metabolism off and prevent you from losing weight or another metabolic problem you should be able to control your weight by a mix of smaller portions, good quality proteins, increased exercise and muscle mass.

I tell everyone to start with 10 up/10 down...meaning just add 10% more physical activity in the beginning like walking 1/2hr 3xs week and reducing 10% of your food intake (lemon instead of oil on your salads, a baked potato instead of fried, apple sauce instead of apple pie...).

That gives you 20% more caloric burn and should help you to start to get control of your weight slowly...sudden fad diets or restrictive diets with throw your metabolism off and slow the works down...

There are no miracles. If it is cortisone weight then you need to restrict salt intake, if it 'normal weight' then start with 10/10 and work your way up slowly to 15/15...do it slowly and you will be surprised how your body reacts.

You need a long term, liveable solution.

Sharon

I feel your pain with the weight gain. I gained about 40-50lbs in the last 4-5 years. I have been on prednisone and other not helpful drugs so I blame myself for 50% of the problem. Exercise is not an option 90% of the time because of incontinence and pain in most of my joints / muscle. So without exercise you need to watch your diet. 

I know nutrition plays a role, but after reading several studies and doing weeks of research I learned that most of us with UC / CD have absorption problems. A simple nutrition blast at least once a day came make a world of difference. I purchased a nutri-bullet. I try to make a healthy shake every day. It helped but the weight is slooooooow to come off.  

Last edited by toiletcamper

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