Re: Nutrition and Fibromyalgia - longish

On Mar 27, 11:17�am, "Janey Pooh" <janep...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I strongly believe that good nutrition plays a crucial role in how bad
or how well we feel.  Eating a full diet with lots of calories from
protein and high density carbs is one of the ways I think you can
seriously help yourself feel better.

Several years ago I was seeing a Pain Specialist at this really fancy
clinic that specialized ONLY in the treatment of those with
Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue and other chronic pain issues.  The
doctor had Fibro herself and the whole clinic was different than any
other doctor's office I'd ever been in.  They definitely helped me - A
LOT.

Before every visit, I had to chart *everything* I ate or drank for 10
days, including calorie counts, grams of fat from protein and a couple
other categories I can't remember right now.

The waiting room of this clinic was darkened, because people with FMS
are sensitive to very bright light.  I was informed not to wear any
perfumes or heavy hairspray scents or anything, because we're also
sensitive to strong smells.

On every visit, I met with a nutritionist before I went in to see the
doctor.  We would go over my charting and she would tell me what she
wanted me to try to change for next time - a tiny bit at a time.
Like, she'd say, "For next time I'd like you to try to eat one more
serving of fruit or vegetables every three days - 1/2 a cup of
strawberries or something," or "I'd like you to increase your protein
intake by 5 grams every three days by next time."  Stuff like that.

Here's why . . .

The doctor put it quite simply - if you can lose 100 calories walking
a mile, it also TAKES 100 calories to have the energy to walk a mile.
Most females of middle age should be eating 2000 to 2500 calories per
day to have the energy to get through a normal day.  The average
person who came to her clinic with Fibromyalgia was eating around
**600** calories per day when they first started.  Six hundred
calories per day was the daily ration for the prisoners at Auschwitz.

She wanted us to eat MORE, but also eat *better* - with more of our
calories coming from protein and dense carbs like sweet potatoes and
carrots and heavy dark breads, and less from 'empty carbs' like potato
chips and Wonder Bread.  (No offense to Wonder Bread.  LOL)

The reason that people with Fibromyalgia tend to have low caloric
intake is - it's *hard*.  It's hard to go grocery shopping because it
takes a lot of energy to do a big shop and get lots of good food and
then put it away when you get home.  Just the thought of doing that
makes some people hurt more - because it's stressful and stress makes
us hurt more.

It's hard to cook good healthy meals two or preferably three times a
day because we have no energy and even thinking about what to cook is
stressful - and that stress brings on more pain.  So we often just
have a piece of toast or a cup of noodles or something like that (if
anything) for lunch, especially if we are alone.  We might have a
piece of leftover pizza and a pop, and that's lunch.  But there's not
*nearly* enough food energy in that lunch to make it through until
dinnertime.

Oh, yeah - dinnertime.  A whole 'nother kettle of fish.  Again we get
stressed about what to make, and by the time it's all done we're often
so fatigued that we don't feel like eating.  So we don't have nearly
enough food energy to make it to breakfast.

Breakfast?  What's that?  Most people with fibro (and most people in
general) don't eat a good, healthy, balanced breakfast - and they've
gone 12 hours or more without any food already.

When I first started at that clinic I was eating 1500 calories a day,
and the doctor thought that was really great - but she wanted me up to
2500 calories, bit by bit, slowly.  It's impossible for someone to
just up their caloric intake by 100s of calories a day - Bingo Bango
Bongo I'm so happy in the Congo.  It's too hard to get up the energy
to change everything about your life that fast, and you'd feel like
you were cramming in food.

So, you have to do it slowly, just like you have to do every other
change you want to make in your life if you have Fibro.  If you start
an exercise program, you have to start slow or it won't work.  If you
try meditation or some other relaxation technique, you have to start
slow or it won't work.  New medication?  Start slow or it probably
won't work.

Same with changing what and how you eat.  I refuse to call it "Your
Diet" because it sounds like you're "on a diet" and that makes people
feel, psychologically, like it's going to end at some point, and you
can go back to the way you used to be.  This is a lifetime change that
will help you feel better *longterm*.

I try to eat like I think my farming ancestors would have eaten - a
good, healthy breakfast before they went out to the fields to work for
the morning. (I'm on a porridge kick right now, with a piece of fruit
and a couple of pieces of cheese.)  Stop for lunch when the womenfolk
rang the lunch bell (LOL) and go have a hearty bowl of soup and a
sandwich or something like that.  Back out to the fields (only *I*
choose this time to re-fuel my BRAIN by having a nap) and then have a
good, healthy dinner with protein and lots of vegetables.

Of course I'm not perfect and I like to snack as much as anybody else,
and I'm sometimes too tired or sore or whatever and can't make a good
dinner.  In those circumstances I'm lucky enuff to have a good support
system in my husband and son, and they're both becoming quite good
cooks now too.  I love chocolate, but it's good for us.  ;o)  But I
don't eat much potato chips or anything like that at all anymore.

The reason I was recently called "The Resident Cook" is because I talk
about food and nutrition so much, and even post recipes a lot.  It's
because I think that both our bodies and our brains NEED food.  Good
food.  Eating well will help you feel better and eating poorly will
make you feel worse.

Take GOOD Care (and GOOD food ;o)

Jane

Janey,
I have been working with a nutritionist for about 2 years now. She
works with fibro, CFS and chronic pain patients too.
Everything you posted is exactly how I have been eating. She told me
that we had to get me eating like a "Farm Hand" use to.
She has found that many of the maladies of today are caused by the
processed foods most people eat. Some bodies can tolerate the
chemicals i
processed foods, but anyone with a challenged system will more than
likely have major health problems. Even the low fat foods have to
have chemicals in them to become low fat. I can really tell when I
CHEAT on my food regimine. My pain is much higher and energy is very
low.
Dana

.

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