When I was weighed the first day at the hospital, I was only 109lbs. I was severely underweight. It’s not like I starved myself, I wasn’t even on a diet. I worked a job that required walking for 12 hours a day, where we could not sit, eat, or have a lunch break. My food intake was scraps from the restaurant I was working at and alcohol after my shift. At the restaurant, when food became “bad” (food taken back to the kitchen and sat unwanted), we waitresses would pick at the dish like scavengers. I ate, but I would burn all of the calories waitressing. On top of that, I lived in the city where I would walk or use a bicycle.
When the nurses would come into my room to administer a Heparin shot (blood thinners for those who are bed-ridden), they would always joke that I had no fat on my stomach to poke the needle in. Then the steroids started.
Steroids will make you gain weight quicker than you can say, “how the hell did I gain all of this weight?!” Never mind the chalky aftertaste of an IV-steroid drip, that stuff made you super duper hungry. I did nothing but sit in bed, watch television and eat. I thought, “I need to gain weight anyway, so who cares?”… but like I said, the weight packed on… and on… and on.
Our Lady Of Lourdes (the rehab I spent a total of 6 months recovering) had an awesome cafeteria; especially considering hospital food is probably worse than eating dog food. I gained more weight than I’d like to admit on my blog, and by the time I was released, my size 0-2 clothing had to go. After 3 years, I was a size 14. I had never been that big in my life, all because of steroids and the side effects. The weight gain made me so embarrassed to leave the house and see old friends because I didn’t want them to see a fat Natalie. I had to do something about it, especially when my blood work came back and I was diagnosed with high cholesterol. Worse, the rapid weight gain (not to mention being in a wheelchair) was torture on my knees, and I still have problems with them – I get cortisone shots in both knees every few months to this day.
So I started to exercise and diet. I stopped smoking. I even stopped drinking alcohol. Weight was coming off, but slowly. The past year, I started to really push myself – running a marathon, doing MS Walks, using the stairs instead of elevators, biking, and taking exercise classes. I also held a strict diet, and still do. I make smoothies: bananas, strawberries and some low fat frozen yogurt. I eat fruit and granola for breakfast with Slimfast, another Slimfast for lunch, almonds whenever I have the munchies, but I ate dinner. Dinner, however, I cut in half. I bought smaller plates. Biggest weight loss plan: STOP EATING SALT! I do, occasionally on the weekends, cheat and eat crap food, and drink alcohol on occasion (usually vodka). Eventually, my stomach shrank and food was no longer the enemy.
Every month, I lose more and more weight. Since the fall, I started jogging in the morning, I’ve lost so much weight, and I feel extremely healthy. I’m 5’ 8” and I’m definitely not aiming to go back to the body I had before MS. I looked pretty sickly. I’m now a size 6, my legs are toned and my belly is thinner.
Steroid weight is a total bitch to get rid of, but it is possible and totally hard work. It takes dedication. The downside? Buying new clothes every few weeks. But the feeling of squeezing into a size small/medium is totally worth it.
