Failing to eat correctly....

• By philsphan09
• Posted August 30, 2009 at 8:25 pm
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Hi Kris. I recommend the site www.gicare.com. They have a three stage gp diet sample online that I think will give you a good idea. You'd do step 1 if your gp is acting up. It gives you good guidelines. Even step 3 they still tell you foods to eat or avoid. Good luck, hope you feel better. michelle

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• By gpgirl5
• Posted August 30, 2009 at 8:39 pm
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Hi Wondering79. Honestly, I think you just have to do it. The pain, etc. that you get from eating the wrong foods should be a deterrent for you, and feeling good when sticking to the right foods is your reward. If that isn't motivating for you, how about this: people with GP are prone to getting bezoars. A bezoar is undigested food that remains in your stomach forever, like a hair ball would in a cat. Bezoars are caused by foods high in fiber and other hard-to-digest things (you can google it for more info). They can be painful and cause other problems (like nausea), and have to be removed by the doctor. So, if nothing else, eat in such a way as to avoid ever getting a bezoar because you sure don't want one!

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• By Trixie617
• Posted August 31, 2009 at 8:34 am
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Hi Kris - Welcome to the group! I think we all have this same struggle to varying degrees. I know for myself raising a pre-teen daughter I fear that my eating habits will be misunderstood by her & it is because of her that I often eat more or eat things that I shouldn't just so that she will SEE me eating. I have over heard her telling people that my mom doesn't eat solid food. (I am underweight & so this I am sure has fuelled some gossip...) We have had some real heart-to-heart conversations about GP, but in the end kids don't always hear what you say -- they see what you do!

Be good to yourself. You are not alone in all this.

Tracie

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• By Gailete
• Posted August 31, 2009 at 11:57 am
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I was just diagnosised with GP and I'm not sure where I am on the scale of mild to severe, but I do know over the last six months, the pain, nausea, lack of appetite, etc, have all contributed to me eating less and less. Yesterday I was officially at 50# below my all time high weight (and can still lose 50 more before I'm really going the wrong way). Just from finding this group and the hints I have found on line, making my meals even smaller and yet more often, etc. has helped ease the pain. I was actually hungry feeling yesterday and stopped at McDs with my son where I managed to eat almost half of their new Angus Bacon Cheesburger, BUT and this is important. The minute/second I felt full, I quit and put the rest in its box and brought it home to hubby to polish off. I didn't get sick or have problems, but the last 6 months have already taught me that if I don't quit the second I feel full I will really regret it.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, how long do you want to feel lousy? You can try eating the smaller portions and probably feel a lot better. You may still be able to eat what you want only not in the quantities you did before. Or you can eat like you think you want to and then pay the consequences for the rest of the day, night or till your stomach finally feels better and you do it again. You might want to ask yourself whenever you get that full feeling and go to take the next bite. "Why am I doing this? I know I'm going to get sick if I eat more so why am I eating it?" Eventually you will start learning what is driving you to eat knowing full well you are going to regret it and regret it. Start working at eating how you should and think and relish how much better you feel than when you aren't eating correctly. I can tell from the many messages here some people can eat things that others can't. You have to find what works for you. Frankly the thought of possibly a feeding tube is enough to make me want to behave. You have to figure out for yourself what works for you. If you have a relationship with God, ask Him to show you how to eat and ask Him to help you understand why you are undermining your health.

I hope you don't taake this as a harsh message it wasn't meant to be. Obviously a woman like me that still has 50# to lose after already losing 50 has had a weight problem, but as I work through what was causing me to eat like a pig, those desires have left me and has made it easier for me to finally say enough. I just wanted to help you think through some of the issues you are kicking against as they will help you in turn start to eat right and most importantly feel better and be healthier.

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• By busyteacher
• Posted September 1, 2009 at 7:15 pm
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I have a link to the GP diet on my bio page. Then you start to figure out what you are missing nutritionally, what can be blended and pureed, what irritates your stomach and calms it. It's all experimentation.
General rules: low fiber, low sugar, high protein, not a lot of red meat.

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• By Camio0303
• Posted September 1, 2009 at 8:12 pm
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Wondering79,
I just got diagnosed with GP and didn't really think that I needed to "worry" about what I ate or when I ate. I quickly learned, I was WRONG. Most of my pain is caused from my eatting habits. Before I started having problems I ate ONLY dinner around 7 pm and that's it. So when GP flared up, I continued on this path and found out quickly that it would not work and I needed to make the change so I wouldn't continue to be in pain - I also learned that once you are in that much pain because of what you ate and how much you ate, there wasn't a whole lot you could do about it but wait it out. I now eat small amounts of food throughout the day. I will eat small portions about 5-6 times a day. I haven't really found anything that I can't eat. I do stay away from food that I know would be hard to digest (ie: meat, fruits, veggies) and this seems to be working for me. For a while I was thinking, "how am I going to eat so many times during the day and small portions" and I have found that it has been good because if it is something I like then I can eat some now and some in a couple more hours! I can eat a whole variety of foods through out the day and it is working good for me.

Good luck on finding what will work for you, but do keep in mind that if you can figure it out, it may reduce your pains!

Cami

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• By katbrow
• Posted September 2, 2009 at 8:39 pm
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Hello. I am like wondering. I don't want to have to follow a diet and I will eat things I know I shouldn't have but crave them anyway, like Pizza. I have learned to stop when I feel full but I am always full it seems. My husband eats what I leave so it doesn't go to waste but I have turned a redish brown around my eyes and that tells me I am not in good health and need to straighten up so I can get the nourishment I need. Nothing goes through. I learned not to overeat at any one time because I will get sick and hurt, but I have to learn to eat the proper food in the proper way to get the nutrition I am not getting. I read a post about a machine the other day that will liquify the whole food, no necessarily puree it, but you get the whole thing in a liquid form. If I could find a recipe for things I could fix like that I think I would drink for five days and then may be eat real food on the weekends when I am around other people. I work from home on the computer so through the week it is pretty much my husband and I only. I think I could do this, I am not sure but am willing to try it. Does anyone know where I could find this type of recipe that won't taste so horrible. I know I pureed cubed steak one time and that is a no-no. I will never do that again. It was gross. I couldn't figure out why it tasted so bad like that when all I did was puree it after I cooked it. Go figure. Any help in finding recipes would be a great help.

Thanks

Kat

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• By sharronm55us
• Posted September 3, 2009 at 9:24 am
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Eating is the big problem isn't it. I eat, still even through they have an IV in me and threaded near to my heart and this feds me. Food, love hate relationship. Okay, I do one or two bites at a time. If I have a craving for something that I know is gonna hurt later, I put it in my mouth chew it to death and spit it out. What can I say, that is how I do it. I have total nutritional replacement in my arm. I am encouraged to eat but if I don't , then no big deal. With you, you need to get a handle on it, eating from an IV stuck in a vein is somehow not as satisfying!!! Get yourself on a diet sweetie and stick to it, the complications later down the line are horrible, so all I can say is. DO IT, or suffer. Wish I could put it better or nicer. That is the bottom line!

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• By Kerri-ann
• Posted September 4, 2009 at 10:53 pm
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I too fail to eat properly on some days, some days all liquids some all solids but I know when it's solids for 2 weeks or so it's time for liquids. I hate it!!!! I like to chew and eat and there are so many foods I steer clear of because of the reprocutions. I end up obstructed in the small intestine if I eat solids for to long and then end up in the hospital. I try that's all I can do and that's maybe where you can be- just attempt it once you start you'll feel better. It's so hard to not eat what you want and when you want it. My thoughts are with you..... Kerriann

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• By Pammers52
• Posted September 5, 2009 at 12:29 pm
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I think finding some treats that you can give yourself .. that will help you stay on the diet.....at Whole Foods and some other health food stores they have Gluten free Ginger Snaps made with real ginger.... they taste really good and the ginger makes them help the nausea and the gluten free helps to not make you feel so bloated...they also have ginger taffy....whenever you have to give up all the things you love you need to find some good stuff to replace it with...just some ideas...good luck...and also give yourself small goals.. I will do this for a week, keep a journal of food and how I feel and go back and read.....find ways to reward yourself for good eating that aren't food related....this is hard and it sucks so you need to find a way to pamper yourself for doing good...lots of luck and don't be too hard on yourself

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• By Gailete
• Posted September 5, 2009 at 12:38 pm
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I've been eating so differently and trying to do the smaller meal thing, etc. My Reglan just came in the mail yesterday so I started that today. We did try a narcotic change and I was feeling great for a whole day and then yesterday was bebopping a round and then got hit with one of my stealth nausea attacks out of nowhere. This time I ended vomiting. All this time I haven't vomited even though I felt like I was going to for so many months, and now that I know what is going on and how to eat better, I'm tossing my cookies. This is some disease! Anyhow between the new narcotic making me drowsy (and probably what caused the vomiting) I have no appetite. All these years I have been overweight and thinking I was just a pig, but now with GP I realize I REALLY WAS hungry before! Now that I'm not, the weight is just falling off and it is hard to eat nutritiously when you have no desire to poke anything into your mouth. Lots to learn and none of us should be beating ourselves over the head for 'not eating right'. This is a huge learning process and no magic cure.

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• By plushy
• Posted September 5, 2009 at 12:47 pm
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Kris,
I also eat small meals 6 times a day. I try to get things that taste good to me. I think one of the things that makes me do what i need to do as far as the GP goes is that i have met alot of great people here and they are on tubes, alot of trips to the ER as well as meds that have bad side effects and i read what they are going thru and my heart breaks then i get ready to eat something i know will hurt i think about all of them and i put it away and get something that works for me..
Right now we are not at that point and i am going to do whatever it takes to prolong getting there so maybe a few of those thoughts will help you stay on track

Good Luck and Take Care
Marie

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• By GGCPTEACH
• Posted September 6, 2009 at 8:17 am
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My mom was diagnosed in June with GP. She has severe reflux and vomits a lot. I am working with her to reduce the size of her meals and to eat the right stuff. Although it is still a battle, she has finally begun to reduce the size of the meals she eats. Most of the time it pays off. I make up all of her meals and do all the shopping. She has a neurological disorder which has left her with poor memory and so she doesn't dare cook beyond tea. We are trying to vary the foods she eats as she gets sick of the same old thing. She is pretty successful with a dish made with white rice and shredded chicken. She also does fairly well with small pieces of haddock and rice or potato without the skin. She loves sweets. We found a fat free frozen yogurt that helps with this. The diet page says she can have hard candy or gumdrops, but every time she does she throws up and has terrible heartburn. I think it is trial and error. This disease can be so frustrating it is important to have support to manage it. I am my mom's support and this group is mine! Hope you find things that work for you.
Gayle

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• By BonBon555
• Posted September 22, 2009 at 11:09 pm
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I am having a hard time understanding a low residue diet. I have a large bezoar and the doctor never said they would take it out. Just meds and follow the diet and recheck in 3 mos. Sound familiar to anyone? I really hope it will go away.

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• By NancyL
• Posted September 23, 2009 at 10:15 am
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Bonbon- I don't believe I have ever heard of a bezoar just going away on it's own. But I hope that it does for you. Please stay away from fiber or anything that would make it worse!
Kris- Welcome to the family! There are alot of terrific people here that understand what you are going through. The hardest thing for alot of us is to admit to ourselves that life as we know it has changed forever. I would have considered my self to be much healthier than the average person before this disease struck. I attributed it to a life long healthy eating pattern of lots of salads, fresh fruit and vegetables, nothing fried and tons of exercise. It has been a huge process to realize that none of the foods I used to enjoy so much can now be a part of my life. As someone has said it helps to read about how others are dealing on this site to realize that for now I really am one of the lucky ones even though I must stick to a liquid diet or face days of pain and agony. I am a strong believer in positive thinking and focussing your mind on what you do have to be thankful for. And not dwelling on the things you wish you could change. When you celebrate the heck out of the little things, life is just more bearable.
Back to you and your diet. The best advice I can offer anyone is to keep a daily food diary of everything that passes your lips and stand and end it each day with describing how you feel such as. This morning I feel good or so-so or lousy. Then tonight I feel good or so-so or lousy. For most of us that are still able to take nutritian by mouth there is a direct relationship between what we eat ahd how we feel. This will help you learn the food to avoid.
Good Luck!
Nancy

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