To ask you to help me shift a stone with a chronic illness?

[WeWereHappy]

Yesterday I was struck by the realisation that my weight has crept up without me really noticing it. I’ve gone from about 10st to 11st 4 (I’m 5ft 6 for context).

I think this is probably down to a quite dramatic drop in the amount of exercise I’ve been able to do - I have MS and the past six months or so have been tricky health wise. The fatigue has been horrendous and I’m really struggling to find the energy to plan/shop/cook. I’m opting for convenience food way more than I ever used to, and I’m also craving a sugar hit a lot so snacking on biscuits and chocolate rather than eating proper meals.

Today I made a conscious effort to eat meals rather than snack, so had:
Breakfast: Greek yogurt with blueberries and honey
Lunch: shop bought chicken wrap, strawberries and a kiwi
Afternoon snack: two crackers with cheese
Tea: bolognaise from the freezer

Just wanted to consult MN to see what you’d do differently, and to ask for your best low energy food options. I think my downfall is the snacking because I’m so exhausted - but I feel really uncomfortable in myself and really want to get closer to the weight I was six months or so ago. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

I lost 5 stone a few years ago. I have chronic fatigue syndrome amongst other things and am near housebound and unable to work. I have a rolling meal plan. I batch cook easy things using pre chopped onions, peppers etc and slow cooker.
Or soup maker, pre chopped vegetables on a monday means i have easy lunch for 5 days.
I have tesco delivery and dont have things in the house that are too tempting.
I log my calories on mfp and count over a week so its not so bad if I have a bad day.
I have fruit for snacking on.
If I make rice or pasta I'll double up and that's the next days meal too.
Something like cous cous which only takes boiling the kettle with some precooked chicken and some mixed leaves is healthy but not time consuming.
Scrambled eggs, mushrooms or tomatoes on toast are quick and healthy.
An omelette with a mixed salad.
Jacket potato and beans or tuna or with leftover slower cooker meal.
I have it now where I usually only make one to two meals from scratch a week as I'll make enough for several weeks and freeze so I just need to get it out the freezer.

5 portions of salmon a week has been a gamekeeper for myself after treatment for breast cancer.

watched a program that recommended 3 portions a week for average person but mentioned it to a cancer nutritionist who said cancer patient ideally should have five portions a week

I have a couple of breakfast, scrambled eggs with some salmon, sometimes poached eggs with salmon
Both of those can interchange for lunch with or without bread or toast

Then I do an absolutely massive roasting tray of vegetables I can roast, pepper, peppers, courgette, sweet potato, carrots, red onion tomatoes, et cetera et cetera. Leftovers I put into tubs for lunches.

Top that was salmon cooked in a tinfoil parcel

The batch ladies egg fried rice goes well with it as well. I’ve enjoyed that with hard-boiled eggs and a bit of ham as a good lunch. Added lots of salad and some roasted sweet potato for a healthy dinner.

a good few years ago, I did Slimming World and And my best last weeks were when I really hit the salads and had really big portions which kept me away from carbs and sweet stuff

Intermittent fasting was the only thing that worked for me, alongside sensible small meals with lots of veg and protein. (ME and Fibromyalgia)

I have a chronic illness which really limits my energy and I find low carbing is the only way I can keep my weight down. You can ask chat GPT to make you a meal plan, suitable for someone with low energy, it will even give you a shopping list. It gets to know your likes and dislikes too, I find it so helpful.

With you OP! I’m trying to tackle this just now.

Thanks for the solidarity all xx

This is interesting, I’ve read a couple of articles about intermittent fasting and autoimmune diseases! How long would you typically fast for and what would it look like?

4 times a week I don't eat or drink anything pther than water or black coffee for 16 hours (I do 6pm to 10am(Then eat sensibly in between, meals and a snack)
3 days eat normally.
Lost about 1.5 stone over a year (and now in normal BMI). Been very easy and will keep doing it.