(no subject)
Feb. 15th, 2014 10:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sorcyressI had a doctor's appointment yesterday --it's now been a year since I started with my awesome PCP who prescribes me my necessary ADHD meds without making me jump through TEN THOUSAND HOOPS to get them.
(Seriously, last time I was on the meds, the psych required me to come see him every two weeks or more often, which at 40$+ a copay, while I was barely making minimum wage, and wanted to spend the appointment doing talk therapy, which I didn't want or need at the time. My current PCP asks me to come in every 4 months (and it's just dropped to every 6, as of this appointment) checks in that the meds are still working, and refills my prescriptions once a month. She is _best_.)
But she's concerned --and she expressed this concern last time too-- about the fact that I've weighed a little less every time I've come in to see her. I think I've dropped maybe four pounds in the last year, so it's not a big jump or anything, but it has been consistent that I've lost weight every time. And ADHD meds are an appetite suppressant, so it's possibly really relevant.
I just don't know what to do with this concern though. I have weighed, since ninth grade, between 115 and 130 pounds. Currently I am at the lower end, which is great and all, but currently I am incredibly stressed, not eating right, and not exercising much1. So, I'm not really surprised that I've been losing weight, and I totally wasn't worried until the doctor told me she'd like to send me for some blood tests, to make sure my thyroid was okay and the like.
It's kindof just...how does one gain weight? I mean that as an entirely serious question, I tend to think I eat a fair amount, and it's usually pretty junky. I exercise a lot, but I can't help that --most of it's bicycling to get places, the rest is dancing for social and joy, "exercise less" is not an option. I don't think I could realistically spend more time on the computer without switching career paths (running after seven year olds is not exactly mild exercise).
I don't really want it for me, I think as long as I remain in that aforementioned range, I'm pretty much fine (although yes, when I see the scale saying 118, I start getting nervous again.) But I would like to go to my next appointment, in August, and not have her be all "hmmmm." at the fact that I've dropped another half pound or two.
Whee?
~Sor
MOOP!
1: I'm not sure, but now that I'm not going home from college every summer and doing the freshman anti-fifteen2, I think I am much more likely to gain weight from muscle than from fat right now.
2: Boston is, in pretty much all ways, more walkable than Columbia. Boston has routine dancing. Boston does not have an abundance of snacky food that I don't have to pay for. I never had to worry about gaining weight in college, since it was so much harder to do so.
(Seriously, last time I was on the meds, the psych required me to come see him every two weeks or more often, which at 40$+ a copay, while I was barely making minimum wage, and wanted to spend the appointment doing talk therapy, which I didn't want or need at the time. My current PCP asks me to come in every 4 months (and it's just dropped to every 6, as of this appointment) checks in that the meds are still working, and refills my prescriptions once a month. She is _best_.)
But she's concerned --and she expressed this concern last time too-- about the fact that I've weighed a little less every time I've come in to see her. I think I've dropped maybe four pounds in the last year, so it's not a big jump or anything, but it has been consistent that I've lost weight every time. And ADHD meds are an appetite suppressant, so it's possibly really relevant.
I just don't know what to do with this concern though. I have weighed, since ninth grade, between 115 and 130 pounds. Currently I am at the lower end, which is great and all, but currently I am incredibly stressed, not eating right, and not exercising much1. So, I'm not really surprised that I've been losing weight, and I totally wasn't worried until the doctor told me she'd like to send me for some blood tests, to make sure my thyroid was okay and the like.
It's kindof just...how does one gain weight? I mean that as an entirely serious question, I tend to think I eat a fair amount, and it's usually pretty junky. I exercise a lot, but I can't help that --most of it's bicycling to get places, the rest is dancing for social and joy, "exercise less" is not an option. I don't think I could realistically spend more time on the computer without switching career paths (running after seven year olds is not exactly mild exercise).
I don't really want it for me, I think as long as I remain in that aforementioned range, I'm pretty much fine (although yes, when I see the scale saying 118, I start getting nervous again.) But I would like to go to my next appointment, in August, and not have her be all "hmmmm." at the fact that I've dropped another half pound or two.
Whee?
~Sor
MOOP!
1: I'm not sure, but now that I'm not going home from college every summer and doing the freshman anti-fifteen2, I think I am much more likely to gain weight from muscle than from fat right now.
2: Boston is, in pretty much all ways, more walkable than Columbia. Boston has routine dancing. Boston does not have an abundance of snacky food that I don't have to pay for. I never had to worry about gaining weight in college, since it was so much harder to do so.
no subject
on 2014-02-16 01:27 am (UTC)It's kindof just...how does one gain weight? I mean that as an entirely serious question ....
A few possibly-useful (or maybe just entertaining) data points:
* Depending on metabolism, junkiness of food may not affect weight gain at all. There was a period in high school when I switched to subsisting entirely on Chocodiles and other Hostess products to see if I'd gain weight. (Science! Kindasortamaybe.) Nope.
* If your body gets human-average energy from food, a delta of 4 pounds/year is 14,000 calories, which comes to roughly 38/day or 270/week. This is not a particularly large deficit to make up, which is good news.
* Liquids often avoid triggering the stomach's satiation response. So, eg, an extra glass or two of fruit juice each week might do it.
* Or alternately: milkshakes. I know more than one mom who needed to keep their weight up during pregnancy despite some combo of (lack of appetite, morning sickness/nausea, small stomach), for whom milkshakes (and ice cream, to a lesser extent) worked great. Of course, this has the disadvantage of being pleasant enough that the habit may entrench itself for the long haul. [Not that I'd know anything about that. :P ]