• Welcome to Crohn's Forum, a support group for people with all forms of IBD. While this community is not a substitute for doctor's advice and we cannot treat or diagnose, we find being able to communicate with others who have IBD is invaluable as we navigate our struggles and celebrate our successes. We invite you to join us.

I need a new diet/exercise/lifestyle plan...

So I'm writing this while sitting in a hospital bed, with my doctors saying I may need surgery to remove scar tissue in my small intestine which caused intestinal blockage that brought me to the ER a few days ago. I'm 36 and for the past 17 years have had Crohn's. I've never been hospitalized, never had surgery, and generally seemed to stay lucky despite being a bad patient.

So the minute I had an NG tube jammed up my nose and pushed down into my stomach to suck up food to relieve my blockage the immediate thought in my mind was "Oh God this sucks, I never, ever want to experience this ever again!"

So I need a new plan. No more eating whatever and hoping for the best. No more ignoring my doctors warnings or skipping medication just because I think I feel fine. No more pretending this is a disease I can ignore.

So a few questions,
Are there any good Android apps that can help keep track of what I'm eating throughout the day? I did a search in the Google app store but most had less than 1000 downloads so nothing seems very popular. I really don't want to be writing a daily diet log down on paper, way too hard to go that route! I'm curious how others track their diet.


I know I need to exercise, but I don't have a lot of free time after work. I might try squeezing in a short bike ride in the morning before work, (yea, I have a bike but never ride it lol). I also have a gym membership but since moving 7 months ago I haven't been able to figure out a schedule that would work for me. Maybe I can squeeze a 30 min workout in the morning.


Lastly I need just a general way to change my outlook on life. I started caretaking for my mom which has been insanely stressful. I'm getting better at it, but it's still incredibly stressful. I'm pretty much convinced my current flare is primarily caused by this stress.

I am going to start seeing a counselor, mostly to work on my depression, but I'm thinking of trying meditation which I have very briefly dabbled with in the past. I do routinely skydive which sure as sh*t helps a ton, (and I highly recommend everyone do at least one tandem in your life!), but that doesn't solve depression, it just helps forget about it for a bit. One thing with depression is occasionally, (very rarely), I will have a day or two where my depression seems to be completely lifted. It's during those 'high' times I realize how much of a better person I am capable of being, and just how much depression is constantly bringing me down. I guess after all these years I'm finally coming to the realization that my attempts to control my depression have not been working at all.


If anyone has any tips or ideas I should consider I'm all open ears. I hate being in this hospital bed, but even more I hate the thought that I'm probably going to have parts of my intestines removed just because of my own dumb stubbornness.

Sorry for the long rant!
 

cmack

Moderator
Staff member
Hi Astro27,

nutritionfacts.org-https://nutritionfacts.org/ has a lot of great, doctor written and peer reviewed articles regarding healthy diet and lifestyle. Plus Dr. Greger is kind of a funny guy! I find it a great resource.

Regarding exercise, I exercise more, however my doctor has said in the past that even 20 minutes of vigorous exercise daily will greatly benefit your overall health. Of course you will need to heal up first for that.

While you are in the hospital you might want to inquire about an appointment with a nutritionist or dietician. There is likely someone you could speak with regarding your diet. I also think the counselor is a great idea, good on you. It's very demanding looking after our elders, I can understand your stress in that area. Just know that you aren't alone. I hope you get out soon and things come together real well for you. Hit me up with a pm if you ever want to talk about how I have been eating to improve my health. I have several tasty smoothie recipes I will share too if you are interested, plus I'm fairly up to date on healthy eating in general.


Take it easy,

Chris
 
I agree with Chris, try to see a nutritionist while you're in a hospital, your doctor(s) can probably arrange it for you. Ask them about everything. I also recommend to you a book called "the microbiome solution" by dr. Robynne Chutkan if you want to dig deeper into this digestive system theme. That's just one though, there are probably more books about this theme but for this one I know it's fantastic.

Try not to look at exercising and relaxing yourself as things you have to squeeze in your busy day. Stress is definitely number one cause of every bad body reaction, especially if you feel that's true in your case, so definitely try to alleviate it by doing something you love! I recommend you try to find the type of exercise that you like and will continue to do (for instance, don't go running if you don't like running because you probably won't last long doing it; I don't like running that much, and after a lot of years of doing different exercises but never really loving them, I found yoga to be my perfect type of exercise). Meditation is definitely a good idea :) I am also thinking of starting to meditate. Skydiving sounds awesome :D you can do that kind of things, exciting stuff! Whatever makes you happy and relaxes your brain even for a little while. Maybe after a few months you start taking more time daily to do those things. and more, and more... :)

For depressed feelings, see a counselor if you want to, maybe read some book about different views on life (I recently read the book about fear by dr.Lissa Rankin to dig deeper in some of my troubles).

I love how openly you talk about your depression, and I think you are already closer to a solution just because you see how much better you can feel if you tried to solve some of your problems and worries.
 
I agree with Chris, try to see a nutritionist while you're in a hospital, your doctor(s) can probably arrange it for you. Ask them about everything. I also recommend to you a book called "the microbiome solution" by dr. Robynne Chutkan if you want to dig deeper into this digestive system theme. That's just one though, there are probably more books about this theme but for this one I know it's fantastic.

Try not to look at exercising and relaxing yourself as things you have to squeeze in your busy day. Stress is definitely number one cause of every bad body reaction, especially if you feel that's true in your case, so definitely try to alleviate it by doing something you love! I recommend you try to find the type of exercise that you like and will continue to do (for instance, don't go running if you don't like running because you probably won't last long doing it; I don't like running that much, and after a lot of years of doing different exercises but never really loving them, I found yoga to be my perfect type of exercise). Meditation is definitely a good idea :) I am also thinking of starting to meditate. Skydiving sounds awesome :D you can do that kind of things, exciting stuff! Whatever makes you happy and relaxes your brain even for a little while. Maybe after a few months you start taking more time daily to do those things. and more, and more... :)

For depressed feelings, see a counselor if you want to, maybe read some book about different views on life (I recently read the book about fear by dr.Lissa Rankin to dig deeper in some of my troubles).

I love how openly you talk about your depression, and I think you are already closer to a solution just because you see how much better you can feel if you tried to solve some of your problems and worries.
I've been thinking of doing yoga, partially for the relaxation and health benefits, but interestingly enough a number of skydiving instructors recommend it for better flexibility to improve flying. I do like riding my bike so I think that will be my go to exercise routine.

I think I know what I need to do but it's just a matter of actually doing it. In a way writing it down, even if on a web forum, can at least hold me accountable somewhat. I have asked about a nutritionist and oddly my GI docs office told me to call my primary, and they told me to call my GI... I'll find one one way or another, the GI doc here at the hospital probably would have some good recommendations so I'll ask her.

Sounds like I will have surgery, the surgeon wants to wait another day just to be sure, but he's taking me off of all food and drink after midnight tonight so if I do tomorrow is probably the day. Wish me luck!
 
My Fitness Pal is a great app to track your food. It’s typically used to count calories. But even if you don’t do that it’s a really good app. Yoga is a great way to get some exercise in. There are really good YouTube channels so you don’t have to pay for classes or leave you home if you don’t want to. Yoga With Adrienne is my favourite.
 
Top