I can't do it

[acarver19]

Hello everyone. I was just wondering if anyone has been able to stick to the diet? I found out I had IC in Feb. of this year and I have tried many times to stick to the diet but a few days after I start it I mess it up and eat stuff I am not suppose to eat. Does anyone have some ideas of food that will also help me lose weight and that are quick and easy? I have 2 kids and most of the time no energy to cook so if anyone can give me some ideas I would be grateful. Please help me.

[GriffsMommy]

I find that I have a really hard time sticking to the diet because I really don't seem to be very diet senstive. I have pain everyday and even when I try not to eat anything I'm not supposed I still have the pain, not to mention the fact that it's basically impossible to stop eating preseratives altogether espically when you are on a tight food budget with a big family. Sometimes I really try to stick to the diet and other times I saw screw it, I already feel like crap and the diet doesn't seem to help any and then I just eat whatever I want to.

[dyno]

The diet can be a challenge but for most IC'ers, it is really one of the most important aspects of our treatment. Everyone seems to have their own foods that bother them more than others.

That is where a food diary comes in handy. Also as far as the weight thing goes, there are lots of healthy foods you can eat on the IC diet and still lose weight, again, this is going to take trial and error...

Just hang in there and work with it some more and hopefully you will see the benefit of sticking with it.

[kari1980]

HI,
I really feel your frustration. I have been trying since January to figure this whole diet thing out. It's not easy, but it can be done. You really have to watch EVERYTHING you put in your mouth, including vitamins, supplements, medications, spices, candy, gum, etc..(besides everything else on the list) ..the littlest things that you wouldn't even think about could bother you. I kept trying and trying and just couldn't figure out why I was still in so much pain, then after reading so many posts (thank God for them) I finally figured out some things I was doing wrong. IE: eating candy, or tic tacs or spices or taking supplements or something stupid that I never would have thought about before. Now I'm really trying to go bland and watch everything and it seems to be helping me. I've lost 20 lbs. since January ( I still need to lose about 30 more!) and I started a water aerobics class and walking, and have relied on egg whites on water crackers, pasta, potatoes, vegetables and meat to help me. I've also just discovered something new that I'm in LOVE with. I haven't eaten ANY bread in 3 months ( just because of wanting to lose weight) and I just discovered WASA crisbreads. I am in HEAVEN . I've been eating the sesame ones and they taste just like Italian Bread to me. I put cream cheese on them and have them for breakfast, but there's lots of stuff you can put on them. So, I hope this helps you alittle bit, but I definitely feel your frustration because the diet has not been an easy thing for me to adjust to and it's been taking a LOT of trial and error, so hang in there..
Good luck,
Kari

[lan]

When my bladder problems started (very suddenly) in late Dec 2006, I had been drinking alot of diet soda, and eating alot of clemintine oranges and chocolate (I was on Christmas vacation). So I have not had diet soda or oranges since December - I am afraid of them. I was able to stay away from chocolate until March, which is when I started taking Elavil and feeling a little bit better. This past week, with Easter and all, I have been eating chocolate like crazy. I do not know if it is because I am feeling a little better or maybe because of the Elavil. I do not want to eat chocolate but I have no will power I can't put too much blame on the Elavil because I had no will power before this IC either. Now that the Easter chocolate is out of the house, maybe I can do a bit better. But my friends at work have bowls full of chocolate on their desks and it is so hard to stay away. If anyone has any good ideas to help me stay away from chocolate I am all ears Kari - I admire your will power. I am eating constantly and I am not even hungry when I eat. Any dieting pointers would help too! As far as the IC diet - i don't drink coffee or alcohol so those are easy but I have to cheat with tomatoe sauce and salad dressings sometimes. I do not have noticeable food flares so I am still not sure what I need to stay away from. Darn this IC - too unpredictable - too many unknowns - no majic formulas Sending healing energy to you all - and hoping someday we solve this IC puzzle...lan

[alianne]

I am finding that is almost seems to change sometimes with my diet dos and don'ts. But one big horrah for me was finding that organic tomatoes and products using organic tomatoes don't bother me but the non-organic ones KILL my bladder. After studying some about organic (or natural) it makes sence to me that the non-organic kinds have more acid beacuse of the chemicals they use to treat them. I can tell the difference by just tasting them. I am trying to just generally get more healthy with eating less sugar and more organic whole grains - my problem is not weight gain - but that i have lots of allergies and then my body doesn't absorb a lot of what I eat. I also take IC Blend by Vitanica and it seems to help some. I have found that pilates is less painful than some forms of exercise - especially the stuff you gdo laying on your back - somehow less pressure on the pelvis. Staying away from Chocolate Ian? Hmmm - I sometimes eat carob chips and those take some getting used to - but I like them alright.

[Romans8:28]

Hang in there and you will find foods that work for you! I have done many thins and have now lived on this diet for 3 years. I am afraid I have gained not lost though, I am too creative.
Eat white chocolate instead
I have little ceaser's make me a cheese pizza, no sauce and crazy bread the whole top. (it is soo good a lot of my friends now order it)

I make my own blueberry jelly and freeze it.

I make all my own bread and so that helps, and we make lots of pizza pocket. We make pizza crust in the bread machine and fill with meat, veges, and mozerrella cheese!

And if you read my post I just found Hormel makes a all natural no preservatives not nitrate, bacon, ham turkey, roast beef and chickem lunch meats etc. So for the first time in years I can eat bacon again!!!

Walmart has started carrying lots of all natural foods and snacks that have no preservatives, and I get soo excited each time I find them.

Hope that helps! Diet is very important..,and truthfully my URO is great but he doesn't tolerate food flares very well!! He will firmly remind me that can be contolled. Or when my daughter grew me a whole bunch of yellow tomatoes and I made yummy sauce..., then flared... I was told some could eat those but not me, STAY AWAY FROM THE TOMATOES! and that was the last thing he said on his way out of the door so I KNEW he meant it!!!

[lan]

Thanks Alianne - I will try carob. And I love your CS Lewis qoute. It is so true. In my pain, I can see the suffering of others more clearly. It is late and I can not say what I feel as beautifully as CS Lewis has said it in his qoute. Thanks you so much for sharing that...lan

[kadi]

It's a choice that affects my quality of life, for the better or the worse...

All I can tell you is that I have a choice - follow the diet & be able to work & have a social life with the people I love OR cheat on the diet & have trips to the ER, lose sick leave & eventually salary, and spend my day curled up with a heating pad. Not a tough choice for me.

After nearly 4 years with IC, I realize that my choices do not just affect me, they affect my ability to be 100% with family, friends, colleagues & students. If I take care of myself and make positive health affirming choices, I get more great experiences with the people I love and am not a burden to those around me.

I will say though, it took 3 weeks of strict adherance to the diet before my bladder calmed down enough to realize there was a difference in my symptoms based on diet. And even then I wasn't sure until I had a half cup of decaf tea & went from painfully uncomfortable to absolutely miserable.

Diet alone is not enough for treatment for me, but it enables my other treatments to work well & give me a reasonably good quality of life.