Hello there everybody!
How is everybody today? Hope all is well. Today's post in The POMC Series is all about my diet and how I cope with the hyperphagia caused by POMC deficiency disorder. I've always been very quiet and conscious of my diet but recently I've realised that my diet is actually a lot better than I thought. This post is not meaning to be bragging rights at all, like "oh my diet is so much better than yours" because the fact is it's not better than anybody's my diet is mine because this works well for me, I'm not always excessively hungry every second of the day nor do I skip or miss meals.
I've heard from discussions recently that some people with POMC tend to keep an extremely low calorie diet and that seems to be going alright for some people and kudos to you if you've found a diet that seems to fit you and your body or needs because that's not an easy thing to do whatsoever, I mean take your average person, you try and find a diet that is satisfying, healthy and gives you all the nutrients you need at 1,000 calories or even much less in some circumstances... it's an exceptionally difficult thing to do, so well done!
This post is also not going to be a complete run down of every single tiny thing I eat and drink each day because... well that would just be boring for me to write and probably for you to read, however if you would like me to do something like that in the future contact me privately and I shall look into putting something like that together to post.
Anyway, I shall get on with the post right now. Overall, I've been to countless dieticians, exercise specialists and such, I've spoken to at least 5 different endocrine specialists who deal with my POMC from the RVI, my main doctors and nurses form Cambridge and each doctor and nurse has given me a different answer (with obvious similarities in the case of the specialists) to the question: "Which diet is best for me?"
Over the years I've tried many diets from carb-free, low fat, vegetarian, vegan and gluten free but none worked. Obviously, a dietician will tell me low fat, low sugar, low everything pretty much with a very low calorie intake, however doctors have told me (those from Cambridge and the RVI) that if I can maintain an exercise regimen with roughly equal output to my intake of calories and energy I should be able to manage my weight slightly easier, although it'll still have little effect on weight gain as I've been told with POMC it's extremely difficult to lose and much too easy to gain weight as the body retains as much energy from food as possible. Therefore from all the information I've gathered I've managed to set up a diet of roughly 1,200 calories per day, I've also recently been made aware that a high protein diet, the right kind of protein that is, can help in some circumstances with feeling hungry so often, I was recommended that snacks like nuts and Skyr yoghurt which is high in protein and very low in fat are snacks that may help.
However, in terms of breakfasts I am, as I've said before unable to eat bread, it's just something about the texture and taste that makes me feel sick so I don't eat much of that whatsoever. I also struggle to eat on a morning at the best of times so breakfasts for me tent to be things such as homemade fruit smoothies and cereals like those high in fibre such as bran and oaty cereals, this allows me to get my fibre as well as getting fruit and natural sugars, my grandfather is friends with a man who often gives us fresh fruit and veg that he grows which is much nicer than supermarket produce, so it's very much homegrown stuff in the smoothies, skimmed or almond milk that kind of thing. Very tasty and surprisingly filling. If you make a larger one as well you could always take that with you to school, uni or work and make it last throughout the day. Stops me snacking at least.
Again lunches tend to be kept very low in fat, small homemade pasta pots, soups, rice boxes usually keep me going, I love vegetables so grilled veg couscous is one of my favourite things, I usually have some kind of desert to go along with it and I enjoy making fruit boxes so I'll just make a mini fruit salad with different types of fruit or a small pot of mixed seeds and low fat vegan chocolate mixed in, although that one is a treat as I love seeds and chocolate!
Snacks tend to include a lot of nuts and seeds as I mentioned, sometimes I'll just buy a bag of carrots and snack on those until I'm satisfied, more yoghurt or crunching ice cubes are pretty much all I do for snacks.
Dinners for me are often much more protein based with fish playing a big part, definitely a fan of omega 3 over here ha! I enjoy experimenting with spices as does Simon so I'm quite happy to try different kinds of meats, vegetables and so on, usually dinner times are just a concoction of things we have thrown together (I make a mean shredded chicken salad as well!). It's really important for me that I keep an extremely low fat, low sugar and salt diet, protein is higher on my priority list than anything else, usually it's meat I crave anyway but honestly I do manage to stay under 1100 calories almost all of the time. Sometimes I go out to eat but that I on occasion every now and then, never a regular occurrence unless it needs to be as I tend to make my own lunches so I know exactly what is going into by body. When I do go out I love things like Japanese food so Nudo and YO! Sushi are two of my favourites and a lot of things on YO! Sushi also have the calories and nutritional value next to them on the menu so you know exactly what you can get and how it'll all add up at the end of the night. Most of the time I avoid things that are greasy or fast food because I know it'll make me feel sick as well as not do anything for my weight gain.
in terms of drinks I only drink fizzy drinks they are now a no-go, I mainly rink water and flavoured water, always still.
I've heard people many times over the years claim that food is the enemy with POMC warriors and that's all well and good if that is how you like to view it but in my personal opinion that's not how I ever want to view my condition. I see my body as doing me a favour... go with me for a sec. See, my body stores as much energy as it can because it doesn't work properly, therefore it's wires are crossed and thinks that I'm going to starve if I don't eat or get hungry a lot of the time (now I know this is the incorrect way of thinking about it but it helps me understand myself a bit better). So, because my body thinks it is helping me by storing all the energy and such from food it's up to me to control my own diet and exercise in order to guide my body in the right direction, almost like helping a child who has gotten something a bit wrong and needs some help, if you understand what I'm saying? That was very long winded ha.
Once again, I thank everybody for reading this post and coming back to my blog, I hope if anybody is reading this with POMC or a child with POMC/LEPR or Prader Willi Syndrome recently diagnosed I hope I've helped a little.
xo.
Over the years I've tried many diets from carb-free, low fat, vegetarian, vegan and gluten free but none worked. Obviously, a dietician will tell me low fat, low sugar, low everything pretty much with a very low calorie intake, however doctors have told me (those from Cambridge and the RVI) that if I can maintain an exercise regimen with roughly equal output to my intake of calories and energy I should be able to manage my weight slightly easier, although it'll still have little effect on weight gain as I've been told with POMC it's extremely difficult to lose and much too easy to gain weight as the body retains as much energy from food as possible. Therefore from all the information I've gathered I've managed to set up a diet of roughly 1,200 calories per day, I've also recently been made aware that a high protein diet, the right kind of protein that is, can help in some circumstances with feeling hungry so often, I was recommended that snacks like nuts and Skyr yoghurt which is high in protein and very low in fat are snacks that may help.
However, in terms of breakfasts I am, as I've said before unable to eat bread, it's just something about the texture and taste that makes me feel sick so I don't eat much of that whatsoever. I also struggle to eat on a morning at the best of times so breakfasts for me tent to be things such as homemade fruit smoothies and cereals like those high in fibre such as bran and oaty cereals, this allows me to get my fibre as well as getting fruit and natural sugars, my grandfather is friends with a man who often gives us fresh fruit and veg that he grows which is much nicer than supermarket produce, so it's very much homegrown stuff in the smoothies, skimmed or almond milk that kind of thing. Very tasty and surprisingly filling. If you make a larger one as well you could always take that with you to school, uni or work and make it last throughout the day. Stops me snacking at least.
Again lunches tend to be kept very low in fat, small homemade pasta pots, soups, rice boxes usually keep me going, I love vegetables so grilled veg couscous is one of my favourite things, I usually have some kind of desert to go along with it and I enjoy making fruit boxes so I'll just make a mini fruit salad with different types of fruit or a small pot of mixed seeds and low fat vegan chocolate mixed in, although that one is a treat as I love seeds and chocolate!
Snacks tend to include a lot of nuts and seeds as I mentioned, sometimes I'll just buy a bag of carrots and snack on those until I'm satisfied, more yoghurt or crunching ice cubes are pretty much all I do for snacks.
Dinners for me are often much more protein based with fish playing a big part, definitely a fan of omega 3 over here ha! I enjoy experimenting with spices as does Simon so I'm quite happy to try different kinds of meats, vegetables and so on, usually dinner times are just a concoction of things we have thrown together (I make a mean shredded chicken salad as well!). It's really important for me that I keep an extremely low fat, low sugar and salt diet, protein is higher on my priority list than anything else, usually it's meat I crave anyway but honestly I do manage to stay under 1100 calories almost all of the time. Sometimes I go out to eat but that I on occasion every now and then, never a regular occurrence unless it needs to be as I tend to make my own lunches so I know exactly what is going into by body. When I do go out I love things like Japanese food so Nudo and YO! Sushi are two of my favourites and a lot of things on YO! Sushi also have the calories and nutritional value next to them on the menu so you know exactly what you can get and how it'll all add up at the end of the night. Most of the time I avoid things that are greasy or fast food because I know it'll make me feel sick as well as not do anything for my weight gain.
in terms of drinks I only drink fizzy drinks they are now a no-go, I mainly rink water and flavoured water, always still.
I've heard people many times over the years claim that food is the enemy with POMC warriors and that's all well and good if that is how you like to view it but in my personal opinion that's not how I ever want to view my condition. I see my body as doing me a favour... go with me for a sec. See, my body stores as much energy as it can because it doesn't work properly, therefore it's wires are crossed and thinks that I'm going to starve if I don't eat or get hungry a lot of the time (now I know this is the incorrect way of thinking about it but it helps me understand myself a bit better). So, because my body thinks it is helping me by storing all the energy and such from food it's up to me to control my own diet and exercise in order to guide my body in the right direction, almost like helping a child who has gotten something a bit wrong and needs some help, if you understand what I'm saying? That was very long winded ha.
Once again, I thank everybody for reading this post and coming back to my blog, I hope if anybody is reading this with POMC or a child with POMC/LEPR or Prader Willi Syndrome recently diagnosed I hope I've helped a little.
xo.
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