Any caregivers gaining weight?

Definitely- I am a stress eater. But please do what you can to stop now at 5 lbs. I have gained 25 lbs- you do not want to do that.

Hi, @denise96 I, too, gained weight during my decade and a half of my wife's illness. Nerves, worry, fighting feeling depressed and the convenience of grabbing junk food when I could rather than being able to sit for a real meal.

Still working on losing it ;-(

Strength, Courage, & Peace

I stay on a regimen of three meals a day. Breakfast = cereal, milk, 1/4 cup mixed nuts, 1 Tablespoon honey. Lunch = one slice whole wheat bread, once slice jalepeno/habenaro cheese, one protein bar, one Boost, 1/2 apple, 1/2 banana, 8 red grapes, chocolate almond bar. Dinner either noodle and cheese cassarole with broccoli, or other vegetables, or same brown rice based, or same potato or sweet potato based, one thousand mg vitamin B12 pill. No snacks. I stay at around 180 to 185 pounds. I've eaten some frozen meals instead for dinner with a meat about two or three times a month.

Did you gain your weight due to stress or depression? It is hard to deal with that. I do recognize the need to stop this stress eating and eat a more healthful diet. I believe I am in for a long road ahead of me and need to nip this in the bud. We caretakers need to take care of ourselves. Thank you for your reply.

Thank you for sharing. Yes, I do the same things. I like to eat out-not fast food -but I won't be able to do that anymore as I have not been working and have lost that little bit of extra income. But I have seem to lost that zest for doing things I need to do. I believe I am more drpressed than my husband. I wish I could give him some of my weight. He only weighs 113 pounds. Well, good luck and i will try to eat better. Strength, courage and peace to you also.

Thanks for commenting. Congratulations on your self discipline in your eating habits. I wish I could say the same for me. I am going to write out a healthy meal plan for me and try to stick to it as much as I can. As cargivers we need to stay healthy. Have a nice day.

YUP. I keep making high calorie meals for my husband so he could maintain weight (now trying to gain weight otherwise it's feeding tube time which terrifies him). After one small meal he no longer wants it and I'm sick of tossing so much food out. Doesn't help that his mother keeps coming over with food she makes that he can't eat and now she's just dumping leftover cookies and sweets from her social gatherings on me. It's impossible. Trying to politely tell her I don't need it is like watching a flat basketball thrown at a wall and plop to the ground lifeless.

I, too, have gained way too much weight as I care for my husband who has dementia. All kinds of reasons including all those mentioned above. Adding to that, I cannot get away long enough to get any exercise. I used to exercise daily (running, walking, going to the gym), but now I can't walk to the bathroom without my hubby calling me to help him with something. So I sit when I can (I'm exhausted, no sleep), and I feed my pain, depression, stress, loneliness...

You're all caregivers, you know how it is.

How long have you been a caregiver for your husband? I must be a wimp because this has only started in September of this year when he overdosed on his oxycodone. That is when he was diagnosed with cancer. He has had advanced copd for years and uses about 3 or4 inhalers plus oxygen and a nebulizer. I believe he has had the cancer for a long time. His pcp wanted him to go for an mri but he refused to go. Again he went into respiratory distress last sunday and had to be rushed to the hospital. So, I worry. I overeat and am forgetting so many things. I think I am the one with the brain fog as they call it. My husband does not bother me for very much so I do have the time to get my fat butt into my room and use my walking videos. But I just don't have the oomph to do it.

Being a caregiver is hard. If someone kept bringing me cookies and sweet stuff, I would be as big as a house. I have a big sweet tooth. I would have to start throwing it out as much as I would hate to. I buy those elf cookies with the double stuffed chocolate in them and can eat the whole package in 2 days. I had to quit buying them. But I have to admit that your comment about your mother in law and the basketball made me laugh. I needed a laugh. Thanks.