Lipidema + working out
I’m curious what everyone’s experiences have been with working out and managing lipedema. For most of my adult life, I trained with light to moderate weights and felt pretty good. About 3 years ago, I got pulled into the whole “progressive overload” mindset all over Instagram and switched to heavy lifting. Within about 6 months, I gained 10–15 lbs, looked extremely inflamed, my hormones tanked, and the fatigue I was already struggling with got significantly worse.
At the time, I didn’t fully connect the dots because I was also going through a layoff and several major life stressors. But looking back, my legs became much more swollen/inflamed, and my body basically stopped responding to diet changes for weight loss. I spent the next 3 years unable to lose the weight no matter what I tried. My lipidema flared significantly and I’ve been dealing with constant pain, tightness and swelling. I’m diagnosed stage 2.
Recently, I started working with a functional coach who pulled me completely away from heavy lifting and moved me back to bodyweight exercises and very light weights. Since then, I’ve lost 11 lbs in less than 10 weeks while eating a pretty normal 1900–2000 calorie diet. It honestly feels like inflammation is just falling off my body. I look leaner, my body feels less “angry,” and my energy is much better. Unfortunately, my lipidema is still extremely problematic so I’m taking steps to plan for surgery.
Now I’m wondering if lighter resistance training is simply a better fit for my genetics, nervous system, and lipedema. Curious if anyone else with lipedema has experienced something similar with heavy lifting vs lighter training?