As far as I know exercise does not tend to reduce weight. Watching what yo eat is better for that. Try reducing carbs, portion size, and drinking lots of water. Sweets like soda and fruit juice are empty calories. Reduce pasta, bread, and butter (my favs) and eat as much WHOLE colorful foods as possible: veggies and fruits (i have grown to love Clementines and used to always crave sugary sweets!) A good healthy diet!

For sore feet try Epsom salt soaks and also if you can get to good podiatrist for custom orthotics!

As for supplements - I take a good mutli-vitamin, calcium, magnesium, and bunch of others...I don't think any vitamins or minerals interfere but check with your doc to be sure.

You know how young people make fun of their mothers who don't understand modern technology? Well, I'm one of those moms. I only recently realized that my smart phone tracks my steps. I wasn't going to jump on the fad and buy a Fitbit, but since it's already there, I've started paying attention the numbers, and I'm finding that my never-ending weight struggles are easier when I hit my personal step goal every day. If you can find a few ways to get in extra steps a few times a day, it might help.

I was a teacher for a long time, and I know the frustration. It helps if you can pace around the classroom, but when you're the band director running a rehearsal, you're kind of stuck at the stand! I did find a few ways to utilize the school's fairly meager resources, though - I talked the athletic director into giving me a key to the weight room and used the stationary bike and treadmill, and I used to speed-walk in the corridors after school on snowy days when I couldn't walk outside. The faculty had a dress code, but I was able to find comfortable black leather sneakers that were designed to look like dress shoes, and I wore those as often as I could.

I also noticed a huge improvement after I worked with an exercise therapist to correct some posture issues. When I had to stand for a long time - like the miserable cafeteria-supervision periods - I had apparently developed the habit of locking my knees, and I was shifting my weight to one side more than the other. Fixing those habits helped with the tiredness. Good luck to you.

Actually, exercise can help reduce weight, not so much by simple burning of calories, but by stimulating your metabolism to use stored fat. Alas, it's more complicated, and depending on your particular metabolism, I think, one's body may want to eat muscle before it goes for fat, once it's used up sugars. That happens to me, so I try to time what I eat to what I do. I eat protein about an hour before I exercise, then use a rice protein supplement after, to get a quick protein fix.

Other than that, eat fresh foods, cut down on sugar and carbs which are easily converted to sugar (white rice, potatoes, bread, pasta), and cut down on portions. If you can't exercise like you want, then balance it in other ways. Good luck.

A very demanding exercise program in combination with diet can reduce weight, but alone exercise - while it burns calories and increases metabolism - can also build muscle.

This aside...you work full time and your feet hurt! That is why I think concentrating on diet is best. Just my opinion. Cutting out junk food - sweet and salty is step number one and a must! That also means cutting out fried food and quick food restaurants. The more fruits and veggies and the less fatty meats the better. Such a diet helps all general health - reducing sugar, lowering cholesterol etc.

WG, I don't see a downside in gaining muscle. You must be making reference to lean muscle weighing more than fat, but think about how it supports joints, increases function, in general, gives you STRENGTH. Yes, diet is an integral part of an exercise routine, in conjunction with weight maintenance, as well as strength, cardio-vascular health, and general well-being.

I don't think you pay much attention to other people's' responses. I think you could learn a few things if you got outside your own experience and listened to people. You have done well to live beyond your tribulations, but some of us are trying to lead active lives and pass on the tips we've learned. I'm tired of you dismissing others, so I choose to ignore you from now on.

YES, some drama, at last. Or not. I'm not trying to be a drama queen, but as I remember, the topic was exercise, which to some apparently, can lead to negative side effects, but I'm quite happy exercising as much as I can (aerobic and weights), as well as eating as well as I can (unless I feel indulgent), and I'm quite happy doing the best I can, encouraging others to do the same. Punct. Full stop.

If I go more than a few days without weight training I feel that my joints become slightly tender. You'd think it would be the other way around. But I just refuse to get stagnate & make it easy for this disease to seep its way into my joints. If it's gonna get me it's gonna have to work to get me.

I had a severe onset to RA, and went from being very active (hiking & skiing mostly) to a couch potato. It also took 6 months for MTX to start have a noticeable effect, so not much going on with exercise for a while. However, I was eager, so I gradually went through pool exercises, to walking to stationary bike and gentle weights, gradually increasing exeverything as I could. Alas, along the way, I had 2 drug failures, a couple of major surgeries and some more hospitalizations, and that stuff sets you back again. So, I'd step back reduce time, weight, repetitions and gradually increas as I could.

My best advice is start slowly and gradually increase aerobic and weight exercises. Lots of people tell you don't exercise if you're in pain - I would check with my doc, if I were you - but, personally, I believe in keeping going, doing whatever I can.

Thanks everyone. Rheumatologist still cannot decide if it is Lupus or RA. More test. Hopefully new meds. Still in a lot of pain. Got a prednisone injection. Hoping for some relief. I am going to try yoga to start with and hopefully more strenuous stuff later. Definitely watching what I eat better. Thanks again.

3ldsmama, I would suggest trying pool exercises. You can do just about any level of strenuous that works for you, without having to deal with weight-bearing issues. Yoga can be very tough on your body and prednisone injections are just a short-term solution.