Maintaining during brain/neck injury

rayrog6

Hi! In June, I had a brain and neck injury that's definitely changed my lifestyle. I do pretty intensive rehabilitation, and am trying to maintain weight (with as much muscle as possible). I am 32 years old, 5'2" and 122 pounds. I was doing HIIT workouts 6 days a week and was in the best shape of my life when I got hurt. I didn't count calories or macros but guess I ate around 4,000 calories a day. I cook 98% of my food, can't eat dairy or peanuts, and eat super healthy.

For the first two months of my recovery, I was very sedentary and only walked a few feet a day. I lost about five pounds, but my waist stayed the same, even though I ate a lot. For the last few weeks, I have been tracking my food. I've tried a variety of combinations, but am now eating around 1,700-1,900 calories 50% carbs, 25% protein, 25% fat. I previously tried the same calories 40% carbs, 30% protein, 30% fat and continued to lose. My waist has still maintained the same size for the whole three months. I am able to walk now, and burn approximately 200 calories in my 30 min walking workout. This is the only exercise I am able to do presently. My Polar monitor says I typically burn around 1,400-1,600 TDEE a day.

Any advice? It will likely be a few more months before I can begin incorporating any weights or even my own body weight. I have talked to my doctors but nobody really has a good answer for me other than to try different things and see what works.

MelissaPhippsFeagins

As a survivor of a traumatic brain injury, I am sorry to say that trial and error is all there is. That injured brain controls all of the hormones that control your weight and until it heals, they may be all over the map. Best of luck in recovery!

sijomial

Sorry for your injury and best wishes for a successful rehab.
I piled on a load of weight after a serious injury and wish I had been as diligent as you!

Be cautious with your exercise estimates.

I am able to walk now, and burn approximately 200 calories in my 30 min walking workout.

A common formula is:
Net Walking calories Spent = (Body weight in pounds) x (0.30) x (Distance in miles)

So guessing two miles in your walking workout:
122 x 0.3 x 2 = 73.2 cals

What Kind of "Polar Monitor" are you using to estimate your TDEE?

My overall advice would be focus on your rehab/recovery but keep a vigilant eye on your actual weight trend over time. Previously being in great shape will be a great help in your recovery.

rayrog6

Thank you for both of your replies. I have an A300 with heartrate monitor. My heartrate is super high now which is how I burn so many calories. I'm guessing my body is working extra hard now since I was so immobile at first. I'm definitely focusing on my recovery, but I don't want to gain or lose too much.

The_Enginerd

rayrog6 wrote: »

Thank you for both of your replies. I have an A300 with heartrate monitor. My heartrate is super high now which is how I burn so many calories. I'm guessing my body is working extra hard now since I was so immobile at first. I'm definitely focusing on my recovery, but I don't want to gain or lose too much.

I would not trust your HRM at this point. Your HR is higher now because you are out of shape from the sustained sedentary time, not because you are doing any more work/burning more calories. The HRM has no way of knowing that so it's going to be off. Quite a lot off. Use the equation @sijomial listed for walking. It's more accurate and consistent than a HRM. An HRM is pretty much useless for calorie counts for low intensity activities like walking, only becoming somewhat useful when properly set up and only when used for moderate intensity cardiovascular exercise.

I just got back to activity this week after 2 full months of barely being able to walk. My first run was at an 11:30 pace at a HR of 170... my usual HR for a 7:30 pace at the weather conditions I was in. I'm still burning calories at a same rate I would have been at 11:30 pace and 130 BPM.

I maintained my weight through that sedentary period, but it meant eating less than when I was running 55 miles/week... I've been tracking my food/exercise for over 5 years through various stages of activity, so I already knew what my sedentary calories were.

esjones12

I would focus on recovery. Understand that losing weight and exercise are both stressors to your body. And stressing out about not being able to lose weight or exercise is also stress. Your body is already under tons of stress trying to recover. I would try to watch what you eat (sounds like you have a good understanding of that) and if you like being active do what you can/feel like and definitely consult with your doctors. In time you will be able to get back to where you were and further if you choose to.

Unfortunately sometimes life deals us cards that require us to put some things on temporary hold and forces us to deal with a more pressing manner. Just stay positive and do what you can. Best of luck!

rayrog6

esjones12 wrote: »

I would focus on recovery. Understand that losing weight and exercise are both stressors to your body. And stressing out about not being able to lose weight or exercise is also stress. Your body is already under tons of stress trying to recover. I would try to watch what you eat (sounds like you have a good understanding of that) and if you like being active do what you can/feel like and definitely consult with your doctors.

Just to clarify, I do not want to lose any weight. I've already lost 5 pounds and I'm trying to maintain as much as possible. I don't want to lose any; I don't want to gain either... Just maintain. I'm basically just trying to eat enough to make sure I don't lose anything else. I was eating about 4,000 calories before and I'm eating approximately half now.

nxd10

My son just went through 3 weeks of in-patient pain rehab. You must be working closely with a physical and occupational therapist - he did 6 hours a day. They can put together pretty intense program for sedentary activities. Not aerobic, but maintaining or building muscle mass through certainly weight training and planks, but also stance training in things like tai chi. There are whole programs for wheel chair bound folks you might find helpful.

victoria_1024

I would be very surprised if you ate 4000 calories a day to maintain. We're about the same height and weight and age and I have a very active lifestyle but I would gain weight eating anything over 2100. Why do you think you ate that much? You would been having to burn like 2000 calories a day exercising which would be close to impossible.

sijomial

rayrog6 wrote: »

My heartrate is super high now which is how I burn so many calories.

Sorry - no, that's not true at all.
Your heartrate is high so your HRM/activity tracker interprets that as burning more calories.

If you had an identical twin who was super fit with a much lower HR doing the same activity you would be burning the same calories whatever your device told you.

As an example three people on power monitored cycle trainers all putting out 200 watts of power, one at 130bpm (super fit), one at 150 (very fit) and another guy at 170 (very young with a higher HR range) would all be burning very similar amounts of calories.
Remember HRMs only accurately count heartbeats, they can only estimate calories and sometimes not very well.

nowine4me

If the formula above is accurate, my Apple Watch is giving me 2x actual calories burned. Yikes.

Hang in there OP, best wishes and on your recovery.

PAV8888

The formula listed as just as much bunk as the idea that heart rate by itself predicts your caloric burn

At this point probably your best bet is to use an app such as Weightgrapher.com, happy scale for iPhone, Libra for Android to record your weight and observe your weight trend over time taking into account daily fluctuations that may not be affecting the underlying weight trend.

You can then compare that information to what you're loging and adjust up or down whether to eat more or move more, within the parameters of what you can do.

Plutodreams

As someone who has spent the past year recovering from a brain injury and is still very much on the mend, a few tips.... eating tends to improve my symptoms, but certain foods are better for healing than others. An acupuncturist can be tremendously helpful both in this way and in helping you to recover. For me, my acupuncturist has been the biggest healing figure on my journey. Back to your subject...just try to stay in tune with your body. Your weight might fluctuate a lot due to hormones/appetite. If you can lovingly give yourself a 10 lb range within which to fluctuate, you'll be better off. Trust me worrying about weight gain I couldn't totally control while trying to heal set me back. I hope you don't do that. Foods that help me: tumeric, blueberries, fish oil (Nordic natural brand), lots of protein and nuts. Eating healthy, regularly, just moving however you can and accepting the possibility of a temporary and very minor weight gain will help. You will heal and get everything back. Going through a brain injury has been challenging but it has made me a much better and stronger human. If you want to you can add me on here and message me anytime.

Spliner1969

I've been through back surgery, and I even let it (years ago) defeat me. I never went beyond short walks, sat in recliners and stuck with my desk job for years. It landed me right here at MFP trying to lose weight. My back injuries were severe enough for some nerve damage so I'll never be a marathon runner, nor will I ever be squatting more than say 50 lbs more than my own body weight. But it sounds to me like you are being conscious about your exercise level and my guess is that you'll do fine if you don't give up.

My best suggestion is walk. Walk as much as your doctor will allow you to do. Down the road, when you think you can handle it, try jogging in spurts while walking. Lifting you'll have to discuss with your doctor, it will never be something I can do full time. I can lift weights by laying on my back (working my arms and chest) but anything that requires stress on my lower back is off limits the rest of my life. It's something that I have had to come to terms with but it hasn't stopped me. I can also do body weight exercises as well now, but heavy lifting is off limits for me. Keep it up, and don't get frustrated with it all. Walking is great exercise, and it's good for your back. It's why they want you walking often when you're recovering from back surgery, because, and trust me on this, sitting and doing nothing else will be detrimental to your recovery long term. When you're ready, look into yoga, it'll help with flexibility and keeping your back/neck in shape.

Plutodreams

Spliner1969 wrote: »

I've been through back surgery, and I even let it (years ago) defeat me. I never went beyond short walks, sat in recliners and stuck with my desk job for years. It landed me right here at MFP trying to lose weight. My back injuries were severe enough for some nerve damage so I'll never be a marathon runner, nor will I ever be squatting more than say 50 lbs more than my own body weight. But it sounds to me like you are being conscious about your exercise level and my guess is that you'll do fine if you don't give up.

My best suggestion is walk. Walk as much as your doctor will allow you to do. Down the road, when you think you can handle it, try jogging in spurts while walking. Lifting you'll have to discuss with your doctor, it will never be something I can do full time. I can lift weights by laying on my back (working my arms and chest) but anything that requires stress on my lower back is off limits the rest of my life. It's something that I have had to come to terms with but it hasn't stopped me. I can also do body weight exercises as well now, but heavy lifting is off limits for me. Keep it up, and don't get frustrated with it all. Walking is great exercise, and it's good for your back. It's why they want you walking often when you're recovering from back surgery, because, and trust me on this, sitting and doing nothing else will be detrimental to your recovery long term. When you're ready, look into yoga, it'll help with flexibility and keeping your back/neck in shape.

This is so true. With a brain injury, doctors will tell you to do nothing (at least that's what they told me.) If I had listened to them, I would have gone nuts. I did stop working for a time, but I never stopped getting physical activity. Everyday. I don't think doctors are god. They don't know everything. I was pushing myself to do what I could handle. It would aggravate my symptoms but also helped me to feel like a fighter. I then went back to work, and when I got reinjured, I did not stop. I am creative and I kept forcing myself to paint, write etc. It helped me get out my feelings. Smoking pot helped too. Many people cannot do this or that physical activity or mental activity with a brain injury, depending on the severity of the injury and also their symptoms. So don't worry about what you can't do. Just do whatever you CAN do. Question doctors and be your own advocate. Find healers who believe in you and aren't afraid to encourage you to push yourself. You're going to heal! Never stop believing in that.