Chronic Pain = Weight Gain

danabharris

I never thought it would happen to me, but here I am. I have had an awful medical year. First I had to have my right toe fused which left me depressed and basically sedentary for two months. I was so glad to go back to work, but then a month later I started having back pain. Now I am not new to this pain. I had back surgery 4 years ago (minimally invasive) for a disc herniation. At that point I was about 118 pounds ( I am 5ft 1in). After that surgery I gained some weight but stayed at 125-ish.
Now 4 years later, I am facing a very large disc herniation that is requiring surgery yet again! Over the past couple of months, the pain has gotten worse. I have started going to a pain clinic and revived a back injection.
I am still working, but I come home and lay on a heating pad and watch TV the rest of the day afterwards.
And now.... I don’t know where to start.
I have hit the heaviest weight I have ever been! I am embarrassed that I have even gotten this heavy! I noticed it when I went to buy new shorts. My size didn’t fit, neither did the next size up. I weighed at the doctors office this past Monday... 140 pounds.
I don’t even know where to begin to start to loose this! With surgery less than a week away, I don’t even have much motivation to start bc I can’t exercise!
I am frustrated and in need of advice majorly!

suzfenau

I am sorry to hear about your pain and medical issues. I know a little about chronic pain but as mine was neck/arm/shoulder I was able to walk on the spot at home to get my steps up and wear a Fitbit to monitor it, I find 10,000 a day helps keep my weight in check, as long as I am eating right. Getting 10,000 steps up at home on the spot is so boring but I'd do bursts throughout the day and watch something on tv to take my mind off it. I don't know if that's an option for you with back pain though? Has your weight gone up through overeating alone? Are you able to cook for yourself at the moment? I don't know how immobile your condition is making you? If you are unable to shop and prepare 'healthy' meals maybe a home delivery like Liteneasy could be a temporary option. Even just a week or two of that can help break overeating cycles and make you feel so much better mentally. If we feel good mentally we can face most things I think. Your weight gain isn't massive, I'm sure to you it's devastating but it's a very manageable amount to tackle in my opinion - not easy but manageable. Your surgery isn't far away and hopefully it'll improve your situation so you can exercise again. I apologise that I can't really offer any valuable advice but just wanted to reach out and say hang in there

manderson27

Firstly forget about your weight for the time being. You have less than a week before your operation so you can't achieve anything in that time. So be kind to yourself and remove that particular worry for the moment.

You will need to heal after your operation and for that you need to eat a good nutritious diet. Trying to lose weight while healing is counterproductive. Your body needs at least maintainance calories to help the healing process. Once you have healed then you can concentrate on losing the weight.

Remember weight loss is all about calorie deficit and this can be created by food intake alone. A lot of us (me included) have lost weight without excercising that much. Excercising although great for fitness and stamina is not necessary for weight loss. So once you are up and about you will need to start slow and build up gradually but I am sure you are aware of this.

Come back after your operation and let us know how you are doing. There are a lot of people on here who have had to deal with this kind of thing and I am sure you will get some great advice.

Good luck and swift healing.

L1zardQueen

This^^^

Be good to yourself, and get well soon.

concordancia

For me, the problem is access to nutritious food when I am having severe back pain. I can't walk around the grocery store, I can't stand in the kitchen, etc.

Now is a good time to come up with a plan for this. Is there grocery delivery in your area? Do you like any of the pre made meals like Amy's? Do you have a friend to help out?

cheryldumais

Your health should definately come first. Once you have recovered a bit remember that weight loss is mainly what you are eating and exercise is more for health and yes grants a couple hundred extra calories here and there but right now it's really important to give your body what it needs to heal. Sending lots of healing vibes your way. Hope you feel better soon.