Losing weight... with an injury

stephieleee

So last week was supposed to be my restart back into weight loss, as I've gained back about half the weight I lost approximately 2 years ago.
However, last Wednesday I ended up breaking my ankle and had to have surgery on it to aid in it's recovery.
At this point I'm basically housebound - I have to keep my leg elevated most of the time, and I'm expected to be non-weight bearing on my foot for the next 6 weeks.
I've spent the last week or so feeling sorry for myself and comfort eating the delicious treats my friends brought over to make me feel better, but I've decided I really don't want this injury to get the better of me, and I don't want to allow myself to use it as an excuse to let myself go any further.
Any tips on how I can best lose weight (or at the very least, maintain) in this situation?
Also any easy, healthy recipe ideas for someone who can't really do much? (I cant really cook while I'm on my crutches - I've tried and it's dangerous - instead I've resorted to using my wheely office chair when I'm in the kitchen)
I've been given some bed exercises from my physio, but that's mostly just to assist with circulation in the injured leg.

The_Elephant_Man

Losing weight starts in your mouth, log everything you put in your mouth and stay below your calorie goal. You can do this!!

sijomial

It comes down to diet - something I failed with when I had severe knee injuries and couldn't weight-bear for 3 months. Don't do what I did and balloon up in weight!

My advice:
Stop comfort eating (wish I did that all those years ago!).
Tell whoever is doing your shopping not to buy tempting treats that you tend to comfort eat with. Or if you shop online be disciplined, it's far easier to be disciplined once rather than every waking minute knowing tasty treats are in the house.

Aim for maintenance or just a smidge below while you are healing. Log your food accurately and completely so there's no excuses.

You will get better and more confident on crutches with practice, I went for a daily decent walk (stump??), did gardening, got to the point I could fly up or down stairs. It's a decent upper body workout. (Just don't buy a load of things while you are out as carrying is a problem, as I discovered.....)

Stir fry springs to mind as an easy meal to prep when not very mobile. Any one pot meal really.

You will lose muscle not being able to use your leg. To minimise that avoid a big calorie deficit, eat plenty of protein and do the exercises your physio gives you. It's not just for circulation it's also to keep your muscles stimulated. You can still do upper body exercises and keep the other leg strong.