For the sick and their caretakers: Add your tips tricks for the bedridden here!

justanotherloser007

So, you need to lose weight, and you can’t move. Can it be done? Yes. Hints, tips, strategies. First step, find out your TDEE. Don’t EVER eat over that again, until you are a normal moving person. You might get better your might not, plan your daily calorie allotment as if you will never move again. No your caretakers don’t get this, but you need to. Your family generally pity you, and try to comfort you with food. Do not allow this situation, it gets out of control so quickly! And it is a super steep hill that just makes a very bad situation so much worse. It is already going to be a long and difficult ride. It will take longer than the moving people. And it is hard for them too! So it will only be a little harder for you, since you can’t really participate in 50% of the weight loss picture.

When I turned 21, I started with perfect health and a really active lifestyle. Mid-year I went to bedridden, lost my full time job, and got some sort of chronic illness kinda overnight. I made the mistake of eating as if I was still a really active person. I knew nothing about chronic disease, and I knew next to nothing about nutrition. Then add meds that make you gain, inability to sleep because your body just doesn't know what to make of the inability to get out of bed, the pain, the constant exhaustion - I mean, let's face it - you are probably lucky to be alive and still breathing!

By the time I “woke up” to my weight situation, I was 150 pounds over my starting size. I am thinking this happened in a year, maybe two? Damage control: You HAVE to stop gaining weight first. This means you MUST know your TDEE and don’t EVER go over that again. Healthy active me had muscles, and ate an easy 2000+ calorie diet at 5’3” with a weight of 135lbs. New me can only eat around 1450-1500 calories a day. If I want to lose weight, it has to be 1200 calories, or I won’t lose. If healthy, active me had wanted to lose weight, she would eat what I eat daily now for maintenance. Wrap your head around this reality, it is important you understand this.

How compromised are you? When I started out, some days I struggled to go to the bathroom without assistance, for around the first 10 years. So obviously, I could not always fix my own food. What to tell your caretaker: get you the kid’s meal or the senior citizen’s meal. This is the easiest thing you will ever do, for yourself and them. This will prevent weight gain. They generally put kid’s meals at a 1500 calorie per day plan. Put this on your, “man where has dry shampoo been all my life?” category. This is a change you 100% can make, that won’t add to the daily burden. Hey it’s cheaper! Other things you can do, the pizza. Family members like to get you pizza so they don’t have to think about it, and you have food. Order pizza without cheese, because your appetite will still be the appetite of an active person. I have found that even with limited calorie intake, I can have pizza without cheese easy (if it is a veggie pizza I can easily fit half of a medium pizza in my limited calorie allotment!). When I can prepare my own food, I will add fat free mozzarella.

Vegetables without cheese and butter are a new fav! And here you thought clean eating was for Olympians and vain people in Hollywood. Well, turns out clean eating is great for very sick people too! Vegetables give your body needed nutrients so that your barely functioning self can barely function a smidge better! Woo hoo! Also, you can feel that full feeling. Remember that? When you would do some activity and then eat a bunch of food? Well vegetables can give you that full feeling. I also am able to eat fruits, but I can currently weigh my food. On to the sauces: the non-sick like to put oil in everything quickly making most things out of reach for the bedridden. Find low calorie sauces, like BBQ sauce that is 20 calories for a tablespoon, a reasonable mustard, pico de gallo, or Bolthouse dressing that has a nice sustainable calorie count for TDEE people.

Point is, a bedridden person can lose weight. But since you already depend on someone, just like everything else you are going to need an assist on this. This strategy is a good place to start. Happy losing! Other ideas, hints and tricks?

yweight2020

Its good you have a plan of action and helpers, take things 1 day at a time is all any of us can do.🤗🙃♥️👏

My mother would be bed bound, but she isnt because we get her up everyday from bed to wheelchair to recliner etc.

I cook majority of our meals healthy and .measured, but sometimes I will use frozen healthy choice meals for lunch when I'm pressed for time, there already measured and includes veggies protein and a carb only downfall maybe to much sodium if you use them to often. I add a drink to this and sometimes a fruit or a fruit cup. if she still seems hungry.

We eat simple items for breakfast I boil eggs in batches, I microwave whole oats oatmeal not instant or cook a big pot on stove top for the week. I like to cook to save time by batch cooking when I can. I'll bake an entire chicken and use for the week. Pre cook pot of veggies and rice also, I sparingly use different sauce also like barbecue, marinara. Teriyaki etc. Hope this helps.

Take care

MargaretYakoda

Batch cooking on the days you have energy can help.
Individual portions. Either buy the food that way or count portions, put in individual bags or ziplock containers.
Oatmeal if you like it. Can be refrigerator oatmeal so you don’t even have to cook it.
It is possible to exercise, but it’s highly unlikely to be enough to lose weight. It’s still worth doing what you can.
Hard boiled eggs are great.
Premeasured peanut packs too.
Deli veggie trays.

Convincing your person that yes, you are eating enough can be tricky. I have had to get tough and just hand back the plate half done when he overserves me. It helps to effusively praise the food .
Divided plates have helped him visua lize how much is too much.

I have a habit of dropping stuff. So a cup with a good lid is crucial.

Straws. The bendy kind. If all you can do is suck up a protein shake? Do it. Keeping your nutrition in a good zone is important.

justanotherloser007

Maybe someday I can do food batches. Since my caretaker can only cook meat on a grill, that option was out for me. But I am really glad that other caretakers do this! That is why in the past I was so dependent on fast foods and pizza. But frozen food, I can prepare easily! Couldn't always do this, but I can now! Yes, one day at a time. I don't take anything for granted. Nothing worse than waiting for someone to come home from work, because you forgot to ask them to set out the water. Then the struggle of figuring out when they are actually coming home to plan the water accordingly. It is rough. I think others maybe had depends, or something like it - but I had to go without.

Thank you all caretakers we love you and all you do!

MargaretYakoda

justanotherloser007 wrote: »

Maybe someday I can do food batches. Since my caretaker can only cook meat on a grill, that option was out for me. But I am really glad that other caretakers do this! That is why in the past I was so dependent on fast foods and pizza. But frozen food, I can prepare easily! Couldn't always do this, but I can now! Yes, one day at a time. I don't take anything for granted. Nothing worse than waiting for someone to come home from work, because you forgot to ask them to set out the water. Then the struggle of figuring out when they are actually coming home to plan the water accordingly. It is rough. I think others maybe had depends, or something like it - but I had to go without.

Thank you all caretakers we love you and all you do!

When I’m able to assist, I try to focus on things that will make my boyfriend’s life easier. Because we’re both caring for my husband, who has dementia and can’t do any cooking or his own meds without help (currently he can do most of the rest of his ADLs)
We’re all 50+ and retired, which helps.
But most of the cooking falls on my boyfriend’s shoulders because I just can’t stand up that long. He loves to cook. But sometimes a frozen meatloaf is just the ticket.

One thing I like to do is slice fruit or veggies, and arrange them on our dehydrator trays. Then my boyfriend puts them in the dehydrator.
This gives us prepared veggies that are easy to make a quick soup or spaghetti sauce with.
And fruit for the morning oatmeal.
So. Much. Fruit. LOL
And thinly sliced dehydrated veggies make a tasty snack.

We do onions, tomatoes, bananas, etc by the case this way. We have a 12 tray Cabella’s dehydrator and it’s divine.

MargaretYakoda

Bumping this with a link to a group made just for us.
Come join in! We can talk exercise and diets and all the good stuff!
As well as discuss mobility equipment, exercise tips, etc.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/141248-disability-fitness-and-weight-management-we-are-here-we-can-do-this