Metabolic Confusion

Gra0617

Hey guys! I just turned 40, have a 3 yr old, and had a massive spinal injury between her birth and now. I am obese for the first time in my life, 225 lbs. I know my weight is affecting my pain, but I am sedentary due to the injury other than physical therapy exercises that DO NOT burn calories. I thought about trying the metabolic confusion diet, but don't want to pay money (single mom of 4). Anyone here tried it?

SuzySunshine99

You can't confuse your metabolism, and you shouldn't have to pay for any weight loss program.

Losing weight is about creating a calorie deficit. You need to consume less calories than you burn. Exercise is not necessary for weight loss...you burn calories just by being alive, even if you are sedentary.

Before paying any money to anyone, just set up a profile on MFP if you haven't, and log your calories as accurately as possible (weighing your food is most accurate). You can eat the foods you like within your calorie goal. Try to stick to the calorie goal that MFP gives you, and then give it some time.

cwolfman13

You burn calories 24/7, so the PT work you do does burn calories in excess of the calories you would burn at rest. Outside of being an athlete or training like one, for most people, just being alive burns more calories than anything else they do. For example, my BMR (calories I burn merely existing) is around 1800 calories. Then I burn calories just going about my day to day...working, cleaning, cooking, playing with my kids, etc. An finally deliberate exercise which is a fairly paltry number of calories burned relative to everything else.

You don't have to do any kind of weird diet. MFP is designed to give you a calorie target for weight loss without deliberate exercise...start there. You will lose weight when you're consuming fewer calories than your body is expending overall...and like I said, you already expend a lot of calories merely existing.

cmriverside

yeah, don't pay for anything.

Start logging food today.


I think for someone with a spinal injury your best strategy is going to be to find something you can do that keeps your mind and hands busy so you don't go to food for a stress or boredom relief. The psychological part of weight loss is very important to address. Food becomes a comfort in hard times, but it's not really a friend when it causes obesity, yeah?


How about finding a volunteer situation that requires you to "show up" for others and keep your mind busy?

sijomial

" other than physical therapy exercises that DO NOT burn calories."
All movement burns calories, just not many in certain circumstances.
But of course rehab exercises aren't done for calorie reasons.

"I thought about trying the metabolic confusion diet, but don't want to pay money (single mom of 4). Anyone here tried it?"
Just the dumb and non-scientific name would put me off and no, I wouldn't pay anyone for a weight loss plan.
This resource you are on is free and, apart from determination, is all you need.

Hope your recovery goes well. :flowerforyou:
As a fellow sufferer with back problems I found having less weight and less compression on my damaged lumbar spine made a big difference to my pain and function levels.
BTW - while recovering / healing it's not a good idea to go for a massive deficit, be conservative not aggressive with your chosen rate of loss.

westrich20940

use a TDEE calculator and use 'sedentary' as your lifestyle/activity level. It will give you an estimate of how many calories you'd theoretically have to eat per day in order to maintain your current weight.

Subtract a modest amount of calories from that (~200-300 or so)....and shoot to eat that amount of NET calories per day --- hit that goal by either eating less than your TDEE or using intentional exercise to burn 200 calories or so.

I'm not sure what type of activity you can do with your injury --- are you able to simply walk or swim? Something low intensity?

If not, simply pay attention to logging your consumed calories correctly and create a deficit that way.

ninerbuff

Gra0617 wrote: »

Hey guys! I just turned 40, have a 3 yr old, and had a massive spinal injury between her birth and now. I am obese for the first time in my life, 225 lbs. I know my weight is affecting my pain, but I am sedentary due to the injury other than physical therapy exercises that DO NOT burn calories. I thought about trying the metabolic confusion diet, but don't want to pay money (single mom of 4). Anyone here tried it?

Total psuedoscience. Don't fall for it. CICO for the win. Find out HOW MUCH YOU ACTUALLY BURN in a day and just subtract 500 calories from it for your goal calorie intake.


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

kshama2001

Gra0617 wrote: »

Hey guys! I just turned 40, have a 3 yr old, and had a massive spinal injury between her birth and now. I am obese for the first time in my life, 225 lbs. I know my weight is affecting my pain, but I am sedentary due to the injury other than physical therapy exercises that DO NOT burn calories. I thought about trying the metabolic confusion diet, but don't want to pay money (single mom of 4). Anyone here tried it?

I'm obviously not familiar with your PT exercises, but I have been logging mine as "Stretching, hatha yoga" and am still in a calorie deficit and still losing weight.

Have you talked to your PT about other ways you can be not sedentary?

We don't need to exercise to create a calorie deficit, but I sure find it helpful! It's been a struggle, but I have found ways to be active, despite issues from my hip down to my heel.

rheddmobile

Yeah, metabolic confusion is not a thing. Hey, that’s actually good news, now you don’t need to pay for it!

All weight loss works by creating a caloric deficit. Obviously this is easier when you are more active, but even sedentary people can do it by eating less.

Injuries suck, and trying to lose weight while injured sucks, but there are people here who have done it and can offer tips. My main tip is to try to find sources of joy that aren’t food related. When you are in pain and can’t do much, it’s very tempting to seek pleasure by eating. You have a three year old, so probably you don’t have a huge amount of extra time the way I did, but still, do some things for yourself. Mine include bird watching and doing my fingernails in crazy colors. Anything that you can do that doesn’t hurt and gives you joy!

Also, if you don’t get a lot of calories due to being sedentary, try some of the bulk eating threads. And find something you love to eat that has very few calories. I put 100% cacao powder in EVERYTHING, ten calories makes anything into a decadent chocolate dessert. You will figure it out, you got this!

MargaretYakoda

Ya. Don’t pay for a program. It’s not necessary.

Please do come join this group. Weight loss while disabled is a bit trickier. But it’s definitely possible.

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