Rule-breaker

mike192837645

Does anyone else here feel they break the rules in weight loss? I am in a wheelchair, and while it MAY seem harder for me to lose weight because I am sedentary and don't burn much, I argue it's easier BECAUSE I don't burn much. I don't burn as much so I don't need as much food. I lost over 60 before and maintained for a few years. I only put on 30 again because I stopped caring. But now I care again. There have been MANY weeks where I burned 3 or 4 pounds, and one week where I dropped 8! My argument to my pt was guys shoot for 1500 a day. Women shoot for less. Why? His response was, "size and shape." I then asked, ok, how am I different from the average person? He said size and shape again. So my conclusion is I need less calories than most. In the past, there were days that I was hundreds below 1200 at 8 PM so I had to eat garbage to meet my minimum. Is that really the best option there? At times, I feel like my disability is really a superpower

AnnPT77

Be careful, though.

There's only so much stored body fat our body can metabolize in a day, and that's per pound of fat we have, so it's health-promoting for less-fat people to lose weight more slowly. I would think you particularly wouldn't want to lose super fast - risking muscle loss - if your exercise options are limited.

You don't say anything about your current size, but a lot of us think that it's sensibly moderate to lose no more than 0.5-1% of current body weight per week, with a bias toward the lower end of that, unless severely obese and under close medical supervision for deficiencies or health consequences.

I can relate to feeling good about rule-breaking (I'm an aging hippie, after all), but I also feel concern about health risks (because I want to be here and strong enough to keep breaking rules for as many more years as practical).

Faster weight loss is not necessarily better weight loss, if one wants best odds of continuing good health.

If you you need to eat fewer calories than a more-mobile person your size, that's understandable. But it's still important for health not to lose weight overly fast. If you don't want to eat what you consider junk, fill out your calories with avocados, nuts, seeds, nut butters, starchy vegetables, grains, full-fat dairy, fatty cold-water fish, etc. - those things are nutritious, but also more calorie dense.

P.S. Not all women shoot for less than 1500. Even though I'm old (59-60 when losing, 67 now), I lost weight at a good clip eating 1500-2000+ calories most days. Lots of details matter in calorie needs, not just size and shape (I'm only 5'5", started at just over the line into class 1 obese at 183 pounds).

mike192837645

First, thank you for your lengthy response! I read it all and appreciate it! I will be wary of losing too fast. Thanks for the tip!

AnnPT77 wrote: »

You don't say anything about your current size, but a lot of us think that it's sensibly moderate to lose no more than 0.5-1% of current body weight per week, with a bias toward the lower end of that, unless severely obese and under close medical supervision for deficiencies or health consequences.

I'm 200 now, but was 186 the time I lost 8. That really surprised me! I'm 5'7"

It should be noted that I go to physical therapy every week, so if I was doing something egregiously dangerous, my pt would know, so it kinda keeps me in check.

paperpudding

The way MFP works, your calorie needs probably wouldnt be much different than an able bodied person of same size who set their activity level to sedentary and then did no excercise to eat back additional exercise calories
(of course if you are doing vigorous exercise in a wheelchair, do eat at least some of those exercise calories back)

like everybody, make an initial calculation based on your height, weight, gender, age, activity level - ie set up same in MFP profile - follow it closely and then adjust according to real life results

AnnPT77

paperpudding wrote: »

The way MFP works, your calorie needs probably wouldnt be much different than an able bodied person of same size who set their activity level to sedentary and then did no excercise to eat back additional exercise calories
(of course if you are doing vigorous exercise in a wheelchair, do eat at least some of those exercise calories back)

like everybody, make an initial calculation based on your height, weight, gender, age, activity level - ie set up same in MFP profile - follow it closely and then adjust according to real life results

Good point: There may be less total activity, but crutches are estimated to burn around twice as many calories as casual household walking (5.0 METS vs. 2.0-2.5 METS). I couldn't easily find an estimate for wheeling a wheelchair if it's the non-motorized type.