Bed Rest….Healthy Choices

itskreekree

Does anyone have any tips for not gaining weight while on bed rest after surgery when you can basically not lift more than 10lbs and no exercise until October 7th(ish)?

Had a hysterectomy for health reason on Aug 19, 2024 and will not be cleared for working out at my local boot camp gym until October. 😭

I started my Journey in Oct 2023 and went from 262lbs to 229lbs. I had to quit working out in July of 2024 because of fibroids and my obgyn advised me to stop working out because I was very anemic, weak, and a few other things. We scheduled a hysterectomy so from July to my surgery date of Aug 19, 2024, I gained back 10lbs so now I’m at 240ish. I’m so upset and now I’m on bed rest for 2 weeks post op and won’t be able to get back into the gym until October 7th.

I’m trying to get back on track while on bed rest by limiting snacking and staying hydrated. I was able to take a short walk around our cut-de-sac two days ago but was very sore near my incisions and my husband had to remind me that I just had a major surgery 5 days ago and to relax for now.

Any tips or advice would be very welcomed and appreciated. I just feel like a blob and like I’m going to end up where I started last fall.

cmriverside

Eat at your maintenance calorie level or a small deficit, like, "Lose 1/2 pound per week."

This is a very good time for you to work on logging your food as accurately as you can, and learn to prepare a library of meals that will facilitate hitting your macros and staying comfortably within calories while eating food you like. There's plenty to do just working on that.

Weight loss isn't about exercise, it's about food.

As far as the surgery, I agree with your husband. I also know how maddening it is to be, "on the bench." I've had periods of injury and illness and the worst part is that my anxiety builds without exercise.

There is a lot that can be done for the over-thinking. Maybe listen to some, "Therapy In A Nutshell," on YouTube...or any other positive podcast or YouTuber.

You're going to have quite a bit of systemic inflammation (which will show up as additional water weight) while you heal, so my opinion would be to not step on the scale until October, either.

westrich20940

I'd second just eating at maintenance as your body is healing from a major surgery. I know that it might feel frustrating to gain weight...but such is life. You just get back to your regular scheduled activities when you can and keep going. Give you body what it needs now so you can come back strong and get back to it. Good luck.

spiriteagle99

Now is the time to really focus on your eating. Find out what foods satisfy you without making you gain weight. Log meticulously. Make healthy choices.

Last year I had surgery on my hand and was told I wasn't allowed to sweat for two months. As a daily walker and runner I was aghast. I exercise largely for my mental/emotional as well as physical health. I was also concerned about gaining weight. What I found was that 1) the time passed more quickly than I expected, and though I was depressed, I could cope; 2) since I wasn't doing much exercise, I wasn't anywhere as hungry as usual; 3) while I did lose fitness for a few months, I was able to build back up, carefully, and healed my chronic hamstring pain; 4) I gained less than 3 lbs by really watching what I ate.

AnnPT77

I wouldn't recommend trying to lose weight while in the acute phase of recovery from surgery, unless my surgeon was fully and knowingly supporting that. Optimal healing requires extra calories and good nutrition.

If you eat at estimated maintenance calories (and if you've found that an estimated calorie deficit gives you about the predicted weight loss rate in the past), then eating at estimated maintenance while healing may give you a small calorie deficit all by itself.

During weight loss, I kept trying to lose weight after a much more minor surgery than yours. (Mine was outpatient laparoscopic gallbladder removal.) I came to be sorry that I did that. That was part of a scenario where I became weak and fatigued, then it took multiple weeks to recover even though I corrected quickly. No one needs that.

I was lucky, though, that my body prioritized healing! I would always go to maintenance temporarily now, when major healing/recovery needs to happen, because of that experience.

The reason I say "if you've found that an estimated calorie deficit gives you about the predicted weight loss in the past" is that estimates are population averages, and we're individuals. I need a lot more calories than MFP predicts, so I need to eat more for any given loss rate (or maintenance) than MFP suggests. If I ate estimated maintenance during healing, I'd in reality be at a too-big deficit for best healing/health.

By the way, I want to underscore Riverside's statement above that there will almost certainly be extra water retention while healing, and that will look like weight gain (or at least non-loss). That was true for me even with the surgery I mentioned above. Personally, I like continuing to weigh myself through experiences like that, because I like understanding how my body works, and the pseudo-gain isn't stressful to me. But it can be good to skip weighing for a few weeks if your feelings differ from mine.

As others have said, we do de-condition/de-train while healing, but in many scenarios getting back to baseline is quicker than building to that level was in the first place. Also, as your doctor approves activities, I'd encourage you to do them if feasible. Often they want us walking as soon as possible, and I'd suggest getting a full understanding of how much is OK. There was one surgery where I had weight lifting limitations, and worked with my surgeon to find the time where I could start working with very light weights at higher reps than usual. It was the only time in my life that I've "lifted to boredom" rather than lifting until the last few reps were challenging.

As an aside, the surgery situation is one thing that makes me glad I figured out how to use the MFP "add exercise calories separately" approach with reasonable accuracy. In the 8 years of maintenance since loss, I've had multiple surgeries, injuries or illnesses where I needed to cut back or drop exercise temporarily. Since I have a reasonable understanding of my pre-exercise calorie needs (estimated from my own experience data), I can keep my weight pretty predictable with or without exercise. (NB: I'm a healthy person, but I'm 68, and a late-bloomer recreational athlete. In that context, realistically surgeries, injuries and illnesses are going to be more frequent than they might be for young'uns of similar general health status.)

Best wishes for smooth, speedy healing, and

lesdarts180

First, remember that weight gain/loss/whatever is primarily to do with what you eat and drink, exercise only has a small part to play.
Secondly, your body needs good nutrition and sufficient to heal so don't cut calories too much and try to keep the protein levels quite high.

I had a hysterectomy (total, abdominal, big cross-ways incision, everything taken out) in 2020 and I have to say that foodwise my biggest challenge was having to rely on my boyfriend to shop and cook. He can't cook and has little idea of nutritional values. The positive side to that is that we ate a lot of ready meals which are easy to log. It was a couple of weeks before I could cook properly but I could manage breakfast and snacks and assembling salads.

I have to add that bed rest was not part of my recovery plan. I had a progressive walking plan provided by the physiotherapist; day 1 walk to the gate, day 2 walk to the first lamp post etc.

If anyone is reading this in the pre-op period, do stock up with nutritional snacks, and think about how you are going to manage without using your abdominal muscles.

Corina1143

I had a hysterectomy 2 years ago. I'm so lucky to have a healthy meal prep store less than a mile from my house. I also bought a lot of salad bags. I agree it's frustrating gaining weight after you worked so hard to lose it. BUT----right now the priority is HEALING! Normal tdee x 110%. Your body will need the extra calories for healing. Adequate protein. Exercise = yoga meditation for the moment. The time passed very quickly.

yirara

I'd also suggest you eat at maintenance. Your body will need more calories than your usual maintenance calories for healing. How much? Nobody knows. I know my calorie needs went up by nearly 1/3 with a broken proximal humerus. Until it didn't anymore 😅 Thus expect the elevated calorie needs to go back to normal again. Don't panic about the body scale as your body will be sore, retain water, and other stuff from healing.

liwo81

I had foot surgery in February and was completely off my feet for about 8 weeks. I couldn’t walk AT ALL. I had lost about 20# up till then and just decided to just accept that I wouldn’t be able to exercise at all. What I did do was stick to my calorie and protein goals. It felt very discouraging because when we sit around, we just want to nibble and graze on anything in sight. By sticking to my calories and protein, I did not regain any weight and managed to even lose a couple. It set my goal back a little since, up to the surgery, I walked 3-5 miles or biked 6-10 miles every day. Strength was regained quickly though and there was no noticeable loss of muscle. I think the protein was helpful. Good luck to you and don’t let it discourage or derail you. Just do what you can😊

NeedToLoseWeight2000

I broke my foot 3.5 months ago and had surgery 12 days after. I was off my feet completely for 7 weeks. I had lost about 20 lbs at that point, and was playing basketball 1-2 days a week and climbing 2-3 days a week. My average step count was well over 10k assumed that most of my weight loss was from the amazing exercise I was doing. I told myself that as long as I gain less than 10 lbs I’m ok. For the first 3 weeks I lost about 5 lbs, and the next 4 weeks I gained that back. But then as soon I started walking again, it all came off.
Diet plays a way bigger role than exercise, and don’t use this as an excuse to eat comfort food all day (although I may have spent the 1st 3 weeks eating milkshakes 🙈)
Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

t4nn1e

Lots of people have said similar and they’re right - you need to focus on healing right now. I’d say eat protein to help your healing and eat healthily - have some treats also, why not?!

But - don’t obsess over the scales - you can get back on track when you’re actually back on track! Right now is time for healing and getting better after your major surgery! Take care.