Caloric Intake After Surgery

eggomylegos

Hey all! I will be getting foot surgery in a few weeks. Should I adjust my caloric intake during the healing period? If so, what adjustments should I make? Currently I complete 30 minutes of elliptical cardio 5x per week. I follow TDEE at a 20-25% deficit and do not eat back my exercise calories.

I'm really getting into the swing of taking better care of myself and want to avoid derailing my progress if possible. According to the surgeon, I will not be able to walk much for the first two weeks. Lots of bed rest and foot elevation during that time. I also have to wear a stabilizing boot for 4-6 weeks. Very little weight can be put on my foot until I am cleared to return to normal activity. So basically, couch potato healing mode.

Branstin

I would use the sedentary/no exercise option.

LessHeavyVeggie

I'm not an expert but I think your body needs adequate calories to recover from something, so maybe you could eat at maintenance or a lower deficit for at least the first week or two. I know when I had an operation a few years ago, the nurse told me in hospital that this was not the time to worry about dieting as I needed to keep my strength up. Whether this was physical or psychological advice, I'm not sure (I was having a hard time dealing with the potential outcome). probably the best thing to do is to ask the doctor/nurse in hospital - explain that you've been eating at a deficit to lose weight and ask what they think you should do during recovery.

eggomylegos

probably the best thing to do is to ask the doctor/nurse in hospital - explain that you've been eating at a deficit to lose weight and ask what they think you should do during recovery.

This is good advice, thank you

JoshNorris79

It looks like you may be in the same type boat i was. I just had major reconstructive knee surgery. I could put no weight on my leg at all for 2 weeks, and i've got another 3 to 4 before i can walk while bending it at all. I have about 100+ more pounds to lose, so i am fortunate in that my "maintenance" TDEE was signifigantly high. Depending on the calculator, it was between 2500-2900 calories per day to maintain my body weight at the "sedentary" option.
Well, i had been eating 1750, with lots of excercise but i know staying in bed all day will make me bored and want to eat. I upped my calorie goal to 2200, which would still allow for a slight weight loss if not merely maintenance since i was strictly bedrest. I almost never ate all my calories. I also preplanned out what kind of snacks would be healthy and low in cals so i could have it ready for my wife to make.
I have lost 2 pounds so far just on bedrest and watching what i eat!
My advice is Log EVERYTHING.
If you have someone to help you out, don't keep any food packages (bag of cookies or chips) that you can indulge on without thinking about it!
I selected 4 or 5 different "snacks" that were easy to fix and I put them in "my meals" so i could easily put them in. For instance, 3/4 cup of cocoa pebbles and 1/4 cup skim milk is 150 calories. not to bad and it was tasty.
half a banana with 1 tbsp peanut butter.
1/2 cup Oreo ice cream for 130 calories

You get the idea. My wife was extremely supportive of this which really made a difference for me, but I tried to preplan breakfasts and lunch's so they were easy to prepare and it wasn't too hard to log. I really had same thing for breakfast every day except weekends, and i had 3 or 4 different lunches that were easy to log.

Anyway, i was really concerned going in, because when i was 18 i had this same surgery to my other knee, and i put on 40-50 pounds during the recovery period. I never came back from all that weight gain, so doing this surgery kind of reversed that mentality and made me think, "if i only maintain and don't backslide, i won't be doing bad". It was just a bonus to have lost some weight.