Wife Exercising

GolfDada

Hello, my wife is about 5 feet tall and is in a wheelchair all day every day. She wants to register for the wonderful program, however she doesn't know her current weight. We are working on that, however we also dont know how much a female her height should weigh either. We are also looking for some exercise tips/suggestions for her. Any information & help regarding this would be appreciated, thank you.

waverly9876

I think that if you go online and google search, healthy weights for people of the same height. Unfortunately, I do not know what it would be for someone is in a wheelchair. Good luck.

rharris86dc

I would definitely begin by consulting her primary doctor. He/She can take her weight, and also give her some guidelines and suggestions.

Good luck!

humblemonkey

There are a lot of great sites out there that give good examples for wheelchair exercises. Also, some gyms offer water aerobics for people in wheelchairs. I just did a program in the nursing home with some other nursing students on this.
Also, once you get her weight, check out the BMI calculator on here and see what range her BMI falls into...then go from there. I know I am 5'1" and have to be under 133 pounds to be "healthy."

Good luck!

Swimgoddess

There was a thread not too long ago in the fitness forum wanting to assemble a group of MFPers who are disabled. It shouldn't be too far back.

Lleldiranne

There's a great deal of variation for weights, even for a female of a certain height. It also depends on how much she can build muscle mass (more muscle -> higher healthy weight).

But here's a point of reference anyway. I'm 5'0" and I look and feel great at 120 (I do a lot of weights, so pretty good muscle mass).

I do agree that her doc is a good place to start with getting info.

DustinReiner

First I would talk with her primary doctor, and possibly a PT if she has one. I have foot drop, it ca be a challange, but it can be done!

Welcome to MFP(As it's lovingly called by fellow members),

Well your making the first step, you’re on here with the intent to lose weight. While this site is great and the people are great, this site can only do so much, it’s up to you to do it.

You can do it, it’s not easy but the things that are worth it aren’t easy. But, they’re well worth it in the end!

I’d recommend start to read or research whatever you want to call it. You don’t have to be an expert on the matter, but you will get to know a lot about food and nutrition and exercise.

Exercising can be as simple as swimming, if she can do it.

A link about nutrition
http://exercise.about.com/cs/nutrition/a/lowcarb.htm

A link about dieting
http://exercise.about.com/sitesearch.htm?q=What+is+a+proper+diet?&SUName=exercise

Another link about nutrition
http://exercise.about.com/od/nutrition/Nutrition.htm

I use About.com a lot for research.

You can do it, just stay with it. Even when you get frustrated.

Good luck in reaching your goals!

Dustin

LG61820

Nursing homes usually have scales that can weigh someone seated in a wheelchair although you must be able to get or know the weight of the wheelchair. If she can transfer out to weigh the chair she can transfer back in and get the total weight. I'm sure many nursing homes, especially smaller ones, would allow you and your wife to come in for weighing purposes.

If you just google or bing seated exercises or wheelchair exercises you'll get tons of sites to check out.
One exercise that comes to mind is using the bicycle pedals that you can pick up for about $25 @ WalMart or Walgreens. You just set them on a table, wheel up to the table and pedal with your hands as fast as you can as lont as you can. This can get your heart rate up.