unique situation, need some ideas

kelly1922

I had major knee surgery last fall and was non weight bearing for 10.5 weeks. As you can imagine, sitting in a recliner for that long, about 22 hours a day, combined with holiday eating, and I gained 15 lbs. Then, I found out 3 weeks ago that I'm pre-diabetic and have hypothyroidism. No wonder the weight hasn't come off! I'm not at 100% yet with my knee, but I'm definitely moving around now. I've started using the bike for cardio, and combined with PT, I'm hoping to get this weight off. Now I'm very overweight, 320 lbs. But, I have lost 10 lbs. in the last 3 weeks by doing low carb. My plan has been to have one carb a day, meaning one meal has either a gluten free bagel (I have Celiac, so I'm gluten free), gf bread or brown rice, sweet potato, etc. Pasta is rare, and if I have it, it's quinoa pasta. Tons of water, cut out soda, sweets, etc. which cutting out the sweets, mainly ice cream, was extremely hard for me as I'm pretty much addicted to sugar! I allow myself to have a glass of red wine 3-4 nights a week, and I allow myself one cheat day on the weekends for extra carbs. What do you all think? Is there anything I should be changing? Adding or getting rid of? I would just do Paleo, but I do love my cheese and milk, and like the occasional grain. Keep in mind, I'm a whole, real foods person, so no processed crap, nothing fake, no fat free or light crap for me! :laugh:

twinmom01

I do primal (Paleo with the occassional addition of dairy - half and half in my coffee, butter and cheese on occasion) - for me even eating Primal/Paleo for me to see results I have to watch my carb and sugar intake...it just isn't about eating a Paleo/Primal lifestyle but actually watching my macros for me...I eat a Primal/paleo style because it is easier for me to keep things in check for the bulk of my diet -

Especially if you are pre-diabetic you would most certainly want to watch your sugars and carbs regardless of your eating style. Your best bet would probably see if you can't challenge yourself and wean yourself away from things like the red wine that is basically empty calories (depending on how big a glass you pour yourself...if you are heavy handed that could be 200+ in calories that don't help you at all) and other things for a set period of time - you may find that after 3-4 weeks you dont' crave those items anymore...

When I switched eating styles I ate a lot of fruits to satisfy my sweet cravings...after a while I stepped that down because I had to watch my carbs and sugars...now if I splurge I do so on things like fresh berries or dark chocolate - where yes I am going up in sugars and carbs in my splurge but they give me benefits...

RedneckMomma77

You need to talk to your doctor about how to approach losing the weight. With the pre-diabetic condition and the hyperthyroidism, he/she is the best person to talk to. I'm assuming that your doctor probably prescribed a medication for the hyperthyroidism, and it should help with some of the weight loss. Also ask your doctor about possible exercises that are appropriate for your stage of healing from your knee surgery. I would also suggest adding yoga to your exercise regimen, along with strength training. Cardio is great, but it misses so much. The strength training will actually make you burn more calories when you are just laying around or sleeping for that matter. The yoga will help with your flexibility, and help prevent the strains on your muscles from your other exercises. It also help relax you. Yoga is a great evening exercise program.

kelly1922

I do primal (Paleo with the occassional addition of dairy - half and half in my coffee, butter and cheese on occasion) - for me even eating Primal/Paleo for me to see results I have to watch my carb and sugar intake...it just isn't about eating a Paleo/Primal lifestyle but actually watching my macros for me...I eat a Primal/paleo style because it is easier for me to keep things in check for the bulk of my diet -

Especially if you are pre-diabetic you would most certainly want to watch your sugars and carbs regardless of your eating style. Your best bet would probably see if you can't challenge yourself and wean yourself away from things like the red wine that is basically empty calories (depending on how big a glass you pour yourself...if you are heavy handed that could be 200+ in calories that don't help you at all) and other things for a set period of time - you may find that after 3-4 weeks you dont' crave those items anymore...

When I switched eating styles I ate a lot of fruits to satisfy my sweet cravings...after a while I stepped that down because I had to watch my carbs and sugars...now if I splurge I do so on things like fresh berries or dark chocolate - where yes I am going up in sugars and carbs in my splurge but they give me benefits...

Now Primal sounds like something I could do! Thanks. Not to sound dumb, but what are Macros? LOL. Great ideas; thanks!

kelly1922

You need to talk to your doctor about how to approach losing the weight. With the pre-diabetic condition and the hyperthyroidism, he/she is the best person to talk to. I'm assuming that your doctor probably prescribed a medication for the hyperthyroidism, and it should help with some of the weight loss. Also ask your doctor about possible exercises that are appropriate for your stage of healing from your knee surgery. I would also suggest adding yoga to your exercise regimen, along with strength training. Cardio is great, but it misses so much. The strength training will actually make you burn more calories when you are just laying around or sleeping for that matter. The yoga will help with your flexibility, and help prevent the strains on your muscles from your other exercises. It also help relax you. Yoga is a great evening exercise program.

I actually have hypothyroid, not hyper. But yes, they started me on a small dose of Synthroid. Been on it for 4 weeks and I'm hoping to see some results soon. I've noticed little changes. I would love to get into Yoga, just afraid if I get down on the floor, I won't be able to get back up again! :laugh: Great suggestions, thanks!

erinscribbles

You need to talk to your doctor about how to approach losing the weight. With the pre-diabetic condition and the hyperthyroidism, he/she is the best person to talk to. I'm assuming that your doctor probably prescribed a medication for the hyperthyroidism, and it should help with some of the weight loss. Also ask your doctor about possible exercises that are appropriate for your stage of healing from your knee surgery. I would also suggest adding yoga to your exercise regimen, along with strength training. Cardio is great, but it misses so much. The strength training will actually make you burn more calories when you are just laying around or sleeping for that matter. The yoga will help with your flexibility, and help prevent the strains on your muscles from your other exercises. It also help relax you. Yoga is a great evening exercise program.

Definitely talk to your doctor about diet. With diabetes there is such a thing as too few carbs. It's actually quite a balancing act trying to figure out what is just the right amount. I don't know much about pre-diabetes, but I know that for a diabetic, 1 carb a day is way too little, you need to have them throughout the day.

Have you looked into workout videos for people who need low impact/had surgery. Okay, laugh all you want, but I know Richard Simmons has a chair workout video for this. He'll get you moving and get your heart rate up there. My friend and I used to get up early in the morning and do his workout videos. Extra calories were burned from all the laughing. You just have to get silly with it. Resistant Bands can also help with building strength and being low impact, try looking into some of those workouts.

twinmom01

I do primal (Paleo with the occassional addition of dairy - half and half in my coffee, butter and cheese on occasion) - for me even eating Primal/Paleo for me to see results I have to watch my carb and sugar intake...it just isn't about eating a Paleo/Primal lifestyle but actually watching my macros for me...I eat a Primal/paleo style because it is easier for me to keep things in check for the bulk of my diet -

Especially if you are pre-diabetic you would most certainly want to watch your sugars and carbs regardless of your eating style. Your best bet would probably see if you can't challenge yourself and wean yourself away from things like the red wine that is basically empty calories (depending on how big a glass you pour yourself...if you are heavy handed that could be 200+ in calories that don't help you at all) and other things for a set period of time - you may find that after 3-4 weeks you dont' crave those items anymore...

When I switched eating styles I ate a lot of fruits to satisfy my sweet cravings...after a while I stepped that down because I had to watch my carbs and sugars...now if I splurge I do so on things like fresh berries or dark chocolate - where yes I am going up in sugars and carbs in my splurge but they give me benefits...

Now Primal sounds like something I could do! Thanks. Not to sound dumb, but what are Macros? LOL. Great ideas; thanks!

Macros are the amount of Protien/Fat/Carbs you eat - MFP will give you a general estimate based on % - but you can go in and manually input where you want to be...

I went in and adjusted my daily stuff on my dairy to

1350 calories - (I actually probably eat about 1500 - but I don't typically add in stuff like olive oil and coconut oil that I may sautee or roast veggies in to my dairy on a daily basis so I set mine to reflect that in about any given day I may have about 100-150 calories in fats that aren't accounted for)

I then i fiddled around with % so it showed about 85 grams of carbs, then fiddled with the protien % to show about 118 grams (I rarely hit that I try for about 80 or above on any given day...) and the rest went to fats...since I dont' eat processed foods I dont' worrk about what types of fats since I am mainly using olive and coconut oil for cooking and my eating fats are from things like fish, nuts and avocados

For me I am more focused on carbs and sugars in any given day then I am fats and protiens...I do make sure on the days I lift weights I do get a good amount of Protien in since it helps to repair the muscle..

kelly1922

thank you!!