Is 1000 calories too low for someone who cannot exercise?

cara4fit

"1000 cals when recovering from a broken leg is madness. IMHO."

I totally agree. You see, when recovering from a broken bone, injury, or surgery, for a few weeks, one's body can actually require somewhat MORE than one's maintenance level, simply because it's got a real job to do with healing up. Anywhere from 15-20% more in fact. A lot of internal work and energy go to healing, even if one is not able to exercise very much, or at all. It's a lot of work for the body to repair a broken bone, or heal up from any other assault on the body.
So for now, rather than being too attached to weight loss, I'd focus on really good nutrition and be sure to eat ENOUGH. 1000 calories is not going to be enough - your healing will be slowed in fact if you don't eat enough good food. Your protein needs are greater, for one thing, so I'd up that a bit, eat other fresh wholesome foods, and not get into those dates with Ben & Jerry because one might be feeling sorry for oneself(that last being really easy to do with an injury that sidelines one).
I know this from personal experience with a knee injury 2 years ago that sidelined me for a time. Even though I was not able to exercise for awhile, I lost a bit of weight during those first few weeks, even with eating my normal diet and not aiming for weight loss as such. However, after that initial healing period(5-8 weeks)that temporary metabolic boost does go down and one should be careful with eating. Still, not as low as 1000 calories though. It depends on your size for one thing and since you don't have much weight to lose, it might take longer anyway because the body often doesn't want to give up those last few pounds very readily. After those first few weeks, I got onto a really good rehab program working very hard, and I actually gained that weight back. However, I was in much better shape due to the muscle gain over a 6 month period.
Anyhow, best of luck and speedy healing as possible for you with your leg!:) Healing, not weight loss as such is your priority right now, along with rehab when that comes along.

Bob314159

If your doctor permits it, try pushing yourself upstairs with you back facing down towards the stairs and using one leg and two arms to push up a step then sit and repeat. Then come down the same way and repeat till you cannot do more. I did that for 3 months when I had a badly broken leg that had surgery. It didn't make the weight go off, but it stopped me gaining, when I was unable to walk or use crutches.

LorinaLynn

To lend support to the above statement... I had a stress fracture last winter and had to take time off from exercise. I *could* do upper body seated strength training and biking, but I didn't do much at all. And I stopped logging my food... I didn't binge, but I didn't care if I went over or under. And I self-medicated with Butterfingers. I played a lot of video games. I figured, worst case scenario, I might gain one pound a week by eating more and moving less, and I was ok with that. In about six weeks' time, I gained one whole pound. And when I was able to start exercising again, it was gone in a week.

Also remember, if you're on crutches, that's a big calorie burn in itself.

FluroFaye

Unless you're in bed all day...it's FAR too low. Calculate your BMR and eat at least that. Your BMR is what your body needs to breathe, keep your heat beating etc without moving at all. You're going to be up and about at least a bit (even just sitting up!) and therefore you need to be eating at least that amount to stay healthy and not plateau.