36 F, Handicapped.. Am I doomed to 1200 a day?

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  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
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    Any exercise is better than no exercise...I wouldn't worry about what you can't do and just do what you can. If you can't walk faster, walk farther..whatever your body can reasonably handle.

    1200 will be ok for a while, but you're likely to stall out. Eat more. It may cause you to lose a little slower, but you're more likely to stick with what you're doing, rather that giving up in frustration, or binging because you feel deprived all the time.
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
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    I have a bone disease and have had many orthopedic surgeries throughout my life. I actually wrote a blog about it last night because my knee is bothering me. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Cait_Sidhe/view/a-brief-history-of-my-knee-519491 ....

    If I had continued to eat 1200 calories a day, there is no way my TDEE would be this high. By eating so low, you are dooming yourself to an even lower metabolism. If very overweight it's okay to eat a very low calorie diet. But if not, it can and will mess with your metabolism.

    ETA: I have had surgery on my hip (as well as other joints). I walked with a cane for over a year. I speak from experience that not many people can.

    Thank you so much for your input! (And everyone elses!) I will up my calories and try to do the workouts I CAN do. My only concern is how do I log such things as just the arm parts of jumping jacks, and so on and so forth. :)

    if you use the TDEE - 10/20% method, you don't log exercise, because you calculate your TDEE (how many calories you burn in a typical day) to include the kind of exercise you do, then eat 10, 15 or 20% less than this, and do all your workouts but you don't need to log them. There's a thread "in place of a road map" that explains step by step how to calculate this. most people, even if completely sedentary, can lose weight eating more than 1200 cals/day, and this method of calculating calories is accurate for most people (medical issues can mess up the numbers, but if necessary you can adjust them based on real world results). It's very unlikely that you're stuck with eating 1200 cals/day, even if you were completely unable to do any exercise at all. This method of calculating calories may be better for you as you'll only have to work out your total calories for everything, rather than repeatedly trying to calculate your exercise calories which really isn't going to be easy if you're adjusting how you do the exercises due to your injury. Personally, I find this method easier because I don't want to calculate my exercise calories all the time, and I don't even have the injury problem to contend with as well!!!

    you don't have to sweat for exercise to be effective. Sweating just means you're hot, nothing else. Go at whatever intensity you can safely do, and do whatever exercises are safe for you to do. Anything that makes you move is beneficial. Walking has a ton of health benefits. Squats are a fantastic exercise. Do what you can do and stick at it. You may find as your muscles get stronger that you can do more than you could before. There's a great you tube video of a man who was disabled (due to an injury) and unable to walk, who from doing whatever exercises he could, ended up able to run, not just walk. This probably isn't possible for everyone with similar problems, but it could be a potential benefit from exercise. When your muscles are stronger, that can help in a lot of cases.
  • Markguns
    Markguns Posts: 554 Member
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    By eating low calorie for an extended period of time, you are eventually slowing your metabolism down. Which will mean you will gain if you eat over.

    Swim Swim Swim...
    1. The water will support you so you more. Water is 1000 times denser than air
    2. Swimming Laps
    3. Water Yoga
    4. Water Aerobics
    5. Strength train in the pool

    a few links...
    http://kathrynvercillo.hubpages.com/hub/Calorie-burners-Swimming-vs-Running-
    http://www.health.com/health/article/0,,20411721,00.html
    http://www.fitsugar.com/Burn-More-Calories-Swimming-29247783

    The thread the above poster was talinkg about:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/937712-in-place-of-a-road-map-ver-3-0
    And this spreadsheet link, bottom 1/2 of the post:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/750920-spreadsheet-for-bmr-tdee-deficit-macro-calcs-hrm-zones

    Good luck... You can add me as a Friend if you like. I'm active on MFP. :bigsmile:

    -- There was no such thing as half-trying. Whether it was running a race
    or catching a football, competing in school -- we were to try. And we
    were to try harder than anyone else. We might not be the best, and
    none of us were, but we were to make the effort to be the best.

    -- Senator Robert F. Kennedy, in a tribute to his father, Joseph P. Kennedy
  • phyllisbobbitt
    phyllisbobbitt Posts: 347 Member
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    :flowerforyou: my situation is similar to yours. i was in a bad car accident with a spine injury! i used to go to the gym & used their pool for back injury's. several hours of arobics helped to loose weight fast! i am sending you a friend request because together i think we can meet our goals!
  • hatethegame
    hatethegame Posts: 267 Member
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    Swimming is an excellent option. You can burn ALOT of calories and probably improve your range of motion at the same time. You are not limited to 1200 calories
  • Snitch1
    Snitch1 Posts: 201 Member
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    52, handicapped, and a SWIMMER..and LOVE IT!!

    I would say, SWIM, SWIM, followed by..more SWIMMING!!
    Good luck..
    it has been working for many of us!
    Snitch
  • casy84
    casy84 Posts: 290 Member
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    I lost all my weight using only MFP. It was slow and I regret not exercising, but I've started to and it feels great.
    I was at 1200 for 3 months and now I'm slowly upping my cals to maintain. For me the 1200 was an avg of 1lb/week loss, but I really wished I ate more and exercised instead because now I'm skinny fat instead of swimsuit material.
  • Katmary71
    Katmary71 Posts: 6,757 Member
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    Hi MuteFox!

    I can so relate! I figure for those of us with limitations, we have our exercises and stretches from physical therapy to get us started on flexibility and strengthening. I think the pool is the least likely to flare up pain, depending on what's done. Even walking in the water back and forth would be great and take a lot of stress off the body.

    I've had my share of back surgeries and had a double fusion 5 years ago. It wouldn't be too bad if I was able to do the exercises the PT wants for the back (and I know from previous back surgeries that it'd help), but I have nerve damage from a pelvic surgery throughout the pelvis, left hip. and left leg and the sciatic nerve tends to flare up the nerves that were damaged in that surgery. I've tried spinal injections prior to PT in the hopes it'd calm and/or break the cycle, but it's been a stubborn one!

    I don't know if you can do this, but the one thing I found I could do in PT was the recumbent bike as the rear end's sitting and back is supported, so it's easier to pedal.

    BTW, I ended up with 1260/day, i feel your pain! If you'd like to add me as a friend, please feel free to do so. It's nice to have friends who understand and can help figure out what hoop to jump through so we can keep improving our health and movement! Oh, if you look for the thread of a woman who is starting her weight loss journey at about 620 pounds (it's in the title) there are some links to exercising while sitting links that may be worthwhile.

    Kat

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