Starting anyway...from my wheelchair
moonclimber250
Posts: 3
When telling me how a treatment would last for a severe broken leg the Dr. said "for a woman of your size..." which hit me like a punch, I felt like I crossed a line. I have 100 + lbs to lose. 3 1/2 mos. ago I shattered my calf into many pieces stumbling on a stair The break may have been so bad because of my weight..All kinds of food was my medicine. I don't know what to do. I am in a wheelchair and can't burn any calories. The only thing I can think of is to start changing my diet and to learn to plan meals. I am terrible at cooking and planning. My skinny husband is happy to help. He is very concerned about my health. I will probably have a bone graft which will put me out another 3-4 months with the additional healing. This is so weird. Can anyone offer advice?
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Replies
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Just eating at a deficit will help you lose weight. Not a good cook? No problem! Baking is easy and if you have a crockpot, you can just toss meat in and forget about it for 8 hours or so. I will make a bunch of food at the beginning of the week, and than portion them out into freezable containers and that way I have ready made meals whenever I need one.
Not sure what to offer advice about workouts while wheelchair bound, but if you are making a goal to move around in your chair several times a day, you should be able to workout your upper body and arms. Good luck. Hopefully someone else can offer some insights. :flowerforyou:0 -
When I started, with 40 lbs to lose, the first thing I did was log exactly what I was eating without changing my diet for about a week or two. That helped me identify what my problem foods were (600 calories for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?! I had no idea), and understand where I was starting from. If you're currently eating well over 2000 calories a day, don't immediately go for a huge deficit; step it down a bit at a time, finding foods that you like and can stick with.
While I don't have personal experience with leg injuries, I know there are body builders who are in wheelchairs. Look up some advice on that, and maybe water exercise. Check with your physical therapist and doctor, and do what feels right for you. You'll see this a lot on MFP- if you're in it for the long run, to change your lifestyle, then do it at your pace, there's no need to rush!
Congratulation on making the decision to take control of your own life!0 -
Good for you for starting anyway! I lost twenty pounds without much exercise. Calculate your TDEE and eat under it. For me, because I was injured and mainly only focusing on me anyway, it wasn't hard to make my eating a priority. Don't be upset with yourself you have a day where you go over. If can wheel that chair yourself, I say challenge yourself every day. It's a great upper body workout to wheel a chair around. You can also use dumbbells and bands to work your upper body.
I think you may have to be careful not to get too stressed in order to avoid infection, but you know about that better than I, so just do what you can in the exercise department, and rely on a calorie deficit to lose weight.0 -
Thanks so much for replying. Such good advice. I haven't been in the water because of the cast but may get into a boot this week. So my first commitment is to log my food each day!0
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I am a full-time special needs caregiver for a gentleman in a wheelchair who lives with me. Our gym actually has weight machines that adapt to a wheelchair, so he is able to lift. There is also an indoor track that we do laps on. We have been going there for less than a year and his health has drastically improved!
So maybe call around and see if anyone has wheelchair friendly equipment? With proper training there is alot you could do with free weights too.0 -
Welcome!
You can do it. Just make sure you're keeping to your calorie count as obviously you need to heal first. That's what I do when I'm having a bad day with my illness.
It works if just a bit slower than if you work out.
You can do this!
:flowerforyou:
Good luck! xx0 -
You can still lose weight even if your in a wheel chair. Just eat at a deficit. Get a food scale, weigh and measure everything, log it on mfp :-) once your able to move around, you can slowly start to exercise then. There's an old saying ~ where there's a will, there's a way! You can do this! :-)0
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I want to reply to all! Such a warm welcome and great ideas.I will take them to heart. I am actually off to my healt club this afternoon to check out what I might do Unfortunately they don't let chairs on the track. I was just on vacation where I used my walker too much and have blisters on both hands. So quiet week with the Dr.on Fri. I think the decision will be made about surgery. If anyone has favorite recipes or websites I would love that. Thanks again everyone!0
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if you want to cook, there are plenty of options. most of my meals are sort of... er.. modular. at most, i throw broccoli, tofu and broccoli together, microwave and add my favorite sauce, but sometimes i'll have a serving of nut thins or potato chips plus my favorite light cheddar. i eat a lot of oats cooked in non-fat milk and sweetened with stevia (other non-calorie sweeteners would work), and sometimes also cooked with cocoa or cinnamon.
i think the most important thing to do is start off by logging everything you eat before you change anything. i started off writing everything in a notebook, but it's much easier to log in my fitness pal. two things happen when you start logging your food - first, it breaks eating habits with a new step. second, it gives you an idea of how many calories you're currently eating and the nutritional breakdown, and this is important so you don't cut too many calories all at once, which can make one feel terrible.
once you know your daily intake, you can start cutting calories here and there to cut at least 500 calories per day, but i don't recommend cutting more than 1000 calories per day to start. when i started cutting calories i did it with substitutions - eating reduced fat cheese instead of regular (i love sargento), egg beaters instead of whole eggs, eating dryer's slow churned instead of regular ice cream (dryer's slow churned is yummy, creamy and lower in fat) and so on. i lost over 40 pounds just by making food substitutions.
if you don't have an accurate digital food scale, a measuring cup and some measuring spoons, get them. i find weighing most of my foods is much more accurate - it's surprising the difference between a measuring cup and actual weight for some foods. amazon has some good choices, and you can get a scale for well under $20. i weight or measure everything i eat, and i find that letting myself obsess over food seems to keep me from binging - not sure if you are a binge eater, but i sure was. now whenever i want to binge, i amuse myself with data instead.
while you're in the wheelchair you might want to do chair exercises. you may want to get resistance bands (i love mine!) but there are plenty of exercises you can do without them. you can google "chair exercises" and "wheelchair exercises", and here are a few i found:
http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/videos-detail.asp?video=38
http://exercise.about.com/library/blseatedupperbody.htm (upper body only!)
http://www.livestrong.com/article/329889-upper-body-wheelchair-exercises/
if you have any questions, message me. i'll be happy to respond to the best of my ability. best of luck with your leg healing, and getting healthier0 -
From a fitness perspective...there are loads of seated exercises available out there. Just google "seated exercise" and start looking. For whatever reason- weight, injury, etc, that people are unable to stand to exercise-there are seated workouts. During a time of surgical recovery where I was not allowed to exercise standing up- I found a bunch of exercise videos for seated workouts on Sparkpeople. A family member had knee surgery and I also found her seated activities online. So even if you can't get to a gym that is adapted or into a pool, there are options out there. And many of them. I know I felt very blue at being told all of my restrictions, as I was just starting to feel more fit from *earlier* surgeries, when I had to have another. Finding the seated exercise videos really helped me to feel better...emotionally and also that I still could do something physical. Best wishes!0
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When telling me how a treatment would last for a severe broken leg the Dr. said "for a woman of your size..." which hit me like a punch, I felt like I crossed a line. I have 100 + lbs to lose. 3 1/2 mos. ago I shattered my calf into many pieces stumbling on a stair The break may have been so bad because of my weight..All kinds of food was my medicine. I don't know what to do. I am in a wheelchair and can't burn any calories. The only thing I can think of is to start changing my diet and to learn to plan meals. I am terrible at cooking and planning. My skinny husband is happy to help. He is very concerned about my health. I will probably have a bone graft which will put me out another 3-4 months with the additional healing. This is so weird. Can anyone offer advice?
I'm sorry this has happened to you... we all get a 'wake up call' maybe this was yours? Start by dieting, watching what you eat and how much that is where you start to lose. I pretty much eat 'normal' foods, just smaller portions or actually real serving sizes. I do avoid candy and chips and those sort of things though. Remember you can lose weight by diet alone, so start there.
As for exercising you can do things from in the chair, like sit ups yep from in the chair! and you can do things with your arms... just go to google and put in: exercise for in a wheelchair or try: exercise sitting... you'll get all sorts of stuff. I know because I've been there YOU can do this!!!0 -
I want to reply to all! Such a warm welcome and great ideas.I will take them to heart. I am actually off to my healt club this afternoon to check out what I might do Unfortunately they don't let chairs on the track. I was just on vacation where I used my walker too much and have blisters on both hands. So quiet week with the Dr.on Fri. I think the decision will be made about surgery. If anyone has favorite recipes or websites I would love that. Thanks again everyone!
Are you in the US? If so, a facility cannot restrict where wheelchairs can and cannot go. We run in to this issue a lot, and have to advocate for ourselves often. I understand you may not feel comfortable doing that. Eitherway, it would behoove you to get aquainted to your legal rights.0 -
I have a slight inkling of how you are feeling. Me, I fell in Dove Dale, UK. I had to be airlifted out of the area leaving my husband and three granddaughter in our down draft not knowing how soon we would be reunited or how they or I would be able to get back to the cottage. I was fortunate in that my injury was simple, I did not need the additional attention it seems as if you may be needing. and we have photos which the g sons are now forgetting because they would ask to see them at each visit!
I wonder if any of your team have thought of testing your thyroid. It probably is the last thing on their and your mind. Circumstances have caused me to read up on problems which can be related to low functioning thyroid, one is slow mending after injury. One of the systems controlled or with thyroid input is the repair and replacement of cells. It could help you to find out your position especially if you have a low dairy and fish content in your diet.
Almost two years ago my daughter was dislodged by a bucking horse at the third attempt, she is still recovering from her fractured collar bone and ribs. My reason for telling you this is because her diet is very low in essential minerals which might have helped her repair herself, she may still have needed to have the collar bone operated on but her recovery time may have been shorter.
All the very best, take care, take time for yourself, you are probably too busy at other times.0 -
I have 100 + lbs to lose. ... I don't know what to do. I am in a wheelchair and can't burn any calories. The only thing I can think of is to start changing my diet and to learn to plan meals. I am terrible at cooking and planning. My skinny husband is happy to help. He is very concerned about my health.
Second, since most weight loss is due to calorie control rather than exercise, you can still have some improvement even though you can't move much.
"Most weight loss occurs because of decreased caloric intake.
However, evidence shows the only way to maintain weight loss is to be engaged in regular physical activity."
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/physical_activity/index.html
For some great recipes, most of which have nutrition info:
http://www.tasteofhome.com/
If you hover over 'recipes' in the menu bar, it will pop up another menu. Look to the top of the right column & you'll see "healthy recipes". Start there.
There are 2 ways to set goal calories. For now, go with whichever has a higher number. Eventually they'll match. Either way, don't go below 1200 unless you're very short or your doctor says it's OK for you.
1 - Multiply your current weight by 10, then subtract 1000 to lose 2 lb per week. When you hit a plateau, or lose 10 lb, recalculate.
2 - Use a BMI chart to find a healthy goal weight (I suggest starting with the highest number in the green range; you can tweak it a bit once you get there). Multiply that by 10, and there's your calorie goal. When you're really overweight, this is going to be too much of a change, so go with method #1 for now.
http://www.shapeup.org/bmi/bmi6.pdf
You could use youtube to find exercises you can do while sitting. Or ask your doctor or physical therapist.
And your arms are going to get strong from pushing yourself!0 -
Almost two years ago my daughter was dislodged by a bucking horse at the third attempt, she is still recovering from her fractured collar bone and ribs. My reason for telling you this is because her diet is very low in essential minerals which might have helped her repair herself, she may still have needed to have the collar bone operated on but her recovery time may have been shorter.
A year ago I had surgery to put in a plate.
After surgery, I paid attention to eating plenty of protein (actually bought a jug of protein powder), and took supplements for calcium, vitamin D, and magnesium. (Also a B vitamin complex, because he'd cut a nerve, and that helps nerves regrow.)
5 months after surgery, I started into my current weight-loss experience, which includes weightlifting. There's one shoulder exercise I'm still very weak on, but mostly it's healed quite well.0 -
I want to reply to all! Such a warm welcome and great ideas.I will take them to heart. I am actually off to my healt club this afternoon to check out what I might do Unfortunately they don't let chairs on the track. I was just on vacation where I used my walker too much and have blisters on both hands. So quiet week with the Dr.on Fri. I think the decision will be made about surgery. If anyone has favorite recipes or websites I would love that. Thanks again everyone!
As per your hands and blisters:: Maybe try gloves like bikers wear?
I don't have any experience with gym accessibility, but even going around the block a few times seems like it would work wonders. I imagine the mall would be pleasant as well, and climate controlled is always a plus.
Keep in mind that although you are focusing on your weight loss now, your body is still healing from a trauma and will need it's strength. Eating lots of healthy foods high in nutrients and low in calories will help your body heal and make you feel better inside and out. Push yourself to do a little each day, but listen to your body if it says it needs to rest it knows best.0 -
I am actually off to my health club this afternoon to check out what I might do Unfortunately they don't let chairs on the track.
Are you in the US? If so, a facility cannot restrict where wheelchairs can and cannot go. We run in to this issue a lot, and have to advocate for ourselves often. I understand you may not feel comfortable doing that. Eitherway, it would behoove you to get aquainted to your legal rights.
They can't (legally) prevent you from going in your wheelchair wherever someone else is allowed to walk.
Major ADA violation.
Contact the manager, or better yet the head office if it's a national chain.
Also, you can use free weights to do arm & torso exercises.0 -
First let me say how sorry I am for your accident. I can relate, totally relate. I just now started to walk again after severely breaking my foot, needing surgery, break not healing well and I spent 5 months NOT walking. I have been walking now for 2 weeks and it's slow going. Just before the foot I had bilateral hip surgery and recovering from that. I lost 110 pounds before the injuries / surgeries and I am happy to report that while I missed exercise, that I did NOT gain weight. It can be done. Weight loss in primarily in the kitchen. You can do this. Oh, I also use crutches and a wheelchair but I really found the knee scooter the best. Can you use a knee scooter? At least you would be upright and moving around easier than with a wheelchair. Feel free to add me as a friend if you'd like support.0
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Can you ask about being allowed to use crutches on occasion? Or failing that, hopping on one leg behind a zimmer frame? My leg is currently in a cast following ankle surgery and I need to be strictly non weight bearing on the one leg for a couple more weeks. I use a wheelchair for longer distances but am cleared for hopping behind the walking frame around the house.
I am finding that hopping behind a walking frame (which allows you to bear more weight through the shoulders than with crutches) to be a pretty strenuous cardio workout. My normal pre-surgery workout was 65 minutes on the elliptical, but I find I am pooped and dripping with sweat if I continuously hop behind the frame for 15-20 minutes.0 -
I fell down the stairs approx 2 years ago and ended up in wound care and eventually needed a skin graft due to the deep tissue trauma. I was unable to walk for approx 3-4 months. This was my wake up call to lose weight. Check with your doctor, but I was told to significantly increase my protein, because it helps with the healing. Good luck!!0
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Your local YMCA probably offers something called "chair yoga" or "adaptive yoga". This would be a yoga class for people with physical disabilities and a yoga teacher who knows how to adapt the poses around different people's individual limitations.
There also exist arm-powered stationary 'bicycles' that you could use to get some cardio-training into your work-out. Your Y may have these, or try a private gym or the hospital where you are being treated.
You can also lift weights for the upper body, and possibly core body too if you are using machines. Just no lower-body workouts.
See if your medical plan can give you physical therapy sessions now before your surgery to teach you specific core and upper body workouts that will not affect your injury. Core (stomach and back) workouts will be especially helpful to you for keeping your balance when you are starting to walk again, because many of the muscles worked in your core attach down in your thighs, which helps you stand. You are looking for exercises that will work muscle groups that do not have tendon-actions crossing the knees. Try to keep everything above the knees in shape and you will have an easier time when it comes to standing up again.0 -
I 've seen wheelchair bound people in the weights section of my gym.
There is evn aclimbing gym that has adaptations for wheelchair climbing.
Also wheelchair basket ball is very popular.
I ould recommnd, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yZltPOg7KMw. As a good intro work out, its 12 mins long but killer ( the f irst time i tried it i only managed 5 mins), just press pause when you need to.
You can google wheelchair /limited mobility groups in your area and see if they have something.
Many of us lost weight hen we reached a point we had limited mobility, it sucks, but i think its more likely to stay off as you need to be much more concious of what you eat long term.
Best of luck.0 -
I do hope your hands heal well enough to use the walker if you really want to add exercise.
I am using a Zimmer frame because I have one leg in a cast, that needs to be kept strictly non weight bearing. I can vouch that using the walker with only one good leg is a strenuous cardio workout. Have recently gotten into the habit of taking a couple of 20 minute walks daily, hopping behind the frame. My resting heart rate is 64, but 10 minutes on the frame gets my heart rate to 140-150. According to my HRM I burn 177 kcal in 20 minutes.0 -
I'm sorry to hear of your accident. It sounds quite painful! I hope your pain level is tolerable.
For the first seven months of my weight loss, I wasn't exercising at all. Seriously, AT ALL. The calorie deficit is what did it for me. That can work for you, too.
Don't wait! Start NOW with the good habits, food logging, etc., and add the rest as you are able. You'll be glad you didn't put it off.0
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