Busy Mom with injury trying to lose weight! Really?

mercurybebe · March 2011

Just the title alone tells you how hard this has been...

I have been overweight forever. I have had periods of time when I've lost weight, but as always, it creeps back up again. I also have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome so that doesn't help things.

In a nutshell, I've hovered around 300lbs for about 3-4yrs now. I was down to about 230 in 2004 after a botched breast reduction left me very, very sick and with permanent nerve damage in my right Pectoral muscle. Once I began to heal (although I can't use right arm in any kind of workout) the weight crept back up and just stayed put.

In late June of 2010 I injured my lower back pretty bad and was in the hospital and out of work for nearly a month. I herniated L4-L5 and began lots of fun treatments to try and ease the pain...er, agony, I was living with. One thing that was suggested was to lose weight. Of course. Like EVERY doctor has been telling me to do forever. I was around 185-190 at the time. I guestimate since I tried to stay away from scales at all costs.

I didnt really do much to lose weight but I was about 180 in October. Then I had another fall and re-injured my back, adding an injury to L5-S1! The doc recommended a double spinal fusion but at my size, and at only 36yrs old, I said NO WAY and got a second opinion. The new docs still want me to lose weight but are trying other fun treatments on my back instead of surgery!

Anyway, in late November I was about 170lbs give or take. This was probably just due to depression and the increase in back pain...who knows?

FINALLY, on JAN 20th of this year I made the conscious decision to LOSE WEIGHT. I stepped on the scale and it said 262! Holy cow, I thought...I haven't been this weight in years!

That brings me to today, exactly 2 months later and I have been losing and gaining the same damn 10lbs ever since!!! I have gotten as far down as 253 and then right back up to 262 again. I dont understand it and I need some tips.

Basically, I've committed to having a SlimFast shake for breakfast (I would never eat breakfast in the past) and yogurts for a morning and afternoon snack, with a lean cuisine or smart ones for lunch. This is easy to follow at work, but once I get home it is chaos, especially on the weekends. My parner is very ill, our 2 kids are almost 12 and HANDFULS!

I need tips on how to stay full, especially in the AM and after lunch...no, especially after dinner since I ALWAYS snack while watching TV at night....that is what kills me.

I can't work out because of my back injury, not even a mini pedal machine under my desk since it hurt my back terribly. I am very frustrated but dedicated to moving forth with reaching my goal of 220lbs...I look forward to meeting people on here to help me through! Thanks so much!

gglover833 · March 2011

First let me say I am sorry for all the health problems you have had. What exactly are you snacking on after dinner? That can make a HUGE difference in weight loss as well. I think the "secret" is to just keep hanging in there, look for support and have confidence in yourself. My sister was overweight her entire life, then a few years back she lost over 120 lbs in a year. She had tried everything under the sun (even things the Dr would put her on) and nothing worked until she just kept her calorie count at around 1200 a day. So it can be done, keep the faith.

epa422 · March 2011

I would ditch the shakes and try to increase your protein and fiber in order to stay full longer. Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, beef jerky, hard-boiled eggs are all great sources of protein. Increase your fresh fruits and vegetables to bump up your fiber intake. With PCOS, you might want to try to follow a diabetic diet, too. If you have any insulin resistance associated with PCOS, that could be hurting your weight loss.

Can you walk or is that too much for your injured back? You could start with walking 10-20 minutes a day, if allowed, in order to start burning calories. Exercise doesn't have to be intense to work.

Good luck!

seleck05 · March 2011

Hey mercury,

Do you have access to a pool? I have injuries and can't do a lot of exercise but swimming/water aerobics has been great for me.

skinnyme125 · March 2011

first stop the slim fast and the lean cuisine and the smart ones. They are loaded with salt and that will bloat the crap out of you. Eat an apple or bannana for breackfast or a piece of toast. The bigger the breakfast the faster your matabolism will get. Then eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch. Yogurt is great for a snack as well as apples. Nuts for night time snacks. NO salt. LOTS of water. For every soda or coffee you drink you need to add an extra cup of water to counteract them. So if you have one coffee and already had your 8 cups of water you will still need to drink at least one more cup of water to balance out.

jamklgator · March 2011

It is so hard when you are hurting to even think about working out. I was working out daily until I injured my shoulder and knee and came down with plantar fasciaitis (sp?) all at the same time. Now, I'm doing nothing. I really want to work out, but can't lift weights with the shoulder and can't do much with the lower half either. Grr.

The best advice I can give you on the evening snacking is find something you can do that keeps your hands busy. When I crochet or knit or do anything while watching tv with the family I NEVER snack. I'm craving something I will have a glass of skim milk and some crackers or nuts or even lean turkey lunchmeat. The milk is very filling and the protein is a better snack than something sweet. I have PCOS too, and am insulin resistant, so I try and keep my blood sugar as even as possible by avoiding sweets.

Hard to remember to take care of you when you are a busy mom. Hope you reach your goals.

BrandNewMia · March 2011

First of all, I want to say congrats to you for starting this journey, and for the amazing successes you have seen so far! You aren't giving up, you have determination and motivation, your heart is truly in the right place. That, to me, is the first step to making a permanent change.

I don't have any advice regarding your injuries, I'm sorry. But I did want to comment on nutrition - I think you should focus on reducing the processed foods currently in your diet. Try to eat fresh fruits and veggies (at least 2 servings of fruit, 3-5 or more of veggies) and fresh, lean meats and proteins. Nuts and beans are great sources of protein, fiber, and healthy fats. When it comes to breads, pastas, torillas etc try to eat mostly whole grain products. I LOVE Lean Cuisines, but I only eat them once every week or every 2 weeks. Try not to drink any calories, and drink lots of water water water - shoot for half of your body weight in ounces, daily. I also try to keep my sodium intake in check, but this is easier said than done, I struggle with it daily but it's getting easier!

As far as snacking goes, I was a BIG late night snacker. So I would work my diary to allow for 300-400 calories of snacking in the evening, as long I planned for it I lowered my risk of going over my daily calorie allottment. As time went on, I found myself snacking less and less at night, and it happened naturally. Sometimes I still want to snack a lot in the evening, but it's not like it used to be. I had a massive sweet tooth, so I focused on getting lots of healthy proteins which cured the sugar cravings and keeps me pretty full for longer. Fiber and protein will help keep the hunger away, so instead of a slimfast for breakfast why not try an egg or two, whole grain toast, and a piece of fruit?

jenbusick · March 2011

You have a lot to deal with. I hope you can find ways to address your health, because if you can, you'll have more energy and better health to deal with the rest of it.

What you can't do with exercise right now you can start to do with diet, but your diet right now would certainly leave me desperately hungry.

Thing one: Use the goals calculator to find out how many calories per day you should eat to lose weight, using a 1-lb or 2-lb goal (if you're over 200 lbs, you may be able to start with a 2-lb goal, or a 1000 calorie per day deficit). Then you can use your food journal to track your intake and make sure that you're hitting that goal.

Thing two: You need food that will fill you up. Different people find different things that work for them, but some general good advice is to cut back on sugar and simple carbohydrates (and the Slim-Fast shakes and most yogurts are LOADED with sugar), and increase your intake of protein and fiber. Some fibers fill me up -- oatmeal does -- other fibers do not, like salad greens.

If you need to make things easy, I recommend swapping out the slim-fast shakes for a higher protein option, like Atkins or Zone bars. Swap out the yogurt for something less sweet, like oatmeal or peanut butter on multi-grain bread or hard-boiled eggs or cheese sticks.

Also, start identifying the worst aspects of your diet and working to change them. If you eat a lot of restaurant food, start by identifying your best choices at your favorite restaurants. If you're ready to bring it home, start collecting simple recipes that you think you can make at home. If you only know how to deep-fry Twinkies at home, well, again, start collecting other recipes to try.

If you can stick to your calorie goal, the weight should start coming off. When it comes off, your health may improve enough for you to try some mild exercise, like the pool exercise someone else recommended. That will help, too. When you're healthier, some of your problems may go away on their own, or may be solvable with less drastic interventions than spinal fusion.

Very best wishes!

mercurybebe · March 2011

First of all, thank you all for your responses, it really means the world to me that you took the time to give your advice.

Yesterday was my first day using the food diary for this site and it really shocked me to see how much sodium I ate...it came from sliced turkey (hillshire farms) that I thought was healthy! I have been using a different food diary that only tracked calories and while it really helped me to have to WRITE DOWN everything I ate, it didn't lay out where I was going wrong the way this diary does.

It seems that the thing that works for you guys is increasing the protein and fiber, so I am going to make an effort to start checking those levels since they weren't really on my radar before...

I forgot to mention in the first post that even though you wouldn't know it by looking at me, I am actually VERY picky about foods, so that makes it tough. We eat frozen veggies most of the time because of cost, and I buy the fresh fruit for my kids, but I generally dont have it until summer when it is cheaper. However, I am really starting to see that things need to change...I feed my kids really well but somehow I leave myself out and that has to stop!

The reason I started with the Slim-Fast was because I have *never* eaten breakfast in my life and just the thought of eating a lot at 7am makes me nauseous. It was so bad that I couldn't even start drinking water until about 9 or 10am! But, I started conditioning myself to drink it, over the course of an hour or more at first and now down to my morning drive to work...about 15 min, because all I heard was that "breakfast is the most important...."
So I figured something was better than nothing and then at around 10, when I get a slight appetite, I eat the yogurt. This past weekend I forced myself to try "Cream of Wheat" since I am not a fan of oatmeal and I am going to start bringing that in to have as snacks since it seems healthier than the yogurt. I also need to try the greek yogurt...again, I am so picky and the consistency scares me! ::embarassed:

And as silly as it sounds, I forgot about peanut butter on whole grain toast: I *love* that, but I haven't had it in forever so it just kinda fell off my radar as something to eat. Weird, but true.

I wish I liked beans, legumes and other healthy sources of protein...I dont eat pork or red meat either, so its chicken or turkey for us. My sister is vegan and it amazes me that she gets so much nutrition from what she eats...but she is also a stay at home mom, is very creative and doesn't have a budget!

Anyway, once again, thank you all for your input!

Busy Mom with injury trying to lose weight! Really?

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