Had surgery and am having a really hard time losing weight since I can't exercise - any suggestions?

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kmhonaker
kmhonaker Posts: 8
in Health and Weight Loss
I had surgery a couple weeks ago, and unfortunately won't be able to work out for a couple of months as a result - I'm only eating 1200 calories a day, but I'm gaining weight... And I'm not sure why? I've already lost 25 pounds and have about 45 more to go, so the fact that I'm backtracking is really frustrating. Has anyone ever been in this situation before? If you have, or if you have any advice/suggestions on how to lose weight without exercising (for a little while at least), I'd love to hear from you! Thanks in advance! :)

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  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    Can you open your diary?
  • kmhonaker
    kmhonaker Posts: 8
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    Sure! I'm new to this, so I'll try and figure that out real quick :) Thanks so much for your response!
  • kmhonaker
    kmhonaker Posts: 8
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    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    Can you open your diary?

    I think I opened the diary, so feel free to check it out! (Early on this month, my calories were very low because I got sick after surgery and couldn't stomach much) thanks again!
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    How much weight have you 'gained' and in what time span? There is a lot going on right - and a short term weight gain could easily be stress/sodium/TOM/sleep loss/healing in progress.
  • mrsduck77
    mrsduck77 Posts: 104 Member
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    surgery can lead to water retention and the only way to combat water retention is to drink more water. get as much rest as possible and exercise even if it is only lifting soup cans in bed. walk around the house if you can. anything may help
  • kmhonaker
    kmhonaker Posts: 8
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    StaciMarie1974 wrote: »
    How much weight have you 'gained' and in what time span? There is a lot going on right - and a short term weight gain could easily be stress/sodium/TOM/sleep loss/healing in progress.

    That's definitely true... A lot has been going on for sure, so that might be why I'm a bit "off" at the moment. To answer your questions: I've been gaining on a consistent basis over the past 2-3 weeks, and I've gone up about 5-8 pounds. :/ Thank you for your response! :)
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    Can you open your diary?

    This.

    You are most likely underestimating intake.
  • kmhonaker
    kmhonaker Posts: 8
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    Ok
    mrsduck77 wrote: »
    surgery can lead to water retention and the only way to combat water retention is to drink more water. get as much rest as possible and exercise even if it is only lifting soup cans in bed. walk around the house if you can. anything may help

    Thank you so much! I'll definitely try that and appreciate your response! :)
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    edited February 2015
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    KM,

    I can tell by your diary you are using general entries and not weighing your food. I learned pretty quickly that one egg is not always 70 calories, just as one banana is not 110 calories, or one English muffin just a certain amount of calories.

    Translated, this means you are indeed eating more calories than you realize.

    If you don't already have a food scale, and if you can't get to town, ask someone to pick up one for you. You can get a good digital scale for about $25. Start weighing your food instead of using generic entries.

    I do research on foods, enter the USDA into my food database by gram, and that makes it easier to keep track. I'm pretty precise about this, but it works for me because I'm pretty precise anyway. :D

    Accuracy is the key.

    Also, remember water retention does happen after surgery too, but that should go away within a short while.
  • kmhonaker
    kmhonaker Posts: 8
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    SLLRunner wrote: »
    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    Can you open your diary?

    This.

    You are most likely underestimating intake.

    That's possible - I measure everything on a kitchen scale, though, and I'm pretty adamant about logging everything accurately. I might be off at times, though, so I'll keep an eye on it! Thanks so much!
  • kmhonaker
    kmhonaker Posts: 8
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    SLLRunner wrote: »
    KM,

    I can tell by your diary you are using general entries and not weighing your food. I learned pretty quickly that one egg is not always 70 calories, just as one banana is not 110 calories, or one English muffin just a certain amount of calories.

    Translated, this means you are indeed eating more calories than you realize.

    If you don't already have a food scale, and if you can't get to town, ask someone to pick up one for you. You can get a good digital scale for about $25. Start weighing your food instead of using generic entries.

    I do research on foods, enter the USDA into my food database by gram, and that makes it easier to keep track. I'm pretty precise about this, but it works for me because I'm pretty precise anyway. :D

    Accuracy is the key.

    Also, remember water retention does happen after surgery too, but that should go away within a short while.

    That makes sense for sure! I can definitely see how I might get my "nutrition information" wrong, even though I weigh most everything. Even when I look up certain things on this app, there are tons of options (obviously), and sometimes I just choose the option that seems to be the most accurate... So thanks for your advise, and awesome job for being so precise! I really appreciate it and hope you have a great day :)

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