Losing weight with limited mobility

ButterflyEl · July 2015

I should preface this by saying my mobility is much better than it was! And I am grateful and lucky that I'm no longer using a wheelchair when out and about and can't imagine how difficult that must be full time.

That said I used to be a fairly fit, active, slim person. I ran three times a week, I went to the gym twice a week, I walked the dogs, I had a full time veterinary nursing job (which was very physical!), I gardened, I caught the bus, I went on walks, I did yoga etc etc etc.

Then two years ago I slipped a disc and ended up bed bound in agony. I spent about 6 months barely standing at all. I gained 10 pounds very fast.
Then slowly with physio, massive amounts of painkillers and a lot of time things improved..

Then out of nowhere, almost a year to the day after my back injury, my knee dislocated and I tore all the inner ligaments in it. Suddenly I was in a knee brace and on crutches. I lost my nursing job and my world fell apart again. I gained another 10 pounds on top of the previous 10 pounds.

It's been a year of frustration and ashamedly comfort eating interspaced with attempts at the 5:2 diet which have lead to me losing then gaining more weight...

Now I am finally beginning to be able to move more. I have a nearly full time job as a cashier in a supermarket though so I don't really move at work. I walk the dogs for 30 minutes a day most days and I just brought a bike I'm hoping to start using more and more (although hills are a major problem either walking or on a bike and I'm under strict instructions from my physio to not overdo it and he still keeps saying I've got to walk before I can run and walking isn't 100% smooth yet).

So that's good in the more movement side of things... but my eating habits are shot. I crave sugar all the time. I binge eat which I never did before and breaking it is turning out to be much harder than I thought. Any flare up in pain = binge eating.

Also suddenly now things are going well my orthopedic surgeon has decided I might finally need an operation to stabilize my knee so I'm envisioning needing recovery time, back in a brace, maybe on crutches and I really don't want to gain another 10 pounds...

I guess the point of this long post was to reach out and ask how other people deal with things like this and how not to let set backs in mobility lead to weight gain.

dubird · July 2015

Well, weight loss can occur with JUST calorie counting, no exercise. That's how I did most of mine. You can use one of the online calculators to see what your TDEE is, and just add exercise on top of it. That works best for me.

What you might try is to spend a week just logging. No changes. Just eat how you normally do, but weigh and log EVERYTHING. Doing so gives you a baseline and then you can start changing. Make small changes first and give yourself time to get used to them. You can slowly phase out junk food for better choices, but you don't have to cut all your favorites. (Well, I didn't. I know some people do better cutting out ALL junk food for a while so they don't binge, and if that works for you, then try that.) Basically, if you start slow and just keep at it, you will reach the point where you will be emotionally and physically satisfied with smaller portions of things, which is what you're looking for. It IS slow, so be prepared for that, but by doing it slowly, you'll retrain your body and mind to eat better, which will help you in case of future down times.

Another suggestion is to find something to do with your hands that requires a least partial concentration, like sewing or crafts. So, if you're feeling hungry and it's between meals, do that instead. If your hunger at that point is habit or emotional, distracting your brain can help stop it. If you're still hungry after an hour, go find a snack that fits into your daily goal.

2snakeswoman · July 2015

The good news is that all you need to lose weight is to change your eating habits. I think dubird has some really good suggestions. Another approach is to fast for a day or two to get your system empty, NOT NECESSARY but some of us have an easier time starting a diet from nothing than from too much. Then start logging, allowing yourself the foods you can't live without. Find the calorie count that you can live with. For example, if you're starving and prone to binges on 1200 calories but feel satisfied on 1500, then stay on 1500 and see if you can lose weight on that. Most of us can.

meghrose17 · July 2015

I have limited mobility and chronic pain due to a blood clot in one leg. I'm trying to find some exercise I can do; before the clot I walked everywhere and was in much better shape! Now if I do too much walking I'm back to using a cane for the next couple of days. So frustrating! I've been trying to do short 15 minute low impact cardio or yoga a couple of times a day in addition to calorie counting - but I wish I could just walk or get an elliptical!

I don't really have any great advice other than to reiterate that diet alone is enough for weight loss (I'd like to be fit, too, though, not skinny!) and finding things you can do without hurting yourself and then being out of commission for a while is a good idea! Otherwise, just wanted to post to commiserate and say we can do this and we'll figure it out!!

I'm going to add you as a friend; hope that's okay!

kscarf1 · July 2015

I started following a healthy lifestyle three months ago, and almost immediately I was hampered by plantar fasciitis...then a stress fracture...and now achilles tendinitis, all in the same foot. I've been unable to do much of anything involving weight bearing for almost this whole time. But by eating less and doing my physical therapy exercises every day (mostly stretching, not exactly a big calorie burner!), I've lost 34 pounds. I average about 1300 calories a day. In the beginning I was hungry all the time--now I am rarely hungry. In fact sometimes it's hard for me to force myself to eat enough to hit 1200 calories! If you are patient, you can lose the weight even if you can't move much. Hang in there! And feel free to add me as a friend if you'd like.

Losing weight with limited mobility

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