I failed miserably

SillyCat1975
SillyCat1975 Posts: 328 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I was doing awesome a year ago, felt great, lost 30 pounds! Then life happened. The weight slowly started to creep on again. I ended up breaking my tibia (big bone) in my leg in 3 places. So I was no weight bearing for 3 months. I ended up with pins, a plate and screws in my ankle. I also ended up gaining back the 30 pounds plus 5 additional to go with it. I can't run like I did a year ago due to the ankle and the healing time. Physical therapy is rough, it hurts from time to time. I've been doing that for 5 weeks. I'm now back to 1200 calories a day diet, which is so hard for me! I'm a late night junk food eater. Any tips? Encouragement? Anything?

Replies

  • pomegranatecloud
    pomegranatecloud Posts: 812 Member
    You can do it. Don't keep junk food in your house. If you don't buy it, you can't eat it.
  • bpetrosky
    bpetrosky Posts: 3,911 Member
    Sorry to hear about your leg, I hope you are healing ok.

    You didn't fail. Stuff happened, there's a difference.

    Are there activities you can do that won't interfere with your healing? Swimming or water aerobics?
  • madhatter2013
    madhatter2013 Posts: 1,547 Member
    What works for me, not for everyone I know, I go to bed when I feel like a binge late at night. Can't eat if I'm sleeping and if I can, there's bigger issues. :smile:
  • jpbazemo
    jpbazemo Posts: 71 Member
    Ok, binge-eating is hard, I get hungry at night, and weekends are the most challenging. Maybe a diet soda and a fruit/vegetable salad? I tried that last night when I was hungry, I just lowered my calories to 2000/day, and it worked (knock on wood).
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,416 Member
    edited April 2016
    I've been on 1300-1600 (depending on exercise that day) for six months. If I don't go to bed early, I tend to want to eat after 9PM. I aim to eat two meals a day, one about three hours after I get up, and another 5-6 hours later; then to bed by 9:00PM, no later. Up at 4:45AM and do it all over again. That seems to work the best for me.
  • ridge4mfp
    ridge4mfp Posts: 301 Member
    Do some swimming if you are able.
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
    SillyCat1975 wrote: »
    I ended up with pins, a plate and screws in my ankle. I also ended up gaining back the 30 pounds plus 5 additional to go with it.

    I injured my knee a few years back and, man, I was angry about it! I am a weight gainer, as well.

    Mantra number one (which I can't get enough of myself): Focus on what you CAN do. You CAN control what you eat. You CAN go swimming.

    I recall hobbling to the pool, taking off the brace, walking down the handicapped entry stairs, putting a pool buoy between my legs (so I didn't have to kick), then swimming away. It was the best feeling in the world and I wished I could just swim everywhere.

    Mantra number 2: If you are stuck, it's time to learn something new.

    The PT will help you learn to do initial recovery, but they are usually VERY conservative (meaning, afraid of getting sued) which drove me crazy in a short time! I took up river (easy flat-water) kayaking, which was facilitated by a kayak rental firm in my city where they launched the kayak, helped me in and out with the leg brace on, and put it away when I was done. It was awesome! (I called them prior to coming in the first time and asked if I could paddle with a brace. Their answer was that several of their best customers were amputees. Kind of puts it in perspective.)

    I also used the upper-body weight machines in the gym and did some core crunches, all very carefully with my leg brace on.

    Hope that helps. Best of luck!
  • pineapple_jojo
    pineapple_jojo Posts: 440 Member
    No way is that a fail! Don't beat yourself up about this! I'm sorry your physical therapy is painful for you. Just focus on eating as healthily as you can and focus on that rather than dieting perhaps. Also work in a small snack before bed, maybe some corn chips and a couple of spoons of hummus or something and then hit the hay straight off - like madhatter said, you can't eat if you're sleeping! Good luck xx
  • ilex70
    ilex70 Posts: 727 Member
    jkhoffe wrote: »
    Failure doesn't come from falling down. Failure comes from not getting back up! You can do this, you have already proved to yourself that you can. Be proud, and jump back in

    What she said. I'm working on dropping a big regain at the moment myself.

    As far as late night eating I leave calories for the end of the day and my standard is a Greek yogurt and low calorie popcorn. Could happily just eat more popcorn, but more protein is good so that's the usual.
  • SillyCat1975
    SillyCat1975 Posts: 328 Member
    I'm walking with a limp right now and it stinks, I'm trying to figure out how far I can walk without my leg giving out on me. I know sometimes I feel like it will. I just want to get outside and get moving again. I'm hoping once PT is over that I am going to be able to walk better. I have a Disney trip to take in August and we stay about 9 hours and in that amount of time, we normally walk about 10 miles around the place (I wore my fitbit last year to see how many steps we took)
  • Arekha
    Arekha Posts: 45 Member
    Sounds too familiar...a year ago I lost a bunch of wt, was happy with where I was and then life happened. Doing it all over again, with limited ability to workout etc. oh well, Like another poster said, control what you can. i have a boatload of excuses, but only when i accepted that things are never doing to be the same,/ideal etc, I started losing weight again. Swimming is a great exercise.. ad even though you may not burn as many calories, walking is too, if you can. For me, the added bonus is that i feel good about myself and feel like i can control my eating on the days I feel good.

    Good luck, and hang in there!
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    edited April 2016
    SillyCat1975 wrote: »
    I was doing awesome a year ago, felt great, lost 30 pounds! Then life happened. The weight slowly started to creep on again. I ended up breaking my tibia (big bone) in my leg in 3 places. So I was no weight bearing for 3 months. I ended up with pins, a plate and screws in my ankle. I also ended up gaining back the 30 pounds plus 5 additional to go with it. I can't run like I did a year ago due to the ankle and the healing time. Physical therapy is rough, it hurts from time to time. I've been doing that for 5 weeks. I'm now back to 1200 calories a day diet, which is so hard for me! I'm a late night junk food eater. Any tips? Encouragement? Anything?

    How tall are you? 1200 calories per day may be too aggressive, especially if 35 pounds is all you want to lose. If so, chose the option for losing 1 pound per week and save those extra calories for before bed. This is my new favorite bed time snack, which tastes decadent to me but isn't:

    6qz4vwitqiz6.jpg

    I make it at least a few hours ahead of time so the yogurt can "cook" the oats and the berries defrost.

    Obviously, to reduce calories, you can reduce quantities.


  • Yivs_87
    Yivs_87 Posts: 246 Member
    Why 1200? Isn't it a bit extreme.
    I'm almost in the same boat as you are - recovered from one injury, now had another, and I'm out of working out for months most probably. But my calories are TDEE-20%, slightly over my BMR. And I feel no hunger.
  • louisepaul16
    louisepaul16 Posts: 261 Member
    Oh no. That sucks..... :( I broke and dislocated my ankle is 2008 and also had a plate and screws put in, and was non weight baring for 8 weeks, and I can tell you that I put on around 30lbs in those 8 weeks, all I did was sat at home and was so freaking bored I ate and ate and ate.

    I don't have many words of wisdom as I am almost starting again from scratch as I lost a load of weight in 2011, and was super fit, then life happened. Just wanted to say with the PT Keep at it! It hurts yes but it helps and you will heal it better if you work. Swim, cycle and use the resistance bands if you have them.

    Good luck.
  • ElizabethOakes2
    ElizabethOakes2 Posts: 1,038 Member
    Not to be discouraging, but something to keep in mind is that bone needs calories to heal. Eating at too steep of a deficit might actually be slowing your healing process. Instead of trying for 2 pounds a week, try for one pound, or even just a half-pound. (I had to learn this the hard way back when I was a dancer and broke my foot. It simply wouldn't heal, and it took the foot specialist giving me a serious scolding to get me off the 'dancer's diet' and eating at a surplus before it started to heal. And it's still not quite right.)
    http://www.betterbones.com/bonefracture/speedhealing.pdf

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