Advice Needed :(

Makoce
Makoce Posts: 938 Member
edited May 2019 in Health and Weight Loss
Back in 2012 I started my MFP journey. It began as tracking calories and eating what I wanted, working out daily, and losing weight. From there it became a shift in diet to healthy food and weight lifting. I lost 80 lbs but somewhere along the line I became obsessive and developed anorexia. I got down to 97 lbs. I went to therapy and got back on track with myself in terms of weight gain but only because I was obsessively eating protein and GMC supplements and lifting weights to try to get all the gains. I looked amazing, sure. But it wasn’t realistic with my life. I began binge eating and put 30 lbs back on quick. After a few years I finally was in recovery. I ate what I wanted and worked out after work daily (I worked at a gym). Fast forward a few months and I came down with mono. This triggered a auto immune response that uncovered a whole array of medical problems hiding under the surface. I was diagnosed with chiari Malformation ( brain herniation it’s basically falling out) I am in so much chronic back and neck, head pain and currently it’s affecting my connective tissues. I am essentially disabled and suffering with pain so badly. I currently cannot work out, hike, bike or do anything active anymore and it’s killing me to have my hobbies gone. A year after diagnosis I am back to almost 200lbs where i started all those years ago. I am so disgusted with myself. I burned my clothes from when I was this size the first time because I said never again.
Now the problem lies that without a way to burn calories I can only track calories. I live paycheck to paycheck and I admit my groceries are not healthy. It’s so hard for me to buy unprocessed packaged food. And when I do I get bored of it and want comfort food (sugar).
I’m afraid I can’t lose weight without exercising because of my diet, but I’m also afraid coming back to MFP might trigger some old and long forgotten eating disorder problems...
Any advice? How can I lose weight if I can’t exercise :(

Replies

  • MichelleSilverleaf
    MichelleSilverleaf Posts: 2,028 Member
    First of all, hugs to you. That sounds super difficult and I'm not going to pretend that I know how it feels to be in your position, but you have my sympathies. That being said, you burn calories all the time. We all do. You don't need to exercise to lose weight. If your sedentary calories to maintain your current weight was 2000 (just to use a number), all you would need to do is eat 1500 net calories every day and you would lose 1lb a week. Buy what you can, eat in a way that hopefully keeps you full over long spans of time. That may take some experimenting, but as someone who does live pay to pay (and less sometimes) it can be done. And remember there's nothing wrong with sweets per se, work things in that you can manage and still maintain a deficit.
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,613 Member
    You can lose weight without exercise. There are healthy foods that are not expensive. Carrots, potatoes, kale, onions, cabbage, and bananas are a few that come to mind. Look for sales on meat. Tofu and beans are usually pretty cheap. Can you do any activity? Walk, swim, recumbent bike?
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
    You can lose weight without exercise. Exercise is for other health goals, not to create a bigger deficit. All you need to lose weight is to eat fewer calories than your body burns, and following your MFP calorie goal will accomplish that. You can eat all the processed food you want and still lose weight as long as you're within your calorie goal. Don't stress out over these things that aren't needed for weight loss.

    However, I would recommend checking in with your mental and physical health care teams before starting a weight loss plan. Not only is that important for anyone who has had an ED, but you also sound like you're in a difficult place emotionally and your medical team is there to help you.
  • aokoye
    aokoye Posts: 3,495 Member
    You have a lot of my sympathy. I suspect your first port of call needs to be working on mental health related things. Finding a therapist that's a good fit and that you can afford to go to is going to probably be key in allowing you to move forward in a healthy way. And I'm not just talking about potentially unearthing eating disorder issues, but also working on how to adjust (or really, deal with), mental health wise, to the chiari malformation and other physical health issues that you're having.
  • 150poundsofme
    150poundsofme Posts: 523 Member
    Big hugs
  • csplatt
    csplatt Posts: 1,002 Member
    Definitely have a mental health professional walk with you on your journey. My blue cross blue shield insurance makes my copay for counseling $5 per visit!

    Also, agreed that carrots and potatoes and broccoli and spaghetti squash (makes lots!) are fairly affordable. Tubs of Greek yogurt. Eggs. I didn’t exercise when I lost my 15-20 lb on MFP.

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