MFP Weight Goal ACHIEVED - 95 Pounds GONE - Wheelchair User

2»

Replies

  • bosque1234
    bosque1234 Posts: 60 Member
    Wow! I use a manual chair and have begun this recently, doing what you did, CICO only as exercise is hard with the chair. I love what you've written, you're a great writer! Did the loss impact the size of chair you use? I'm hoping to just fit better into mine, not really shift to a smaller chair. But you lost so much. I'm at 1200 cals a day and going slow and steady. I can't weigh myself right now but am searching for an easy to access wheelchair scale somewhere in town I can pop in and use. How did you handle this part? I can't say how much your words and experience mean to me, you are proof this is possible!
  • socajam
    socajam Posts: 2,530 Member
    You are truly and inspiration to those who are in wheelchairs and non wheel chair users.
    I love this from your comment:

    2) I use a teaspoon to eat rice, and soups (again, consistent with my reasoning above).

    Everything you have written is so true about this weight loss journey and maintaining afterwards.
    Good luck for the future and for giving us more tips that have proven successful to you.
  • IsETHome
    IsETHome Posts: 386 Member
    Fantastic, looks like your team is my old hometown! Congrats on such a brilliant accomplishment - a wonderful story of a mind/shift to achieve a fantastic goal - amazing record time as well. Truly inspirational.
  • PradaGx
    PradaGx Posts: 29 Member
    Thank you so much for posting this. Such a huge inspiration for me and hopefully anyone who stumbles across this. You sir, are amazing.
  • MindfulDecision
    MindfulDecision Posts: 42 Member
    bosque1234 wrote: »
    Wow! I use a manual chair and have begun this recently, doing what you did, CICO only as exercise is hard with the chair. I love what you've written, you're a great writer! Did the loss impact the size of chair you use? I'm hoping to just fit better into mine, not really shift to a smaller chair. But you lost so much. I'm at 1200 cals a day and going slow and steady. I can't weigh myself right now but am searching for an easy to access wheelchair scale somewhere in town I can pop in and use. How did you handle this part? I can't say how much your words and experience mean to me, you are proof this is possible!

    Thank you Bosque! My post is meant to inspire everyone that this approach DOES work. If it worked for someone who lives a sedentary lifestyle, than surely anyone can do it.

    My weight loss certainly affected the size of my chair that I required. I live in Canada and so every 5 years, the government will fund a good portion of the total cost on a new wheelchair. I was lucky in that the bulk of my weight loss happened in the 3-4 year mark of my old chair. I do find my current chair slightly big on me, and will get a smaller one on my next chair.

    As for being able to weigh yourself: yes this is a struggle that I had as well. During my entire weight loss journey, I was only able to weigh myself twice. Some options for you would be to connect with a local rehabilitation centre - they typically have scales that you will be able to drive your chair onto. What they will then do is weigh the chair with and without you in it, and then minus that from the total weight (with you and the chair). There are less accurate methods of measuring your weight loss, which would be things like clothing size, how you sit in your chair, ease of transfers.

    While it may seem challenging not knowing how much you are *truly* down in weight, I see many posts on this site of people obsessively weighing themselves, and being fixated on that number. The inability for wheelchair users to do that, might actually be a good thing as it focuses us on the bigger picture.

    Keep up the great work of 1200 calories a day. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do it - this result was a year and 5 months in the making.
  • magairlin
    magairlin Posts: 93 Member
    Well Done. You look wonderful.
  • IAmTheGlue
    IAmTheGlue Posts: 701 Member
    Congratulations! All your hard work has paid off!!!
  • FibroHiker
    FibroHiker Posts: 398 Member
    You look great and your demanor in your after pictures shows a much different individual. Congratulations to you.
  • MalDunc2012
    MalDunc2012 Posts: 170 Member
    You look great! Job well done!
  • brenn24179
    brenn24179 Posts: 2,144 Member
    I have lost weight before and this time I lost 40 lbs and worked on my emotional attachment to food, It is making a big difference. If I didn't want to deal with something or having hard conversations I would overeat. I am trying to find pleasure in other things now not just eating. When you mentoned emotional attachment, yes that was me also.
  • turnitaroundat40
    turnitaroundat40 Posts: 193 Member
    Some great strategies and ideas - thanks so much for sharing them and congratulations on your success! So impressive!
    By the way, love how your dimples are so much more noticeable now ;)
  • MindfulDecision
    MindfulDecision Posts: 42 Member
    brenn24179 wrote: »
    I have lost weight before and this time I lost 40 lbs and worked on my emotional attachment to food, It is making a big difference. If I didn't want to deal with something or having hard conversations I would overeat. I am trying to find pleasure in other things now not just eating. When you mentoned emotional attachment, yes that was me also.

    Figuring out the emotional cause as to why we eat or behave the way we do will go a long way into solving how we can change our current behaviour towards a healthier lifestyle. People don't get overweight through random events - there is a cause that drives their weight to increase beyond a normal range.

    My causes were how I perceived food (placed too much value & excitement), and treated it like an activity. Understanding the cause/and pull towards food allows one to devise strategies to isolate it, and then do the work it takes to shed the weight (that is where MFP comes in).
  • cory17
    cory17 Posts: 1,495 Member
    Working on my emotional cause is key. Thinking about food, responding to the food cues all around, using it as a diversion, it has consumed me. Seeing the success stories such as yours, and those on the success board, I kick my self for letting that time pass without making it happen.
  • HappyEC
    HappyEC Posts: 53 Member
    You look amazing! Well done!
  • thingsiveneverdone
    thingsiveneverdone Posts: 9 Member
    You look amazing! Way to go!
  • mrkk7
    mrkk7 Posts: 5 Member
    So inspiring!! Thank you for sharing your thoughts and your journey. Well done!
Do you Love MyFitnessPal? Have you crushed a goal or improved your life through better nutrition using MyFitnessPal?
Share your success and inspire others. Leave us a review on Apple Or Google Play stores!