Back after knee replacement surgery

If necessary, weight loss can be accomplished entirely on the eating side of things, by limiting calories. One can count the calories, or limit calories eaten in some other way (reducing portions, drinking less soda, eating fewer treats, using lower-calorie substitutes (like nonfat Greek yogurt instead of sour cream), following a meal plan - whatever).

One caution: I'd strongly, strongly suggest that you not try to lose weight during the acute phase of healing from your surgery. You'd need to ask your doctor about the timespan, but I would think 4-6 weeks at least. We need calories and nutrition in order to heal.

During that acute healing phase, eating around maintenance calories, and getting really good nutrition would be a great goal. If - like many of us (including me) - your eating patterns have skewed toward less than optimum nutrition in the past, working on that during healing could be a plus. Protein, fats, micronutrients and fiber are all needed for best health, so best healing.

I didn't stop losing after surgery (much more minor than knee replacement), and came to regret it. Fortunately, my body prioritized healing, but I got weak and fatigued, then it took multiple weeks to get back to normal strength/energy.

Losing weight at a sensible rate before surgery, then after acute healing up until the next surgery, would be what I'd suggest.

Best wishes!

Yes, what Ann said. Such a major surgery needs a lot of energy for healing. Don't endanger that. It's quite possible you might even lose weight just eating at maintenance. When I broke my shoulder I did, quite rapidly at first. And hence I ate more because I knew my body needed it. Also, do physiotherapy to get the best possible outcome, and do your home exercises as prescribed every day. from a calorie point of view it probably doesn't add much, but if you get fit properly again you can exercise once you're fully healed