Bed Rest….Healthy Choices

I'd second just eating at maintenance as your body is healing from a major surgery. I know that it might feel frustrating to gain weight...but such is life. You just get back to your regular scheduled activities when you can and keep going. Give you body what it needs now so you can come back strong and get back to it. Good luck.

I wouldn't recommend trying to lose weight while in the acute phase of recovery from surgery, unless my surgeon was fully and knowingly supporting that. Optimal healing requires extra calories and good nutrition.

If you eat at estimated maintenance calories (and if you've found that an estimated calorie deficit gives you about the predicted weight loss rate in the past), then eating at estimated maintenance while healing may give you a small calorie deficit all by itself.

During weight loss, I kept trying to lose weight after a much more minor surgery than yours. (Mine was outpatient laparoscopic gallbladder removal.) I came to be sorry that I did that. That was part of a scenario where I became weak and fatigued, then it took multiple weeks to recover even though I corrected quickly. No one needs that.

I was lucky, though, that my body prioritized healing! I would always go to maintenance temporarily now, when major healing/recovery needs to happen, because of that experience.

The reason I say "if you've found that an estimated calorie deficit gives you about the predicted weight loss in the past" is that estimates are population averages, and we're individuals. I need a lot more calories than MFP predicts, so I need to eat more for any given loss rate (or maintenance) than MFP suggests. If I ate estimated maintenance during healing, I'd in reality be at a too-big deficit for best healing/health.

By the way, I want to underscore Riverside's statement above that there will almost certainly be extra water retention while healing, and that will look like weight gain (or at least non-loss). That was true for me even with the surgery I mentioned above. Personally, I like continuing to weigh myself through experiences like that, because I like understanding how my body works, and the pseudo-gain isn't stressful to me. But it can be good to skip weighing for a few weeks if your feelings differ from mine.

As others have said, we do de-condition/de-train while healing, but in many scenarios getting back to baseline is quicker than building to that level was in the first place. Also, as your doctor approves activities, I'd encourage you to do them if feasible. Often they want us walking as soon as possible, and I'd suggest getting a full understanding of how much is OK. There was one surgery where I had weight lifting limitations, and worked with my surgeon to find the time where I could start working with very light weights at higher reps than usual. It was the only time in my life that I've "lifted to boredom" rather than lifting until the last few reps were challenging.

As an aside, the surgery situation is one thing that makes me glad I figured out how to use the MFP "add exercise calories separately" approach with reasonable accuracy. In the 8 years of maintenance since loss, I've had multiple surgeries, injuries or illnesses where I needed to cut back or drop exercise temporarily. Since I have a reasonable understanding of my pre-exercise calorie needs (estimated from my own experience data), I can keep my weight pretty predictable with or without exercise. (NB: I'm a healthy person, but I'm 68, and a late-bloomer recreational athlete. In that context, realistically surgeries, injuries and illnesses are going to be more frequent than they might be for young'uns of similar general health status.)

Best wishes for smooth, speedy healing, and

I had a hysterectomy 2 years ago. I'm so lucky to have a healthy meal prep store less than a mile from my house. I also bought a lot of salad bags. I agree it's frustrating gaining weight after you worked so hard to lose it. BUT----right now the priority is HEALING! Normal tdee x 110%. Your body will need the extra calories for healing. Adequate protein. Exercise = yoga meditation for the moment. The time passed very quickly.

I had foot surgery in February and was completely off my feet for about 8 weeks. I couldn’t walk AT ALL. I had lost about 20# up till then and just decided to just accept that I wouldn’t be able to exercise at all. What I did do was stick to my calorie and protein goals. It felt very discouraging because when we sit around, we just want to nibble and graze on anything in sight. By sticking to my calories and protein, I did not regain any weight and managed to even lose a couple. It set my goal back a little since, up to the surgery, I walked 3-5 miles or biked 6-10 miles every day. Strength was regained quickly though and there was no noticeable loss of muscle. I think the protein was helpful. Good luck to you and don’t let it discourage or derail you. Just do what you can😊

Lots of people have said similar and they’re right - you need to focus on healing right now. I’d say eat protein to help your healing and eat healthily - have some treats also, why not?!

But - don’t obsess over the scales - you can get back on track when you’re actually back on track! Right now is time for healing and getting better after your major surgery! Take care.