Help!

[shell2016]

Any suggestions how to lose weight when you can't exercise? I broke my ankle and will be on crutches for another 4 weeks and need to do something to lose weight!

Any suggestions/help would be greatly appreciated ☺

[GershonSurge]

I just came off of two months of not being able to walk well because of a sprained muscle in my back and then an injured achilles tendon. I lost 14 pounds in the two months I was off my feet. I could have lost more, but I reached my goal.

The blunt answer is you have to burn more calories than you consume. The body is an impartial judge, so please don't shoot the messenger.

There are plenty of exercises you can do with a broken ankle. You can do most chores around the house like deep cleaning, getting the stains out of the carpet, cleaning the baseboards, etc. Use your imagination. They burn about half as many calories per minute as walking. You can join a fitness club if there is one near you and lift weights doing only bench exercises or use the many machines that only exercise the arms.

You can even walk using crutches, but avoid causing other problems by walking too much. You can buy an inexpensive wheelchair at a thrift store.

My suggestion is to rigourously count calories and eat fewer calories than you burn. This means measuring everything by weight or volume and even logging the two potato chips you eat. Try maintaining a 500 calorie deficit at first. Try to get at least 500 calories of activity calories a day. If you don't have Fitbit Premium, burn at least 500 more than your Resting Metabolic Rate or Basic Metabolic rate. Then you won't have to starve yourself.

This next part is going to come out wrong, but it's an important lesson I've learned in life:

I can have anything in life I want. The word "want" is chosen carefully. Do not equate it with "wish."

I "want" stronger muscles, so I go to the gym every morning to work out.

I "want" to run a marathon, so now that I'm healed, I'm back to running every day.

I "want" to maintain my weight, which now means eating much more food than I'm used to, so I count my calories and eat often during the day.

I "wish" I could play the piano well, but I gave up lessons and practice years ago.

I "wish" I could cook better, but I don't try new recipes.

I "wish" I could play more Pokemon Go!, but my son has migraines and can't go out with me in the heat.

There are only so many things in life we can "want", and I've learned to say, "I don't want that" to my wishes.

If you "want" to lose weight during this time, you can. If you only "wish" you would lose weight, you won't.

Take the path that leads the direction you "want." You can choose to maintain your weight, or even gain a little during this time. Or you can choose to overcome this surmountable obstacle. 

Best of luck to you.

Gershon

[shipo]

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@shell2016 wrote:

Any suggestions how to lose weight when you can't exercise? I broke my ankle and will be on crutches for another 4 weeks and need to do something to lose weight!

Any suggestions/help would be greatly appreciated ☺

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I suffered a badly broken ankle and partially torn off foot back in 2003, and to add insult to injury, my doctor had me Non-Weight-Bearing (NWB) for a whopping 6-months.  As Gershon says, crutching around, outside, in shopping malls, grocery stores, and anywhere else you would normally go is GREAT exercise.

[shell2016]

Thank you! I'm just finding it so difficult knowing where and how to
start. But. You're right..I want it so I need to make it happen.

Thank you!

[A_Lurker]

I myself at the moment do little formal exercise in the form of steps (ie. walking).  I lift weights (you could do some seated upper body stuff), I swim (this may not be good for your ankle though), but mainly I just count calories very carefully.  I might eyeball a bowl of lettuce, but measure carefully fats, higher calorie items.  I cook for two most nights, and even making something like roasted veggies I will weigh the vegetables as I go, then divide up using a scale.  It just becomes a habit.  I also pretty much eat what I want, just less of it.  In my case, I never truly ate poorly.  My portion sizes were out of whack.

Also, I read on your profile that the 40 pounds came back over 2 years, so for the next 4 weeks you don't need to make huge strides.  Weight neither comes on or off overnight.  Making small, maintainable lifestlye changes is your best option.  Doing something 'just until you lose the weight' is what put some of us (myself included at times) in the vicious up/down/up more cycle.

Best of luck!

[Dominique · Accepted solution]

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@shell2016 wrote:

I need to do something to lose weight! 

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Weight loss is primarily about nutrition (not activity) anyway. Since you are going to be less active for the next 4 weeks, you will have to pay extra attention to what (and how much) you are eating. This doesn’t mean you need to cease all activity: just find the kind of activities you can do safely with your broken ankle. Upper body resistance training (as suggested by @A_Lurker) is a good idea: it may not burn that many calories, but will have other benefits.

[shell2016]

Thank you! I'm trying to cut back on the "junk" food and eat less and
healthier. Just so hard because I get so anxious and bored from not being
able to move much.

I'm definitely going to take sind advice and try to change things up a
little.

Thank you!

[Dominique]

Even if your ankle weren’t broken and you were able to exercise, it would be a good idea to pay attention to nutrition. Many say you cannot "out-exercise" a poor diet, and I believe it is very true. Emotional eating is certainly challenging to deal with. Make sure the kind of comfort foods you are prone to binge on are not available around you. Get a good book, relax and make the most from your forced vacation .