I'm Jackie,I'm 59, have several health issues including Charcot Marie tooth,chiari malformation 1 and arthritis in my left knee,I've been told I really need a new knee replacement ( I already have a kneecap replacement in both knees) but I need to lose 4 stone first as I also have a pulmonary embolism so take anti coagulation.It is so hard to lose weight ,because I can't move about much,I'm in so much pain,I can't walk much,it really gets me down,I need a new knee ,but I need to shift this weight but also exercise too.Any answers ?
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Jack58
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Hi Jack58 👋 welcome to this wonderful forum. I'm sorry to hear you are in so much pain at the moment that must be really bringing you down 🙁
It's great to hear though that you are motivated to want to lose some weight as the benefits of this sound like they will greatly improve your quality of life.
A simple start could be to find out what your personal daily calorie in take should be. You can find this out by using the NHS BMI calculator nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/Healthyw... (on the page it gives you your bmi score below this is your personal calorie range). You could then log what you eat each day into something like the free MyFitnessPal app and see what needs tweaking.
You could find focus in this and meal planning to start with then slowly build in modest exercise (increase walking) as you start to see some progress in your weight loss 🤗
Jack, I am sure lots of other people will give you good advice on here, and admin will tell you how to get the best out of the forum, but there are lots of people on here with some quite serious disabilities who will vouch for the fact that what you eat is much more important than exercise in the battle against excess weight.
Weight loss is about eating less calories, which means portion control and careful consideration of what you are eating. That might sound daunting if you are a Newby weight watcher, but it really needn’t be. And it won’t happen overnight, it takes time to learn new habits, but have a good read of the posts and topics here and ask questions, and we will help you. You can do this, you know.
Hi Jack58 and welcome! We are a friendly bunch and will support you on your weight loss journey
I have a significant physical disability which affects my mobility (mobility further reduced in 2002 following a head on car crash, broken tib and fib which didn't heal well and then an ankle fusion).
I am also short - as a result of my disability (4ft 9") rather than genetics - my two "little sisters" are both a foot taller than I am!
Reduction in mobility or a disability doesn't make weight loss impossible - it just makes it rather more challenging - but hey - us folks who have to deal with pain and / or disability on a daily basis are used to challenges, aren't we???
I started my weight loss journey at the end of February 2012, weighing in at 14 stone - 5 and a half years ago. I was 49 years old and had been trying to lose weight all of my life since the age of 9.
I managed to lose 4.5 stone in 2 and a half years through calorie counting and logging/weighing all of my food going from a size 24 to a size 16 and from 14 stone down to 9 and a half.
Then re-gained some.... lost some again and have now managed to more or less maintain for the past 6 months.
BUT... ideally I would love to drop another stone and maintain there.
The one thing that I realised very early on in my journey was that I was just eating FAR TOO MUCH! I was a VERY short (4ft 9"), middle aged, sedentary female and I was eating the same as 5ft 9" active man (my now husband!).
No wonder I was piling on the weight! I now think of the weight I lost as each half a stone being a new born baby... I lost 9 of them and can't really understand how I was ever able to lug all of that around with me all of the time!
I often wish I had dealt with my weight when I was a lot younger, but still, better late than never and also the risk of illness that is associated with being overweight increases once you reach 50 years plus....
Here are a few of my past posts which I hope you will find helpful and inspiring. I won't try and tell you that my journey was easy - and you'll see that there were many blips along the way, but 5 years down the line, I feel about 20 years younger than I did when I was lugging around 4 stone more.
Please do pop back to the forums and share your journey with us - we are here for you, day and night and happy to share your success or support you when you need it.
Hi Jack58 and welcome to the Forum. You have certainly found a great place for help and support from all kinds of people who have successfully lost weight whilst not being very mobile. I am sure you are, but we would always recommend that you include your GP in any conversations about losing weight, as we would never want you to do anything against their advice.
I would like to invite you to join our Newbie Club, which we hope will be a good place for you to connect with members, who are also just starting out, or re-starting, and it looks as if there are a few new members today.
If you could just post a few words about yourself on the October Newbie Club thread to introduce yourself and reply to one or two others there you will soon feel part of the Club.
I am having a few technical issues today, so Ceals is kindly helping me out and will be along shortly with a link to the Newbie Club for you to look at.
Please read all the information carefully. It is very useful and can be referred to whenever you want to check out something.
There's lots of good advice here already, but I would like to mention exercise a bit as you seem to want to do at least some. Anything water based is good for joint problems as it takes a lot of the pressure off while you move around. There are also exercises that can be done seated, which would also avoid putting too much pressure on your knees.
Given your embolism, I would suggest having a chat with your GP to suggest something that won't impact negatively on your health, or even may be able to refer you for physio to help you find a routine to strengthen your joints without causing further damage.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Not sure if this forum will help me get the \"Switch\"
Newbie. Trying to eat more mindfully.
Where to start
Fat middle-aged guy - joining to try and get some motivational support!
Where to start
