Knee Injury - Motivation!

[DartmoorDumpling]

The last six months have been a very wet, muddy Autumn and Winter, and my enthusiasm for weight loss has been rock bottom. I have allowed the pounds to creep on again, despite trying to eat sensibly, walking and swimming regularly. I know my problem is late night snacking, and often serving too large portions.

Well now I have had my “come-uppence”….a knee injury, a tear in the cartilage which is very painful and has left me hobbling around, unable to bend my leg! You should try sitting on a toilet when you can’t bend your knee without an agonising pain!

Having googled my injury as you do, one of the main causes in older women is being overweight…the load on these poor old knees is too much and a twisting movement or even just kneeling can damage the meniscus cartilage, (which acts as a kind of shock absorber), and can become prone to tearing easily as we age. Footballers too, are susceptible to this sort of injury.

Well now I am sitting here, resting my knee which has been iced with a bag of frozen veg, and duly strapped up. My kind husband has stepped up and helped out with feeding the animals and walking the dog, not that she wants to go far in this weather, so I must stay focussed on not snacking and getting fit again!

(Photo is me and our little terrier prior to knee injury)

[Gizmocat Moderator 13kg Maintainer]

Welcome back. I'm sorry about your knee injury. Sometimes a health scare is the motivation to get back on the weight loss wagon. Why not pop over to the Weigh In and post your restart weight. I'm sure you can remember your way around. If you need a reminder let me know.

[Latinia]

Lovely to hear from you again. Me too in the 'needing to restart' corner. But you have done it before, and can do it again. So go girl. After all there is a touch of glamour in associating your injury with star footballers!

[Cockneyblue Restart March 2025]

Hello DD, looks like we are back again. Sorry to hear about your knee but you are right, knees to take the brunt of this excess weight.

Let’s try again. The support is great on here and spring is round the corner so we will want to walk again.

Good to hear you have your animals still, have you your animals still.

I look forward to hearing how you are getting on.

Evening snacking is the worst for me. Good luck

[dontdojogging 1st 7lbs]

Oh DartmoorDumpling, I winced at your description of trying to sit on the loo with your knee injury. So sorry and trouble is not a lot you can do except rest it with ice packs, just as you are doing. Lots of us on this week's weigh in can relate to your story of weight creeping back on . You are going to have to banish the snacks and get out the smaller plates. My worst time is when I'm sitting as my brain correlates sitting with putting food in my mouth! If its not in the house then I can't eat it😀

[Frenchfields Restart Jan 2025]

So sorry to hear of your injury, sounds really (ouch!) painful; will the tear heal itself or will it need surgery? Frustrating and possibly boring having to rest it all the time too. In terms of exercise there are quite a few gentle seated exercises you can do, perhaps just for upper body to begin with. Take a look on line. But of course always follow any medical advice. In terms losing weight, could you build a late night snack into your daily intake of carbs or calories or whatever your approach is. I’m with you on the portion control - not helped by the fact my husband does the cooking and gives us both a man-sized portion ( and it always tastes so good :), perhaps as dontdojogging suggests, smaller plates. Chin up, Duck, as my grandad used to say .

[TheTabbyCat Administrator 10 kg SS Supercook]

Hi DartmoorDumpling and welcome back. I'm so sorry to hear about your knee. I'm always surprised how our bodies cope with the extra weight, until something goes terribbly wrong. I had a similar situation with a broken ankle while I was waiting for 2 ,urgent, hip replacements. The extra weight didn't help at all.

I had, and still use, a seat raiser on the loo. They're not very expensive and definitely help with the sitting down aspect I still prefer sitting on a higher perch, I have a very stable stool, in the kitchen which I use when I have a long food prepping.When I was in a similar situation I found lots of "aids" that can make life just that little bit easier. I'm not in the U.K. and I have no idea where you can buy them there. I suggest you have a google around

Good luck with everything and thanks for posting this, it's given me the proverial kick on the bum! I've been piddling about far too much, this has reminded me that I'm not there yet, there are still 10 Kgs to go.🍀