Injured and gained massive weight. Need help!

[Stuckandbattling]

Hi everyone! I injured my knee badly in July 2015 and had surgery. Since then I've gained 13kg. For the last two months I've been counting calories and eating healthy as much as possible but not being able to exercise makes weight loss very difficult. I've not lost any weight and becoming more and more depressed because my clothes don't fit anymore.

 

[Ebaz]

I was watching the Biggest Loser recently, and there was a guy on there who tore his ACL, but stayed on the show for quite a bit. He was still losing lbs weekly, and he wasn't even able to hardly! There are some machines at the gym, or even exercises you can do at home that can still get you moving a bit. I would google wheelchair exercises or something similar. It may have some good stretching and exercising tips that can keep you going.

I am a full believer though that the main culprit in weight gain is what you are eating. 28 Lbs (or 13 kg) is a lot to gain in 7 months. There had to be more to it than just being off your feet. Just remember, that taking it off is way harder than it was to put it on! (oh how I wish it was the other way around).

Also, if you are restricting calories, make sure you are restricting the right amount. Serving sizes are always "based on a 2000 calorie diet" but I've recently found that very few people should be on that high of a calorie allowance, and thats only to maintain. Never to lose. There is a calculator online somewhere that you put in your age, weight, height, and amount of exercise you do, and it gives you how many calories you should eat to maintain or lose. For me, I am 183 lbs and 5'5" and with moderate activity, it suggests I eat no more than 1,500 calories a day to lose weight. That is with moderate exercise. I changed the setting to "sedentary lifestyle" and it said no more than 1,100 calories. That's a big jump. So maybe just make sure that you are eating enough to lose, not just maintain.

 

[La Dauphine]

I tore my ACL when I was 13. I have ED tendencies so this may be why I was able to refrain from gaining weight, but I understand nonetheless how difficult it is to do anything - let alone lose weight - when you can barely walk.

Again, this may be my ED talking, but weight loss/gain is all about one thing: calories in versus calories out. If you're not burning any calories you'll never lose weight, only gain regardless of how well you think you're eating.
With your temporary inactive lifestyle, you calorie intake needs to drop. Drastically. I'm talking 500 per day. I'd even suggest fasting for a day or 2 a week. It sounds like very little (and it is), but you're not using ANY energy, so technically you don't NEED an excess of calories. IF you want to stop gaining you need to get used to being hungry ALL the time. It's the only way. You can't compensate what you eat by exercising and honestly, that's a bad mentality anyway. Even an active person wishing to lose weight needs to focus on what they EAT more than what they do.

 

[Ebaz]

I don't necessarily agree with La Dauphine. I don't think you should be hungry all the time. That's how I was and that is how it lead to me developing binge eating disorder. There are ways to supplement it. You can eat 1000 calories a day and not be hungry. Just eat often! I don't think fasting is a good idea. Fasting slows your metabolic rate down. So when you go back to eating the diet you were before fasting, it ends up being more fattening that it was prior to the fast. Often times, the weight lost on a fast is also only water weight. The inconsistency can be harmful for you body. Just eat small healthy snacks throughout the day to keep you from being hungry, but also keeps you at a lower calorie count if you're making good choices. And like I said before, there are exercises out there. Even if it is just lifting weights with your arms, it gets you moving and active!

 

[Ebaz]

Also, your body will burn calories even if you sit on the couch. Every body burns calories at a resting position every day. There are calculators online for this as well. It is called basal metabolic rate. So you can lose weight without being active, you will just have to eat fewer calories that your BMR.