How can I lose weight with an injury?

Question

I weigh 199 lbs. and I am 5 feet 6 inches tall. My BMI is 32.115. I know I am obese. I want to lose weight before I reach 200 lbs. Yikes!!

I have low self esteem because of it. I will admit I am not happy about my weight. And I worried that I may be at risk health wise for being obese. I am lucky I don't look as heavy as I am.

I want to be 140 lbs. So I want to lose 59 lbs. It will bring me down to a more normal body mass.

My left shoulder is hurt. It will be for a while. Possibly major maybe not. We all know how doctors are. I can't lift over 10 lbs. for a extended period of time.

I have tried tons of diets from cabbage soup to atkins. They only work for a short time. And I have gained the weight back. Like I assume we all do.

Does anyone know what I can do to lose weight with a messed up shoulder? Diets? Easy exercise program?

Answer 1

This is what I have used to lose 32 pounds in 69 days: Stack Body Tune Up. I started on July 15, 2006.

If I can be of further assistance, let me know.

[e-mail]
http://www.geocities.com/pktull

Answer 2

I did almost exactly what you want to do, except my starting point was 8 pounds lighter (and I didn't have a bum shoulder, but that wouldn't have affected me for the first five months anyway), so I'll tell you what worked for me.

1. Get moving. Walk/jog/run 3.5 miles 3-5 times a week. Do it as fast as you can and still finish. When I started I couldn't run more than a half mile at a time, and the whole workout took me almost an hour. Now I finish the whole workout in just over 26 minutes. Can't stand running? Then Swim, Dance, Bike, Play DDR. Just get moving for at least 30-40 minutes a day.

2. Equally important: control your diet. I won't bore you with the anything overly complicated. Just count the calories of everything you put in your mouth. Write it all down for the first couple of weeks. Your goal is 2200 calories. Once you hit about 180 drop down to 2000 calories. At 160 1800 calories. Don't go lower than that. It's actually counter productive. Hint: It's a lot easier to not be hungry if you eat low calorie foods (especially veggies) because you can eat lots of them.

3. Study. I am giving you what worked for me. That doesn’t necessarily mean it is going to work for you. It has taken me lots of trial and error to find out what works for me. I've probably read a hundred different work out plans, diet plans, and diet theories. It's a pain, but eventually you gotta figure out exactly what YOU need to do.

Now, I will tell you that you won't be happy with the way you look at 140 unless you have a decent amount of muscle mass (in which case aim for about 160, not 140.) It sucks, but without muscle mass, 140 can still look flabby.

Answer 3

First and most important, you have to learn to eat correctly. You need to eat healthy meals that include alot of veggies, some fruit and lean meats, and alot of water. You also have to not consume more than you burn. I would start at 1500-1600 calories per day spread over 5-6 meals. I did this on the Nutrisystem plan and lost 30 pounds in 3 months. It can be a little expensive, but it helps you identify portion sizes and what to eat. As for exercise, you don't have to lift weights. I was an avid weight lifter, doing strongman contests and Scottish Highland games, but I lost that 30 pounds just by walking/running 30-60 minutes per day 4-5 days per week. It takes some dedication but if you stick with it, it will be worth it.

Answer 4

First of all congratulations to you for wanting to be healthy. I lost 35 pounds myself last year and have maintained it primarily because I did not look at it as "going on a diet" ... that mentality tells you "Im depriving myself".

The best way to approach this is as a lifestyle change. Focus on what you are gaining. For me it was more energy to enjoy my son and doing all the things I love to do. I was not in good shape at all when I started but if you stick with things gradually you gain strength and before you know it you are a lot stronger than you thought you would be. At first I couldn't walk fast or run up a flight of steps without feeling shortness of breath. Within six months I I was running.. I remember the first time I ran a half mile how hard I cried because i was so proud of being able to do that in such a short time. Once you start to feel better from eating healthy... it in itself becomes addicting.

The key is moderate, healthy weight loss. Avoid gimmicks and diets and such as they are not permanant solutions and then you gain the weight back and that makes it even harder to lose it the next time.

There is a great free website that helped me a lot. I learned about portion control (most of us are SO unaware of just how many excess calories we eat), the best foods to fuel the body with the least amount of calories, how to balance the food groups and how to space my meals to make my metabolism kick in and work for me. It has free tools for you to determine based on your height weight and current activity level how many calories you need a day to lose weight and maintain weight. It also has awesome forums and the people here come from all walks of life too. Many have health problems of their own and are also losing. It's a LIFESTYLE not a DIET.... The people here will support you and encourage you and motivate you when you are feeling down.
http://www.calorie-count.com

Answer 5

I'd recommend walking so you don't have to move your shoulder. Many gyms offer aqua aerobics classes which are more free-form however you are working with the resistance of the water. You could use mostly your legs.

I would not recommend fasting or fad diets -- what happens when you stop the diet? You won't be drinking cabbage soup for the rest of your life.

Answer 6

Usually dieting is not recommended during an injury, because you need the nutrition to heal the injury. However, during this recovery time, you should eat healthy. Eat lots of proteins and veggies. Stay away from sugar and fried foods.

Since you are already 199lbs, it's quite hard to not gain 1lb to reach 200lbs. You should of thought about this before getting to 190.

Answer 7

Swim, or walk is the first step, aim for 20 minutes every other day at first then slowely increase. You will need to do some lifestyle changing, not diets.

Answer 8

Read some very effective weight loss tips and more on this site to help you lose weight

Answer 9

Work out your legs with cardio and with weights. Do not use your upper body