What should I do?

[almeeker]

I'm feeling for you sister. I have a bum leg and asthma, so I've sat right where you are. Do you have any crutches? Let me just say that if you get a decent pair that fit you correctly, hobbling around on those is a fabulous workout, even in limited doses. I spent 3-4 months going between a manual wheelchair and a pair of crutches and had the best upper body of my life. Take it easy but everyday just push yourself a little farther. By the time I could walk again I was actually faster on the crutches than on my own 2 feet. I would also recommend that you get yourself to physical therapy asap, and talk to the PT about what exercises would be the best for the leg, and good for the rest of you as well. Then your insurance will pay the tab while you use some really nice gym equipment and workout with a well educated personal trainer.

On the caloric intake I also think it's probably a little low. I'm very short, 5'-2" and I've been steadily losing weight, like 2-3 pounds/week and I'm eating 1,500-1,600 calories/day. On the days when I miss a snack or such and only take in 1,200 I feel almost sick from it and don't lose extra weight because I suffered. I met a woman the other day who was limiting herself to 1,200 calories/day and had hit a hard plateau and hadn't been able to move that dial on the scale for 3 months. I think it's likely that her metabolism has gone into conservation mode and that she'll actually have to eat more to break through it. But nutrition is not my area of expertise.

[nrh322]

Hey everybody! OMG! Did I say how gloriously happy I am to find this website??!! I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate all the support and advice.

I love boxing, but right now...even with my brace on, if I plant my foot and accidentally move my body laterally AT ALL it feels like someone's smashed me with a baseball bat or one of those medieval club things with all the spikes on it or...well, you get the idea. I haven't pulled out the crutches yet. That's not a bad idea. I've been putting so much pressure on my right knee (helping out the left) that the good one's starting to hurt too. This blows.

Ugh...all the numbers....all the different ways of counting calories...all the different choices of how much to eat. Sometimes I wonder if it wouldn't be easier to just do one of those old fashioned "eat nothing but grapefruit and pringles" diets or something?!? LOL Right now, I'm just trying to relearn how to make healthier choices and NOT beat myself up if I mess up (like yesterday when my husband went to pick up Chinese food for lunch and I ordered something I thought sounded healthy and it turned out to be breaded and deep fried chicken with a sauce that tasted like it was made out of pure condensed milk - I guesstimated the whole meal to be around 1000 calories...mostly from fat...maybe more!)....but so what, right? I had steamed green beans for dinner to balance it out a bit.

I got up this morning and did a whole abdominal workout. It felt great...it was just hard to get back up off the floor. I was too scared to use the "ball of doom!"....thinking that it would put to much pressure on the knee trying to balance.

Thanks for everything...

Best wishes, Naomi

[glenn1978]

You are so right on the numbers...it can be way overwhelming in the beginning. I think it took me about a month and a half before I settled on what numbers to be aiming for. Someone said it earlier, but you have to find what personally works for you.

I started out by carrying around a little notebook, and I just simply wrote down everything I ate in day. I didn't change my eating habits at all. I just wanted to see what I was taking in. After a couple of weeks it became clear to me what I could start to cut out of my diet. It was only after that that I started to pay close attention to calories. By easing into it, I didn't shock my system or my pschye. You have to make sure that whatever you do is something that will result in a healthy lifestyle. That is why those grapefruit diets are so hard. If you try to take on a diet that is not sustainible for an extended amount of time (lifetime) you are already making it hard on yourself.

Also, don't worry about having a meal that is outside of your diet every now and then. I actually have a cheat day built into my weekly diet so that I can keep sane. I don't go nuts (no more then 400 extra calories), but it really gives me something to look forward to during the week.