Weight Loss when Disabled

[AdoraDreams]

Hiya,

Bit of background - I was anorexic as a teenager, but I went straight from being a student to being a mummy, whilst fighting ill mental health, so had an extremely poor diet that has only continued. I went from a size 12 to a size 20 in the past 3 years and honestly I'm sick of buying new bigger clothes.

I would really like to lose weight, but I have a few obstacles. I can't calorie count, because that's very dangerous for me and can result in an anorexic relapse. Due to disability I also don't prepare many of my own meals so I kinda get stuck with what I'm given, or eat v poorly and super bad because I don't have the energy to make real food.

I would prefer to exercise to lose weight, but I'm not entirely sure how to do it safely; I'm mostly in a wheelchair when out of the house and can't walk more than around the corner without aid. I was recently given a Wii and Wii Fit as a way to do it - am I on the right lines or way off?

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to cross post but I'm going to put this on the disability forum as well.

Adora

Hi adora it sounds like you really should be discussing this with your doctor but here's my twopennorth..
Is swimming an option? I'm doing vibration training as post partum joint problems mean I can't run, do aerobics etc. You hold a variety of positions (e.g. Squat, lunge) on a vibrating plate for a minute at a time. It's good for muscle strength and rehab after injury, plus toning and it can help with weight loss. It's advertised as burning 500 cals in a 20 min session, but not sure I believe that. Worth investigating if there is one locally anyway. Anything you can manage on the Wii will also help - the way to look at it is whatever you can manage is better than sitting on the couch.
However, I think you will not lose any significant weight without also addressing your diet. You simply can't burn enough calories, unless you are training really hard, that one Mars bar doesn't undo the good work. There are lots of other benefits to exercising though, chief among them for me feeling like I'm making the effort and can therefore also make good food choices.
Can you speak to your care team about your menu? Or is something like 5:2 an option? It sounds like one of the services where calorie counted meals are delivered and you don't need to think about it would be ideal, though I expect they are expensive. Do you provide the food and someone cooks it for you or is it more of a 'meals on wheels' where you get whatever is delivered?

Wii fit is great : work your way through the whole thing

eating : just eat your meals, no snacking or grazing ever
drink water as a default

that alone will make a massive difference