Disabled and obese. Anyone else?

[GrumpyInsomniac]

As the title says. I have a lot of weight to lose that has been creeping up over the years because exercise is at best challenging, including last year where I had to spend more than 4 months in bed due to some fairly evil back issues.

At Christmas I saw a photo that was taken of me and it made me cry. A lot. I’d put on a stone during the bed-bound period and I was so proud to lose that this year. It’s the one resolution I made, to lose a stone by the time of a big family party at the beginning of June. But I still have so much to lose: probably about 12 stone.

While I would qualify for tier 3 services, they’re all closed to referrals for years where I am, and tier 2 aren’t suitable because of my inability to do the exercise component. My husband had just said he would pay for Mounjaro when the news hit about the price increase, so that is of course off the table now. Wegovy could be an option, but with my history of side effects I’m a bit wary of adding to my problems. Plus I guess I’ve already proved I can lose weight with diet alone: it just takes a very long time.

The only thing that really seems to work for me is Team RH, so that’s what I will be doing. Once my sciatica has improved I want to get to the pool for exercise to support this, but I will be dieting for years if I want to get to a ‘normal’ weight. I’m not even sure what that would be any more, though.

So, any other disabled dieters on here?

I put on weight (about 5 stone) due to disability. I'm still unable to do any exercise so had to loose the 5 stone by diet alone. I decided that I needed to make long term changes not a strict diet so I slowly changed things over time.
I meal planned to make my life as easy as possible and so I can eat the same as the rest of the family (maybe without a side or a smaller portion as needed).
I started logging all calories and worked out what I needed to be eating, seeing it written down meant I started questioning did I really need that or do I need that amount. I count my calories over a week so if I have a bad day its not a reason to give up as I can still come in on target by adjusting my weekly intake.
I started doing intermittent fasting originally for health reasons as I have a lot of digestive issues this helped me stop snacking, reduced the amount of calories I naturally ate.
I didn't weigh myself during the process but had been weighed due to medical procedures and lost 5 stone, I've kept it off for 2 years now. I continue to log my calories and I intermittent fast but am slightly more relaxed.
You need to find a long term plan that works for you, as your in this for the long term. As you said you can do this it probably just feels daunting. Hope it goes well.

5 stone?! Well done you, that’s fantastic!

From past experience, I have to say to my family I’m on a diet because I’m not always able to make our meals and that makes me reliant on them for food. Otherwise they default to low effort meals that aren’t properly balanced and I can’t make consistent progress.

I am hoping that as the sciatica improves, I can plan meals ahead a bit more to ensure I’m following the plan, and to minimise the impact of any deviations on those days I’m not able to cook. In the meantime, I probably need to be revisiting the family favourites and running them through a nutrition calculator so that if someone else is cooking, I can work out what size portion is right.

I have plenty of time. I know we won’t get there overnight, but I think there is a lot of foundation work I need to do if I’m going to succeed.

You can do this through dieting. Don't cut calories too low and allow an occasional treat. Slow and steady is the best way to lose weight anyway.

I find when someone else is cooking for me I prefer it if it has a barcode so I can scan it in to mfp. How about getting some premade freezer meals for when you don't have the energy to cook?

Yes I’m disabled and obese. I find it very difficult to exercise too though I’m hoping to take up yoga again soon to help with strength and flexibility. My steps per day are around 2/3000 on a good day as I’m an ambulatory wheelchair user but that’s only recently risen to that as I had a hip replacement in May.

I started on mounjaro a few weeks ago so I’m full of trepidation as to what the price change will mean as I’ve lost 4.6kg in 5 weeks which is really good imo. If I need to I’ll try wevovy instead. I also use hello fresh three nights a week as it keeps things fresh and interesting which is a big thing for me.

Unfortunately, I’m coeliac, allergic to soya and lactose intolerant, so cooking from scratch is usually safest if I want to have any amount of variety in my diet. The alternative is for either me, DH or DS to batch cook something I can portion and freeze. I may need to clear some space in the freezer, as ours is only small. But good idea, thank you.

I’ve lost 5.5 stone on mounjaro and cannot exercise much at all due to spinal and hip issues that mean I’m very limited.

however, there are bits I can do and I try and do chair exercises, use resistance bands and weights for upper body issues. With sciatica doing what you can do build core strength and keeping mobile with short gentle walks will help. Have you seen a physio? I have sciatica and they very much encouraged me to try and keep mobile and to understand the pain.

I’m disabled and obese. I’ve just gone to tier 4 weight management where we’re now considering surgery after 6 years of being on the list and two years of appointments at tier 3.

Try the Wegovy. I’ve lost just over 5 stone on Mounjaro and I have another 5 stone to go at least so I’m going to have to switch to Wegovy if the prices really are as high as they seem at the moment.

I don’t exercise and all the weight loss is through diet. It’s slower - 5 stone since June 2024 with lots and ebbs and flows and 2 and a half stone lost on Mounjaro since April but it’s changed my life and actually helped some of my other disability symptoms.

@thatwastheendofmytether that’s a good result with the Mounjaro with how low your steps are. I’m also an ambulatory wheelchair user so have the same issue of low steps. I generally manage 1500 or so per day. I’m hoping that Eli Lilly will find a way to satisfy the Fanta Führer and keep the price down rather than doubling it.

I might have to take a look at Hello Fresh. We have some dietary restrictions in the family that make it difficult to find plans that really work. I have to be free from gluten, lactose and soya, but if the food is also for my husband and son, they’re both intolerant to things like onions and peas (FODMAP intolerance) and it becomes almost impossible to find things that work for us all.

Nice to know I’m not alone. I use the Team RH precisely because it allows me to set my steps at 1000 and gives me targets from that for calories and macros, where other diets just don’t allow for the level of sedentary I’m at. I’m aiming to lose 500g per week if I can, and just accept it will feel like forever. But it will at least help me change my eating habits over such a long period of time!

@GrumpyInsomniacIt’s so frustrating isn’t it? The assumption is that you want to lose weight therefore you must want to do 150 minutes minimum of exercise. If I did that I would be in bed for a week afterwards, minimum - even if it was split into 5 sessions! I actually caused a relapse that lasted months earlier in my illness just doing a fitness assessment. I won’t be doing that again. But since my hip op I am steadily upping my steps. They’re not fast steps and I’ll never get back to running, but pottering around the garden etc is doing my soul good.

I'm finding that the MJ is doing my energy levels some good too, I’m sure of it. I think maybe it’s the inflammatory improvements it’s meant to have. I will be supremely pissed off of the FF gets his way. But I’m trying to remain positive! How much have you to lose? I’m aiming for around 30kgs.

Sorry to hear about all the restrictions. It’s a pita to deal with all that isn’t it? I used to have to deal with things like that but not so much anymore.

Where you say that losing weight has helped with disability symptoms is one of my main motivations in doing this.

A 5 stone loss is fantastic. That’s really good going. I have around 12 stone to lose, and 5 stone in a year would make such a difference. You know that starting point where for the first two stone you’re still so fat that it barely makes a dent on your physical appearance? That’s where I am now. I really want to start seeing a difference so that I can feel I’m making progress. For someone who works with data, I’m oddly reluctant to trust the evidence of the scales alone!

The weight loss drugs definitely appeal, but the side effects a couple of friends have had make me cautious. I have some pretty important stuff on between now and the end of the year and can’t afford to take anything that risks giving me nausea or diarrhoea, but in the new year I would have time to give it a try without it destroying everyday life should I be one of those who gets the side effects. So in the meantime I will diet and hope the prices settle down for the injections.

I’m disabled and obese.

i do very limited steps but try to swim regularly.

I get very tired after exercise so losing through exercise doesn’t work for me.

i’m also lactose intolerant and veggie so meals can be complicated. I do find it hard to cut down calories as if I do I have noticeably less energy to go daily tasks.

also an ambulant wheelchair user.

interested in others experience of wegovy/mounjaro

@thatwastheendofmytether I have to lose around 80kg, but would probably settle for 60-70kg overall given I’ll have loose skin left over. I’m quite tall, so even now I’m a 24-26 dress size. I’d be delighted to get down to a 14-16. I’m not aiming for skinny: just healthier and lighter and putting less load through my joints.

YY to the impact of 150 minutes of exercise per week. I’m recovering from cellulitis in my foot and have to keep my foot up at the moment, so all exercise is gentle Pilates in bed, rather than anything approaching cardio. Really interesting that MJ has impacted your energy.

@Octavia64 lactose intolerant and veggie sounds really tough to do while on a diet, if only for getting your protein up. I’ve been making a point of starting the day on a big bowl of porridge, because it really sets me up for the morning and I don’t feel hungry for hours. How many calories are you on per day?

I think managing energy levels can be quite hard for disabled people even without cutting calories. I know that if I’m in a full-on fibro flare, diets have to go out the window.

I'm in this category, I have refractory chronic migraine which makes exercise very challenging as anything high impact can trigger them as can strength training. I do exercise but its often just walking. I do try to control my diet and log my food in an app but while I have lost a bit and am not gaining I can't seem to lose the bulk of weight I gained on some of the medications I was on several years ago and after I broke my foot. Migraines can also cause very strong cravings as the brain is very glucose hungry during an attack. Also things like cola and salt snacks can actually help with the pain and nausea so sometimes when nothing else is working I resort to these. They there is the exhaustion that comes after and between attacks or the brain fog and confusion that comes before one know as prodrome and postdrome. Its like trying to live a normal life while being repeatedly beaten with a shovel on the head several times a week. I just feel like I never really get any traction in my life at all for anything, its passing me by and I try to be philosophical about it but I also feel very sad about all I've lost out on. I also get random aches and pains in my body, not sure if they are migraine related.

I know when I was in hospital for another reason they gave me morphine and while it took all the other pain away it didn't touch my migraine pain.

Anyway I'm still trying each day, which is all I can do!

My OH says that I seem “lighter”. That I am more present and aware. He’s known me for twenty years, so long before I got ill and all through my worst years so I trust his judgement. It’s only been five weeks so far… I’m really curious to see where it leads.

I’m also in this category and in the assessment phase for NHS surgery. I don’t qualify for WLI and couldn’t afford them anyway. I have a complex health history and sadly I’m convinced that I’ll be knocked back at this late stage because of it….we’ll see.

Will keep everything crossed for you. It’s so tough having to deal with so much at once. I’ve reached the slightly odd stage where I don’t actually have medical professionals telling me to lose weight any more. I can remember for years having every concern being addressed with “have you tried losing weight?” instead of investigating the symptoms that frequently had nothing to do with my weight. And now? Nothing. It’s almost like they’re not keen to help me with my weight, even though we all know it would improve my other conditions, so it just doesn’t get raised.

I am fairly certain I wouldn’t be given surgery because of my hypermobility. When they took my gallbladder out they almost had to convert to open surgery from keyhole because of the amount of adhesions in my abdomen they had to cut through, and the risk from these in weight loss surgery is major post-op complications just weeks down the line. So I either have to do it by diet or injections.

Hopefully your medical history is not an obstacle and you’ll be on your way soon.

Weighing in today for accountability at 145.3kg. So I’m on a downward trend :)

How are you all getting on?

It’s not really ‘diet or injections’ though. You have to make those healthy choices and essentially ‘diet’ whilst using the injections. I eat a really healthy diet now, the same kind of stuff I have eaten in any other weight loss attempt but the MJ helps me to do that. The longest I have managed before has been about 8-10 weeks, now I’m 9 months in and the lightest I have been in about 25 years.

Thanks very much @GrumpyInsomniac

@ohbee fair point, I meant diet alone or injections plus diet, because obviously if you eat shite while on the injections they still won’t be able to counter that.

Yes I have Parkinson’s and M.E. Very overweight but thankful that, in my area Wegovy is prescribed for 35+ BMI. I do get funny looks from people when I’m on my mobility scooter or parking in disabled as people seem to think I’m only disabled because I’m overweight when in fact, it’s the other way around.

@Sodastreamin it’s amazing how often people don’t think abut how being disabled impacts ability to exercise and how that can cause weight gain. It’s like if you’re ’properly’ disabled you’re supposed to waste away or something. And if you don’t it was obviously caused by the fat all along 🙄

Totally agree. Before 2020 I was fit and healthy. I was a community midwife, hauling kit around including canisters of entonox etc. Now, I’m about 60lbs heavier, have a damaged lung, three chronic conditions confirmed and several more being investigated. Exercise leads to PEM. Yet somehow it’s all my fault 😒

It’s not your fault @thatwastheendofmytether do you have Long Covid ?