I am 5ft 10 with a weight of 173lbs. (12stone 5lbs)
I am overweight now and want to reduce my weight to about 154lbs (11 stone). The issue is I have no real strength or energy ( as well as permanent Afib). I do two dog walks a day at a steady pace (me and the dog getting older) and shuffle about the house. I recovered very well physically from my stroke in 2021 but the fatigue and energy sapping is a real bind. I have posted previously and aches pains and limb weakness are an ongoing thing. Now with this weather the hotter it is the more tired I am.
My diet is quite good , and since my stroke red meat, coffee but also mushrooms, tomatoes inc anything in a tomato sauce.
Then you see the adverts for walking tai chi, seated tai chi etc but again the fatigue/tiredness set in.
Is this relatable at all, is their a solution you may have.
I need to lose weight as gaining weight increases risk of getting worse but running out of ideas.
Spoke with Doctors but they had no suggestions other than reduce food intake.
If you’re not able to exercise it is a real dilemma. I struggle to walk due to mobility issues so I bought myself an exercise pedlar. An exercise bike would be better. I use it in short spurts but it can be used sitting down and you can do as much or as little as you want to/your energy levels allow. You might find you have to battle through a bit initially but once you start to build up some strength you might find you can do more.
Maybe try changing what you eat. I don’t know what your diet is like but a salad for example you can eat tonnes of it’ll make you feel full but contains minimal calories (if you chose the right dressings or leave it off). That’s just an example there are many other food choices depending on your preference.
It really is a balance of calories in vs calories out.
Diet- pasta chicken green salad (tomatoes, beetroot, red cannot eat). Pork can eat beef lamb is a no. Can no longer eat mushrooms normal cheese any spice food so change to plant based cheese. Pizza - out bread - sourdough only, fuit only if ends in berry. Vegatables - broccoli cabbage, cauliflower - its a No. Pease and carrot yes.
So breakfast - porridge made with water Lunch sourdough pitta bread with hummus . Evening meal chicken or fish mostly with peas carrot and baked potato or salad.
I try other foods and even treats Chocolate dark -yes ginger biscuit yes
Crisp- no no, general biscuit or milk chocolate- no Drinks - ginger, green or normal tea yes coffees - no
Its mad. Pre stroke had no reactions to any foods .
Exercise - two dog walks at steady pace about 2 mile in total.
I will have to cut down further or try different exercise. Final concern is the weather hot weather - floored out.
You’re still in the healthy bmi range, but probably don’t want it to get it much higher. Have you looked at portion sizes? Could weigh the food to get a consistent amount and see what you need.
You’re in a bit of a catch 22. Your diet sounds ok so May need to look at a different form of exercise. You’ll probably find that a steady walk with the dog isn’t getting your heart rate up enough to burn off much……..that’s what I find with walking. I’m just too slow.
This heat is fatiguing for anyone do not surprising you’re finding it difficult. I have been very lethargic today - didn’t even have the energy earlier to muster up a conversation with my hubby. Hopefully in a couple of days when the temperature drops a bit you.l feel less shattered.
I too have AFIB and am a body type that gains weight very easily. Exercise has never helped. What helped me was cutting carbohydrates right down, keto diet, though I have had to increase them again as am taking Dapagliflozin, which you have to eat a small amount of carbs with. I am T2 diabetic, so no sugars allowed, even healthy ones like fruit. I am taking a cocktail of meds, some of which may cause weight gain e.g. the statin. You may be doing the same. It’s a bitter battle, but that’s what worked for me.
Reducing carbs has worked well for me too. I did it to address metabolic syndrome but lost weight as well and now sit slap bang in the middle of the healthy BMI range. The trouble is that a calorie is a calorie, so changing the source of your calories really shouldn’t work and lots of research bears this out. So it’s likely that my weight was a function of my metabolic issues. Yours might not be. Anyway, if you want to give it a go try to keep carbs to less than a quarter of your plate, have about the same amount of protein and fill out the rest with fibre and leafy greens. I eat so much salad now, and really miss baked potatoes.
@Mrs5K’s points about exercise were good, especially the exercise bike if you can manage it. Some resistance training is also useful, light weights or resistance bands. It doesn’t need to be a lot, 10 minutes a day will still make a difference, or whatever you can manage. As you get stronger you will be able to do more.
Your walking regimen is fantastic. Have you researched Lugol’s iodine solution To give yourself a bit of a zip (thyroid could be low)? what about isometric exercises You can even do some sat down. You can even make some up. Start with movements that give you pleasure and make you smile. I do 15 minutes gardening each day. For the hot weather go for two litres a day & some coconut water for your electrolytes would be ideal And if you’re lacking a mineral or two some fulvic acid dissolved in water. Liquid is the only way to absorb things efficiently. Dark chocolate is excellent for the brain as well as a few things on your list Good luck Cheers Roland
Do you want to check with doc you have no fluid retention….i lost weight rapidly when they gave me diuretics after my stroke, it all just fell away somehow, all those years being a podge…who knew!!! It’s stayed off and I’ve lost more too…my sister asked me where my bottom had gone (altho she didn’t use such a polite word…charming). Just worth a thought if you really feel you are too heavy x
I do a stroke rehab class on Zoom every week. It’s more about us learning what to do rather than just doing 45 minutes of exercise. It’s a group session, which you may find you get some useful pointers on what to do. Alternatively you could book a one t o one session which will be entirely about you. https://fitness4lifephysio.com/
I have the opposite, fast metabolism and lanky genes, I am 5’9 and have sustained most of my life a weight of nine and a half stone, except after stroke when I dropped down to about seven and a half stone. I was a mere shadow of my former self. Over the last few years, I have managed to get up to ten and a half stone which feels like a satisfactory weight for me. I can’t advise on diet but I do think cutting out pizza and the like and eating more fish and leafy greens would benefit. I have a friend who acquired T2 diabetes and he reduced his diet to mostly salads and when I saw him after about six months or maybe even less, I was startled at how much weight he had lost. Not a radical amount but all the excess had been trimmed.
You only want to lose a stone which I think is very achievable. With exercise, you could build exercise into your domestic habits instead of compartmentalising it as a regime. I’m not a fan of exercise for exercise sake, I have a need to achieve an added event to movement, so I incorporate it into my daily life. As @pando mentioned, gardening is great. Rather than think of it as exercise, I bundle it all into movement. If you are sitting, watching telly, do something at the same time, it might be anything from leg lifts to a hobby which uses your arms. Things like hoovering and ironing is exercise. I am a constant fidgeter and rarely can sit still, without any scientific evidence, I attribute this to my leanness. Even lying in bed, I regularly lift my legs and stretch my arms.
I think, adapting one’s brain to think in this way will encourage the brain to enjoy movement and the reward of it. If I do a stint of hoovering, I am stretching and using my muscles constantly, and my brain gets a slather of dopamine when it admires the dust and lint free carpet.
These are just thoughts for you, your walking the dog is already a great foundation to adding more to your daily routine. You could litter pick as well as you walk the dog, adding more movement to your routine and helping keep your surroundings tidy, or sit on a bench with your dog and do some leg lifts or what they call easyexercise.
I recognise that fatigue can be a hurdle, but I find when using movement with daily tasks, I am mind blanking and it doesn’t use much mental energy as opposed to finding the right moment to do some dedicated exercise.