Losing weight with a spinal cord injury can be challenging. Here's advice for diets and exercise options for people with SCI to lose weight.
Have you ever been on one of those diets? You know, the ones where you follow the regimen exactly, but nothing happens.
This is the Groundhog's Day-like scenario for thousands of people with spinal cord injuries trying to lose weight. It can be hard, real hard, to see any kind of changes when you can't stand up and move your body.
But this just means that it's harder, not impossible. Anyone can still lose weight with paralysis, but there are some serious tricks to be had and we're here to share them. See them below.
Intermittent Fasting
The darling of the diet culture world is intermittent fasting, and because it works. The theory behind interment fasting is that when you restrict your food intake for a significant amount of time, your body will tap into your fat stores, helping you lose weight.
There are many different ways to fast. One of the easiest ways is to stop eating at a certain time in the evening (early evening), and then not eat again until later into the next day, typically with this gap in eating amounts to 13-16 hours.
A common fasting schedule will have an individual stop eating at 6pm and not eat again until 9am the next day. Make sure to do your research as there are many different fasting methods. It is always best to start out less extreme and to ease your body into the fasting lifestyle.
Many people with spinal cord injuries report that fasting has been the only way they've ever been able to lose weight, and they'll say they feel more clear of mind as well.
Keto is Popular in the SCI Community
For a slower paced method of losing weight, which will help you keep the weight off longer, consider the ketogenic diet, or known as "keto."
In the spinal cord injury community, this has become a popular weight loss method, but only if you follow it exactly.
The keto diet is essentially a low carbohydrates diet (only 50 grams per day) that makes your body create smaller amounts of appetite-simulating hormones like insulin.
By eating lower carbs, your body burns more calories due to your metabolism getting a boost - ketosis is this metabolic state. There has been research that shows that the keto diet can help you lose weight faster than by simply reducing your calories.
Rules to follow: Make sure to limit your fruit and vegetable intake, and to cut out all bread, cereal and grains. You'll want to eat high amounts of protein, cheeses and other dairy items and nuts/seeds instead.
Adaptive Sports
True you may not be able to walk or exercise with your legs, but you can still get involved in a variety of cool activities and adaptive sports that get your upper body moving. And if the upper body is not possible, try to go to a non-traditional adaptive gym with adaptive equipment.
There are many people with full paralysis that still work out with the help of friends, family and therapists years after their injury. It can make such a massive difference just to move the body a little bit vs. not at all, which is why getting involved in anything is better than nothing.
Sports and other fun activities make it easier to stay active for longer periods, which contributes to helping you burn more calories and stay trim.
Avoid Liquid Calories
It can be near impossible to lose any kind of weight if you're drinking your calories (soda, sugary coffee drinks, etc.), so make sure to drink more water and avoid drinking beverages like soda, juice, or anything else that has high amounts of sugar.
No Processed Foods
At the end of the day, no weight loss method will work if you end up putting processed, junk food into your system. Instead, choose food items that are as natural and straight from the source whenever possible. This can ensure your weight loss efforts won't be in vain.
Omitting all processed foods will near guarantee lower amount of calories, not to mention less chemicals and other mysterious ingredients that contribute to weight gain. Simply put - try to cook your meals from scratch as much as you can, or have someone help you.
Portion Control
Don't shake a finger at overeating. This happens more than people realize, but it can be easily fixed with a portion control plate. When using one of these plates every time you eat, you simply put your food into each specialized compartment which insures you only eat that amount of food, and nothing more.
Low Calorie Diet
If you want to go old school, simply reducing your calories to a lower but correct amount for someone with a SCI, roughly 1200 to 1500 calories per day (quadriplegic vs. paraplegic) which is recommended by spinal cord injury doctors, can be a very effective method, but only if you don't stray. If you need help tracking your calories, there are several apps that can help you track them throughout the day.
Reduce Sugar Consumption
The most addictive drug in the US is sugar. It's everywhere from drinks to condiments, but if you can limit or stop all sugar in your diet, a massive weight drop can occur, especially with fat on the waistline. Do not replace sugar with sugar alternatives however, which can have questionable ingredients.
HIIT Workouts
If a 20 minute cardio workout sounds like something you can fit into your schedule, HIIT workouts are something you should give a try. They are quick, efficient cardio workouts and there are many you can do from a wheelchair.
High intensity interval training is what HIIT stands for, which refers to the repetitive, intends body movements that are typical in a HIIT workout. To find HIIT workouts for wheelchair users, simply search for them on YouTube.
