waiting for knee surgery and needing to loss weight

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dogmomma777

Guest
I got injured back in Oct of 2010 while doing some tactics training, I'm a Master At Arms in the Navy. I was running and had to turn a corner quickly, when I made the corner I turned at my right knee instead of the ball of my foot. It just felt like I sprained or over extended my knee, so I iced it when I got back to my barracks. It kinda hurt but didn't seem to bad I still had training to do the next day and during the course I was running and came to a curb size step and when I landed on my right leg I went down... I refused to quit the course and finished gimping the rest of the course. When I came in (I still beat others coming in) our Doc made me go to the hospital where they took x-rays, MRIs, and a CAT scan. I found out that I had ripped my meniscus to shreds and partial fractured my femur.

I have gained 20 pounds since this has happened because I have been on and still am on crutches, I'm still waiting for surgery, I don't know when I will be getting it, but its soon, hopefully in the next couple of months. They are probably going to want a new set of x-rays and MRI since my last set was done in Jan and Feb. Anyway, we have to stay within a certain weight range to be able to stay in the Navy, even if injured ( just to clarify I won't get get out for failing this time but if you fail 3 times in your career you will get kicked out). I haven't failed any weigh in yet, but this last one I did, by 2 pounds. I'm not fat or even close to being overweight by civilian means, but military yes.

I need to find out how to lose this weight. I can't run, jump, or walk without crutches. I just cleared to be able to go to the gym and work my upper body out and now I'm going to physical therapy for my knee before surgery. I'm not allowed to lift of 10 pounds. I've never had to worry about a weight problem before because I've always been so active, so I've never payed attention to my calories or anything. I would greatly appreciate any help and advice that can be given. Thank you for reading this and for your time and attention.
 
I think you only have 2 options, you have to significantly reduce your calorie intake and attempt some form of cardio. Can you use a recumbant exercise bike and pedal like mad with your good leg? Not ideal but it will burn some calories and make the diet more effective. Good luck!
 
I probably can use my good leg, my right knee catches and locks up a lot. But I'm willing to try anything to help. I have started to count my calorie intake and having to make diet changes, so hopefully using that bike will help even if it is just my left leg getting the exercise. Thank you for the advice.
 
I have an experience I'd like to share that might help.
I'm a martial artist and a year and a half ago I fractured my ankle after bike stack. It just felt really bruised, so I continued cycling. It wasn't 'til the next day when practicing my kicks that I felt this pain in my ankle to the point it was messing with my form. I didn't find out it was fractured 'til a month later when it got really bad after misstepping on the stairs and I was limping in agony for 2 days. I'm lucky and surprised that I was able to even walk on it to that point and furthermore restore my walk in such short time after my stumble on the stairs. The stairs was the thing that prompted me to get it x-rayed because the ''bruising'' pain wasn't going away or even lessening for that matter. I kept training and cycling on it but I had to cut out so much from my exercise routines to avoid impact. I wasn't about to stop training(way too stubborn for that). What I ended up doing was to compromise and alter my routines. I eased up on jumping motions and practised my one legged kicking on the good leg(I know, that made me unbalanced for a while:) rectified that recently).

I found that my commitment and my creativity kept me going and as a result, i've developed some technical attributes I wouldn't normally have had not injured my ankle. There are always ways around and alternatives when dealing with an injury.

Why not challenge yourself to see how far or how long you can hop on your good leg:). Swiveling on your good foot(I got quite good at that, my other leg is now catching up:)). And one more idea is to keep a solid cardio routine through upper body exercises. Can you still box on one leg? Just be creative. I hope this is helpful.
 
I had a very similar thing happen although I haven't injured my femur. I was training to join the Police and tore my left medial meniscus. I'm still waiting for surgery and noted that the weight I'd worked so hard to get rid of was very slowly gaining again. So I started swimming and watching calorie intake more closely - result is weight is back under control and I still "feel" fit. Hope this helps....
 
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