Total control

See, here's the deal... I burn x amount of calories a day, so I make sure I only eat x amount of calories per day.

Simple, right?

Not at first. Mainly because I'm so damn inactive and I burn very few calories in a day. So my caloric intake seems very low. But for my activity level, I actually eat just right, about 1400-1600 calories a day.

Forget 3 meals a day with snacks. I eat two meals a day and that's it. Fruit for dessert.

Trust me, you get use to it. I don't feel hungry and rarely have hunger pangs or cravings.

Luckily, I had many years to figure this out, with my activity level going down slowly. But my weight certainly did creep up on me.

At one point a few years ago, I was almost 200 lbs. Granted, I am 6 ft tall, but still, 200 lbs was ridiculous. And it didn't help when using the wheelchair. The muscles in the arms have a hard time doing the job of the large muscles of the legs.

But I lost 30 lbs by finally figuring out that I couldn't eat the same amount of calories I once did, and I had less back problems because of it. I haven't seen the chiropractor in years.

So what's the lesson here?

If you are inactive, eat less. This works even for non-crips, of course.

How easy is that? Depends. If you are eating emotionally, you'll have to deal with those issues first.

As a crip, the only part of my health that I have control over is what I eat.

I'll take that, it's better than nothing.

Final thought: If I can do it, anyone can.

Comments

Kath Lockett said…
Good point, Willa Woman.

I have found, to my personal disgust that I have gained weight even though I run 6km three to four times a week.

..Why? Because I keep opening my damn cakehole, that's why??
2:37 AM
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