Help me help my mom.

[malibu]

Hi!
My mom is attempting to lose weight. However, she's been at 10 pounds lost and stayed there for about four months. We're friends on MFP, so I can see what her food diary looks like. It's the exercise that's killing her.

Little bit of backstory (literally): In 1996, my mom had major back surgery to remove a cyst that was wrapped around her spinal cord. It was a birth defect, and by the time she had the surgery - after 2 years of specialists, MRIs, etc. and crippling pain - it was the size of a fist. When they opened it, it shot fluid in the air for fifteen minutes, that's how much pressure was in that cyst. It crushed her L4 vertebra completely, and left half of her L5. The back half of the cyst still remains, they were not able to remove it without a high risk of paralysis. There is nothing else that can be done. So for 17 years, my mother has been in absolutely horrifying pain and constant fear that she'll move wrong - think turning on the bathtub faucet or bending down to pet her cats - and wind up flat on her back on the couch for a week or two because the muscles go into complete spasm and take forever to calm down, regardless of any drug she's prescribed. She also needs a knee replacement on one side thanks to massive arthritis after an 'old style' knee surgery in 1973. Whatever she had done then could be outpatient arthroscopy now, but back then, she was laid up for a week and spent months on crutches. Due to her age (mid-50s), they won't consider doing the replacement right now because they claim it won't last long enough. So long, long story short, she has a crappy, crappy back, and a crappy knee that doesn't give her much stability.

My question is, can anyone think of some decent calorie-burning exercises she can try that would avoid putting strain on either area? Currently, she rides a recumbent bike and she and my dad go for walks most evenings (slowly, since even walking hurts her after a while). I'm so sad to see her in such constant, unrelenting pain. She used to be pretty active, and now she can't even jog anymore or ride her old Schwinn for fun. I don't know how to help her in her weight loss when I can't think of any exercises that she'd be able to do without something happening to her. I have mentioned that she needs to watch her sodium and sugar intakes, but beyond that, I'm kind of stumped. She rarely goes over her calorie allotment and still has been stuck at her inital 10 pound loss for months.

[Deleted]

Is she still eating too much maybe? Weight loss is something like 80% diet and 20% fitness. Exercise bike and swimming are very low resistance. Even walking probably isn't a great idea on that knee.

[katandkevin]

Water aerobics or even aqua jogging. Swimming is very little resistance. I also think she needs to find a new doctor. My dad had a knee replacement done at 62. It is a quality of life issue and she shouldn't have to live in pain all the time at the age of 50.

[malibu]

doglove - she only eats between 1200-1300 calories a day. I told her to try mixing it up - try say, 1500 one day, 1300 the next, 1600, etc. I'm wondering if her fairly repetitive calorie diet isn't giving her metabolism enough of a change?

[Wines Not Whines]

I agree with pp that she should be able to lose weight even without exercise. If she wants to exercise more, can she swim? I don't know if that might cause her to move her back in a bad way.

[Deleted]

Jul 17, 2013 14:35:31 GMT -5 malibu said:

doglove - she only eats between 1200-1300 calories a day. I told her to try mixing it up - try say, 1500 one day, 1300 the next, 1600, etc. I'm wondering if her fairly repetitive calorie diet isn't giving her metabolism enough of a change?

Maybe and it's possible that just may not be enough food too. I think calorie cycling could definitely help. 

[wambam]

Jul 17, 2013 14:38:04 GMT -5 doglove said:

Jul 17, 2013 14:35:31 GMT -5 malibu said:

doglove - she only eats between 1200-1300 calories a day. I told her to try mixing it up - try say, 1500 one day, 1300 the next, 1600, etc. I'm wondering if her fairly repetitive calorie diet isn't giving her metabolism enough of a change?

Maybe and it's possible that just may not be enough food too. 

I agree with this. 1200 is LOWLOWLOW.

[malibu]

I do think I will suggest swimming exercise. I would think it wouldn't be too much stress on her bad areas.

For all I know, it could be her age (she's 57). I wonder if that is playing a part in her inability to get past the 10 pounds.

[Deleted]

Definitely water aerobics. I took it when I hurt my foot. You can go as hard or as easy as you want. If an exercise is uncomfortable, you can just do a different exercise or jog in place during that time. I couldn't do flutter kicks on account of my ankle, so I would just do my own thing for the 3 minutes we did those. And since you're largel covered by water, you really don't feel weird deviating from the program like you might in a regular exercise class.