Friday, July 24, 2020

Weight loss after a concussion

Hi, I'm new to this community but was very excited to find it so please excuse me (and feel free to let me know) if there is any decorum I'm not aware of! I'm really inspired by everyone in this subreddit and wanted to share the beginning of my journey! Please let me know if you have any tips, or have also struggled with weight gain after a TBI.

Before this year I don't think I've ever lost weight in my life, I (21F) was quite lanky for the beginning part of my young adult life about 120-25lbs at 5'9. I gained about 10lbs within the first few months of university and at the time I felt like this was a lot - but I just didn't understand how weight loss worked and it felt like an impossible concept, so I let it be. The sensitivity I felt over the weight gain was exacerbated by having an extremely fit boyfriend (from high school) who would make an occasional comment, and eventually said he stopped being attracted to me, (I dumped him later that year for cheating).

About a year after this I suffered from a mTBI (mild traumatic brain injury), and gained about 30lbs within 6 weeks. I was mostly avoidant of this fact, and did my best not to look at the scale. This was a conscious decision I made at the time because I really had to focus on other parts of my health - but I lost a lot of confidence in myself. Despite my head troubles, I've been able to work really hard keep up with school and my career but its felt insufficient and I think my weight has at least emotionally held me back. I've spent the last three years feelings like I lacked control over my life - and I think feeling so hopeless about my weight really contributed to this.

This April shortly after quarantine started, I got an ad for a health app and on a whim I downloaded it. Instantly I felt so much better - because I was finally taking my control back. I've been using the free version of it on and off since then and have lost 18.5lbs to date, and am now 143lbs. Truthfully, I really don't look different in the slightest, but I am really proud of myself for taking steps towards getting back to a part of my life that felt unattainable.

  • I use Noom/my phone Health App to count my calories, I strive for about 1200 a day (the paid version of Noom has daily reading, and content which is awesome, but for me it added too much stress to keep up with it all everyday and I would end up avoiding calorie counting as a result because I would feel behind, plus I wasn't willing to spend that much monthly)
  • I do morning yoga, this isn't intensive at all but with my head injury other workouts can aggravate nausea
  • I try to avoid grains and processed sugars where I can because they aren't great for brain recovery (but I do have them a few times a week, the goal is simply moderation)
  • I drink at least a galloon of water everyday, and have drank tea with various spices in them (cumin, turmeric)
  • I use a Renpho scale, which comes with a really cool app that breaks down your BMI, Body fat, etc. (I didn't have it for a little bit while I moved home during quarantine, and I really felt a dip in motivation so I purchased a cheaper edition than the one my roommate had)
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from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/3hxOJmH

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