Hi everyone! This is my first Reddit post (ever haha) but I'm looking for some community support and maybe a little brainstorming help! TL;DR: I'm trying to lose weight but I basically can't use my legs for exercise, besides biking. What exercises do you guys suggest for weight loss that don't rely on legs?
I've always been naturally slim--I was a beanpole as a kid (tall and VERY willowy) but I filled out during puberty once I got hips, thighs, and a butt (and that butt will not quit, let me tell you, it's my greatest asset). I'm 5'9 (cis woman) and have been since high school (I'm 22) and I usually hover around 130-155 depending on the circumstance, but I'm usually at my healthiest around the 140-150 area (the only times I've consistently been under 140 since puberty was when I was super depressed and couldn't eat anything, so...). However, spring/summer 2020 I gained about 20 pounds, mostly because I wasn't constantly walking around campus and because my body likes to store fat during times of constant low-level stress. Wanting to lose the weight, I started tracking my food and exercising regularly. I ran 4-5 times a week and did body weight exercises on my days off. Met with a nutritionist, got protein powder, the whole nine yards. Consistently ran a calorie deficit of about 500 (idk if that's the right terminology but it was 500 more calories out than in). I felt really good while I was running regularly and lost about 12 pounds in 3 months, which I know is pretty slow but felt good and sustainable! Down to 163 in December from 175 in August (started running in early October). My ultimate goal was 150 but I was really proud of myself that all my effort made a dent!
Enter disability. Partly triggered by the running (but doctors don't know for sure why it happened), I developed a thing called exertional compartment syndrome. Basically, the fascia in my legs doesn't expand when my muscles expand, causing a buildup of pressure, which means that running is excruciating. And I mean excruciating. If I run for the bus, I'll be on the verge of tears by the time I get there, and I'll be feeling it for the rest of the day. At first, when I was running regularly, I could play through the pain by stopping and stretching regularly. Now, though, it's gotten worse and worse and I can't even go for a walk, go up stairs, or do body weight exercises. I can bike because it doesn't have the propelling motion that triggers pain, and I often bike places just for pain management. A good 20% of my mental load is taken up by dealing with constant pain, which is why I've fallen off of exercise so much--I'm just fatigued all the time. And of course I gained the weight back.
I'm (hopefully) getting surgery to fix it in January or February, but I want to be able to feel good in my body for the next few months, and create healthy habits for after surgery recovery. I'm tracking my eating and trying to eat full servings of veggies and fruits, get enough protein, and not mindlessly snack. I'm still running a calorie deficit, but it's harder to maintain because I'm not exercising and therefore I can't eat as much, which means I'm dealing with distracting hunger in between meals. Drinking water only helps so much, and I feel a little like I'm just replacing the constant hunger with a constant need to pee? Anyway, that's a problem for another day.
Before you ask, here are exercises I can't do: plank/push up (the leg positions aggravates my pain), squats, walking, running (obviously), stairs, weightlifting that's standing (I can do incline bench), yoga (sad face, I was really getting into it), any sort of aerobic dance.
I can swim, but realistically, knowing myself, I won't. I know it's great exercise, but it's waaaaay too much effort and though I can swim well enough to pass a swim test and not drown, I'd have to teach myself proper form. Juggling work, undergrad, two honors theses, and the job/fellowship application cycle, it's just not gonna happen. I do bike often, but the amount of biking I need to be doing for it to be equivalent to the exercise I was getting while running makes it difficult to rely on that alone, so I need some other exercise options. Any thoughts? Or it not, any encouraging words?
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