If you had to drop 30lbs and couldn’t workout???

[Caseknife]

Cut out all pasta, bread, and sugars, no processed foods. Eat meat, veggies, dairy, grocery shop around the outside of the store, stay out of the center isles, that is where all the highly processed foods are. Don't be afraid of letting your stomach growl a bit, have a glass of water. Good luck in the weight loss and upcoming surgery.

 

[txtransplant]

Diet works just fine. I’m down 22lbs this year from diet alone - no exercise. (I would *like* to be exercising, but that’s another matter.)

It really boils down to maintaining a caloric deficit - that’s it.

How you stay satiated is different for everyone.

The hacks that are working for me -

Intermittent fasting. Coffee in the morning and I’m not hungry until lunch - as long as I stay busy. So stay busy.

Stir fry with carb balance tortillas at lunch. Buy frozen stir fry veggies and carb balance tortillas from Costco, and a few stir fry sauces from the grocery store. Toss veggies in a pan with water to cook, toss with sauce in your bowl, wrap them up in carb balance tortillas. This is well under 500 cal even if you add some shrimp or chicken, plus a ton of fiber from the tortillas.

Find some low cal dinners. There are lots out there. Squash is a great base ingredient. Stuffed acorn squash and turkey butternut squash casserole are great. There’s also a crispy pan fried tofu recipe that uses maple syrup and sesame oil - I can’t get enough.

Buy some soup bases from an Asian market - wonton, tom yum, whatever you like. Boil some water and toss in a bunch of mushrooms, celery, and carrots. This can easily fill you up at under 200 calories.

Find miracle noodles in the gluten free aisle. Basically zero calories, and while you won’t eat them often, once a week or so goes a long way. You can put this in the soup if you want, or make pasta with it. It has a rubbery texture, but it’s fine. I had them tonight with the aforementioned crispy pan fried tofu.

Find a way to get your sweet treat without too many calories. Caramel is my happy place. I buy caramel sauce and toss it in vanilla yogurt - 120 calories of mostly protein and I’ve got my sweet tooth satisfied.

I used to drink a ton of zero calorie soda, but it wasn’t good on my gut, and I’ve read that it actually increases cravings. I cut that out and buy Spindrift at Costco. No more guilt, I drink as much of that as I want.

Don’t buy junk food or candy. Don’t have it in your house and you won’t be tempted.

Track your calories with an app. I use Lose It. Humans naturally underestimate how much they eat. Weigh everything in grams and be honest with yourself. I like to over count. (e.g. it’s 76 grams, I’ll enter 80.)

Stay consistent and diligent. This is a long game. You’ll need to maintain a deficit for a week or longer to really lose your first pound or two. I wouldn’t suggest weighing yourself every day to start. Wait a week, then weigh. Do it again in another week. I think it helps to build momentum and get addicted to the results before you start weighing every day.

You can do it!

 

[JohnB]

Get an appointment with a nutritionist. You'll already be hitting your deductible! I know your doc said to drop the weight by June for the surgery but you need to holistically figure out how to deal with this, particularly after surgery or you're going to be flat on you ass gaining the weight back. The crash diet for surgery may improve the surgical result or reduce risk for you and that may be what the doc is going for but play the long game here too.

 

[280Husker]

Carnivore and a sauna will definitely do the trick!

 

[Lil-Rokslider]

Water
Salad
Deer meat

Smoothie recipe?

 

[blkqi]

Consume less calories than you expend.

 

[mikeafeagin22]

+1 for eat clean at a caloric deficit. And don’t drink anything but water or black coffee. Not even “diet” sodas

 

[MuleyFever]

Probably a question for a professional and not a forum.

I wish you the best of luck.

 

[Seeknelk]

I know you can't do much activity but building strength in the upper body will absolutely build a much stronger metabolism which is worth far more than manually burning calories than a 30-60 minute "cardio" session in the long run anyway.
Are you able to do things like pushups or pull ups? Or basic bench press? Probably not?

 

[03mossy]

Push ups and pull ups are out. Tried a push up this weekend and it damn near brought me to tears. Even picking up 25lb dumbbells to curl hurts and I have to be real strategic about it. Bands I can make work.

 

[MuleyFever]

Walking at an elevated rate is a good workout.

 

[rclouse79]

I don't know what they are called, but my gym has what looks like a bike but you turn the pedals with your arms. If you could find something that didn't cause you pain, I bet it would feel good to get the ticker pumping and would be a nice addition to dieting.

 

[WannaBeRambo]

Without writing a novel here the Dr wants me to loose 30 lbs before June 17th.

I had a L4-L5 spinal fusion September ‘22. Follow up microdicectomy May of ‘23. Since then things got somewhat better but never even close to feeling good or pain free. The past 8 months or so things have gotten progressively worse. I’ve done hundreds of PT sessions, injections, spinal decompression, etc… You name it I’ve tried it. My disk below the fusion has ruptured and is not only out but out and down. I am scheduled for an L5-S1 fusion. Since they have to tie in to the existing fusion this surgery is higher risk and they will operate from the front on the 17th then from the back on the 19th. Pretty pissed about this whole thing but I have no choice because I can’t walk for more than a few feet. It’s constant shooting pain from my back into my left calf.


Anyway if you were told to drop 30lbs what would you do? For reference I started 6’2” 251lbs last week when I got the Drs orders. Was 283 4 years ago. Did a 3 day fast this past weekend and am at 244 now. My plan is a mix of fasting and carnivore but looking for ideas. Keep in mind any cardio or major lifting is out of the question .

Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 (GLP-1) is probably your only option. These are the famous drugs everyone wants.

Wife works in the medical community and whole lot of medical people taking them and look great. But the catch is they go right back to their old weight if they stop.

Wife talked to some docs and they told her the only way to not be on these GLP1's for extended duration (decades) is to start taking the drug and use the appetite suppression it offers as a way to reset your relationship with food.
That is quit the garbage food, stop the empty calories (alcohol). and get back portion control. All the things we've been told for years.

It's not uncommon to see people losing weight while pigging out on garbage food while using GLP1's, but they generally end up heavier than ever if they quit.

The science is not there yet, but failure to use the suppressive benefits of these drugs to reset your relationship with food is increasingly believed to be the reason why they can't maintain their lesser weight.
Talk to your doc about this, not some guy like me.

If that's out of the question, then skipping or scrimping a meal is another possible solution, but I don't think you will make it by your target date. My brother stayed active all day and only ate breakfast and modest dinner. No lunch, just water. He dropped weight, but didn't keep it off. If skipping meal wont work for you, scrimping is an option, e.g. pack carrots, egg whites, celery to nibble on in lieu of a regular meal.

 

[rclouse79]

Another idea, have you tried swimming? That is the ultimate low impact exercise.

 

[wildwilderness]

Very easy-

semaglutide like ozempic and wegovy
Tirzepatide Like zepbound and mounjaro


Sure you will get kickback from “purists” who will take all the supplements, vitamins and herbs etc but not FDA approved drugs

But those are proven drugs to have many health benefits and take off weight through eating less. And to work relatively quickly.

A simple call or online consult will have it mailed to your house. Of course it’s recommended to see a primary care professional if possible.