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What is the best way for a person w/ a physical disability to lose weight?

JC - 2007-03-01 18:18:13 - Diet Fitness

I was born w/ Spina Bifida. It is a birth defect that causes my spinal column to not be fully formed. As a result of this everything past my waist does not work. Most exercises require the use of your legs, what can I do?

Best Answer:

I do not know if you are into sports but I helped out with a Wheelchair basketball team this past year. Mostly all the players has spina bifida or some disability. It was the most amazing thing to watch. Most of the players were not able use there legs and actually it is a rule in the wheelchair basketball legs can not be used. This helped with upper body movement and some of the team had no movement in one of there arms...which forces them to work more the other part of their body. Maybe try basketball. It is a lot of fun.

Answers:

Work mostly on your upper body but you can also lose weight with mostly diet improvements. You'll just need to cut calories more drastically if you can't increase the amount of calories you burn. Losing weight is a simple equation: if you burn more calories than you eat, the weight will come off. Start off by estimating how many calories you burn each day using the calorie calculator http://straighthealth.com/pages/tools/caloriecalclb.html This will give you an idea of how many calories to eat. Healthy weight loss is 1-2 pounds per week. To lose 1 pound per week you need to create a calorie deficit (burn more than you eat) of 500 calories per day. To lose 2 pounds a week, you have to double the deficit to 1000 calories per day. You can achieve this by eating less, exercising more or a combination of both. For more information on diet, weight loss and exercise, visit http://straighthealth.com Guide to Dieting - http://straighthealth.com/pages/guides/dieting.html

Count calaries. It works! I did it starting a year ago and I can hardly believe the results. You can do some upper body exercises and you really should for your ticker. See a physical therapist for ideas. But I guarantee you, if you reduce your calorie intake, you will lose weight. Once you lose it, you need 15 calories per pound per day to maintain your weight.

Try signing up at a athletic rehabilitation center they help you with a bunch of cool exercises. It's like LA fitness but better 4 you! DO you hate spina bifada? I am so sorry for you have you ever run before or walked in your life! I am going to look it up on yahoo to c what it is about more c ya

you will have to work on your eating habits exercises is not really an option. well have you tried water workouts? with some modification they can work...good luck

work ur arms with dungbells

Eat less. I lost 30lbs by eating small portion meals. I didn't do any exercise at all.

Go on a strict low-fat diet. Do whatever weights you can on a bench to build and tone muscle. Since you have a disability, you might want to ask your doctor about taking topamax. It's not officially prescribed for weight loss, but it definately decreases your appetite.

I do not know if you are into sports but I helped out with a Wheelchair basketball team this past year. Mostly all the players has spina bifida or some disability. It was the most amazing thing to watch. Most of the players were not able use there legs and actually it is a rule in the wheelchair basketball legs can not be used. This helped with upper body movement and some of the team had no movement in one of there arms...which forces them to work more the other part of their body. Maybe try basketball. It is a lot of fun.