Your weight and a broken foot can create a vicious cycle that aggravates both symptoms. Your broken foot can make it harder to engage in activities that help you lose weight, and your extra body weight puts extra strain on your foot every time you walk. Because your foot is engaged in nearly every kind of cardiovascular exercise, losing weight with a broken foot has to start with a weight-loss diet. This approach means losing weight without risking reinjury to your foot.
Step 1
Set a weight loss goal, preferably with the help and advice of the doctor who is helping you with your broken foot. Multiply the number of pounds you want to lose by 3,500. This will be the total number of calories you need to cut out to lose the weight you want.
Step 2
Choose a time frame for your weight loss, expressed as a number of weeks. Kaiser Permanente's "Healthwise Handbook" recommends 1 pound per week as your maximum rate for weight loss when you're only able to use diet to lose weight.
Step 3
Divide the result from your calculations in Step 1 by the number of weeks you chose in Step 2. Divide the result of that by seven. The final dividend is the amount of calories you will need to cut out of your daily diet in order to lose your weight on schedule.
Step 4
Eat a weight-loss diet that cuts the needed number of calories out of your diet. You can find the caloric values of your foods on a variety on online or print calorie counting guides. It's OK for this to be an average weekly loss. For example, you can indulge at a party, then divide the extra calories between the other six days of the week.
Step 5
Cut out high calorie foods with low nutritive values first. Sweets, sodas and refined carbohydrates, for example, don't provide enough nutrition to justify the calories they "bring to the table."
Step 6
Take a multivitamin every day to fill in any "nutritional holes" left from not eating as much food. Make certain it has your full daily value for vitamin C and calcium. Calcium is important to bone health, and vitamin C helps your body's overall healing processes.
Step 7
Drink a large glass of water before each meal, and as your first response to any food cravings you experience between meals. This can help you control your portions and cravings so you stick to your calorie allowance.
Step 8
Attend your physical therapy sessions without fail. These will burn some extra calories, and accelerate how quickly you can get back on your foot and add exercise to your weight loss program.
Tips and Warnings
- Talk to your doctor about water exercise programs. Exercising in the water will reduce the weight that goes on your foot, meaning you can usually start water exercise before any other kind of exercise. However, you should always get your doctor's permission before adding any activity to your routine.
Things You'll Need
- Bathroom scale
- Internet access
References
- "Eat, Drink and Be Healthy"; Dr. Walter Willett; 2004
- HelpGuide.org: Healthy Weight Loss and Dieting Tips
- "You: Losing Weight"; Dr. Mehmet Oz & Dr. Michael Roizen; 2006
- "The Sports Injury Handbook"; Dr. Christer Rolf; 2011
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