Diet & Fitness 

Advertisement

Arthritic and overweight

Well, it sounds like you’re ready to go for it and we certainly have a plan for you. Too much weight can exacerbate the pain you experience from arthritis and encourage the development of osteoarthritis in other joints. So, we’ll focus on losing as much weight as is reasonably possible, because any extra weight – even lean muscle mass – places extra stress on your joints. In other words, it’s better for you to weigh 14 stone with 18 per cent body fat, rather than be a solid 15 stone with 10 per cent body fat.

Start counting your calories. Right now, you need almost 3,000 calories per day to maintain a weight of 17 stone. If you cut 500 calories a day from your total intake, 2,400-2,500 calories will give you plenty of nourishment as you begin exercising and you can start to lose some weight. Try to cut most of the calories from excess fat, since a gram of fat has nine calories while a gram of protein or carbohydrates only has four calories. Hold your daily fat intake to no more than 20% of your daily calories. Get the rest from carbohydrates and protein (about 60% carbohydrates and 20% protein).

Start your exercise plan with non-impact activities that give you a cardiovascular workout and keep your joints moving through their normal range of motion. This will keep the cartilage in your joints lubricated and pain-free.

Start with cycling and swimming. Both of these activities use big muscle groups for an aerobic workout without impact on your joints. You should have an initial goal of 30 minutes of cardio exercise three to five times per week. If you’re out of shape, even ten or 15 minutes of activity is fine until you build your endurance. You can even do a couple of ten-minute sessions a day and get the benefits if you can’t do 15-20 minutes without stopping.

Delicious     Digg     reddit     Facebook     StumbleUpon

  Get the latest iVillage news on your desktop    Sign up for more iVillage RSS feeds

© iVillage Limited 2000-2008. All rights reserved. | © iVillage inc. 1995-2008. All rights reserved.
iVillage Ltd is a UK company registered in England & Wales (3837269) at 80-110 New Oxford Street, London WC1 1HB