How to lose weight when confined to a wheelchair and How to deal with rudeness from disabled person.?
I am providing group for people who want to discuss and act on weight loss. I am not a nutritionist or trained. I only have my personal experience to share & the group members theirs.
Someone has joined who sufferers from Rhumatoid arthritis. They are not able to walk, they have movement in the trunk area of thier body but painfully(moving is rarely done) & their arms have almost no movement only some in the fingers which is how the person mechanizes the electric wheelchair. The person is also set on eating a certain type of diet & browbeats people who won’t eat the way this individual does. Some people in my group left another group in order to avoid this person. Not because of disabilties but because of the browbeating and general rudeness.
The group will center around calorie counting &exercise. I want to be inclusive for this person and don’t the individual to feel left out. I hope to find some advice for her. I also don’t want the group disrupted by argumentive rudeness.
. There is a two part dicotamy to the rudeness part of this. One is person experiencing the rudeness being that you are supposed to just put up with it because they are disabled. The other is the tendency of SOME disabled people to resort to a manipulative victimization mindset when someone challenges their hardset beliefs. So in public you’d end up looking like a real slimeball for saying something.
I won’t be surprised if I get hammered on the rudeness part of this question. I have some familial experience with a person with disabilities and I don’t think you do a person a favor by allowing them to be rude and railroad people.
Remember this person’s arms are barely functional they are kind of like a person with severe cerebal palsy.
I think what you are doing is wonderful. People with severe and painful physical disabilities have a very hard time exercising. In the gym I attend, there is a heated pool and a water aerobics class for people with arthritis. We have one person who comes in a wheelchair, but is able to stand enough to painfully enter the pool. Once she in the water it is amazing how much better her mobility is due to the water taking the weight and stress off her joints. She does what she can for the hour and then we help her out and back into her chair. She swears that the water is the best thing for her and she does move better after her water exercise.
Rudeness should not be tolerated from anyone no matter what. Set some general guidelines of behavior and tolerance for the group. If this person breaks them, call him/her out on it and remind them that the group is to be uplifting and positive. Negativity is simply not allowed if they wish to remain a part of your group.
In this case, you should insist on a doctors letter, stating on what you can actually do with this person as some of your methods may complicate his/her disability. As for the rudeness, no matter the disability, issue hi with a warning, if he continues tell him he may have to leave the group. i am disabled myself and i would expect to get away with this just because of my disablitiy.
Oh goodness, this is a toughie. First, kick out that one girl. Sorry to say it, but its true. Shes obviously jealous of others that are ‘less disabled’ than her, so she takes her anger out on them.
She needs therapy to help her get over this anger. Not an exercise group for people trying to make the best out of their situation.
For exercise…dumbbells, mayhap? Weights on their wrist, and maybe moving to manual wheelchair to improve their upper body strength. You can make little obstacle courses for them with the manual chairs, slight inclines and racing…That kind of deal.
For the more advanced ones, a low hung push up bar to lift themselves up might be good. Maybe some kind of push-up apparatus, or pads in between two people to push against eachother.
This site offers a free E-book on how to lose weight. It’s been a great help for me, maybe it can help you as well?
Well, you have two issues. The first is this person’s attitude toward being willing to change personal habits (diet). I’ve seen this in many people–not jsut those who are disabled. Bottom line–if he/she wants to lose weight, changes in personal lifestyle are required. If he/she doesn’t want to hear that, you are wasting your breath trying to help. As to exercise–in a case like this a physical therapist experienced in such work might be able to help–but this isn’t a situation lay people can hand.e.
On the subject of rudeness–having a disability is no excuse. If he/she will not make an effort to be polite or respectful to the opinions of others, tell them to leave. If this is an online group, you might want to consider setting up a simple password system to block such unwanted posters.
BTW–I ams peaking from experience–and am disabled myself.
Some of us have Lap Band or Gastric Stapling done to keep weight off.
Don’t speak to the rude person for a while that does the trick.
Assess each person individually with doctor certificate to find some excerise they can do.
a pool is good to it make it easier for muscle movement.
use the tricycle for some people if they have some leg movement.
What about cramps or muscle tightness.
if o.k use light weight and short session.
and it up to the person to decide about going on a health diet
you cant fouce them.
The woman you are talking about is in tremendous pain and that is causing her rude behavior. Maybe if you explain that to the other members of the group they will find it easier to tolerate.
As for diet and exercise, she needs a medically supervised diet and a 90 degree pool with a lift to exercise. Once she gets started she will feel better and her attitude may improve.
Where is your group located? I would love to join.
The reason this person could be rude is that people always let her get away with it. I would start by telling her behavior is unacceptable to the group. Then I would start by being very clear and deliberate about telling her when she is being rude. If that doesn’t improve her behavior make your online communication moderated – and only people who need to be moderated are moderated. Give her three chances with being moderated- and then she is out.
Lots of chances. Opportunity to learn. Patience – but only so much.
Edwards – you obviously know nothing about living with a disability that restricts your movement. It is not easy to lose weight when you don’t use that many calories and you take medication that causes water retention and most exercise is beyond what you can do. It is not impossible, but it is no where as simple as you seem to think it is.
For a person with arthritis their best bet for exercise is in the water. They can move more easily, the warmth of the water soothes their joints, and it is very low impact so it doesn’t cause any harm.
Find a certified instructor who teach you how to swim. I’ve heard that disabled people can learn to swim. I never really learned well myself.
And don’t listen to rude people, disabled or not, sometimes a disabled person just doesn’t know any better not to say something rude to you.
Lets put it straight. Losing weight is not that hard, You will never hear me say that it is. All it takes is dedication, motivation and hard work<!–There are some fairly simple changes that will greatly improve your chances of weight loss success. Check this out to loss weight,
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The best, most effective way to lose weight and keep it off is to simply eat right and exercise. Good diet, minimize saturated fat, use monounsaturated fat–>Always check in gradients of everything you are buyingRelaxation, stress and strain never allow people to be slim.