Home → Health and Wellness after SCI → Nutrition, Dietary and Weight Management → Weight Management and SCI Factsheet- Published by the RRTC on Secondary Conditions in the Rehabilitation of Individuals with Spinal Cord Injury
5.1. Weight Management and SCI Factsheet- Published by the RRTC on Secondary Conditions in the Rehabilitation of Individuals with Spinal Cord Injury
WEIGHT MANAGEMENT AND SCI
Weight management is hard for many of us no matter what time of the year. For individuals with SCI, it is even harder to maintain a healthy weight and avoid putting on some extra pounds due to the reduced ability to move around. Trying to eat healthy will not only help you to maintain your weight, but it is also important for bowel/bladder management, prevention of skin breakdown, and for your overall health.
No matter what time of the year it is, there are always delicious foods to enjoy that might contribute to unwanted weight gain. Although we can all splurge from time to time, trying to maintain a healthy eating pattern and avoiding overeating is always a good practice.
To put things into perspective, consuming one cup of French fries each day for one week will cause one pound of weight gain. Listed below are some common foods to show where extra pounds and calories may be coming from:
|
Food |
Serving Size |
Calories |
Pounds |
|
Cheeseburger |
1 small, 4 inch width |
360 |
0.103 |
|
Chicken Caesar Salad |
2 cups |
560 |
0.160 |
|
Tuna Salad Wrap |
1 wrap |
580 |
0.166 |
|
Chicken Quesadilla |
1 tortilla |
300 |
0.086 |
|
Pizza with cheese only |
1/8 of pie |
140 |
0.040 |
|
French Fries |
1 cup |
460 |
0.131 |
|
Macaroni & Cheese |
1 cup |
360 |
0.103 |
|
Honey-Glazed Ham |
4 ounces |
230 |
0.066 |
|
Mashed Potatoes with Gravy |
½ cup with ¼ cup gravy |
170 |
0.049 |
|
Dinner Roll |
2 rolls |
220 |
0.063 |
|
Soda, coca-cola |
2 cups |
194 |
0.055 |
|
Apple juice, 100% |
2 cups |
234 |
0.067 |
|
Orange juice, 100% |
2 cups |
224 |
0.064 |
|
Cranberry juice, 100% |
2 cups |
240 |
0.069 |
|
Hot Chocolate |
1 cup |
190 |
0.054 |
Controlling portion size is one way to cut calories and curb possible weight gain. In the example above, the ham is served as a 4 oz. portion although it is not uncommon for a single serving of meat in a restaurant to be closer to 8-10 oz and for side dishes to be larger than ½ cup. Below are illustrations of common objects you can use to estimate portion size:
|
½ cup = Light bulb |
|
1 cup= Baseball |
|
1 tbsp= Poker chip |
|
1 oz or 2 tbsp= Golf ball |
While there are no specific weight guidelines for individuals with SCI, the general rule is to subtract 5-10% from general weight guidelines for paraplegia, and 10-15% for tetraplegia.
For example, the target weight for a 6'0" man with paraplegia is 150-158 lbs, while a 6'0" man with tetraplegia has a target weight of 142-150lbs. A 5'6" female with paraplegia's target weight is 126-133 lbs. If she has tetraplegia, it's 119-126 lbs.
DAILY CALORIE INTAKE
Depending on level of activity, people with SCI tend to need fewer calories per day. Cox et al[2] developed a formula to calculate caloric needs. The formula is:
- Persons with paraplegia: 27.9 calories x body weight in kg. (1 kg = 2.2 lbs)
- Persons with tetraplegia: 22.7 calories x body weight in kg.
The formula is based on your target weight. Although this formula is still being used, it has several limitations:
- The formula doesn't account for gender or age - Older people tend to need fewer calories than younger people.
- The formula doesn't account for your activity level - The more active you are, the more calories you burn and the easier it is to control weight gain
WEIGHT MANAGEMENT TIPS
- Eat regular meals.
- Don't overeat.
- Try to find a healthy pattern and stick to it.
- Stay as active as possible.
RESOURCES
WEIGHT MANAGEMENT PROGRAM: For those of you who have made a commitment to do something about weight management or who are just interested in learning more about it, the University of Alabama Spinal Cord Injury Model System has designed a 12 week program specifically for individuals with spinal cord injury. The EatRight program includes a weekly workbook and a video of the topic of the week.
http://www.uab.edu/medicine/sci/uab-scims-information/eatrightr-weight-management-program
NUTRITION FACTSHEET
http://sci-health.org/RRTC/publications/PDF/SCI-Nutrition.pdf
REFERENCES
[1] Height and Weight Ratio Chart. Disabled World - Disability News for all the Family. Available at http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/height_weight.shtml#ixzz2Gv7yoIpD
[2] Energy expenditure after spinal cord injury: an evaluation of stable rehabilitating patients. Cox SA, Weiss SM, Posuniak EA, Worthington P, Prioleau M, Heffley G. J Trauma 1985;May 25(5):419-23.