Losing Weight Gets Rid of Knee Pain
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:29Do your knees ever hurt? Clearly, there are many contributing factors to knee pain, but one common factor is excess weight.
Recently on a CNN segment, a reputable doctor reported that for every 1 pound of weight you lose, you take 2 pounds of pressure off your knees. Think about that for a minute. Let’s say you are 10 pounds overweight. That is like having a 10-pound weight strapped to each leg everyday as you walk around – 20 total pounds of pressure on your knees.
What happens with a lot of us who say we’d like to lose weight, we look at too big an amount to start with, and we get overwhelmed. Bite-size chunks (no pun intended) is the way to lose weight. Don’t start with “I have to lose 60 pounds.” Start with, “I am losing 2 pounds per week.”
Ray Burton wrote an excellent book entitled Fat to Fit. I am a big fan of Dr. Phil’s approach to psychology – and Ray Burton reminds me of Dr. Phil (which is probably why I like his book so much). His approach is very sensible and absolutely doable for anybody. But it is all up to you – as the saying goes, “No one will do your pushups for you.”
Bottom line on weight loss is simple math: You have to burn more calories than you take in so that you will be at a calorie deficit. Most people try to do this solely by cutting calories from their diet. That is way too hard. If you want to lose 2 pounds per week, that’s 7000 calories you’ll have to cut per week (there are 3500 calories in one pound). That is 1000 calories per day. You can’t just reduce your food intake by 1000 calories and still be healthy. You’ll have to get rid of the calories in different ways. Here’s one suggestion for getting rid of 1000 calories per day:
- 400 calories by diet
- 350 calories from just a 1/2 hour of cardio exercise
- 250 calories from just 20 minutes of weight/strength training
I really like Ray’s approach and philosophy. He presents a realistic, manageable plan for anyone who wants to lose weight and who is willing to do what it takes. He also offers recipes for healthy eating. It is one of the best books I’ve found. Read more about Fat to Fit – It might be just what you’re looking for.
And, remember: Every pound you lose decreases the pressure on your knees by 2 pounds!
July 13th, 2009 at 8:57 pm
I’ll have to inform my dad of this – he just had knee surgery and is kinda heavy. Thanks!
July 14th, 2009 at 9:54 am
I was over 70 pounds over weight and my knees were always killing me. I have now lose quite a bit of weight and my knees only hurt after I work out hard or go running, and then not nearly as long as they did before. There is a lot of truth in being over weight and bad knees
July 14th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
I love the tip on setting your goals in “Bite-sized” chunks. Of course there was no pun intended
July 16th, 2009 at 9:47 am
I have to agree – one way that people get stuck is to make it too big. Just “thinking” about losing 60 lb. is overwhelming! I like thinking about losing 1 lb. at a time. As long as the number on the scale keeps going down, I’m happy!
July 18th, 2009 at 10:39 am
Just wanted to say my knees are giving me hell these days… happens when you are over 50 and too many marathons. I’ve had them both cleaned out by keyhole surgery.
While I was recovering I was walking 30 mintes a day and I found using alpine walking sticks quite useful. Apparently each stick takes 20 lbs of each knee. Also alpine sticks dont look quite as doddery as normal walking sticks, look as if you are getting ready for cross country skiing.
Regards
Kelly
July 26th, 2009 at 3:06 am
I agree with you, basing your weight loss on calorie cutting by itself is not the solution. If you cut too much calories, your body’s metabolic rate will slow down and you will soon hit a plateaux in your weight loss progress.
The best quick way to loose weight is not to “not eat” but to eat several times a day (usually every 3 to 4 hours). This is not a joke! When you eat regularly you keep you body’s metabolism active and working fast which means that your body burns fat at a faster rate than normal. Obviously this does not mean that you can eat hamburgers and ice cream every 3 to 4 hours. The diet should be a healthy and varied diet, which means a low fat, low calorie, low sugar diet. And yes, your body needs carbohydrates as well in order to function properly.
August 7th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
yup these three is the correct way to be fit and healthy because lots of people have got this knee problem…u can say over weight is the big reason….. but i will prefer walk,exercise and balance diet for reduce your weight and get rid out of this problem….
September 10th, 2009 at 7:47 am
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog.
Cheers! Sandra. R.
February 20th, 2010 at 3:45 am
I think i recommended the same advice to one of uncle who was facing pain in neck and in knees. I was sure that it is of over weight.
By now he is following some strict weight loss diet and he is loosing some weight. This is how he is also experiencing some less pain in his knees. But thank God that he understood the cause and is taking full care of it.