Working out with cerebral palsy can be a difficult task since people like myself that have spastic cerebral palsy. You are always sitting down with minimal movement or circulation throughout the whole body since we are confined to a wheelchair mostly for 99.9% of our lives. This makes it tough for us to burn calories the same way as an average human would because of our condition.

Fitness & Nutrition with a disability

I’ve been working out over the years and have learned how to eat and work out. My doctors told my parents that it was imperative that they monitored my weight because I cannot lose weight like the average person.

For example for someone who is non-disabled, you can eat a burger and fries and then work in off. However, for someone with my disability, it would take days to burn off.

I have worked on nutrition, and I love eating fruits and vegetables like zucchini, carrots, tomatoes, and salad.

Working Out

When it comes to working out I like to go to physical therapy and get on the tricycle where it allows me to get circulation in my legs. It also enjoy getting in my walker and doing laps to keep me motivated. Each time I get more energy.

As obesity and the cerebral palsy community is a huge problem. Friends of mine deal with this a lot where they need help having others lift them. Research through the US National Library of medicine is that Obesity is epidemic among children and adolescents. There is the worldwide tendency of increasing prevalence of obesity in children. Cerebral palsy (CP) is leading cause of childhood disability. Studies have proposed a mechanism for children with disability leading towards obesity and related health risks. So, this study is aimed at determining whether such trend of obesity exists in children with CP regarding BMI and WHR.

Isn’t that sad altogether when you think about it the children with disabilities have a much harder rate of becoming obese compared to other children average body people with no disability?

I wanted to share some of my secrets to losing weight and eating healthy for those that have this disability or know someone who does.

I control my intake of food so that I can maintain weight
Besides going to physical therapy, I make sure my diet is healthy from having oatmeal and apple in the morning to a Lean Cusine or something like that to a Caesar salad for dinner.
I watch when I eat my meals and how I burn my calories to make sure I burn what I eat
I enjoy going on a tricycle or swimming

Working out has given me the confidence I never thought I would have with cerebral palsy. It is a great way to gain confidence, self-love and learned that just because you have a disability doesn’t mean your body is in beautiful.

I know for me working out has helped me mentally as many people have told me I wasn’t beautiful with Cerebral Palsy.

When I’m working out, it makes me feel like I am wonder woman. Working out with a disability takes out all the negative thoughts that you’ve ever had towards your disability. It is like entering a brand-new world without you even noticing because you’re so determined to be a champion and win.

Working out with cerebral palsy has made me learn to accept my body for its beauty, and it’s helped me understand that everybody is beautiful inside and out.