Yes, I weighed in at a lovely new low of 252 this morning. I am feeling pretty good!
I wanted to share a little about my activity level, and specifically, how my weight has affected my knees, and how my knees have affected my life. Back in the good old days when I was 165 pounds (1996), I used to have no joint issues whatsoever. It never even occurred to me to worry about my joints. I used to walk 2 to 4 miles every day for fitness. Then one day, my left knee started to feel funny. It felt a little sore behind the knee, on the outside. I walked a little slower, and a little less, but it just got worse. Soon it was excruciating pain. So I went to the Doctor. He did an exam and proclaimed that I had a torn meniscus. Ouch! He said it was very unlikely to heal itself without surgery. Unfortunately, I got divorced shortly after this and lost my insurance. So... I never got the surgery, and just could not walk long distances anymore. I was okay to go to the store, but no more walking for exercise. I could walk maybe a mile, tops.
Then I started gaining weight. In less than one year, I went from 165 to 245, mostly due to stress eating but also due to my curtailed activity level. I thought nothing of it. I had too much on my plate (literally and figuratively) to worry about my health.
Fast forward 9 years. All that time I hovered between 240 and 278 (mostly at the high end), and suddenly I was having new pains in my knees. Not only did I have the pain of a
torn meniscus, but my knees started crackling, snapping, and being generally uncooperative. They would give out from under me once in awhile. I could not raise my legs straight out in front of me AT ALL if I was sitting. Soon, I could not walk to the park. I could not walk down the block. And as of December 2006, I could not even walk out the door and get the mail without extreme pain and doing a balancing act with hand rails. I had to go up and down stairs very slowly, placing both feet on each step, like a little child does. Sometimes, I could not go up and down the stairs at all. 278 pounds does
terrible things to one's body. And I never realized until it was too late.
I went to the
ortho , who said I had ruined my knees with my weight. They did an MRI, and sure enough, there was that torn meniscus AND rapidly advancing degenerative arthritis. Most of the cartilage was gone and I have bone spurs in both knees. OUCH. He basically said, "Loose 100 pounds NOW or you will be unable to walk without a cane in a few years and will have a total knee replacement before you're 50." (And no, that was not my wake up call. I came home and binged. I didn't lose any weight until months later, when something clicked in my head).
So what does one do when faced with a life of pain and surgeries? Well, I decided to do everything I can to ease that pain and put off the surgery. My goal was to be able to walk, shop, and be a normal person (no more walking for exercise, just normal everyday walking). So I have lost some weight, which surely helps. I am riding the recumbent bike to strengthen and stabilize my knees. I do daily stretches and exercises to assist that goal. I also take
glucosamine every day, and I drink tart cherry juice concentrate every day (1T in a mug of hot water/honey), and I am taking
Celadrin , another product that is supposed to help. And what are the results? I can walk out to get the mail. I can walk down the block. I can walk in the store, and I can walk my daughter to the park again (4 blocks round trip). I can do all this with no arthritis pain and minimal
meniscal pain. My knees FEEL better. My life feels better. I can even go up and down MOST stairs again like a normal person! But if you hand me my daughter, who weighs 25 pounds (just about how much weight I have lost), then I can no longer go up and down the stairs. Coincidence? I don't think so.
Taking off the weight and taking better care of ourselves really will give a better quality of life. And this is YOUR life. Don't waste it being sad and unhealthy. Get up now, do what you can. It's never hopeless. We will succeed.
I wanted to share a little about my activity level, and specifically, how my weight has affected my knees, and how my knees have affected my life. Back in the good old days when I was 165 pounds (1996), I used to have no joint issues whatsoever. It never even occurred to me to worry about my joints. I used to walk 2 to 4 miles every day for fitness. Then one day, my left knee started to feel funny. It felt a little sore behind the knee, on the outside. I walked a little slower, and a little less, but it just got worse. Soon it was excruciating pain. So I went to the Doctor. He did an exam and proclaimed that I had a torn meniscus. Ouch! He said it was very unlikely to heal itself without surgery. Unfortunately, I got divorced shortly after this and lost my insurance. So... I never got the surgery, and just could not walk long distances anymore. I was okay to go to the store, but no more walking for exercise. I could walk maybe a mile, tops.
Then I started gaining weight. In less than one year, I went from 165 to 245, mostly due to stress eating but also due to my curtailed activity level. I thought nothing of it. I had too much on my plate (literally and figuratively) to worry about my health.
Fast forward 9 years. All that time I hovered between 240 and 278 (mostly at the high end), and suddenly I was having new pains in my knees. Not only did I have the pain of a torn meniscus, but my knees started crackling, snapping, and being generally uncooperative. They would give out from under me once in awhile. I could not raise my legs straight out in front of me AT ALL if I was sitting. Soon, I could not walk to the park. I could not walk down the block. And as of December 2006, I could not even walk out the door and get the mail without extreme pain and doing a balancing act with hand rails. I had to go up and down stairs very slowly, placing both feet on each step, like a little child does. Sometimes, I could not go up and down the stairs at all. 278 pounds does terrible things to one's body. And I never realized until it was too late.
I went to the ortho , who said I had ruined my knees with my weight. They did an MRI, and sure enough, there was that torn meniscus AND rapidly advancing degenerative arthritis. Most of the cartilage was gone and I have bone spurs in both knees. OUCH. He basically said, "Loose 100 pounds NOW or you will be unable to walk without a cane in a few years and will have a total knee replacement before you're 50." (And no, that was not my wake up call. I came home and binged. I didn't lose any weight until months later, when something clicked in my head).
So what does one do when faced with a life of pain and surgeries? Well, I decided to do everything I can to ease that pain and put off the surgery. My goal was to be able to walk, shop, and be a normal person (no more walking for exercise, just normal everyday walking). So I have lost some weight, which surely helps. I am riding the recumbent bike to strengthen and stabilize my knees. I do daily stretches and exercises to assist that goal. I also take glucosamine every day, and I drink tart cherry juice concentrate every day (1T in a mug of hot water/honey), and I am taking Celadrin , another product that is supposed to help. And what are the results? I can walk out to get the mail. I can walk down the block. I can walk in the store, and I can walk my daughter to the park again (4 blocks round trip). I can do all this with no arthritis pain and minimal meniscal pain. My knees FEEL better. My life feels better. I can even go up and down MOST stairs again like a normal person! But if you hand me my daughter, who weighs 25 pounds (just about how much weight I have lost), then I can no longer go up and down the stairs. Coincidence? I don't think so.
Taking off the weight and taking better care of ourselves really will give a better quality of life. And this is YOUR life. Don't waste it being sad and unhealthy. Get up now, do what you can. It's never hopeless. We will succeed.