Arthritis Limits Me!

nelkatherineharper

Hi I am a 67 year old female. I have had arthritis since I was 42. Knees are shot, hands, fingers, neck are shot. I cannot do squats or pushups or anything like that. I cannot run. I can only walk with a walker and I am limited to about 10 minutes and then the pain gets to be too much. I have a stationary bike and a treadmill. I do about 10 minutes on the treadmill and I can do about 20 on the bike. I weigh in at about 257. I use to weight 292. I have been messing around for 3 years trying to get this off! On again, off again. I am ready to commit once again and I am open to suggestions or ideas about how to get this weight off as far as exercise goes...thank you.

50452

I have medical issues that limit my activity. Currently, the only exercise I get is my daily physical therapy.

Are you able to get with a quality physical therapist?

badgerbadger1

What about a stationary bike you can pedal with your arms?

blankiefinder

I know you want advice for exercise, but I just wanted to point out that weight-loss is primarily diet. If you get your weight down a bit more through diet some of the exercise might be easier on the joints

BWBTrish

You dont have to exercise. Losing weight is about the amount of calories you consume.
Weigh all your solid food and measure all your liquids. Log all what you eat and eat less calories than you burn and you WILL lose weight.

Now exercise helps of course. I started with walking only and kept on doing that.
It helps me losing weight faster but above all and that is my main goal getting fitter

My calorie intake however makes me lose the weight i want
I weigh every food i eat and measure every liquid.
So far i lost about 75 pounds.

pollypocket1021

Arthritis is bone rubbing on bone where the cartilage has worn away. Using something to minimize movement can make you more comfortable.

But, wearing a splint on a regular basis will weaken muscles and you may permanently lose range of motion. Of course, in very advanced arthritis, the bones can fuse themselves, and then there is no movement (or pain) at the joint. Surgery can do the same thing.

Sarauk2sf

Hi!

The largest part of weight loss is diet. Log your food, weigh where possible, eat to a reasonable caloric deficit, be consistent and patient.

Regarding exercise, have you looked into doing some resistance bands - you can even do some exercises with them while sitting. Also, if you have a pool accessible, swimming is a great exercise that is easy on the joints.

SergeantSausage

GOOD NEWS: Exercise is totally, 100% *unnecessary* for weight loss.

prattiger65

Sarauk2sf wrote: »

Hi!

The largest part of weight loss is diet. Log your food, weigh where possible, eat to a reasonable caloric deficit, be consistent and patient.

Regarding exercise, have you looked into doing some resistance bands - you can even do some exercises with them while sitting. Also, if you have a pool accessible, swimming is a great exercise that is easy on the joints.

+1 on the swimming. Sara stole my idea.

hyIianprincess

I have arthritis as well and I'm limited to heavy impact exercises like yourself. Honestly, you don't even have to exercise to lose weight. You just have to eat at a deficit. Swimming does wonders though if it's available to you. I often feel less tense and achy by the time I get out of the pool. Yoga I found really helps too. I do it twice a day and it's really alleviated the pain.

kiwiOT

Swimming - Im only 26 but every now and then, usually from my up hill hiking excursions I get achy hips, that do this grinding sensation (yes I do stretch beforehand). I also have an old lower back injury from being a care aide worker and a previous shoulder injury that makes putting my bra on and putting shirts on/off over my head painful. I still do cardio throughout the week, but I push myself the most in the swimming pool. In water all my joints are weightless and every muscle in my body is equally worked on. I usually swim about 1.2 km a week. After a swim I am never in pain just very very pleasantly tired and I sleep extremely well the night of the day I swim. I find the swimming helps prevent further injury and helps me to naturally straighten my back since I work at a computer a lot in my work and I get hunched over as a result, and I sleep on my front which also is apparently not good but I can't help that as thats how Ive always slept.
But swimming is your answer.
If your worried about your appearance or what swimsuit to buy if you're plus size, don't worry. The investment and a "I don't give a crap what people think" attitude are worth it. Im not very happy with my thighs or my belly or my huge stretch marks, or the day I forget to shave my legs but the beauty of a swimming pool is that once you're in no one notices and you certainly don't have time to notice your body as all your focus on is doing your swimming and breathing correctly.. Make sure you get yourself a good quality pair of goggles as well and if your swimming is generally poor to start with, take some lessons. My mother in law is 55 and never learned to swim until recently, and she got lessons. It has to start somewhere. But don't buy flippers, cos thats cheating and they look stupid unless you're scuba diving.