New to MFP

TRat_AR

Hi, I’m TRat_AR. I’ve spent my life in the gym and have always been into powerlifting and bodybuilding. On my 40th birthday I benched 350, and was right at 400 when my health crashed in my mid 40’s. I couldn’t lift my head off the pillow and was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. It took me 3 years to recover any semblance of strength, although I never got back to benching more than 275. At 57 I was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia and at age 61 I spent the entire year on a double chemo treatment regimen. I lost about 45 lbs of muscle mass from the cancer and chemo, and the chemo wreaked havoc on my strength and my body. I’m a shell of myself and joined MFP hoping that tracking my nutrition and exercise will help get me back on track. My goal isn’t weight loss, it’s body reformation. I’ve been impressed with the workouts on the app. They aren’t what I’m used to but they are the building blocks I need to get started again.
I realize my story is probably a lot different than most of you, but hopefully you’ll be encouraged to keep going. We all need encouragement and strength. Never give up. Your situation is never hopeless. You aren’t in this alone and the effort is always worth it. Anyone who’s worked out knows that changing our body composition takes time. The worst lies aren’t the ones others tell us, they’re the ones we tell ourselves - I can’t do it, it’s hopeless, I’m too tired, it’s not working… Or my favorite, the cancer will come back… Some days it’d be so easy to walk back out of the gym and go feel sorry for yourself. But good people always remind you that there’s always hope no matter what your discouraged heart tells you.

Leo_King84

Damn man. Chemo and cancer is *kitten*. My dad was always active, always under the hood of a car, we used to joke that he would die under a car. Then he got cancer and had chemo, it absolutely ruined him. He said it was like if somebody sneezed down the road he'd get a cold from it.