Anyone else too sick to exercise?

susuparish

Hi MFP! I have been on the site for a couple of months but only just started actively using it in the last few weeks. Looking for any other people who suffer from a debilitating disease that makes exercise almost impossible. Always want to hear how others overcome this or have come up with creative ways to get exercise in.

I'm not going to go into detail about my illness right now, just looking to see if anyone else has similar difficulty.

Susan :sick:

StaceySuperfly

Hi Susan, I'm Stacey. I have spent the last 2 years laying on the couch, literally. I slipped on a step ladder that was left on the kitchen floor at work.. The closing chef had left it there accidentally and I walked in at 6AM and steppen on it, started sliding/falling and reached to my left to grab a rack to stop my fall. I blew out 3 discs low on my spine, just above the tail bone.This was in April and I worked 2 jobs, cooking and waitressing about 70 hours a week and was a size 8 and 160 pounds. Had surgery in Dec 10 on my lumbar spine. It was not a success and added to my problems, it somehow messed up my legs and made even walking horribly painful. I spent the next 2 years laying around the house, bored, in pain and eating. Had another surgery Halloween and had the spine fused with screws and rods. I weighed 240 pounds and was size 22. Promised myself I would not gain any more weight after surgery. I have now lost 12 pounds in 6 weeks without exercise and found this site last week. I just had my first physical therapy appointment and have my second tomorrow. I don't cut out any foods and I just eat smaller portions, I put the fork down after every small bite, chew my food and savor it then count to 5 before I pick up the fork again. This has slowed me down a lot. I also try to eat a little something every few hours to keep the metabolism revved up a little. I stopped the day long diet coke and now only have one can and lots of water. I am hopeful I can regain my strength and be able to exercise a little again. I have looked at youtube and there are a lot of exercise options for disabilities. Add me if you would like, I will try to be very motivating and be here to listen if you get frustrated.

smithme09

As far as eating habits, another good tip along with eating slower, is to drink a LOT of water with your meal. I like to drink a full glass before my meal, and have a sip between every two or three bites. It slows you down, so you get fuller faster!

susuparish

As far as eating habits, another good tip along with eating slower, is to drink a LOT of water with your meal. I like to drink a full glass before my meal, and have a sip between every two or three bites. It slows you down, so you get fuller faster!

Good idea! I do drink a lot of water throughout the day to help me resist snacking but I'll try this too!

susuparish

Stacey, thanks for the story and ideas! I will check youtube as well. I love to swim and even in Arizona the pools get too cold to swim during the winter unless they are heated. Unfortunately heating a pool is expensive!

Glad you are making your way back!

Capt_Apollo

Hi MFP! I have been on the site for a couple of months but only just started actively using it in the last few weeks. Looking for any other people who suffer from a debilitating disease that makes exercise almost impossible. Always want to hear how others overcome this or have come up with creative ways to get exercise in.

I'm not going to go into detail about my illness right now, just looking to see if anyone else has similar difficulty.

Susan :sick:

... checks profile...

MinMin97

Just start where you are, and keep making positive changes where you can!

arewethereyet

I just wanted to say YEAH! for your attitude. The changing words/thoughts in my life are "What CAN I do?"

For years I thought I could do nothing. Man was I surprised when I found out I can do SOME things! WOOT!

Unfortunately, chronic issues will be here for a long time or forever. We must do something to get healthy, right?

Thank you SO much for posting this thread. I am going to make a sign for my front door....What CAN you do today!!??

Oh.....I got so excited I didn't tell you any tips.

You can do many very good exercises sitting down, or even lying down if it is warranted. I just finished physical therapy and was told moving my body in new ways, and making myself more flexible, is key to getting started. My morning routine is to sit in a chair, put my hands behind my back (now, I started by holding the back of the chair!) turning my head to stretch my neck, then arms in different directions, then legs. Honest to goodness I was amazed that after a few days of doing these simple stretches I was down a notch on my pain scale!!

If you are interested I will go into detail on a PM. It is a lot of work, but if you will truly use it I will be happy to share!!

AWTY

susuparish

I just wanted to say YEAH! for your attitude. The changing words/thoughts in my life are "What CAN I do?"

For years I thought I could do nothing. Man was I surprised when I found out I can do SOME things! WOOT!

Unfortunately, chronic issues will be here for a long time or forever. We must do something to get healthy, right?

Thank you SO much for posting this thread. I am going to make a sign for my front door....What CAN you do today!!??

Oh.....I got so excited I didn't tell you any tips.

You can do many very good exercises sitting down, or even lying down if it is warranted. I just finished physical therapy and was told moving my body in new ways, and making myself more flexible, is key to getting started. My morning routine is to sit in a chair, put my hands behind my back (now, I started by holding the back of the chair!) turning my head to stretch my neck, then arms in different directions, then legs. Honest to goodness I was amazed that after a few days of doing these simple stretches I was down a notch on my pain scale!!

If you are interested I will go into detail on a PM. It is a lot of work, but if you will truly use it I will be happy to share!!

AWTY

Thanks so much for the encouragement and the ideas about stretching and starting seated and/or lying down. I have begun getting out and walking through favorite stores with the aid of a shopping cart when I'm having a good day. It's a great way for me to be more mobile and I have support there if needed. I usually don't even buy anything! Just looking and moving is good enough.

On my bad days, I'm going to do as you suggest and do some stretches just to get things warmed up. I know moving my joints is good for them even if it causes pain.

I'm fortunate to have three dogs that require me to get up several times a day to let them out. Not having a doggie door (because the cat would get out) is actually a good thing for me. My family came to visit and even they said it's a lot of up and down all day so I guess I'm doing more than I knew!