Frustrated :(

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dmnj33
dmnj33 Posts: 63 Member
in Motivation and Support
So, Today I tried to do the right thing. All week I been craving the new Hibachi place that just opened. After reading what my amazing MFP friends commented I decided it would not be the best choice. I ended up with subway. A much healthier choice.

I Purchased a nike fuelband the other day and decided that today was the day I was going to walk 1 mile. I know that does not sound like much but having 4 herniated disc from a bad car accident every mile seems like 100. I walked 1 lap around my local park. I was so proud of myself but now I'm paying the price. The pain in my back is bringing tears to my eyes. Shooting down my legs and just throbbing. I know I pushed it and I'm trying to make this weight come off asap.

Now I'm stuck in bed and starving. Maybe I should have just went to the buffet and came home. I lost 9 pounds so far but need another 41 before they will do surgery on my back. My wife says I'm to hard on myself. I'm just tired of the back pain. Tired of being stuck in the house and tired of being fat.

I'm just plain tired and feeling like just giving up !!! The weight has won for 42 years and It might just win again.
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Replies

  • tuffytuffy1
    tuffytuffy1 Posts: 920 Member
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    Don't give up, 9 pounds is great! And you CAN lose weight with diet alone, if you are not able to tolerate exercise right now. Great job passing up the Hibachi place.
  • TJWrites00
    TJWrites00 Posts: 27 Member
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    ((HUGS))

    Go easy on yourself with the negative talk. The weight did not show up overnight and as much as we want it gone, it does not disappear in the blink of an eye.

    I know how much being in pain sucks. I have a hip condition and there days the pain is almost too much to bear. Rest up and start back into the exercise gently. Try not to overdo it, even when if feels like you can keep going.

    Continue to eat a healthy diet. You'll get there!
  • gypsyrose64
    gypsyrose64 Posts: 271 Member
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    Take a deep breath!! This is one day in a long battle that you JUST STARTED!

    Go get some ice and put on the back. ICE can temporarily block pain receptors and ease it some.

    Then do some slow stretches. Nothing crazy. Stretch and roll around some in the floor. Lay on your back and just breathe. Push your back against the floor as your stomach pulls in. Did I say BREATHE!?

    If you're hungry, try one teaspoonful of peanut butter. Drink some hot tea behind it. That saved me last night from a serious binge.

    You are doing great, but you have to realistic. My back is shot (not as bad as yours) and I tried the elliptical two days ago and set my healing back. Vertical impact gets us! Do what you CAN DO for now. I do pushups against the wall until my heart rate goes up. Then I do some squats until my legs burn. Then I go do something else. I try to do this about 3x a day. I will add in lunges soon.

    RELAX!! Slow and steady is how the turtle won the race!!
  • Linda_Kaye
    Linda_Kaye Posts: 81
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    Don't give up! You can do this!!!
  • _granola
    _granola Posts: 326
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    I think one thing that people tend to forget about people who are significantly overweight is that exercise is painful for quite a while until you lose a lot of weight. It’s hard to move around a lot and walking is sometimes the only exercise you can do for a while. For you, with your accident, even more painful! Walking is great. I think it’s a good idea to keep moving, but know your limits.

    You wife is probably right though – you are too hard on yourself. You’ve made great progress so far. I think you’ll find as you lose more weight your back will start feeling better and exercise will not be so painful. And after the surgery and time to heal, I bet you’ll feel ten times better about yourself and your ability to do more.

    You’ll get there. :smile:
  • boorenm
    boorenm Posts: 1
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    Don't give up on yourself! That's not punishing anyone but you. Doesn't sound like walking is the best fit for you. There are works outs that might work better for you. Start small. It's okay to not be able to do it all. As you can tolerate more, do more. But don't overdue to the point of wanting to give up. Your wife is right. You are very hard on yourself. Take it easy. Back pain is horrible. Maybe your doctor could recommend some back friendly exercises.
  • psap76
    psap76 Posts: 15 Member
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    Giving up may sound good at the moment but if you can hang in there a little longer you will be amazed at how good you will feel. Take a deep breath, count to 10, or do whatever else you do to distress. You will be glad you didn’t give up on yourself and your family will be very grateful too. You have the power within to win the weight loss battle! :flowerforyou:
  • cindyperry7
    cindyperry7 Posts: 15
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    Don't give up!!!! As long as you are in this fight then the weight will not win! Try to focus on a healthy diet for now. Plus if you still want to exercise maybe try some water aerobics. My sister is a physical therapy assistant and works with back patients with lots of pain issues in the pool. Just a thought :) keep it up! Every little ounce is a victory to be celebrated! You will win if you just don't quit!
  • chicadejmu
    chicadejmu Posts: 171 Member
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    Don't give up!! You CAN do it. Can you talk to a physical therapist? He/she might have some very helpful suggestions on exercises you can do that won't irritate your back. Sounds like walking is not one of them. What about a stationary bike?
  • LennyInFlorida
    LennyInFlorida Posts: 202
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    It's possible! You just have to sacrifice in the beginning but it gets easier--so much easier!! I've kept it off over 100lbs now for 4+ years now. You have to find what motivates you and get on that like there is no tomorrow...and obsess over it.
  • juliec33
    juliec33 Posts: 238 Member
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    Don't give up!!! I heard a quote one time that went something like "Food is not the enemy, self hate is the enemy". I agree with @tjosban, go easy on yourself with the negative talk. :flowerforyou: You are doing great! Remember the goal and why you're trying to lose the weight. Just imagine how nice it will be to be (hopefully) pain free after the surgery!! I know it sucks to hurt - my shoulder is all jacked up after a car accident a few years ago and somedays I can barely stand how much it hurts. But I have more non-pain days now that I used too so keep the hope that this situation will get better.

    Remember you are doing awesome!! Keep up the exercise but step it up gradually and pretty soon you'll be doing 2 laps around that park!!!!
  • erinjudge1
    erinjudge1 Posts: 2
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    Don't give up! Retrain your thoughts to happy and healthy! You look great and 9 lbs is a lot! Good work!
  • nicolie2012
    nicolie2012 Posts: 18
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    Oh sweetheart :-(
    Please don't give up! You don't need to walk a mile or start up an extreme exercise regime to lose weight, even moving your arms or tapping your feet at home is a good thing. Try to make healthy choices day to day but don't deprive yourself. Theres a quote that goes: '' As long as you do something, you'll be lapping the people sat on the sofa'' so just do little things at home. I really hope you feel better soon xx
  • sylwheat
    sylwheat Posts: 125
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    Nobody here is going to let you fall backwards. We are here to catch you. We all have bad days. I am looking at possible back surgey - so I feel your pain. As one said, the weight didn't appear over night and it won't disappear over night. 9 lbs. is a lot of weight. Don't be discouraged - deep breath - take it easy today and start back tomorow - slowly. We are here for you!!
  • vtmoon
    vtmoon Posts: 3,436 Member
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    Don't give up man, the weight is part of the problem if you give up you will be stuck and struggling more, and trust me it doesn't get easier with age it gets harder. Try your best to ride it out you will feel better soon.
  • HarveyLisa31
    HarveyLisa31 Posts: 5
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    This is great advise!! I was curious if riding a stationary bike is possible if you have back pain?


    Take a deep breath!! This is one day in a long battle that you JUST STARTED!

    Go get some ice and put on the back. ICE can temporarily block pain receptors and ease it some.

    Then do some slow stretches. Nothing crazy. Stretch and roll around some in the floor. Lay on your back and just breathe. Push your back against the floor as your stomach pulls in. Did I say BREATHE!?

    If you're hungry, try one teaspoonful of peanut butter. Drink some hot tea behind it. That saved me last night from a serious binge.

    You are doing great, but you have to realistic. My back is shot (not as bad as yours) and I tried the elliptical two days ago and set my healing back. Vertical impact gets us! Do what you CAN DO for now. I do pushups against the wall until my heart rate goes up. Then I do some squats until my legs burn. Then I go do something else. I try to do this about 3x a day. I will add in lunges soon.

    RELAX!! Slow and steady is how the turtle won the race!!
  • InfiniteEcho
    InfiniteEcho Posts: 40 Member
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    Be strong! You can do this!!! I was in a similar situation several years back. My doc instructed me to lose 20lbs (from my starting weight of 169) before he would consider a knee replacement (1st one at age 37). I'm not sure he expected me to really do it but I could not bear the pain any longer. Something had to give!!! I let my pain piss me off to the point that I wasn't going to let my weight stand in my way of not having the surgery!!!

    If the criteria to get the surgery, to reduce my daily pain, was to jump through hoops, then DAMN sign me up!!! I would jump from the tallest building or whatever he wanted. I lost the weight and had the surgery but before I could have the surgery I had to attend a consultation class that was to prepare you for what to expect after the surgery. To my amazement the class had 4 other participants that were quite obese and one noted their goal was to be able to walk from their lazy-boy chair to the mailbox and back.

    It was a very sad day sitting in that room wanting to be in less pain and be more active in my kids lives while these other 4 people were only hoping to walk within their house and one to their mailbox. Incidently one of the participants got quite angry not being able to hit the morning breakfast buffet the morning of their surgery.

    If you truly want this surgery...then it is yours to make happen! It takes hard work and remember baby steps....movement in the forward direction, no matter how small, is still movement in the forward direction!!! I understand you get down or frustrated but have your moment, pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get pissed if that is what it takes to drive your motivation a few steps further. I completely understand where you are coming from and if you want to chat feel free to add me.
  • deb3129
    deb3129 Posts: 1,294 Member
    Options
    So, Today I tried to do the right thing. All week I been craving the new Hibachi place that just opened. After reading what my amazing MFP friends commented I decided it would not be the best choice. I ended up with subway. A much healthier choice.

    I Purchased a nike fuelband the other day and decided that today was the day I was going to walk 1 mile. I know that does not sound like much but having 4 herniated disc from a bad car accident every mile seems like 100. I walked 1 lap around my local park. I was so proud of myself but now I'm paying the price. The pain in my back is bringing tears to my eyes. Shooting down my legs and just throbbing. I know I pushed it and I'm trying to make this weight come off asap.

    Now I'm stuck in bed and starving. Maybe I should have just went to the buffet and came home. I lost 9 pounds so far but need another 41 before they will do surgery on my back. My wife says I'm to hard on myself. I'm just tired of the back pain. Tired of being stuck in the house and tired of being fat.

    I'm just plain tired and feeling like just giving up !!! The weight has won for 42 years and It might just win again.

    It will only win if you let it. I know that when you have a lot to lose, it seems like you will never get there. But those pounds do add up. Just don't push yourself so hard that you end up injured and hurting. Make better food choices, and move when you can. I changed my diet and did not exercise at first, and the first 50 pounds went pretty quickly. Then I felt better, and I started walking. When I started walking, I could only do a mile, and it was not fast. And still a lot of nights I went to be with my knees aching. But now I am up to 100, and I walk as far as 6 or 7 miles at a time, and there is no more knee pain. You can do it, you just have to be patient and not get discouraged!
  • stljam
    stljam Posts: 512 Member
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    Go get some ice and put on the back. ICE can temporarily block pain receptors and ease it some.

    ^^^^ This helped me a lot. I had ruptured and severely herniated discs in my lower back. My surgery was almost a year after the rupture. I took ice in the car to work, kept ice at work and iced at home. For me, ice helped. Make sure to ice right after your walking. Also, standing was much better than sitting for me though laying down flat with pillow under the knees as the best.

    Mine wouldn't hurt necessarily while sitting but it made it 10x worse when i got up. So be cognizant of things like that.

    You also may want to look into a TENS unit - google it and talk to your dr or pt about it. I know a lot of people who use these to help lessen pain. Know that the TENS unit may dull the pain but won't heal you so you can't be lulled into a sense of thinking you are now normal and then hurting yourself worse. It's more like a pain killer than a fixer.

    The back surgery was the easily one of the best things I have ever done. I made sure I had a neurosurgeon perform the procedure, not an ortho.
  • stljam
    stljam Posts: 512 Member
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    Don't give up!! You CAN do it. Can you talk to a physical therapist? He/she might have some very helpful suggestions on exercises you can do that won't irritate your back. Sounds like walking is not one of them. What about a stationary bike?

    The PT consult is a great idea.

    Unfortunately a stationary bike is usually bad for back pain sufferers. Walking is usually the best assuming done properly (stride, posture, etc.). Walking is often an in-home pt assignment after a back surgery, starting with very short distances and building up.

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