Amputee, above knee. Wow, I can DO this!

I am glad to see I'm not alone here! There's apparently a lot of us here. I did a search on amputees, and got quite a few posts to come up. I'm so happy about not being the only one.

Here's my story as quick as I can give it. First, I'm 49, and want to lose as much weight as possible by my 50th birthday on July 23. I think I will get close. I lost my leg due to misdiagnosed arterial blood clots. I got THOSE(five) because of the nicotine patch a year before, I was stupid and put it on my chest, too near my heart and I got an atrial fib. Heart rate was about 160 just sitting. No one knew about the clots for a while.

Leg basically slowly rotted off of me. docs said 'sciatica', but it wasn't obviously. By the time they figured it out, it was too late to save it. I have a good stump, though, and a mechanical leg that sometimes stays on....I prefer just crutching though. I'd love a C leg, but those suckers cost tons. Mine was 20 grand. And blast it all, I prefer not to wear it! I DO, I just don't LIKE to as much haha.

Anyways...I let myself get fat when a friend got me a gift...a FAT MAKER chair..in other words, a hover round chair. They're great, because it frees up your hand to do more stuff. But they SUCK because you never really MOVE! So, I switched over to my regular push chair two weeks ago. I got off my butt and started crutching anywhere I went, like the store and such. Now, I do crutch TO the motorized carts, in the grocery store, but, I am just not there yet as far as crutching the whole time. Plus, It's harder to do that while pushing the cart etc etc....you get the idea..

One goal for me is to crutch straight for 20 minutes. Right now, my right leg gives out every 3-4 minutes. So, I rest every 3, then do another 3. So I'm about up to 10-12 minutes. I also wear my leg and walk on it as well, for about the same amount of time. Then of course my worn out body goes into the push wheelchair. No more hoverounds for me!

I've also cut down my calories by about half. I hadn't realized just how many calories I was eating! No WONDER I was getting fat! No moving + eating badly=fat. Most of my fat is in the middle.(spare tire syndrome) . It's the last thing to go, visual wise. I read somewhere long ago our bodies are like a roll of paper towels. In the beginning, the roll doesnt show much change as we use it. Then, as we get to the middle, suddenly every peel of the paper towel shows even better the center of it! Hope that makes sense.

I've gotten rid of all the garbage foods in my kitchen. I pack it with veggies, fruits, and turkey and tuna, etc....you know, the good stuff. I already feel a lot better after two weeks. I have a ways to go, but I am on the right track, and I know I can do this!

Kathy
P.S. I used to walk 5 miles a day. I gave up after my leg. I never should have. BUT, I am not going to look back. I'm going to do this! If I can quit smoking, I can definitely lose weight.