I lost a bunch of weight before and became athletic for a while, where I'd go running and mountain biking all the time. Then I let the stress of work get to me and I gained all my weight back plus more, and that was all before MS decided it wanted to take over my life. In December, I had a flare that made my lower body so weak, I thought I was going to lose my ability to walk. Just touching something with my left leg would cause me to lose my balance and almost fall over. I couldn't lift my leg high enough to climb into a car either. It was so freaky. I'd had lower extremity weakness for almost a year by that point, but it was never noticeable until all of that happened in December. Then everyone around me could see that I had issues walking. It was so embarrassing. I was 27 years old when I went in to have my MRIs that led to my diagnosis, and the guy walking me to the MRI area actually asked me if I could make it or if I needed a wheelchair. People my age aren't supposed to need wheelchairs. Those are supposed to be for the elderly. That really bothered me.

I had gotten a little bit of my strength back in January and February, and it was February when I started strength training (only very little though because I still had horrible mobility issues). What little I did made me feel like I could take some control back and my whole attitude changed. I kept gradually improving, and then I tried Zumba in April. I started out only being able to do half the class before taking a break, then I'd come back and finish it. I wouldn't lift my feet up off the floor and modified some other stuff to my ability, but at least I was moving. Each class I could tell I could do a little bit more, and after a couple weeks, I started moving my legs around some. Now I do most of the moves, with the exception of jumping and maybe a couple other things (for some reason, I can't jump anymore, but I wonder if part of that is my weight). The only time I need a break is if my legs feel like they want to give out on me (I've been having that issue a little bit lately), but that doesn't usually happen. I now walk completely normally unless I've been walking too long and have worn myself out. People are shocked when they find out I have MS because nobody can tell when they look at me that I have physical limitations. They're also getting to the point where they're surprised to hear me say I don't really know what I'm doing in the Zumba classes because I've done a pretty good job of getting the moves down.

I love dancing, so this was a great option for me. I also do 1-3 aqua classes a week, depending on how tired I am and if I can actually get out of bed in the morning to do them. That way it mixes up my workouts and the water makes things so much easier. Anything I can't do on land, I can in the water, and I don't suffer any weakness afterward either like I do in Zumba or my strength training sessions. My trainer saw how bad my mobility was early this year and she is shocked to see how far I've come these past few months. I still have a long way to go, but I have made such a huge improvement already.

I know that was a long story, but if you could have seen how bad I was at the end of last year, it's amazing to see how far I've come these past 8 months. That is enough motivation to keep me going.

Best of luck to you.... I have been way overweight now for 10+ years, since I got my wonderful desk job
Needless to say, in October I went numb down the right side of my body, ignored it for weeks and decided to finally get it checked out. The doctor in the walk in clinic said its probably stress and all your vitals are normal so go home and rest... Another couple weeks pass and a very good friend who's a doctor was completely adament that I should go get checked out again and request Neuro as the walk in doctor had never even done a neuro exam on me. I was then sent for a MRI, which detected between 5-10 lesions. Fast forward to March 2nd MRI completed, 1 more lesion formed and we have the diagnosis of a very ACTIVE RRMS. WAKE UP CALL

I was officially diagnosed in April... Thought about it, started Copaxone right away... Toyed with the idea of diet etc.
Then in June I was ready... Taken off my nightshifts and I now work straight days (helps tons with sleep & eating), started MFP like an obsessive habit, and took my big butt to the gym. Since the 2nd week in June i have lost 35 lbs with nothing but following my calories, and working out at the gym. We can beat this and how I am going to do it is by staying active, I go to the gym EVERY day I am off, and I walk on my lunch breaks when I work with the occasional gym time after or before work. I am going to log my calories, and forgive myself and move on when I eat something undesireable.

Reference the activity, what is acceptable definately depends on what stage you are in with MS or your symptoms. I do between 1-1.5 hours of cardio every day off, plus weights... I do mostly free weights, and I have a goal to lose 100 lbs I am not finding overheating an issue for me, and hopefully it stays away.

Wishing everyone the best in your journeys. Please feel free to add me if you like

Cheers
Val

Water aerobics water aerobics water aerobics. I did that for six months after I decided if I can't contol MS maybe I should take control of my body in the only way I could. When I was first diagnosed I had a lot of problems with being dizzy and losing my balance. Water aerobics really helped with that, even if I fell over I was in the water.

After that I did more "normal" exercise (treadmill, walking, elliptical, etc). I felt a little silly because I was the youngest person in the class by 20 years. DO NOT let the older people in the class, as sweet as they are, talk you into a sauna after water aerobics. It does feel great, but I couldn't get out of the tub without help and had to sit in the locker room to recover. Stupid MS sensitive to tempature. Stupid me for not thinking it through.