So incredibly out of shape!

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  • Shari325
    Shari325 Posts: 196 Member
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    I really have no suggestions for exercise for you.
    I believe I am in a similar condition. I have a lot of joint pain and develop tendonitis and sprains very easily. Arthritis class in a heated therapy pool has helped me.

    I don't know about the health care system in Canada, but I would look into a second opinion from a rheumatologist. My doctor has helped me deal with all the "baggage" that comes with such a debilitating condition.
  • dakotababy
    dakotababy Posts: 2,406 Member
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    Leslie Sansone, and possibly some Vitamin D supplement.
  • AproMunro
    AproMunro Posts: 62
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    I really have no suggestions for exercise for you.
    I believe I am in a similar condition. I have a lot of joint pain and develop tendonitis and sprains very easily. Arthritis class in a heated therapy pool has helped me.

    I don't know about the health care system in Canada, but I would look into a second opinion from a rheumatologist. My doctor has helped me deal with all the "baggage" that comes with such a debilitating condition.

    Ah, yes. The reason I was at the clinic when I met the pill happy doctor, was because I went to him to request a referral to a rheumatologist. He refused and tried to give me drugs. I will be mentioning my continuing pain when I see my GP on Monday so who knows, maybe I will have more treatments or tests on the horizon after that. Or maybe she will just tell my I am crazy again. We shall see!
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
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    Interesting to see the provincial differences in delivery of care. If you have been watching your diet for so long, are you certain it hasn't crept out of control? I know for myself, I will stall out once in a while and when I really think about it, I have consumed something that wasn't logged, or get lazy with weighing my foods. Or tell myself it's okay to have a cheat day (which turns into two/three). I am sorry you are experiencing all this. I agree with the others to do what you can comfortably until some more of the weight comes off. If you can swim, do that. Try to push it a little bit further every week, slowly build up your endurance. Walk when you can. Baby steps. You will get there, slower than you would like, but let's face it, we all are getting there slower than we would like. I suspect that your pain will decrease as your size decreases. Best wishes for you.
  • albertine58
    albertine58 Posts: 267 Member
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    And I do not track my calories every day, but I did for a while and I always fell at around 1500 to 1800 calories a day.

    If you had truly been eating 1500-1800 calories per day for 2 years and had a "near-perfect" diet, you'd have lost a TON of weight by now. Even without any exercise whatsoever. I'm not trying to be mean at all, but there's no way that caloric intake is correct. It's SO impossible to correctly estimate caloric intake. Buy a $20 food scale & weigh everything you eat. Don't stress so much about the exercise, but keep up your swimming & do what you can, but don't hurt youself. Losing weight will do a lot for your pain.

    Also, try a new doctor & therapist. I'm a med student, and I really feel for you and your pain and frustration - I can't imagine how tough that is. The best thing you can do right now for yourself, your pain, and your health is start weighing your food and tracking every bite. It's worth it :)
  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,074 Member
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    I definitely second the suggestion to lose weight first (through a deficit), and then re-evaluate your fitness goals along the way. Doing low impact exercise, like in the pool, seems like a great start, especially since it will help take some strain off of your joints.
    Other than that, I have one unorthodox suggestion: perhaps looking into fitness programs (like on Youtube, for instance) geared towards the elderly? It may be a lot less impact on you, since it is geared towards a group that may have some bodily limitations (due to arthritis, ect).
  • KatJ_NZ
    KatJ_NZ Posts: 31 Member
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    I totally understand that your mind is willing but your body is not :smile: That said, forget about exercise until your body is more able. You do not need to do any exercise *at all* to lose weight (though of course it's healthy to do what you can).

    If you've not lost any weight for months, you are certainly not in a calorie deficit. It's possible to eat too much even when the food is healthy. Get a digital food scale, and log your intake accurately for a fortnight. Use the Scooby calculator to tell you what your daily targets should be. Then modify your food intake based on this new information. It's that simple, honestly. I want you to succeed! :flowerforyou:

    In the mean time, consider whether you can get some other medical opinions about the pain. It doesn't sound normal, and it doesn't sound like you have any clues yet about what can be done. Be well!
  • AproMunro
    AproMunro Posts: 62
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    Interesting to see the provincial differences in delivery of care. If you have been watching your diet for so long, are you certain it hasn't crept out of control? I know for myself, I will stall out once in a while and when I really think about it, I have consumed something that wasn't logged, or get lazy with weighing my foods. Or tell myself it's okay to have a cheat day (which turns into two/three). I am sorry you are experiencing all this. I agree with the others to do what you can comfortably until some more of the weight comes off. If you can swim, do that. Try to push it a little bit further every week, slowly build up your endurance. Walk when you can. Baby steps. You will get there, slower than you would like, but let's face it, we all are getting there slower than we would like. I suspect that your pain will decrease as your size decreases. Best wishes for you.

    Over eating is not a problem for me. The problem that I have on the odd occasion is too many carbs and sometimes bread. I do allow myself reasonable treats here and there (like two or three times a month, one wrong food item, not even a whole cheat day), but absolutely, on occasion I do over do it for a few days in a row. I don't do this often at all, and besides that I eat around 1500 to 1800 calories. I do not measure my food anymore. I tracked my calories here for a while a few months ago, and people kept telling me to eat more. I just do not feel good if I eat much more than that, so I do not feel the need to track. I am confident that I eat well under my BMR should allow. Anyway, even with the odd carb heavy days I feel I should still be losing weight, but who knows? I don't know why my weight loss has stalled so completely, but I do not think that I should lower my calories. That is why I want to do gentle exercises now. I feel like it will help. The joint issues are maddening, but I do what I can for sure!
  • AproMunro
    AproMunro Posts: 62
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    Leslie Sansone, and possibly some Vitamin D supplement.

    I looked up LS on youtube. I like the idea of doing that kind of work out. I think that eventually that will be what really starts me off building endurance again. For the last couple of weeks I have been simply marching in place lifting knees high. I do it to a metronome that counts 100 beats so that I can just flow with the rhythm and not count in my head. I can do about 60 steps before my legs are SEARING! I can push myself to 100 usually but that is all. To do a whole video with her will take some time to work up to. THAT is how amazingly out of shape I am! Last night it was bothering my hip though, so I only did 80 steps. I think I will take a break from all exercise today and pick up again tomorrow. I think my body wants a break.

    This is actually why I thought to make this post. I was just laughing at myself while marching in place because of how exhausted my legs were so quickly.The joint pains and all that are issues to be dealt with for sure, but besides that it is this horrid level of unfitness I am in that kind of fascinates me! I CAN'T MARCH IN PLACE FOR MORE THAN 100 STEPS! Is that not incredible? And this is not about my joints getting in the way. They do sometimes, but often it is simply a measure of my weak muscles. Know what I am saying? Has anyone ever been THAT pathetically out of shape? and came back from it?

    I am on prenatal vitamins. Do you think that I should take extra Vit D? I do not go outside a lot, so I do not make a lot of natural Vit D.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    I agree with those saying focus on losing weight first and just add in activity as you do rather than working too much about starting an exercise program. Swimming or moving in the pool is great--if you think you'd enjoy it you might want to see if there are any water-based classes you can try out, those are often really gentle--and just walking as you feel able.

    I was pretty out of shape when I started this--I'd been awfully inactive for a while before and my body was not at all happy with my own weight, leading to some issues with my arches and a lingering ankle injury--and I didn't really do much for the first few weeks but increase the walking I do as part of my daily life. After that started to feel routine (after a couple of weeks) I added in some really easy stationary biking and started swimming again (as you are already doing), and didn't push myself too much, as I figured I'd naturally do so as I lost weight, which turned out to be true.

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