Health issues and struggling

Oh, honey. I think you will have enough on your plate than to worry about losing weight - and your body needs to have plenty of recovery calories, so just wait. You've done so well to lose 56 pounds, and when you are feeling better is the time to jump back on the weight-loss plan.

Figure out your calories needed to maintain your weight (Myfitnesspal will figure it for you in "GOALS") and eat at maintenance till you're back to healthy. This isn't the time to cut nutrition, but at least you can keep from gaining.

Hi there. Way back in 2014 I was doing great. I was down 15# and feeling successful. But, then I suffered a severe disc herniation, developed cauda equina syndrome and ended up having to have a major emergency spinal surgery.

Although the surgery fixed my herniation and relieved the pressure on my nerves, the damage was done and I suffered nerve damage and some paralysis. I have awful balance now because of nerve damage, I get painful muscle spasms, etc.

I was 40 years old, had a 4 year old daughter, and couldn't walk. I lost my job. I couldn't get from the living room to the bathroom without using a walker. I couldn't play with my little girl. It was a hard time.

With a lot of physical therapy I graduated to a cane, and then to trekking poles. Now, unless I'm hiking on uneven ground, I can walk unassisted again.

I still have issues. I'm not allowed to run, dance, lift anything heavier than 20#, etc. But I have improved immensely! It took me a year and a half just to get back to some semblance of normal. It's taken years, but now I'm strong enough to continue, and back at it again! I have lost another 6.2 pounds since the end of August and I'm looking forward to the long haul.

I would just say that things happen in life that are beyond our control. But we go into this knowing that it will be a life-long change of habits. It's ok if sometimes you get derailed for weeks or months, or in my case even years. You can and you will move beyond it. Life goes on. I promise yours will too.

Take care of yourself. Nurture your body with good food, take time to heal, forgive your own weaknesses, build slowly as you heal and don't get too down on yourself. That's the best thing you can do, and when it's time to ramp back up again you'll know. In the interim, recognize that 56 pounds lost is a huge accomplishment! You'll get to your goal. Give yourself the time you need. It's a lifelong journey, and the most important thing is getting healthy. At least for most of us, ultimately that's why we're doing what we do and working so hard. Good luck!

crystalmorrison378 wrote: »

CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »

as most will tell you weight loss is about diet(CICO) and not about exercise. exercise can help your health but you can lose weight without it.can you at least walk or do something that doesnt use your arms so much?

Yes I can still do cardio when I'm not in a lot of pain, but I miss the strength training so much. I think it helps my self image to know I'm building muscle because I have some problem areas of loose skin like on my upper arms..

if you are in a deficit you wont be building much muscle(aside from newbie gains) unless the conditions are right(enough protein, the right progressive lifting programs,etc). it does however prevent muscle loss. and as for loose skin sometimes when you lose weight it can take up to 2 years to bounce back but that also has to do with elasticity in your skin,good genetics etc, sometimes the only way to get rid of loose skin is surgery. and if you arent in a deficit you wont lose weight. Its very hard to build muscle and lose weight/fat and the same time. as for building muscle sometimes it can help make loose skin look better but thats not always the case, I agree with some of the others and eat at maintenance and take care of the other health issues,not knowing what is going on,trying to lose weight may/may not make whatever it is worse or prolong it. talk to your Drs first and try to figure out whats causing those cysts. maybe see a dermatologist too as it can be a type of skin disease/condition.

I understand it's frustrating when you can't do the exercise you love the most. You mention strength training, which I'll be the first to say isn't my specialty by any extent. But would it maybe be possible to continue to do strength training once a week for, say 30 minutes? There are a lot of muscles in the body and maybe you could work on your legs while you're waiting for your arms to recover enough to reincorporate them into it as well. If this is a bad idea (or undoable), sorry for taking a jab in the wrong direction. But, if it's doable, maybe it will increase your motivation to continue to doing other exercises, like the walking people have mentioned, on the other days. If you ever wanna talk more, feel free to message me