Over 60 with bad knees, ankles etc with 80+ lbs. Need help

PauletteGallagher
PauletteGallagher Posts: 3 Member
edited December 2024 in Introduce Yourself
Hi, I've been on most diets and have had little or no success. Can't excercise much (I do water aroebics). Have little to no support at home, so desperately need advice/support. I am very organized and keep track of everything, but tend to get discouraged. Went to clinic about bariatric surgery but health problems don't make that an option.

Replies

  • learntolive
    learntolive Posts: 68 Member
    Doesn't seem fair does it when you have to face so many obsticles. I'm over 60 w/40 lbs to lose. This is my third day. So far I have kept my calories under 1,200 everyday and managed to do some exercise. The water arobics is great--keep it up. I walk laps in the pool and do leg lifts, jumping jacks, and arm exercises in the pool also. Use a noodle or small raft for stability. All of that would probably work for you. I have Real Age in my favorites from a few years ago. Dr. Oz talked about it on Oprah, before he had his own show. See if you can bring it up. There are some exercise videos, 2 are indoor walking videos and there is a chair video that helps keep your joints going. See if you can check that out and if any of it works for you. Hope this helps.
  • Lynxie83
    Lynxie83 Posts: 246
    I am not over 60, I'm not even over 30, but I know the pain of bad knees and ankles. I played a lot of sport (mainly soccer and basketball) as a kid and developed something similar to Osgood Schlatters Disease. The annoying lump of cartlage on my knee often swells, causes a lot of throbbing pain (Dr tells me similar to some arthritic pain) and in general causes a lot of issues.

    As a lot of people will know, when you have knee pain, ankle pain does tend to follow. The ankles took a bit of a battering with me being overweight and also with my legs not moving in the normal range of motion. I have dropped nearly 13 kg now and I'm seeing a HUGE improvement in my ankle and knee pain.

    I have also been working with my personal trainer on strengthening up the muscles around my knees and ankles to help with the pain. This has a double reason behind it.

    1. To stop the pain as much as possible
    2. So I could start doing more cardio to continue to help with the weight loss.

    Feel free to add me, I can certainly understand where you're coming from :) My goal weight will put me at having lost almost 90pounds!
  • PauletteGallagher
    PauletteGallagher Posts: 3 Member
    Thank you very much for the reply and info. Nice to know other people are out there with solutions.
  • PauletteGallagher
    PauletteGallagher Posts: 3 Member
    Glad to hear the pain does lessen after loosing weight. Knee problems probably about the same, ankle problems resulted from a break that didn't heal properly and resulted in reduced circulation as well as the pain. Loosing weight will hopefully diminish it but could never get rid of it. I go to physio and the exercises etc to strengthen the muscles do help. Congratulaions on your 12 kg weight loss, keep it up and hope you reach your goal.
  • crzyone
    crzyone Posts: 872 Member
    I'm almost 50 so not quite where you are, but have a bad knee and bad heel.

    I started slow. Just changing little things at a time. If you don't have support at home, maybe you can make those changes slowly and just kind of slip them in so the family doesn't even notice. I cut out soft drinks first. I drank more water. Instead of rich desserts, switch to fruit bowls and sugar free jello. Instead of cream sauces, steam some veggies. Stop frying foods. Bake or grill. Don't put as much butter in a dish, or none at all. Just make little changes that you might be able to slip in. Just make one change a week and at the end of a month, you've cut out a lot of calories and make some healthy changes. Stop buying the "unhealthy" or junk food and bringing into the house. If family complains, just keep "forgetting" to get whatever it is they like. Just keep making those changes until you get there. That's is how I did it at first though. Make it a game to see how sneaky you can be slipping in healthy food without the family noticing!!!

    Also, I saw some videos on YouTube of exercises that can be done in a chair. I remember as a kid Jack LaLane used to do exercises in a chair a lot. I think I googgled something like "exercises for the obese." I was looking for things to start out slow. The chair exercises work arms and feet without the impact. They can get the heart rate up if you work hard enough. I don'tknow if any of those would help you, but it is a thought since you mentioned the knee and ankle problems.

    Good luck on your journey. I hope you find some answers to what you need to help you.
  • abueboricua
    abueboricua Posts: 4
    Hello, I understand what you are going through. I had a hip and two knees replaced. I started walking 10 minutes a day and I was in a lot of pain and hated it. A year after all my replacements I had two stents place in my heart. I was scared but I knew if I wanted to see my grandchildren graduate, marry and have great grandchildren I needed to start moving. I restarted walking just 10 minutes a day, still hated it. I continued until earlier this year when I said I would put forth the effort to increase my time and speed. I got up to 3 mph and walked 80 minutes a day. I felt great, then a big bump in the road. I got sick about a month ago and have not had the energy to start my walking again. I also need some help. :sad:
  • jimgatewood
    jimgatewood Posts: 84 Member
    I'm 66 and have been calorie counting for 7 months. I use food scales and the mobile app to measure and keep track of my calories. If I don't know the calories, I don't eat it. I also make sure I'm never hungry, but I make good choices as to what I eat. Veggies are my best friends. Weight lose is remedy for those aches and pains. I work out mornings and a light workout late afternoons. In that 7 month period I no longer am on high blood pressure medication and have beat type 2 diabetes. My knee pain, other than a little stiffness, has gone away.
    IT CAN BE DONE. Hang in there!
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