Kneller is on his next life

[Kneller]

I never really started to take my health seriously until I had a very rare cancer of the nervous system. At that point, I was almost 100lbs. overweight, my diet was rubbish, and I never exercised. I was stage 4 and 50/50 at one point, and only survived due to an even rarer fluke, but managed to pull through, and have since received an all clear from my doctors (as in, no worry of remission). I originally lost all the extra weight (cancer will do that) and started to get more active. I got lucky with the cancer, in a way, as one of the permanent effects of it was a type of nerve damage that affects my sense of smell and taste. Long story short, the faker the food is, the more it tastes like chemicals. Before the surgery, my favorite snack was either a pint of ice cream or a sleeve of graham crackers. Now, my favorite cookbook is Greens Glorious Greens. Unfortunately, bourbon, scotch, and beer are all still delicious. So many horrible empty calories. Luckily, this is my only dietary vice.

 

I had a few false starts with my activity level and ultimately gained most of the weight back, but eventually gained traction with a combination of 5k training and yoga. Tried to do some weights, but I was always waiting at the gym, so I scrapped it. It worked regardless, and after 6 months, I lost 70lbs and made it back down to my cancer weight (never thought the term "cancer weight" would be a good thing). Then, in May 2017 things went a little sideways. I had three (seemingly) minor surgeries that month. I thought they were only going to take me off track for a couple weeks or so, turned out it was a few months. Following this were a handful of major life changes that kept me off the rails. Moving into a horrible living situation, moving out of that situation, a major promotion at work, a new relationship, and so on. Before I knew it, almost a couple years have past, and I'm really seeing how far I've strayed.

 

I've been contemplating getting back on track, but haven't really had that "I need to do this feeling" until recently. I'm a little discouraged because I can't really run (having had this extra weight for so long, I now have recurring bursitis in the knee that can even make walking painful). If I just lose the weight, it will go away. Also, I can't find a yoga studio here anywhere near as good as the one I had when I started. Honestly, that place was phenomenal. I had tried some classes around here, but was left feeling flat. My plan now is as follows:

 

1) No alcohol until I'm back to my cancer weight. I'll celebrate with a nice scotch at that point.

2) Low/no impact cardio for weight loss. I've been shopping around for a magnetic or flywheel rower. I used to love canoeing and like the feeling of being on water.

3) Redouble my efforts for yoga. I can't just do cardio, I need to build back some lean muscle.

 

So, yeah, I guess I'm back.

[squeakyvalkyrie]

Welcome! How are things going?

[mom2sjm]

It can be hard to get motivated to exercise when you can't find a place you enjoy.  Hang in there!!

[Kneller]

On 4/8/2019 at 4:25 PM, squeakyvalkyrie said:

Welcome! How are things going?

 

Pretty good, I held out a little on the rower I liked on amazon for a price drop and that paid off. I'm basically on 6 days a week alternating between rowing and bodyweight strength training. I'm only a few weeks in, but already starting to drop weight. Still haven't worked out a yoga studio situation, but the bodyweight work will hold me over for now.

 

So far, so good.