Hello!

[afflictionreckoning]

Hello Nerd Fitness community!

I'm so excited to be a part of the community. I was an athlete all throughout my younger years until I got to high school and while playing field hockey I suffered a severe stress fracture in my hip (I ran on it for quite awhile before I got it checked out. Oops...). To make a long story short, I eventually learned I had a disorder that prevented me from properly absorbing vitamins and minerals. The doctors' solution for keeping me healthy was to restrict all activity. No more field hockey and lacrosse, basketball, tennis, surfing, snowboarding, hiking... all the things I loved. This obviously caused me to become very depressed and I lost all motivation for everything. Over the years I've been trying to recover from the heartbreak and I'm hoping that joining all of you will help my momentum and keep my spirits high. I'm hoping I can help some of you too!

[CapN_Tommy_Sunshine]

Welcome to the Rebellion! Let us know how we can help. Do you have any specific plans or goals?

[Loren Wade]

Welcome to the Rebellion!

[afflictionreckoning]

Welcome to the Rebellion! Let us know how we can help. Do you have any specific plans or goals?

I have posted my Epic Quest. In general, I just want to get in shape. I would really like to be able to run long distances and get back into fighting shape (I used to be a kickboxer and grappler). I just want to get back into activity so I can feel good about myself.

Thanks Loren!

[Crooked]

Welcome! I'm sorry to hear about your health issues. Have you done research into your disorder to figure out if your doctors' advice is the only option? While I wouldn't say to go against your doctors without any knowledge of your situation, their solution seems a bit extreme. Either way, best wishes and I look forward to hearing about your journey!

[Loren Wade]

Those are some decent goals. But I've seent the Epic Quest of yours and it's seriously epic. Good luck on it!

As far as running, do you run now? What's your goal for that? I am doing a 5k soon.

[afflictionreckoning]

Welcome! I'm sorry to hear about your health issues. Have you done research into your disorder to figure out if your doctors' advice is the only option? While I wouldn't say to go against your doctors without any knowledge of your situation, their solution seems a bit extreme. Either way, best wishes and I look forward to hearing about your journey!

It isn't really the only option. The disorder causes me to absorb less vitamins and minerals than the average person. The problem is you can have too much of those vitamins and minerals (like vitamin D and Iron) and cause just as many problems as one would have not taking in enough of them. It involves a lot of experimentation on my part to find the %DV that actually works for me. Doctors think this is a little too risky to experiment with so they probably didn't suggest it in case something happened and they have a lawsuit on their hands. It may seem stupid for me to attempt this against their advice but regardless of whether I'm exercising, my quality of life was not great. I got sick a lot and a lot of times I have trouble concentrating. I have a lot of joint pain along with many other problems, so I finally decided I was sick of that life. I only intake a little extra at a time, so when I finally feel good I'll get bloodwork done to make sure I'm not taking too much of anything and just make sure I stick to those amounts.

[afflictionreckoning]

Those are some decent goals. But I've seent the Epic Quest of yours and it's seriously epic. Good luck on it!

As far as running, do you run now? What's your goal for that? I am doing a 5k soon.

If you're going to do something you might as well go all out! =D

With running, currently I don't run very far. I do a lot of hiking so I'm not too out of shape, but I do have some lung problems and I have to be sure my bones aren't taking to much impact from the run. I'm do a run/walk regiment that will hopefully get me back to a 5K and I would like to do one by September. I just have to watch my bones. =)

[Crooked]

It isn't really the only option. The disorder causes me to absorb less vitamins and minerals than the average person. The problem is you can have too much of those vitamins and minerals (like vitamin D and Iron) and cause just as many problems as one would have not taking in enough of them. It involves a lot of experimentation on my part to find the %DV that actually works for me. Doctors think this is a little too risky to experiment with so they probably didn't suggest it in case something happened and they have a lawsuit on their hands. It may seem stupid for me to attempt this against their advice but regardless of whether I'm exercising, my quality of life was not great. I got sick a lot and a lot of times I have trouble concentrating. I have a lot of joint pain along with many other problems, so I finally decided I was sick of that life. I only intake a little extra at a time, so when I finally feel good I'll get bloodwork done to make sure I'm not taking too much of anything and just make sure I stick to those amounts.

I think self-experimentation can often be a great idea. My brother has Crohn's, and he was prescribed a bunch of meds with scary side effects. After being on them for a while and still feeling crappy, he started doing lots of research and came across the paleo diet. He also got himself tested for Vitamin D levels and found out that he was at a scary level of deficiency. He went paleo, added Vitamin D and some other supplements and is now totally off his meds and, as he put it, "98% symptom-free." Pretty cool results for something to which his doctors were strongly opposed. Just be careful and focus on isolating variables individually (so don't change your diet, workout and supplementation regimes all at once, because then if you have negative side effects you won't be able to identify the cause).

[afflictionreckoning]

I think self-experimentation can often be a great idea. My brother has Crohn's, and he was prescribed a bunch of meds with scary side effects. After being on them for a while and still feeling crappy, he started doing lots of research and came across the paleo diet. He also got himself tested for Vitamin D levels and found out that he was at a scary level of deficiency. He went paleo, added Vitamin D and some other supplements and is now totally off his meds and, as he put it, "98% symptom-free." Pretty cool results for something to which his doctors were strongly opposed. Just be careful and focus on isolating variables individually (so don't change your diet, workout and supplementation regimes all at once, because then if you have negative side effects you won't be able to identify the cause).

Yea. It's really amazing how a change in diet can be the best thing. We've come to rely so much on medication it's easy to forget that most of the time we don't really need it. We just need to be more careful about what we're eating. I don't think doctors oppose so much as they doubt the capability of a person to change their diet. It is pretty hard and with a lack of motivation I assume it fails for most people and people are so sue-happy, it's probably very risky for the doctors to recommend it. That and people usually request drugs without asking for an alternative. I'm being very careful. I think I've optimized my diet and supplementation, I just have to keep track of everything I eat. Now it's onwards to fitness! =D

[MegaCarp]

Wait to go and welcome aboard. I also have to admit, sometimes it depends which doctor you go to. I have a prosthetic arm (myo-electric) and was told years ago that I failed a myo test so there was no way to ever have one. After I talked to this doctor (now bear in mind I did nothing to train for this, not like you can once your shot down), well he was so amazed because of my capability and control, even stating that the system wouldn't need set very far into the gain. My point being is that sometimes other doctors see things from a different point of view, but its always good to see what positive implementation of diet can do to a person.

[bigm141414]

AR,

Welcome and glad to hear you are not letting your genes get you down. I have a similar tale as yours, recently being put on some scary meds that stop me from doing a majority of things I used to love in the past. I've found that with everything there is a balance. Since I can't do some things, I have found my enjoyment of other things increase and not suck as much I thought (like running, it still is tough, but I am slowly starting to enjoy it).

First step is always the hardest...

[afflictionreckoning]

Wait to go and welcome aboard. I also have to admit, sometimes it depends which doctor you go to. I have a prosthetic arm (myo-electric) and was told years ago that I failed a myo test so there was no way to ever have one. After I talked to this doctor (now bear in mind I did nothing to train for this, not like you can once your shot down), well he was so amazed because of my capability and control, even stating that the system wouldn't need set very far into the gain. My point being is that sometimes other doctors see things from a different point of view, but its always good to see what positive implementation of diet can do to a person.

Yes, I've found that as well, but it gets a little expensive to go from doctor to doctor looking for different opinions. I've found the physical therapists are actually the most helpful in encouraging diet change over medication and encouraging exercise through adversity. If only they weren't so expensive to go see!

[afflictionreckoning]

AR,

Welcome and glad to hear you are not letting your genes get you down. I have a similar tale as yours, recently being put on some scary meds that stop me from doing a majority of things I used to love in the past. I've found that with everything there is a balance. Since I can't do some things, I have found my enjoyment of other things increase and not suck as much I thought (like running, it still is tough, but I am slowly starting to enjoy it).

First step is always the hardest...

It's really hard to keep going when you're told you can't do something anymore. I've found that if I'm careful I can do some activities in moderation. Steve's book is actually very helpful for working up in strength training. The most helpful book I've read.