From the hot,dusty, Australian west, he strode in, Silent, walked up to the bar..

[CaptainTightpants]

Morning/Evening all,.. depending on your timezone

 

I'm  new to these parts..

 

38 years old 178 cms. Technical Writer for the mining industry in Perth.

So this means for six to eight hours a day I'm on my behind. Trying desperately to get a chance to move.

Decided enough was enough.

Was going to go the easy way and get  the gastric sleeve, but my new doctor hates the idea until I've tried everything, and he  put me back on an old firend that worked hit and miss in the past, Duromine.

I'm at some ridiculous weight now. Too ashamed to even know for certain. I know when I started this journey a month ago i was well over 136 Kilograms which is,.. I dunno in pounds. I'm pretty sure there are lighter bombs than me in most countries ordinance lists.. Was a 3XL in shirts. The last month I've been working on it I've lost a full shirt size and comfortably wear a 2XL shirt. Not T shirt, a shirt. . Goal it to hit an XL before Australian winter sets in.

 

But,.. I have a lack of direction in the gym and I think its starting to show.

 

I've used machines plus freeweights and I have ratcheted things up over the past few weeks in terms of weight setting and actual weights used and a workout that would take me half an hour is now down to twenty minutes. Which is cool but worries me at the same time. still the same level of intensity, just doing things a lot faster. 

Diet wise. I try and be as Palaeo as I can be but on a budget with a family its a bit hard at times. Generally though I do the best I can. Carbs are a rare commodity here. Plus generally on these meds they taste gross and feel gross if not while eating them definitely while digesting.

 

As from the tag list... I'm carrying enough battle damage to look like the human equivalent of the hero Viper from Battlestar Galactica... 

 

A ruptured disc in my neck with bone growing over the rupture, (which if i workout too hard for my neck muscles, sets off the most excruicating headaches known to man and I don't have vicodin. Takes a gram of ibuprofen on occasion to dull the pain to tolerable levels) Torn right knee meniscus,  L5 to S1 vertebra seem to have fused, snapped all four of the tendons in my left foot in 2007 and had a evulsion (the tendon literally  ripping out with the bone stuck to it)  plus Sciatica  from my work. So I am  very cautious with my workouts, as much as I so desperately want to push myself.. there have been times when I've forgotten the meds and I can feel the abused bits of my body creaking and whining for me to stop. Which I do because by the time I hear it, it's usually too late and I'll spend the rest of my day  with a sore knee and a cranky demeanour.

 

Sick of being this fat.

Had a gutful, pardon the pun.

Hate hating myself.

I hate fat clothes.

I hate feeling ashamed at the beach.

 

Want to be around for my sons's thirtieth.

Don't want to die of heart attack in my forties.

And the only person who can do anything about it is me. And I'll keep fighting until I can't.

 

 

 

Once upon a time,.. I had abs...

Anyone else trying to shed some with  a few injuries?

[Ripostetom]

Welcome mate! 

 

I've had  multiple disc bulges from a parachuting injury, so no deadlifts or super heavy weights for me. My L5-S1 was the worst of them and I had an S1 nerve root impingement which caused me more pain then I want to remember.  The next few weeks / months after my injury I gained a good 15kgs which was really depressing and I found the injury was exacerbated by that.

 

When I was at the height of my injury I found walking, and pull ups the best thing for my back followed by cycling.  Another thing I found that was good was rock climbing (indoor). 

 

The best advice I could give you would be to be patient and begin with some walking,  even incorporate some geocaching into that as it is super fun. 

 

The lesson I have had to learn is to be patient with injuries, particularly back injuries because if you don't take your time and progress slowly you will do more harm than good and end up two steps behind square one.

[SevenofSeven]

Hey, hey fellow West Aussie.

I'm down in the South West.

Sounds as though you have a few hurdles in your way just to add to the fun! Slow and steady, slow and steady!

[Thom Stépan]

G'day mate, I suggest you look for and follow LadyWildRoss on the Adventurer's forum of the current challenge. She has some serious battle injuries as well. Including a current broken foot. That woman is an inspiration. She won't quit, she's more stubborn than a mule and then she encourages everyone else as they achieve their goals. 

 

I am a former Sandgroper currently living in Wagga, NSW. 

[Stonie]

Woop Woop! West Australia represent!

 

I apologise, that was terribly lame. 

*hangs head in shame*

 

Anyway, I'm down on the south coast. Next stop, Antartica. 

 

Sounds like you've got some big hurdles, but even the biggest mountain can be climbed; you just have to keep moving forwards. There's plenty of support around here, and more people then you would first think working with an injury of some description. Use your battle scars in your new, awesome self image. We know you can rock this!

[HappyCat]

WA here also...also walking wounded with back, neck, knee, sciatica and tendon issues.

 

I do a lot of walking...and that's about it...because the repercussions of other activities are generally painful.

 

Id like to add some weights work to that in the future though, strengthen up my upper body and my back in particular.

 

If you can make the time and have a public pool local - try doing 'walking laps' - basically just walking up and down the lanes in the water - most pools have a designated 'walking lane' - mostly used by older folks and people rehabbing injuries (my physio put me onto it when I was rehabbing my back from a nasty horseriding fall years ago). Very low impact as the water takes most of your body weight away.

 

Anyway, good luck!