Not new but new !

Been here a while, but never posted, I am looking to lose 3 stones and improve fitness, however with arthritis, and having recently had a mini stroke I have to be careful, anyone in a similar position willing to give advice? I work in an office so don't get any exercise there! I also have a bit of back pain not really too surprising, I am 62 after all!

[lucigret]

Good morning Silentflight,

I am very pleased that you have decided not to be silent anymore and are now going to join in with us here I have given you a restart badge

I a sorry to hear of your health conditions and would suggest that just some gently walking each day would be of great benefit to you, especially as you spend your day in an office. Could you go out at lunch time for a 10/15 minute stroll and then a nice walk after dinner in the evening for as long as you can, even a 30 minute walk would be great

Now I know at 62 we all expect some aches and pains, (I am younger by just a few years and also suffer with aches and pains). My Husband is the same age as you and I will tell you what I tell him, you are no where near being thrown on the scrape heap yet. You have years ahead of you and starting to do a little exercise and loosing some weight will only be of benefit

If you haven't already, please take a look at our Newbie pack,

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

Please also take a read of our Security/privacy information, especially as you have left your post unlocked,

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

Take a look at our Chat thread to see all that we have on offer to help you to get involved and keep you motivated,

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

We have found that the people that stay connected with us on a regular basis, do far better. We are a chatty lot and would love you to join in. Two great places, other than some of our challenges, to get support are the Daily Diary and the Weigh In's, choose a weigh in day and get involved

Wishing you all the best, if you have questions, please come back and ask

[moreless Administrator 7 stone]

You might like to take a look at these too, silentflight healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh... and phcuk.org/wp-content/upload...

[BerlinBetty Visitor]

Love that photo and caption... Good Morning, Silent Flight. I'm older than you by quite a bit and have arthritis in my hands and feet, some in my major joint sockets plus tendonitis but I haven't had the mini-stroke and I take it that you have had good advice from med experts as to what you can and should not do.

With that in mind, I would suggest walking at a steady pace so that you can feel your heart rate go up but without any undue discomfort. If it doesn't make you feel too much of a Twit, swing your arms, or useNordic Walking sticks (rudely termed by my Aged P as 'Nerdic' Walking sticks). The swing of the arms, even if slight, is very beneficial to the upper body muscles and the heart.

All this in moderation, of course. I have to decide myself when I walk the difference between mild discomfort because I'm working stuff and any pain which of course means 'Go back home, rest and have a cuppa!' Strengthen that irritable back, but don't annoy it or it will throw a tantrum, as you know!

If you have Big Weight-loss Ambitions, this may seem rather tame at first but the great thing is to build slightly week by week, or when you fell able. Brisk walking can be as effective as jogging and there's a lot less impact injury potential.

Last thing, when you breath out pull those tummy muscles in and try to maintain that when you walk and breath naturally. You really are exercising your bod then, plus producing feel-good pheromones which help to block pain signals.

Good luck - and tell That Man to put the blinking seat down!

Betty x

[Busybeelady]

Ive just restarted my weight loss plan today. I have painful back and also hips now! Feels like im falling to bits! Lets motivate each other as we are both newbies 😊

[RoseyTB]

Hello Silentflight, sorry to hear about your illness. It is not good living with pain, it is something that I have to put up with now. No amount of physio will work anymore, but I don't let it down. This past week, my sciatica nerve as been playing up, so I haven't been able to do any running or even walking fast, but I have still been out there. I find sitting around actually makes me ache more. I have to be active, it keeps my joints from seizing up.

I know how frustrating it is to work in an environment that you cannot move around in. If you have a lunch break, is there somewhere outside that you could walk to, to have your lunch? Like it was said earlier, just a few minutes a day will really help you. When my back aches, I lay on my bed, and roll my hips from side to side, I find this relieves the tension in my lower spine. I find it too hard to be on the floor, besides, I cannot jump up like I used to either, An age thing I believe.

Have you been on the Arthritis website, they give lots of advice on dietary needs, certain foods, e.g. Oranges can trigger it off. Well worth having a look. Also they have some exercises there as well. It is where I got mine from. they are really simple ones, that you can do sitting down if you have health issues. The NHS Arthritis website I mean.

Good luck with your weight loss, and hope you start to feel better soon.

[Pineapple27]

Hi there Hidden - welcome. We are a friendly bunch and there is plenty of support for you here during your weight loss journey.

I have a significant physical disability which affects my mobility (mobility further reduced in 2002 following a head on car crash, broken tib and fib which didn't heal well and then an ankle fusion).

I am also short - as a result of my disability (4ft 8”) rather than genetics - my two "little sisters" are both a foot taller than I am! I use a wheelchair outside of the house, and cannot stand for long period of time because of pain in my hips, lower back and damaged ankle.

Pain, reduction in mobility or a disability doesn't make weight loss impossible - it just makes it rather more challenging - but hey - us folks who have to deal with pain and / or disability on a daily basis are used to challenges, aren't we???

I started my weight loss journey at the end of February 2012, weighing in at 14 stone - almost 7 years ago. I was 49 years old and had been trying to lose weight all of my life since the age of 9.

I managed to lose 4.5 stone in 2 and a half years through calorie counting and logging/weighing all of my food going from a size 24 to a size 16 and from 14 stone down to 9 and a half.

Then re-gained some.... lost some again and have now managed to more or less maintain for the past 2 years (upwards during main holidays and Christmas!)

BUT... ideally I would love to drop another stone and maintain there.

The one thing that I realised very early on in my journey was that I was just eating FAR TOO MUCH! As a VERY short (4ft 8”), middle aged, sedentary female and I was eating the same as 5ft 9" active man (my now husband!).

No wonder I was piling on the weight! I now think of the weight I lost as each half a stone being a new born baby... I lost 9 of them and can't really understand how I was ever able to lug all of that around with me all of the time!

I often wish I had dealt with my weight when I was a lot younger, but still, better late than never and also the risk of illness that is associated with being overweight increases once you reach 50 years plus....

Here are a few of my past posts which I hope you will find helpful and inspiring. I won't try and tell you that my journey was easy - and you'll see that there were many blips along the way, but 7 years down the line, I feel about 20 years younger than I did when I was lugging around 4 stone more.

A few things I've found that help me:

Cutting down on portion sizes (always read the recommended portion size on packaging),

Reducing the amount of bread, pasta and rice I eat - replacing with vegetables such as stir-fried cabbage and leek, mashed swede and carrot.

KEEP MOVING - I exercise for 1.5 hours most days, seated stretches on a gym ball and bouncing and flinging my arms about.

NEVER stop (I still log my food on a daily basis as there isn't much wiggle room).

Please do pop back to the forums and share your journey with us - we are here for you, day and night and happy to share your success or support you when you need it.

EXERCISE isn't essential for weight loss - logging and weighing portion sizes is. If you can't move much, it's even more important to recognise that you have to eat less than someone who is more mobile / moves more.

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

I've also got a blog that you might like to take a look at: flidfit.com