Lose the weight, slim boy! (just joined today 11/3/09)

I have tried almost every diet imaginable in an effort to be slim. Now I am trying yet again so I decided to post this topic to introduce myself. This topic kind of captures my important thoughts, feelings, and actions from recently.

I'll keep it short, may even reply to the "New Member" post with the cut/paste questionnaire.

More About Me: What If You Can’t Dance Anymore?

This was once my greatest personal fear and something that I had to overcome somehow. I had an injury--quadriceps tendon rupture--by slipping on wet grass. I was walking the dog, her collar fell off, I reached out to grab her, and I fell onto my partially bent knee. My quadriceps muscle contracted to break the fall. I had two surgical repairs followed by months of rehabilitation.

I was devastated, having never hurt myself before. I am a big guy and people used to tell me that I should play football, but I never engaged in risky athletic behavior (aside from my crazy, all-night "rave" dancing).

I had trouble with crutches so I used a wheelchair for 3 months. This weakened the uninjured right leg. There is an old expression: “If you don't use it, you lose it,” and I found this to be true.

Finally, my doctor told me to just "crutch walk" (minimal weight bearing) and I was able to figure out how to walk again, albeit slowly. Then I graduated to one crutch, and finally got down to a cane! I started walking like a normal person, and I went to water aerobics classes three times a week. I was the only guy in the pool with all of these women! It was too funny. I was so happy to be doing high leg raises, karate sidekicks, jumping jacks, and other exercises in the pool.

The instructor told me that I was coordinated, and it was a nice compliment. Nevertheless, I was still afraid to dance on dry land, out of the swimming pool. This is the devastating part about personal injuries. When you hurt yourself, you may never return to doing the things you loved the best, but I held out hope.

Then one day I met a wonderful Asian guy in Seattle, and he invited me out to a “house head” monthly dance party at the War Room on Friday night. House music is dance inspiration. I started slow, kind of shy because it had been so long for me and I was afraid of falling, but by the end of the night I had danced in all four corners of the room. It was crowded but I just got out there and moved. I could not stop from about 11 pm to 1:30 am!

So I guess I have overcome my fear of dancing somewhat. It wasn’t easy, I felt some weakness in the quadriceps but I maintained control and enjoyed every minute. I think the water aerobics has caused some strengthening. Thanks for reading so far! I am determined to be a slim boy again.