Never, never, never give up!!!

For any of you who sometimes feel that learning to eat right and exercise just isn't worth it, I want to share my story with you.

Today I had my 6-month follow up with my Doctor of Internal Medicine. I was sent to him in Oct 08 after six months of living in misery. My hair was falling out, my periods had stopped. Extreme pain in my knees, hips and ankles made it hard to walk. My husband had to help me dress in the morning as I had so much joint pain I could barely bend my wrists, elbows and shoulders.I had to sleep in a chair as lying in bed was too painful. I was miserable, lonely and felt worthless.  The Doc said he would schedule some tests, told me to quit smoking and said he would follow up with me in three months.

I went home and sat in that chair for days and cried. I had spent 6 months like this and now I had to face another 3, filled with other Doctors and specialists who all would see if they could figure out what was wrong with me. How could I live like this...what was the point?

Then, one day, I stopped crying and decided I wasn't going to wait for some doctor to solve my problems. I talked to my physiotherapist and we decided to try and get the pain under control so I could get some exercise. On October 21st I dedicitated my life to living. I learned I was 70 pounds overweight, so I found CC and changed my eating habits, drank lots of water...walking started with 10 minutes a day. And it was agony!

After two weeks - nothing...still pain filled and miserable...but I kept at it. I never gave up. I continued through the weeks...biting back the pain and getting more mobile and a little stronger every day.

It is now 5.5 months later and my Doc still has no idea what is wrong with me. He admits there was something as my bloodwork showed signs of an infection and inflammation...but it is gone now. I haven't had a cigarette in 3 months. I have lost nearly 40 pounds. I can walk for over an hour at 4 mph. I ride my elliptical for 45 min a day.  I still have some joint pain, but it is mostly on days when I don't get in a work out. I still get headaches but not as often. I have 9 good days for every bad day. My life is livable...and I feel amazing, about myself, about my life and about this new lifestlye. I am so thankful that I found the strength within myself to meet this challenge. If I hadn't, I might still be sitting in that chair crying and wondering who would help me.

So, please.....remember that you are doing this for YOU... and you are worth it

Never, never, NEVER give up!

Your so right, IT IS UP TO ME to be positive. AND I WILL!!

Thanks again for your positive thoughts. xx

That is so awesome! You are sooo inspiring! That is great! I'm happy that your pain is mostly gone and for every bad day, you have 9 GREAT days!!! :) I really enjoyed reading your story! :) Thanks for sharing!

I agree with you totally.  We can seek medical advice that costs us money we don't have but in most cases nothing they say or do can change our situations or help us in any way.  The only way to go about it is to 'do it yourself'.

I too have had major knee joints problems for many years now since I was 23 years old and since then I have not been able to run or do any squats.   I've felt the agonizing pain but never bothered to see a specialist about it. Until 2 months ago I finally decided to see a doctor about it (for the first time) and I was asked to get an X-ray done to see if there was a problem with my knee to find the root cause of the pain.  The X-ray showed nothing out of the ordinary so the doctor requested I took some blood samples to see if I had arthritis.  I went straight to the blood lab and did as told and I was scheduled for an appointment at the special clinic at 2pm the following day. I left and never went back again. I got very disappointed when I was told of the possibility of having arthritis.....don't know who i was angry at/with!

I've continued to stay active and shed more weight.  For over 6 months I've lost 10 kgs and just 3 weeks ago I haven't felt any more pain in my right knee where I feel the most pain most of the time.  I feel good about myself and I am happy to be painfree for a change.

O lilygirl1970, I can only join the chorus of voices thanking you for sharing your story.  I spent many miserable, morbidly obese years telling myself I was too...something...to get healthy and lose weight.  "I can't" was my motto.  Another CC member recently gave this definition of "excuse":  "The skin of reason stuffed with lies."

I have lost 98 pounds, 62 of those since last September when I joined CC.

This morning I heard myself telling my husband that I was going to pack some veggies to the ballgame today because, while I could eat kettle korn, hot dogs, etc, "I don't feel good when I eat that way."  Wha???  Did CC reach through the computer and turned me into a Stepford counter?  I have become someone I never even allowed myself to dream about.

And it's all due to the same principles you so eloquently describe:  Taking personal responsibility for my health, stopping the "I can't's" and living in the solution.  "Never, never, never give up", indeed!

That is an amazing story! I have an underactive thyroid and it was always so hard for me to loose weight (now I wasn't overweight- but boardline 135 lbs at 5 ft 0)

... then in May it started coming off- 8 lbs by July- and when I went to my doctor for a follow up thyroid test it gave back that it was slghtly hyperactive for the first time in 8 years! We are waiting until October to test again but I am taking this opportunity to get to a more acceptable weight (goal ia 120) and then maintain that weight.

You are so right that it is up to me and only me- I can loose this weight that I've struggled with for years- and I can be a healthy weight once again. I am aiming for 120 only because we hope to try for baby number 2 in Dec 2010 and I want to start at a low weight this time around (last time I started at 130) so loosing it after dosn't seem so daunting and discouraging. It took me a year to loose the 20 lbs I gained from my first child... a YEAR or 20 lbs- 10 of which came off after birth... so really a year for 10 lbs. Thats just silly to me...

I am so please I found CC and I am so thankful to it.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS STORY. IT SOUNDS SO SIM ILAR TO ME,I LOSE A FEW POUNDS AND REGAIN AND I AM IN SUCH TERRIBLE PAIN AND I CAN'T SLEEP SOMETIMES FOR THE PAIN IN MY HIPS I HAVE TO KEEP TURNING OVER AND OVER CAUSE I CANNOT STAND TO STAY TO LONG ON ONE SIDE AND IT HURTS TO WALK AND STAND TO LONG. I END UP DOING ALOT OF CRYING AND BRINGING MYSELF DOWN WITH A DEFEATIST ATTITUDE.I HAVE SO MANY HEALTH PROBLEM. I AM SO GLAD YOU WROTE THIS REALLY INSPIRES ME IN MY MIND I DO ALL OF THESE THINGS AND TELL MYSELF I NEED TO DO THEM AND I GET SO EXCITED  AND IMAGINE MYSELF DOING THEM AND LONGING FOR THE DAYS WHEN I COULD DO THEM AND THEN MY BUBBLE IS DEFLATTED AND I AM FILLED WITH ALL THOSE WHAT IF'S THAT MAY HAPPEN.BUT I AM NOT GOING TO GIVE UP. I HAVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT SEEING SOME KIND OF PHYSICAL THERAPIST AND I HAVE HEARD SOME ABOUT THE PHYSIO THERAPIST I AM GOING TO TRY TO FIND ONE.THANKS AGAIN FOR THE MOTIVATION AND CONGRATULATIONS ON A JOB WELL DONE!!

Original Post by dillyangie:

I was ready to give up today, as i got on the scales this morning, and gained 7 pound`s. I`ve been so good all week, really counted all my calories, but i`ve been laid up with terrible back pain, i have a trapped nerve. I was really fed up, until i read your story. I won`t  give up, but i do feel really down. I`m on so much medication, antidepressants, mood stableizers, pain killers, anxiety pills. Could this be why, my battle with weight is such a problem, i just don`t know.

I had previously lost 5 pounds, prior to this week, just carn`t see how i`ve gained 7 pounds, in a space of a week, WHEN I TRUELY have been so good.

Anyway i won`t give up, thanks for inspiring me, to continue.xxx

Just a quick one to you - why are you on so many pills??? That does not seem healthy at all to be on them all at the same time! Did your doc reccomend this?
I would think about seeing a different doc - even try herbal - 5HTP rocks! And the painkillers are prob needed due to all the side effects of all the medication youre on, it gives you major headaches.
Its def not going to help you find your true motivation, I know that when I was dosed up - I was verrrryyy faaaaar away from reality and walked around in this bubble type thing, didn't care about anything really.
Now clean as you can be.
And discovering the intensity of my willpower all over again! Its great! I like who I am. I like my strength and determination characteristics, the drugs took that away from me, took my true characteristics away.
Yes I get down and up, major anxiety and moods swings - thats being human. Take that away and yikes.Well I guess been there and not worth it to me.
But that all depends on the reasons for you being on all of the stuff at the same time. Choose one mediaction, as they all overlap anyways, than combining 3.

Shoot - I wish I had tagged that thread I read today, it was about a young girl who had put on 10 pounds out of nowhere and then discovered why - she had a growth spurt and then the conversation went onto ppl's strange weight loses and gains. It was all about how you can put on 10 one week and loose 20 the next week, how you can put on any amount due to stress, salt intake, growth spurts, hungover, too much coffee, not eating enough, menstrual cycle, just your body being odd, there are thousands of reasons why your body will hold onto 'weight' - there are so many functions going on within it. Maybe the body needed that little bit extra??? Who knows! You just can't beat yourself into a pulp cause you have gained some weight. Thats why there is a weight trend. Youre still losing weight.
Only weigh yourself twice a week, and take it with a pinch of salt too, look at the inches lost, how you feel in your clothes etc etc. Not just the numbers on the scale.
Hope that helps!

lilygirl1970!!!! I am sooooooo happy you shared this!!!! It really is SUCH a motivational post! And it hit the spot for me too - I have just started a very vig workout routine and today I'm feeling 'empty', been good- really good - and I wanna stuff my face tonight - but now - me has a stand off with the fridge and its going down!!! heehee!

Thank you again!!

xx