Life is short, dont live it hating yourself! Five years ago I would have argued with you that when a woman reaches her late 30s and beyond that you were pretty much stuck with whatever body you had and that that was ok! I remember sitting down with my best friend and us discussing how we would never be thin again and we needed to just accept our fat and be happy with it. The problem with that is if you have any pride at all, you will NEVER be happy with the fat! So what changed my mind?
On January 1, 2009 I was breaking or I should say, trying to break, a tree branch, a big one. I had jumped up and grabbed it and was bouncing up and down and it broke and when I landed I felt a very sharp pain in my right knee and I laid there on the ground with my knee in my chest trying very hard to not cry. I figure it took me about 5 minutes to get up but it really felt like an eternity. I test it out and I was able to bear weight on it and could get around pretty well without showing any limp. Not that it didnt hurt but I was trained to not show pain. The next day it was about the size of a volleyball but over the next few days the swelling went down and for the most part it looked normal and the pain was tolerable so I just went with it.
By march of that year it had become pretty unstable and every time I took a step I could feel my femur slip back on the tibia and it was a bit creepy feeling. I went with it that way for about another month but I was starting to get a horrible pain in my butt at the attachment of the hamstring from it trying to stabilize the knee. I finally decided to go and see an orthopedic doc and have an MRI done and get it fixed.
Let me just tell you that MRIs are terrible at really giving a good inside look at whats going on in the knee. My MRI report said that the ACL was not torn and the meniscus just had a few tiny bucket handle tears. The surgeon told me that the extreme cranial drawer motion of the knee showed that the ACL was very damaged if not completely torn and scheduled surgery for June 4th. After three hours on the surgery table I had a cadaver graft for an ACL and no medial meniscus because it was torn so bad and a repaired lateral meniscus. The dr said he couldnt believe how much damage was done in my knee and how little I limped and how seemingly little pain I was in. He also stated that he was amazed at the fact that my cartilage wasnt all torn up. I attribute all of that to the joint supps that I take in copious amounts.
So here I was with major knee surgery done and I did not have the time or at least didnt want to take the time to go to physical therapy. I went back to work 2 days afterwards and it sucked big time! I figured I was going to have to get to the gym to do some lifting for my own physical therapy so about a month later I hit the gym and the rest is history, a long history!
Post surgery I was 175# and about 32% bodyfat. I had not been in the gym in at least 10 years. When I got in there I was very discouraged because I sucked! And I was fat! The only thing I had going for me was the fact that I had an active job and so had a decent muscle base to start from even though I was dreadfully weak from a gym stand point.
And thus started my current journey into the world of fitness. A journey that was to become a lifestyle and not just a means to an end. A journey that has been no where near easy or convenient. A journey that has taken many twists and turns. But a journey that I am very glad that I started and have no intention of stopping!
I figure there has to be other women like me who work and have kid and dont really have the time or the desire to research ad nauseum through all the info that is out there so I thought I would right a few posts on different things that I have found that have worked for me. Life in the real world working stuff. Things that those of us who cant eat perfect because of location or family or whatever will find helpful. Different exercises that I found that really helped in problem areas. The bastard cardio. Thoughts on supplements and fat burners and such things like that.
I will try to keep them short and easy to understand. If anyone has any questions or things that they would like to know my thoughts on something please email at drdss@live.com or leave a comment and I will be happy ramble on about it.
