The Fat Old Lady & Her Yellow & Pink Bike
This is the beginning of my blog about my
adventure in not only weight loss but learning
how to ride a bike all over again. LOL
... To give you a background on me so you'll
understand why it has taken me so long to
get started with this, I will give you a little of
my medical history. I used to be very fit and
slim, I know, I know, hard to believe right!
Well, it's true. At the age of 40 I was the first
female First Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo
in the area. My youngest son, Jeff, then 10,
also was a Black Belt as we had been taking
Taekwondo together for a few years and loved
it. I was in very good shape then, and rather
limber if I do say so myself. ;o) It was then that
I started having trouble with my health though.
I had to have shoulder surgery and not too long
after that I had a ruptured disc in my neck so
that ended my time with Taekwondo. One
year after the disc surgery, I had another disc
go out so more surgery. I started developing
pain in many parts of my body that they
couldn't explain why. They doctors would just
put me on different anti-inflammatories which
did nothing but made my stomach so sensitive
I developed ulcers. The body pain continued
to increase and I had trouble sleeping and
would be so tired all day. Finally after going
from doctor to doctor to find out what was
causing it all, I went to an arthritis doctor
who said I had Fibromyalgia/Myophascial Pain
Syndrome. He said there was no cure for
nor much of any treatment except to treat
the pain. Not what I wanted to hear. I also
have arthritis in my back, knees and hands.
My knee caps were so worn down that there
wasn't any cartilage left under them and they
had worn down to a wedge shape from the
constant movement of bone on bone since
childhood. I've had 2 surgeries on my right
knee, one a scope to clean out debris and one
a partial replacement and recenly and total knee
replacemnt on my left knee. I guess I will
eventually have to go back and finish the job
on my right now. I also had a third disc go out
in my neck that had to be fused and my big
toe joint fused because of no cartilage. Not
sure what my body has against cartilage???LOL
I got the bike so I can start building up distance
and strength in my knees and hopefully lose some
of this excess weight.
So if you see a fat old lady, I'm 62 years old now
and grandma to 4 gorgeous kids, on her yellow
and pink bike, be kind. Just a wave and words
of encouragement please.
DAY1
Okay my first day out was good and bad!
I rode my bike down to the river and then up at
two blocks from my house and made it back up
the hill without too much trouble. The trouble
came when I tried to turn up into the driveway
entrance in front of my yard and then straighten
out onto the sidewalk. I had started sprinkling
halfway home so I guess the sidewalk was a
little damp because at that point the bike slid
out from under me and I couldn't get my
foot down fast enough so I fell over, right on
my knee that I had surgery on in July! I was
able to get up ok and walked the bike up and
onto the porch. That night my knee was rather
swollen but now it's just bruised and sore so
it's fine. Next time I'll get off instead of riding
up the driveway. LOL
Day 2
Well today was my 2nd day on my bike. I had to
wait a few days since the last time because of the
soreness of my knee after my little fall.
Today though went great. I went all the way down
main to the park, rode around the fountain, came
out and headed over to Commissioner. From there
I went down to the walking path along the river
and down to the boat landing. I then headed back
up Main towards my house. By the time I got to
the park area and the upgrade street, I was getting
pretty tired so I ended up walking up that part
for a block then got back on and rode the rest
of the way. I loved every minute of it!
Well I made it all the way to the Catholic Church on my
bike! I really was trying for Jackson Street but just
couldn't go another block up hill. LOL But at least
I didn't have to get off my bike and walk it during
the ride. I was a little sore all over the next day so
might have overdone it just a little bit but I didn't fall
and I didn't have to walk it so I'm rather proud
at that. I think I need to lower my seat on it just
a bit however as I still can't put my foot solid on
the ground when I have to stop making it a little
unnerving each time I stop for fear of falling.
I start this week with the Scale Back Alabama program
and I'm praying it will help me stay on track
with my losing weight. I have to lose at least 10
pounds before the end of the 10 week program
so keep me in your prayers that all goes well
and I finally start to lose some weight! :o)
Ok, we had our first meeting for Scale Back Alabama last night. We go every week for 30 minutes and learn about how to lose weight and also play games.
