Back Man

[savealotman1]

Ok So here is my story. About 6 months ago I aggravated my lower back to the point of being on prescription strength pain killers and needing physical therapy. i was out of work for 7 weeks on disability. I had an mri and my L5 disc is loose which means at any time it can move around and hit the bundle of nerves at the base of my spine and bam Massive spasms resulting in my inability to do simple tasks such as going to the bathroom. Here is where it gets better. my personal doctor told me I am fat . not in so many words but he pulled out the old bmi chart and my height and weight and said you are obese not just overweight. he told me imagine carrying around a 60 pound sack all day on your back this is what you are doing. In my previous experiences with the workers comp people they told me that if I continue to do the same job I will end up a cripple by the time I am 50. This of course threw me for a loop i had only done 1 type of job my entire adult life what was I supposed to do I became extremely depressed and angry . How was i supposed to support my family . the i saw my doctor and he told me I was fat and he challanged me to lose a signficant amount of weight over a period of time . he told me you can continue to do this same job its not as bad as they told you. I took his advice and first bought a food scale starting measuring all my portions. Then i joined a gym. I used to work out all the time but life creeps up on you and the next thing you know here comes 50 or 60 pounds. I can remembber being 195lbs with 6% body fat . i was strong healthy and happy. I know I will probably never get to that level but for me the key to being healthy and happy and to eating nutritionally sound is the gym. Everyone is different and that might not be your thing the key is to find something you love to do physically and to stick with it. For example my cousin was overweight most of his life he found his niche which is kickboxing. Know he not only looks and feels fantastic but he is training to be a trainer. he gives free classes to anyone who wants to try it and like me he loves what he does. I have lost since starting my journey to health and fitness a total of 43lbs since feb. I have a goal of another 11lbs before the new year arrives.

[01gt4.6]

Welcome aboard, I can relate in so many ways. I was once obese, now at 170 lbs. I'm still overweight by BMI standards. At one point in time, 20 years ago, I was also in my 190's with single digit bf%. I had it in my head that if I could just get back down to 190, it would be the same as before, it wasn't. I was still fat.

I now have a back injury, from chasing the dream of having the body I did 20 years ago. I learned through an MRI that trying to lift like a 20 year old when I'm 40 can do serious damage to my old body. I now have bulging discs, L5 & S1. After 6 weeks of going to the chiropractor, 4-5 days a week for TENS & traction, with no relief, I opted to have an epidural. As today, I've had 2 epidurals (actually 4 injections) and have another scheduled. I hope that one day I'll be back to normal and be able to do heavy squats and deadlifts, b/c I'm not done chasing that dream.

[savealotman1]

Sorry to hear about ur back problems mine pale in comparison. Good luck with the treatment . I have my fingers crossed for you. One thing have learned as i have gotten older is to listen to my body and when it says stop I stop. I know from my own personal experience that squats are a great overall excercise but they do put tremdous pressure on your lower back . i no longer do them but count on leg presses and lunges to work my quads as effectively. Dead lifts also put a lot of pressure on the lower back so i do without as well. I am pushing harder and harder each day and continue to be successful while staying injury free. Good luck.