55 yr old female Chronic Pain Adv Arthritis Goal weight loss and tone

[AnnMarieH64]

I am a 55 yr old female who lives with chronic pain from spinal damage to cervical 3, 4, 5, thoracic spine and lower lumbar 5 from 2 separate accidents work/car in 2000. At first i gained weight from being inactive due to such high pain. But then by the 4th year i started learning how to manage my pain better and started dancing just joining in a little at first and then by the end of the year i was able to dance as well as everyone else. I lost weight and gained strength. Then at age 44 found out i was pregnant and was concerned for my pre-existing back problem; labour was agony and i really struggled with my back after having my beautiful daughter who is now 11. I have noticed that my back has deteriorated even further (degenerative disc disease) over the past 4 or 5 years. I am now struggling to be able to walk far and to dance. I want to regain what i have lost. I have a gym and pool membership. I was just wondering if there was anyone in the community that has had similar problems and been able to overcome them in regards to pain when exercising to make serious gains.

[Runway37]

That is really rough. The pool is a great idea, low impact. You may consider yoga as well. It's no joke, it will strengthen you. Many yoga studios even have adaptive programs. I'll let some more experienced people suggest more. Professional help may be appropriate in this case.

As far as weight goes, exercise is helpful in controlling it, but diet is far, far more important. Try a calorie counting app. I've been successful with MyFitnessPal. I track and log everything I eat. I weigh food, have multiple 1/2 cup, 1 cup, 1 tablespoons for measuring so I always have some clean. And I don't let myself get sneaky with estimating amounts. If you track your food carefully and eat at the calorie deficit the app suggests for you, you will lose weight. And of course losing weight will help with your other issues.

Also on the nutrition, it has to be sustainable. What I mean is it can't just be meal replacement shakes and gross tasting veggie smoothies that you grind through. It should and can be real food that you enjoy. Because you want to change your eating habits, you don't want to 'go on a diet'. Also, for me the first two weeks was the hardest. I was hungry and tempted to cheat. But after the first week or so I saw the scale move in the right direction and that helped. And after the second week my body adjusted and I wasn't nearly so hungry. I got used to the new diet. I stopped craving sugar.

[AnnMarieH64]

That is really rough. The pool is a great idea, low impact. You may consider yoga as well. It's no joke, it will strengthen you. Many yoga studios even have adaptive programs. I'll let some more experienced people suggest more. Professional help may be appropriate in this case.

As far as weight goes, exercise is helpful in controlling it, but diet is far, far more important. Try a calorie counting app. I've been successful with MyFitnessPal. I track and log everything I eat. I weigh food, have multiple 1/2 cup, 1 cup, 1 tablespoons for measuring so I always have some clean. And I don't let myself get sneaky with estimating amounts. If you track your food carefully and eat at the calorie deficit the app suggests for you, you will lose weight. And of course losing weight will help with your other issues.

Also on the nutrition, it has to be sustainable. What I mean is it can't just be meal replacement shakes and gross tasting veggie smoothies that you grind through. It should and can be real food that you enjoy. Because you want to change your eating habits, you don't want to 'go on a diet'. Also, for me the first two weeks was the hardest. I was hungry and tempted to cheat. But after the first week or so I saw the scale move in the right direction and that helped. And after the second week my body adjusted and I wasn't nearly so hungry. I got used to the new diet. I stopped craving sugar.

Thank you so much for replying i actually have a fitbit to wear on my wrist; i will have to find the charger and get it going and look for the app. Yes i was thinking i would start with just walking in the pool and doing some of my physio exercises in there to get started. I was eating clean before christmas and drinking loads of water; i need to get back to that. I actually didn't mind it. Christmas and feeling down with pain i fell off the good food choice wagon.