Prediabetic starting out with Crossfit to change his life.

[TolftaAutumn]

In 2021, I got my first "adult" annual health check-up ever. I was diagnosed with Stage 1 hypertension with my blood pressure at 140/96. I was also informed that my blood sugar is quite elevated at 106 mcg/dL. My A1C was at 6.4, which put me in the prediabetic area. It hit me hard when I heard this and I was overwhelmed with guilt and I stressed out over my conditions for a while. Then I took my first step to hit the stop button on carbohydrate consumption. I was 262 lbs and 30 years old at 6.0 ft. I went on a hardcore salad diet for a good number of months. Towards mid-2022, I was stressed out by a lot of things going on in my life. This broke my habit of not eating refined sugars. I started eating again and it caused me to completely lose focus.

In August of this year, I got my second annual health check-up. The nurse practitioner told me that my blood pressure hasn't changed much. It was at 131/86. My doctor informed me that I might have fatty liver. I don't drink, smoke, or do drugs. He said that I might have what the medical community calls Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease or NAFLD. I have an ultrasound appointment coming up on August 31st, to check on my liver. This time, however, I found out that simply not eating refined sugars and no exercise has made me lose 20 lbs in 1 year. So my current weight stood at 242 lbs.

When I learned about the potential NAFLD and also the lack of iron in the body, I was stressed out and highly demotivated again. That feeling of guilt came back and made me feel absolutely worse for not respecting my body. The next day I told myself if I won't exercise and watch what I eat, I will die before I hit 40. It was a good enough realization that got me to move and apply to the closest gym to get at least some exercise. I live in SoCal and unfortunately, the city doesn't have the best public transport. I do not have a driver's license and I do not own a car. The closest gym to my house is a Crossfit gym that is within 22 minutes' walking distance. I told myself that I always walked to go study after school for 30 minutes. I can walk to the gym. And I did. I started Day 1 by walking to the gym.

The first day absolutely killed my feet. DOMS set in and the soles of my feet felt like getting jabbed with needles whenever I put pressure on them. My instructor helped me correct my form with various exercises. I couldn't keep up with the intensity, but I tried my best to complete as many reps as I could. I came home sore with an Uber ride. On day 2, I went back in early in the morning, with an empty stomach. I felt like puking, but I kept going. On day 3 my DOMS was a little less. Continuing on to today, it's day 6. I have the same intensity, but I can feel some changes in my body. Before I started working out, I couldn't work on anything for a long duration while standing. My lower back would hurt like crazy. After day 5, my back pain went away completely. I started doing more things around the house while standing for longer durations.

While being a software developer comes with many perks, it's not the most physically active job. I have decided to get a standing desk to prevent my morning exercises from going to waste. So far so good. Crossfit has also helped me with my posture. Now I look forward to workout every day. However, I do have rest days on Wednesday and Sunday.

I always struggled with finding the motivation to work out. But then life gave me one and a life-threatening one at that too. So I hope I can continue on and improve.

[elgatito71]

In 2021, I got my first "adult" annual health check-up ever. I was diagnosed with Stage 1 hypertension with my blood pressure at 140/96. I was also informed that my blood sugar is quite elevated at 106 mcg/dL. My A1C was at 6.4, which put me in the prediabetic area. It hit me hard when I heard this and I was overwhelmed with guilt and I stressed out over my conditions for a while. Then I took my first step to hit the stop button on carbohydrate consumption. I was 262 lbs and 30 years old at 6.0 ft. I went on a hardcore salad diet for a good number of months. Towards mid-2022, I was stressed out by a lot of things going on in my life. This broke my habit of not eating refined sugars. I started eating again and it caused me to completely lose focus.

In August of this year, I got my second annual health check-up. The nurse practitioner told me that my blood pressure hasn't changed much. It was at 131/86. My doctor informed me that I might have fatty liver. I don't drink, smoke, or do drugs. He said that I might have what the medical community calls Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease or NAFLD. I have an ultrasound appointment coming up on August 31st, to check on my liver. This time, however, I found out that simply not eating refined sugars and no exercise has made me lose 20 lbs in 1 year. So my current weight stood at 242 lbs.

When I learned about the potential NAFLD and also the lack of iron in the body, I was stressed out and highly demotivated again. That feeling of guilt came back and made me feel absolutely worse for not respecting my body. The next day I told myself if I won't exercise and watch what I eat, I will die before I hit 40. It was a good enough realization that got me to move and apply to the closest gym to get at least some exercise. I live in SoCal and unfortunately, the city doesn't have the best public transport. I do not have a driver's license and I do not own a car. The closest gym to my house is a Crossfit gym that is within 22 minutes' walking distance. I told myself that I always walked to go study after school for 30 minutes. I can walk to the gym. And I did. I started Day 1 by walking to the gym.

The first day absolutely killed my feet. DOMS set in and the soles of my feet felt like getting jabbed with needles whenever I put pressure on them. My instructor helped me correct my form with various exercises. I couldn't keep up with the intensity, but I tried my best to complete as many reps as I could. I came home sore with an Uber ride. On day 2, I went back in early in the morning, with an empty stomach. I felt like puking, but I kept going. On day 3 my DOMS was a little less. Continuing on to today, it's day 6. I have the same intensity, but I can feel some changes in my body. Before I started working out, I couldn't work on anything for a long duration while standing. My lower back would hurt like crazy. After day 5, my back pain went away completely. I started doing more things around the house while standing for longer durations.

While being a software developer comes with many perks, it's not the most physically active job. I have decided to get a standing desk to prevent my morning exercises from going to waste. So far so good. Crossfit has also helped me with my posture. Now I look forward to workout every day. However, I do have rest days on Wednesday and Sunday.

I always struggled with finding the motivation to work out. But then life gave me one and a life-threatening one at that too. So I hope I can continue on and improve.

Op thank you for sharing, I was reading and that's what happen to me, can you please update us on your progress?