Quote From: dpod302I've been waiting for the weight loss race to begin. I am so ready for my whole family to get in shape and loose the weight.
A little over years ago I was diagnosed with a muscle wasting disease call Polymyositis and I also have Fibromyalgia on top of it. I use to weight 125 lbs but due to the drugs, steroids and pain medications I have to take to stay out of pain and the chemotherapy to stop my immune system from further attacking my muscles I have gained a lot of weight. OK, I weight 197 which is a lot for my frame and size. My wife has dieted many times and has lost the weight but gains it back and adds more. My youngest son is 18 and needs to get out from behind the video games and could stand to loose about 50 + lbs. He weighs more than me. My oldest son still at home is 21. He used to be skinny but has gained weight to the point that he's just 10 lbs shy of my weight.
I am so ready ready to take charge of my life again. This insanity has to stop. As the primary cook in the house, I have resorted to fast, higher fat foods, although I try to cook everything from scratch, my pain level and laziness sometimes prevents me from cooking better foods, IT STOPS HERE !
I'm convinced that I will do better physically and the rest of my family will do better physically if we all do this together. So I have challenged everyone in the house to loose 20 lbs by December. I know we can do that and maybe more. Together I think we could loose as much as 200 + lbs in the next year.
But this is just not a short term goal for me, I want this to be a complete lifestyle change for all of us !
Count us in Dr. Phil
David
Hi David;
My father also had Polymyositis and one thing I can tell you
for sure is that exercise and eating “good for you” food sure helps”. He was ill for 12 years – passed away at age
81 which considering they told him he only had a couple of years sure proved
THEM wrong – but as long as he was exercising and moving he did great.
He too gained weight when first on steroids (pain killers
will also cause weight gain) but with the exercise and my Mom taking care of
the good food side of things his weight gain stopped and he was able to lose
over half of it. However more important
than that the exercise and good nutrition changed fat to muscle (don’t believe
anyone who tells you the disease will not allow you to strengthen and even
build your muscles. Side line – my best
friend has muscular dystrophy and they told her she could not gain muscle
either but she did. Nyah! Nyah!)
improved his immune system and his spirits.
I lost 110 pounds thanks to Dr. Phil and kept it off without
any effort for 5 years however last year I was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma
(a blood cancer) and the meds I am on have the side effect of causing rapid
weight gain. I am up 35 pounds but the
good habits (behaviours) that I learned by following the Ultimate Weight Loss
plan have stayed with me. Believe me - when
will power fails and life lets you down good habits will see you through. Do something long enough and suddenly you
will be eating and exercising on auto pilot no matter what happens. In fact I clearly remember sitting in the
doctors office NOT listening to him tell me about my disease because I was
thinking – “damn it I could have had the chocolate cake last night.” But guess what? I never did have that cake because I just
didn’t need it anymore.
Just a few tips – All that high fat junky type food may be placating
and medicating you but in the wrong way.
It is working against you by depressing your immune system. Eat a rainbow of raw fruits and vegetables
everyday for the antioxidant and immune boosting properties they have. Eat small meals and snacks at least every 3
hours. Take a vitamin D3 supplement 0f
1000 IU to help rebuild cells. Start off
exercising slowly but just never stop.
The first time I road the exercise cycle at the gym the speed thingy
never even registered a speed but did I care when the jock instructor sneered
because my 74 year old Mom was kicking my butt? – Yes. But he was an idiot. And finally - have patience.
Wishing you all the success you and your family deserve.
Maureen
