I’ve finally come to the realization that I’m getting old. No big surprise there. In fact, I’ve sort of steeled myself to that eventuality since I turned 20 or so. But this fact is not much fun–not much fun at all…
Over the Fourth of July week when my employer shuts down their offices for a vacation, I started changing my eating habits in the hopes that I can begin seriously losing some weight. I lost 5 pounds that week, but have already plateaued and am now only losing about 1 pound a week or staying neutral.
Which, of course, makes complete sense because diet alone will not do it–I need to incorporate exercise. So I started that too with some ab exercises and things I can do at home with a pair of 10-pound dumbbells I have. I still haven’t worked up enough ambition/courage to go down and begin using the fitness room in my condo complex yet.
But this is only the beginning and I’m trying not to get discouraged. It has taken me 8 years to put on the 40 pounds of extra weight/fat that I want to lose, so it’s not going to be something that is resolved quickly. It would certainly help if I could increase my cardio exercise–maybe even back to the levels I was accustomed to in the days when I was playing around with triathlon.
And there’s the rub. During the past 2 years or so, my old age has begun setting in on my joints. This time, my right knee has begun bothering me (I had surgery for a torn meniscus in my left knee in 2006). In February, I had it X-rayed during my annual physical (with nothing showing up), but now I can’t walk for more than 10 minutes without experiencing some pretty severe pain. And this is tough, since up until last year I was accustomed to walking 5-10 miles every day for fun and fitness.
Which brings me to my final point: on Monday morning, I’m going in for an MRI, which I certainly hope reveals something and will lead to a solution. Being essentially unable to engage in the most basic of human activities–walking–without pain is seriously unnerving and upsetting for me. It will seriously impact the rest of my life if I can’t get it resolved. I have this feeling that my future health and well-being are hinging on the results.
Wish me luck!
(As an aside, I just about flipped when I found out what my out-of-pocket will be to have this done–$884.00! Which immediately begged two questions: 1 – Just why the HELL am I paying for medical insurance, and 2 – If that’s what I’m having to pay, then just how much more are they charging to my insurance company?)
journey, not destination 
Good luck with your new diet/exercise schedule and I hope everything turns out okay with your knee.
After letting myself go in terms of diet and exercise in high school (which is where I gained most of my weight) I’ve been incorporating exercise into my daily routine for the past few years. First during my two years at UCI using the gym at the apartment complex I stayed at, and after I graduated, I bought a used elliptical and have been using it ever since. Unfortunately I can only do about 20 minutes on the elliptical before I get too tired, but that’s about a mile’s worth of distance. I then follow up with a few minutes of stretches and yoga. On weekends, if the weather’s nice, I’ll instead briskly walk/jog around the neighborhood for 45-60 minutes. I’m not sure how much good it does compared to people who work out vigorously at the gym or jog for an hour a day, but it’s something. I’ve been working on my diet slightly but not as much as I should. I just loving eating too much! =P I’ve mostly been about the same weight for a while so the exercise is probably just enough to keep weight away rather than make me lose any. My sedentary lifestyle of watching and writing about anime doesn’t help either (I move around a little at work but not much).
Coincidentally, my mom has also recently been feeling the pangs of getting old. She just went in for a check-up because she’s been feeling really crummy lately. We’ve discovered a while back that I can give her free massages and they actually work whenever she has certain aches and pains. Getting old is one thing I don’t think about much now but I know it will be here before I’m ready!