Red Hat Society

[happylandings1]

Oh did I mention the drs all said I would not be able to ride again, and that the knee will never be able to function properly again without surgery? They too are wrong, I have ridden but have to mount by laying across the horse to get my legs over,,, and my doctor is amazed at how stubborn I am about having surgery but also how far I have come with using the leg,,, I can scooch down getting up is the hard thing,,, so no deep knee bends for me ,,,, yet!

[enelkay]

Oh, my! Believe it or not I know how you feel. I grew up out west and learned to ride a horse shortly after I learned how to walk. When I moved to New York I worked exercising and helping to train horses at a riding stable until I, too, had a riding accident -- horse slipped on some hidden ice, and thank heaven he wasn't injured, but I was, quite badly. I managed to get the horse up and led him back to the stables, walking on a leg that had been badly slashed by his thrashing hoof, and was pouring blood.

My injury wasn't as bad as yours, and the only thing that remained of it six months later was a scar from ankle to knee that will never go away. But although I'd have been able to ride again, my husband was transferred during my recovery, and we left "horse country" and never went back. I rode rental hacks occasionally since, but don't find them to my taste, so I haven't ridden at all in years.

I wish I had some great ideas for you. My first suggestion is don't believe the doctor who told you you'll never ride again. Too many people have been told "you'll never be able to (whatever)" and it really meant "it's so difficult I don't think you really want to try that hard." To me its sounds as though you are willing to try as hard as necessary!

From what you said your problem seems to be with the knee, and I'm not sure what kind of exercises you can do to strengthen a knee, or if you could do them. Have you tried Googling "knee" and "exercise" to see if you can find anything on the Web? You'll probably want to work on both strength and range of motion. And don't hesitate to use tiny little low-impact exercises that don't appear that they'd do a darned thing. If you read the beginning of this thread you'll see that several months ago I could barely walk. A couple of people suggested some "baby steps" that got me to where I was able to progress to more intense ones. At almost 70 years of age, I may never walk the way I used to, two miles at a time just for fun. But I've gotten to where I can do everyday walking -- housework, cooking and baking, laundry, grocery shopping, etc. -- which is something I thought I'd never be able to do again.

I hope that someone who has some knowledge and can offer you more than encouragement will step in here to help. And I pray that the time will come when you can put your foot into that stirrup and swing the other leg over the horse. I know how much it must mean to you.

[happylandings1]

Thank you so much Nadine for the encouragement and understanding. I am determined, and have come so far,,, I won't quit now,,, and this excess weight doesn't help, I believe that the LC lifestyle is for me, though I do love my soda, I know that with each bottle it is poison to my body, anything else I can give up easy, but it's been a week and I have continued with water, and it is getting easier.

Today we went to the Olive Garden for soup and salad, and instead of breadstix and croutons we got extra salad, and one bowl of soup, yes we ate up the full days carbs but I did feel good about it, theirs 2 carbs in the salad dressing per 2 TBS that they use,,, the soup is what ate up the carbs,,, tonight for supper it is a burger with mustard, and a few spinach leaves,

I usually have one hearty meal a day, and two very low carb meals a day, makes counting carbs easier,,, today I got the first atkins book at a used book store, I felt like I was holding gold! Only paid 99 cents! I practically know it word for word, but it's nice to be able to carry with me,,,

Sounds like you have made such great strides since you first started and when I read this thread I thought, wow I have found others that really appreciate and understand the low carb way of life,,, seems there are so many doubters out there, and hard to find people that believe.

I have to say one of my biggest allies is my horse, I have a little anglo and when I need encouragement I head to the barn, just being there makes the world go away, I can understand how you would miss having one but ya know what, I wouldn't give up hope yet,,, I do have a friend that is 75 and lost her beloved horse 3 years ago, he was 27, and yep she just found a nice little morgan that was made just for her! she doesn't do a lot of riding but she does drive, and is enjoying the crap right out of her.... I hope I am as active in my 70's as you ladies are,,,

Jeanne

[enelkay]

I don't know how much overweight you are, Jeanne, but I'm sure you realize that your horse will much appreciate carrying a nice, slender, light you, too. If you're shedding some pounds on low-carb, keep it up! You'll get to the point where it's second nature to pass up the carby stuff.

Perhaps I can help with a suggestion on losing the soda habit. Years ago when I was on induction I went off the stuff cold turkey and drank nothing but my morning coffee and a cup of green tea in the afternoon (I love green tea!) and forced water down the rest of the day. I never did really get used to the water, though. So when I went into the next phase I got some sugar-free syrup in fruit flavors, and added a tablespoon of the syrup to each large (12-oz.) glass of water. Now I find it very easy to drink plenty of my orange or peach or raspberry or blueberry or lemon-lime water. And I keep Pepsi One in cans on hand, and allow myself one can every weekend. I enjoy it a lot more now that I only have one a week.

One more suggestion I might make. I don't know where you live or whether you have access to a swimming pool, but if you do spending time in the water is the best exercise I've found, not just for the legs but for every part of the body. I'm lucky enough to live in Central Florida where we have swimming weather for a good part of the year. And to have a small pool in our back yard.If I didn't have the pool, though, I'd manage to go to the park nearby to get some exercise, or even join a gym that has a pool.

Anything you do in the pool (or at the beach if you have one nearby) -- even just moving your arms and legs around, or walking in waist-deep water -- is excellent exercise because of the gentle resistance of the water. I found some good exercises by Googling "water exercise" and "pool exercise," and for the last couple of months I've been spending half an hour a day, three to five days a week, in the pool. The first ten minutes I concentrate on exercising my legs, and after that I relax and just tread water lazily, or my husband and I toss a beach ball around. And it's done wonders for my walking ability. And for the balance and coordination I'd lost while I was unable to do much of anything. I've gained three pounds since I started doing the pool workouts, but it's all muscle -- something I never thought I'd have much of again!

We're headed off for a week's vacation starting later today, but I hope when I get back I'll find that some other folks have joined the conversation here. And that you've found some sort of exercise routine that helps you.

[zoelife7]

I am 56 years old. I am in fairly good shape as in avoiding serious illness. I am a nurse tech in a large metropolitan hospital, which keeps me running up and down the hallways. Not literally, actually I walk many, many times, up and down those long halls.My best advice is do what you can do every day: A couple years ago I caught my foot in a plastic gown wrapper. I hit the floor on my knee with a thud. My knee is just now getting so much better and it has been two years.

[happylandings1]

Well it's been two weeks and I have lost 15 pounds,, and even with just that small weight loss some of the swelling has gone out of that leg,,, my ankle has gone down and I can walk a little better,, sometimes I still have pain at the end of the day when I have walked way too much,,, but just having the swelling down a little helps a lot....

[happylandings1]

Good morning folks,,, I was just checking in this morning to say I am 18 pounds down and it feels like 50! My left leg is almost back to the same size as the other which isn't small but getting there,,, I can actually see and feel the size difference already,,, To top it all off I got married on Friday and resisted all the temptation,,, not an easy feat may I say, but feel so good that I got by all that great food,,,, I am exercising more and hope that I can acheive my goal of another 15 pounds in the next three weeks,,,
How has everyone else been doing? Now that the nice weather is here I hope everyone is getting out and enjoying some of that Vitamin D shining down on us,,,
Have a great day,,,

[enelkay]

Originally Posted by happylandings1

Good morning folks,,, I was just checking in this morning to say I am 18 pounds down and it feels like 50! My left leg is almost back to the same size as the other which isn't small but getting there,,, I can actually see and feel the size difference already,,, To top it all off I got married on Friday and resisted all the temptation,,, not an easy feat may I say, but feel so good that I got by all that great food,,,, I am exercising more and hope that I can acheive my goal of another 15 pounds in the next three weeks,,,
How has everyone else been doing? Now that the nice weather is here I hope everyone is getting out and enjoying some of that Vitamin D shining down on us,,,
Have a great day,,,

Jeanne, congrats on the marriage, and on the weight loss. I'm so glad you're doing well. Now that you're on the way you may find that your weight loss slows down a little at times and speeds up a bit at others. Just keep it going in the right direction and don't let those temporary slowdowns get you down. That and the exercise will get you and that horse together again before too long!

My walking is a lot better, too. I haven't been around much because I'm working, doing some research for a writer friend of mine. It takes a lot of time, and since most of it is either online or in books, I'm spending far too much time sitting! But with the nice, warm weather here I've been able to spend half an hour in the pool most days, at least ten minutes of it doing water exercises. The first several weeks I thought I'd die! But my legs are working a lot better now, and my upper arms (the other part I'm targeting) don't hang with fat and loose skin any more. I'm beginning to actually see a little muscle definition!

I'm still doing the chair and bed exercises from up in the early part of this thread. And this week I started using my treadmill again -- two minutes of slow walking three times a week. I plan to add a minute a day every week if possible until I get to ten minutes, then keep it at that.

You keep the good work, and I plan to, too!

[happylandings1]

whew seems like forever since I have been here,,,, but the weight is coming off,,, at last weigh in I was down quite a bit,,, I am seeing the size loss now and I am sleeping less and way more active,,, walking is getting better and now I am looking at climbing on the horse to see how well I can do,,, of course it will be short rides at first but hopefully it will continue,,, I have been working out more and seem to be doing great,,, I work as a switchboard operator so sitting is my job also,,,, I am now looking to change jobs and hopefully will be able to be moving around more,,, Mondays are my weigh in days,,, and I am sooooooo excited to get on that scale I have to fight myself not to do so early,,,, my goal for the month of June is to see a number 1 as a beginning number,,, my reward will be a nice long walk on the beach after a nice steak dinner with salad and for dessert I think I will have 1/4 cup of blueberries,,,, ya hooo,,,,,