What was your weight prior to the ADR?

[LeeK]

Thanks guys for opening up and sharing what I know is personal stuff. I've started back just to taking short walks the past 3 days, although uncomfortable and tiring. Have maintained "abstinence" for the past few days--kept calories about 1,000-1,200 I know how to eat to lose weight--all the rules, etc, I am just an "emotional eater"--a lifelong issue. I'm trying to turn back to the habits and spiritual-type mindsets that I had developed in the beginning that helped me lose weight the first time. I was doing so well--as far as my "healthy eating mindset"--until this summer and it all went to H*ll. I really thought I had the weight issue licked there for a while--probably my first mistake--forgetting that emotional/compulsive eating is an illness in itself.

[Mariaa]

Lee,
I'm still hoping to have multilevel ADR.
I don't have a weight problem as far as what surgeons see/say, however, I cannot lose that sort of flabby fat that comes from being inactive to the degree one can burn/tone.
Even tho I have relatively little to lose (5-10lbs) it's enough for me as I seem to foil my dietary efforts and regular exercise is laughable with me as attempts flare up my spinal problem...even PT for my right knee has taken a back seat as I can only go once to twice a week (maybe) without flaring up the spine..
I'm 5'2", weight 120lbs. ~ carry extra weight in lower torso..
I get really frustrated with the extra weight and the inactivity spawned by the lumbar probs...
I realize that this "should be" relatively easy to do given the amount of weight I want to lose, my diet definately needs fine tuning and discipline.. (I like to blame ALL problems on menopause, my back, and my meds)

[Juli]

Hello Lee,

I had a BMI of about 30 when I had my surgery. I was never told that my weight would be a problem during the surgery but knew that it would help to lose weight for my recovery. I lost some weight prior to the surgery and have lost about 10 pounds since. I did lose the weight prior to the surgery strictly through dieting as I was unable to exercise. It is very hard to do but my emotional state improved dramatically when I started agressively pursuing ADR because it gave me a goal to work towards. Previously, I felt very depressed because I felt I had no viable options.

I agree with Mariaa too, that even though I was not considered obese, probably a "real" BMI test would have showed my body fat percentage was much higher that just the chart did because of how little muscle mass I actually had due to inactivity.

I know it is tough, but just think that you do have a possible resolution to your pain with ADR and try to get excited about that and your diet is one of the things you can do to give yourself the best possible outcome.

Good luck!

[LeeK]

Thanks, guys.
Four days of DIE-ting and counting...

[nanfromsactown]

I am on day 6. I hate dieting, but I am telling myself that I need to do this for more reasons than the surgery.

[annapurna]

I think that having to watch one's diet while in pain and depressed is tough. I'm now 5-10lb heavier than I've ever been in my entire life and am not happy about it. I'm more restricted in my activities with my facet (or whatever) pain, and am puttin on weight even thought I thought that I was eating fairly healthy.

One trick I've heard of for weight loss is to eat healthy, then increase calorie burn by doing little things that you didn't do before like walking to the store or mailbox and taking the stairs instead of the elevator - nothing big, but, supposedly it all adds up. I'm hoping that this will do the trick since I'm only 38 and 5-10lb per year will really add up over the next few decades.

Best,
Laura

[Mariaa]

For women.. it seems that I used to desire saltly food prior to menopause, and now I have some desire for sweets which I really never had except probably as a child and I was very lean then and/or probably a bit underweight if I were to be plotted on a growth chart in terms of weight and height.

I agree with Laura in terms of increased activity even if just walking from parking lot space to store and not parking up front in disabled even tho we might be able to, unless of course the pain is so severe that is near to impossible.

Also, the Core exercises taught in PT or wherever you can find qualified instructors have methods of strengthening abdominal musculature w/o getting down and doing crunches or whatever else that might be difficult for one's injured spine.

Several years ago, I went to Weight Watchers to lose these same 10 lbs or so and successfully reached 112 lbs and felt great... I had bunion and two other toe surgery right after that and my back went out so the weight sort of slowly climbed back up to where I am now.

Hopefully when I find out what WC might really be doing for me re ADR if I'm still a candidate, I will focus on losing this bit of weight, or whatever surgical plans I might have to make... I dread the thought of abdominal scarring or more posterior work as '89 discectomy scar runs cross my low back (horizontal) and I'm going to be wearing a cross if I have fusion done.. (oh well..may stud it with rubies and make it pretty)..

Has anyone here tried Jenny Craig?? I'm not into buying the food that is prepackaged however, I know there are some people that have tried various such diets and I believe may have had some success... or other diets for cardiac or diabetic health? ...

At surgery, my BMI was 20, but my normal level is 20.5. You have to give yourself the best chance for long-term success with TDR, which is why heavier patients are typically not good candidates (in fact, I read that only 20% of low back pain patients are candidates for TDR for a variety of reasons). Your surgeon may not have wanted to operate based on excess tissue and blood loss, but you also have to think about the future stress on the new joint.
By the way, my weight at surgery was 140 at 6 feet tall. I am now back to my normal weight of 150.

[Alastair]

Hi GMW,
it looks as if you did a lot of research prior to your surgery and listened to what was told to you. There's still a good bit of recovery to do but it sounds as if you have got good advice, and are listening to what you are being told. Do keep us updated with your recovery.
Best,
Alastair

Hello Alistair: Suffice it to say that I am stubbornly listening to what I am told! I read your story and am very pleased to see you were able to resume your shooting sports. As a trap shooter and upland bird hunter, I can certainly understand your situation. Up until 3 years ago, I was a racing sailor on a large boat (VOR sized), and am hoping to resume sailing this summer. As I think back, I played almost every sport an American kid plays, and it is no wonder my spine was shot! Nice to hear from you. GMW