A couple months ago I set a goal for myself to be 100 lbs by January 17th, the date of my 6 month follow up appointment. Gaining and keeping weight on has been a struggle for me my entire life. It's a common issue in those with Crohn's Disease. Going through chemotherapy and a major operation (where 11 lbs of bone and muscle was removed) has only added to the struggle with my weight. Before you're tempted to think, "oh how I wish my problem was not being able to gaining weight", would you really want to switch lives with me?! Didn't think so.
In addition to making a conscious effort to eat more often and larger portions, I attribute most of my recent weight gain to physio. I lost so much muscle mass over the last 2 years. You could see the physical difference in me long before I had a diagnoses, the pain was going on for months before that. I've been going to physio 5-6 times a week for 3 months now. I'm there for an hour every day and it's comparable to being at the gym with a personal trainer. It would be impossible for me not to have gain muscle and therefore put on weight by now.
I'm happy to report, I weighed in at 101 lbs yesterday. That is the most I have ever weighed at an appointment in the 15 months I've been going. If that isn't big enough, consider this. My average weight over the previous 6-7 years before this all started was about 105-107 lbs. If they had not removed 11 lbs in my surgery that would put me currently at about 112 lbs. So I'm pleased.
I am extremely happy with how much weight I've gained so far, at least 15 lbs just in the last 3 months, and I anticipate putting on a little more. I plan to continue going to physio at least 5 times a week for the foreseeable future as well as play sledge hockey once a week for 2 hours. Keeping this up should really help me gain a few more pounds.
Heffer ;)
ReplyDelete