Not taking walking for granted

This is probably a pretty boring video for you. Let me explain why I posted it.

When I got my osteoarthritis diagnosis in July, I was in a lot of pain every day. I was trying to come to terms with a degenerative condition. I was trying to wrap my head having the word disabled applied to me. I was wondering how long it'd be before I needed hip replacement surgery. I was fitted for a cane & learned how to use it. I struggled with managing a toddler, a five-year-old, my cane & carrying anything like a bag of groceries. I bought a big bottle of Tylenol for Arthritis at Costco & tried to get used to taking it preventatively, before I was going to be walking or standing a lot.

While I haven't been good about doing the physiotherapy exercises I was given, I did do one thing. I followed my doctor's advice to try to lose weight. Besides the fact that my diet wasn't as healthy as it could have been, it's basic physics: losing weight means less force exerted on my hip joint & thus, less pain. 

Hiking (!!) at Lighthouse Park, for the first time in YEARS

Five months later, I'm down 30 pounds. I rarely take Tylenol. I haven't used my cane more than once in the past two months. I often walk a few blocks to run errands & I have started going on long walks & even hikes again (with my Nordic poles).

I know there's a limit to how much better my hip will get--the damage to the cartilage can't be reversed--but I have a little more hope that I'll be able to chase my kids around while they're still little & maybe I won't be facing disability & then major surgery before they even get through elementary school. 

I also know that I won't really take walking for granted again. So don't be terribly surprised if you see more videos or photos of me just walking or hiking in my Instagram feed.

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Lighthouse Park Walk

Yesterday we went for a walk in Lighthouse Park with a friend & her dog. Of course, I brought along my Urban Poling Activator poles, & we were able to walk around the trails for an hour.

That might not seem like a big deal to you, but it's been years since I'd been to Lighthouse Park. I'm still finding it so much fun to do things like seawall walks or light hiking like this because I'd been avoiding it for so long with all the pain I had in my hip.

The combination of the nordic poles & the weight I've lost means I'm a lot more mobile now, with much less pain, after a few years of hobbling around & avoiding walks. I actually didn't even feel sore the day after our walk!

So glad I finally got a diagnosis last summer & started making changes to manage my osteoarthritis better.

Here are a few more pics we snapped in the park. I tried to capture all three of the juvenile bald eagles that were soaring around over our heads & chittering the huge trees, but I only managed to get one.

Disclaimer: I just wanted to mention that I was not compensated to write about or link to Urban Poling--I just really like the poles I bought from them!

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Eating Habit Redux: Some Results

I actually did a bit of hiking again! This is in the LSCR

As I've said before, the main reason I'm changing my eating habits is to ease the physical strain on my arthritic hip & hopefully reduce inflammation in general. Of course, I can't pretend there isn't a part of me that wouldn't like to buy a smaller clothing size or fit into some of my favourite pre-kids clothing better. But the reason I'm actually sticking with this huge change is pain. My hip really hurts every day.

On top of the food stuff, I'm doing my physio exercises (mainly core strengthening & working on my transverse abdominus specifically) & taking a few supplements (Vitamin D, Calcium, Fish oil for Omegas) too.

The pain is starting to get better. I find I can walk a little farther without as much pain. I even did some hiking on the weekend on a tour of the Seymour Watershed--more on that soon! I'm still popping ibuprofen & acetaminophen regularly to deal with soreness after I do anything much, but it's better than hobbling & gasping from the sharp pain when I move my legs which was where I was at on flare-up days in the past two years or so.

Secondary to that, but maybe what you're wondering about, is how much weight have I lost? I'm losing faster than I expected--but I'm not starving myself. I don't count calories but I feel full after every meal & I'm eating 3-5 times a day, with lots of fruit & veggies in there. I'm not feeling tired either, so I think I'm getting enough calories. Which means I must have been eating so much more than I needed before. Yikes.

So yeah, the numbers: I'm down nine pounds in 18 days, lost about two inches at the waist & one at the hips. My clothes are fitting better, or falling off in some cases. I looked at my belly in the mirror the other day before a shower & was happy to see it's starting to look a little more like it did years ago. Still got my mama tiger stripes though! :)

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