Weigh in - and Know Thy Knees!

Weigh in day # 2 for the Beach Challenge and I was not surprised to see less than stellar results. I was 203.6 last Friday, and today I'm 202.4. Yeah yeah, a loss is a loss. I'm fine with it, but am thinking perhaps I need to temper my fervent desire for a tacky beach souvenir down a few notches. I'm really happy to have lost anything.

I went to visit a close friend last night who had both knees replaced last Thursday. She's done well with her recovery, and is now at a rehab facility for about a week, doing intense physical and occupational therapy (who knew putting one's own socks on could be such a challenge!?) and practicing activities of daily living like getting up stairs, in and out of cars, and such.

This friend, like me, has battled with her weight for years. Up and down. In the past couple of years she's added more pounds because of her true inability to move much at all due to the horrendous status of her knees. So she's optimistic that once she's recovered and therapied back to optimal function, she'll be able to do more, and stress eat less.

After we were talking awhile, she remarked that when I walked in her room, she noticed I looked "good", and thought "she's keeping her weight off". I chuckle-choked a bit and said actually I'd put on a few from my lowest weight back in November. Nice to hear that at least I'm looking like I'm holding my own, even if I know how precarious the holding feels.

I then said that she was surely going to have lost a few pounds when she got home after this, and that when walking with the walker I noticed she looked "narrower", which she did. I went on and asker her what the new knees are made of...and she, "Titanium, and they're very heavy. I'm 10 pounds higher on the scale now!" She's so frustrated! That would play with my eating disordered head big time. Turns out she can set off metal detectors and will need some kind of special paperwork to fly in the future due to her packing titanium knees! With all the baby-boomers getting joints replaced, I guess there's a lot of this going on that I never thought about before.

I asked if they feel heavy or different, and she said no. She did not that the way they do feel different is they don't hurt in the way they did before. She has post surgical pain and muscle stiffness, but that's nothing compared to what this gal went through for a long time. I'm really happy that she's finally done this for herself because it will likely change her life hugely. But slowly.

Speaking of knees, I mentioned I hadn't exercised as much this week and was definitely going to do a long walk yesterday. It never happened because I had to stay late at work, had an appointment, and then had to do an early dinner so I could go see the friend. Well, this morning, my knees feel as stiff and tight as if I'd been cryo-preserved for ten years and was just now thawing. I know it's due to the lack of movement. I have my gym clothes with me and am going to go bike the second I get off today. And hopefully a dog walk will also be in the cards if it isn't raining. Not gonna overdo, but with arthritis, the daily movement is vital to keep the joints lubricated and functioning. Every single treatment plan for arthritis lists movement and exercise at the top of the list! They also note that it actually decreases pain, and I have found that to be true.

They also all list weight loss as a very important tool to decrease the pressure on joints. Read this from an Orthopedic suregeon: "Carrying extra weight is problematic for your knees. This is because for each extra pound you carry, your knees feel 4 or 5 pounds. So, if you're 10 pounds overweight, your knees think that you are carrying 40to 50 extra pounds! If you're running or jumping, the forces across your joints are even higher. Small amounts of weight are amplified across your joints and that‘s why it can be damaging to the joints. This is why a small amount of weight loss can go a long way in keeping your knees healthy."

Okay - I didn't mean to turn this post into an arthritis Primer. But how interesting that each pound results in 4-5 extra pounds of impact on the knees! That's pretty startling. Hopefully motivating. I'd really like to post a big loss next week. Happy Friday fellow bloggers!