Hi Gang,

I've been forced to give up my training entirely, at least for the time being. This is very difficult for me to accept after all the progress I've made in the last 3 months. I'd almost gotten under the 200lb mark (from 248) when I found out that my recent back problems are due to some form of degenerative disorder. After several months of (failed) treatment and misdiagnoses, I'm being referred to yet another specialist. A CT scan could only reveal something 'very odd and unusual'.

I want to thank EVERYONE for all your help, support and kind words during my stay here. But the best way I can thank everyone (including John), is to NOT GIVE UP. I'll do my best to do WHATEVER IT TAKES to find out what is going on, beat it, and get back on the fitness horse.

I'm going to continue with my clean eating, even if I can't do my cardio or weight training anymore.

You guys have been a caring, supportive community and I want to be able to give as much of that back as I can. I'll continue to lurk and keep you guys posted of any positive changes.

John (or moderator), feel free to move this to an appropriate forum - I wasn't sure where this thread would be best started.

Best regards to ALL of you...

Ken

I'm really sorry to hear that. Could crossing fingers possibly make the doctors come up with good news?

Anyway, with sticking to the clean and healthy diet you are still able to loose weight, it just takes longer. I have lost 11 lbs the past months without exercise, and that even with not being completely strict with the diet. It might be even harder on you, with your problems to think about.

I do hope the very best for you, and look forward to any positive information on your health. :tu:

I'm sorry to hear that as well. Best of health and success - you'll be in our thoughts and prayers. I have done quite an extensive bit of research into nutritional support for degenerative disorders, so if you would like some information, feel free to message me privately. I am not an expert myself, but there are some doctors I know who have had incredible results with various conditions addressing diet and nutrition, like Drs. Julian Whitaker, Ray Strand, and Ladd McNamara to name a few. I always feel like its best to be open to all options!

In Him,

Jeremy Likness

We wish you the best Ken. The weight you've already lost, and the clean eating, may prove to be very beneficial.

I'm sorry to hear about your disorder. I hope everything goes well for you in getting it taken care of. Your tenacity is an inspiration. My prayers go out to you. God Bless, Jeremy

Your in my prayers. God Bless and good luck.

You will be in my thoughts as well, Ken. I think it's great that you've committed yourself to eating clean even if you cannot work out. So many people would use this experience as an excuse to give up completely. It shows that you've got what it takes to succeed.

Good luck, seriously.

I'm so sorry to hear this, Ken. You've made great progress and it's good that you are are going to figure out a way to overcome this problem and get back on track as soon as you can. I wish you the best, and hope you'll continue to visit here and let us know how you are doing.

Good luck to you, and best wishes.

We wish you the best Ken. The weight you've already lost, and the clean eating, may prove to be very beneficial.
One of my favorite quotes is "God works in mysterious ways". Whatever the problem may be, you are in better physical shape and are in a better position to beat it. You've already been helping yourself and may not have realized it at the time.

I've been through my fair share of tough times over the years. No matter the problem or how difficult it may seem at the time, I've noticed that I'm better off when I come out the other side. It's tough, but I keep reminding myself of that when I'm going through any kind of crisis.

Please keep us up to date.

David...

I'm sorry to hear this, Ken. I hope you recover soon- Best of luck to you! Please keep us posted :)

Ken, your situation sucks, but it is a weightloss setback that can be overcome. Clean eating an a caloric deficit alone should be able to bring you to your goals, even if your ability to sweat is greatly hampered.

My girlfriend was WAY too busy last year (she worked 20 hours straight at times to produce a demo reel), but she adopted the same diet sans exercise I had and managed to do extremely well, given the circumstances.

Exercise when available, but be a pitbull when it comes to holding on to eating clean. It ain't over yet.

I'm going to echo what Sludge just said... Eat as smart as you can and find ways to workout even if it is little stuff like a hand grippie strengther or parking at the far end of parking lots. Never give up!

I hope that your condition is something that can be cured or at least staved off with some sort of treatment.

Wishing you the best, and a super speedy recovery so you can get back on your program!

I'm truly sorry to hear of this, Ken. I hope all turns out well. All the best.

Ditto to what everyone else has said, buddy. Good luck.

I don't know if this will be of any help but I can relate a story I had with as you say a degenerative disorder of the c4-c5 spine. I had back and shoulder pain for years and I was seeing a chiropractor that could fix it temporarly. One time it got so bad he made it even worse. What was happening was my disk in my spine was being compressed and the nerves were being squished on one side, the nerves would swell up and never heal as they were larger when inflamed. Nothing worked so I went to a neurologist and got a MRI, a specialist from rodgester hospital told me this was what was happening. It was not bad enough to do surgery but I found the answer to the problem and have been pain free for 2 years. This pain at times was completly runing my life and one day I had to go to the emergency room and get a shot of demeral.

First let me say if you do have an inflamed nerve in your spine a steroid pack can totally reduce the inflamation so it can heal, I told this to another person I play games with online as he could hardly function because of the pain, he asked a doctor to perscribe it and it worked.

What I found was an inversion bed, or just using inversion boots and 20 minutes of hanging upside down stretches out the spine and allows fluid to get back into the disks, any time i even get a slight backach I just pop on the inversion bed and presto I am cured. When you hang upside down you just can't believe how much gravity is pulling your body down, we don't notice it as we are use to it in an upright position. The inversion bed allows you to go at any angle and even hang free upside down, nice for doing ab work too.

After the chiropractor I saw a sports medicin doctor and he had no clue what was wrong. I did go to the minnesota spine clinic for some theropy and they used traction, and gave me excercises to do, one problem the doc told me there was I had more chest muscle than back muscles and my posture was bad because my shoulders were being pulled forward by my chest muscles. He had me do more back muscle excercises like lat pulls. Standing in a dorway with your hands on the sides of the opening and steppin forwardstretching wour chest muscles out was one. Pulling your shoulders backand down especially when working on computers and driving keeps the openings apart and less nerve pinching occours.

Wish you the best and if that is the problem I would see the spine people.

Dont worry Ken....U will be fine soon and will be able kick your
ass again... :db:

I think now you should concentrate on how to maitain your weight..

I dont know how seroius your problem is... but if you are allowed to
walk.... try to walk 15 - 20 Mins atleast 5 - 6 times in a day.. just
after you finish your meals..

Try to think of all possibilities.... even if there is one use it...
Dont let loose buddy...

And Take Care.....

Good gravy,

This is OVERWHELMING support, encouragement, and kind words. I've printed off a copy of these comments to help me through some of the tough times I'm sure I'll be facing.

This community is truly second to none. In the process of your decisions and efforts to change and improve your bodies, you've also made yourselves BETTER people in general. The personalities of all on here are well-rounded, good natured caring people.

I'm going to beat the "unfortunately"'s and the "I'm sorry, but"'s, from the doctors and specialists. I'm going to adapt and overcome.

I'll keep you all posted.

<wipes tear from corner of eye with pinky finger>

Thanks, people!

Ken