Getting there

Hi Nadine,
It was reading about your success with an anti-inflammatory diet that helped me to realise that food had a LOT to do with my pain. So thank-you! That is what is so valuable about this site. You pick up so much information and some of it is just the right bit for you.

Interestingly I also think some of those foods were not good for my bone density either. Too much red meat and too much salt is something in particular that the dietician I saw said could be harmful to your bone health. It all starts to come together like pieces of a puzzle!

I know just what you mean about feeling intimidated about going to a gym. My 'gym' is actually at the local CWA hall. It is just a bunch of people with bone density issues getting together with a coach (also studying exercise physiology) and completing a 45 minute session a couple of times a week. The program is designed by an exercise physiologist and an Olympic weightlifter based on research into the best way to improve bone density. The weight program is all about strengthening the back and hips, the main places that people have a problem with. We also work on balance and core strength.

I only started in August last year and can now deadlift 55kg and squatlift 40kg. I don't really look any different (certainly not like those weight lifters in a gold bikini haha) but I feel stronger and have no back pain now. I also think I have more energy from the extra muscle!

I think a big part of it is how much fun we have doing it. I come out feeling happy and that is good for your health too! I wish that it was easy for everyone to find somewhere like this. The facility (The Bone Clinic) I do this through also have an online program called Onero.  

I guess I have been fortunate to find this available in my area but it is all fairly new. My hope is that the research they are producing will lead to more programs like this in more areas around Australia.

Thanks once again for sharing your diet success on here. It has probably helped more people than you realise! Take care. Deanne xxx

Deanne said:

Hey @melclarity

I find I have less pain if I eat lots of green leafy foods, ginger and turmeric. Foods that cause a reaction of pain for me are anything with refined sugar, salt, tomatoes and red meat. Since I have adjusted my diet I have a lot less pain. 

Hey Deanne, Great update and great to hear you are doing so well. I am on the same eating plan and have found it has made a huge difference to my pain. I threw a dinner party last night, had a few glasses of wine and a dish with chutney (heaps of sugar) and now I am paying for it today with bad joint pain. 

I've always been interested in weightlifting but feel too intimidated about doing this at a gym. You mentioned you do this with an awesome group. Is that in a gym or somewhere else?

Nadine

Deanne, I hear you! Yes Im having trouble with memory also and it is worse in a stressful environment that requires you to think on your feet and be a psychologist and behaviouralist all at once!!!! Working with your daughter sounds ideal! and great for the two of you, lovely! Sorry to hear of your husbands eye sight! I'll have to keep my eyes open next year for the next new beginning :smile: Hugs Melinda xo

Deanne, how wonderful to be at the cusp of 4 years!!! You certainly achieve a lot and your positivity is brilliant. It's so fantastic that you get so much benefit from your weight lifting and enjoy it as much as you do. Well done on changing your work because it's quite a daunting prospect and it's excellent that you have such a good relationship with your daughter that enables you to do that. It also must be excellent for her to know that she has such a wonderful employee :smiley: So sorry to hear about your husbands vision I can only hope for you both that the deterioration is incredibly slow and that research provides some treatment options soon. Wishing you all the best. Xx 

Well done Deanne - great strategies - loosing weight is on my list for this year. 

All the the best for your continued success and wellbeing

Regards

Chris

We have a lot in common, Melinda. While my children were young I spent 3 years working with special needs children, mainly Autistic, before returning to teaching.
Since having bc I have struggled to return to teaching. Trouble with memory is a big problem for me and it gets much worse if I feel under pressure. I have been doing a little admin work for my husband's business but that is mostly 'unpaid'. This year I have decided that part time work for my daughter is the way to go. She designs and makes stickers for planning diaries. All I have to do is package orders. Gives her more time to design and make them. January is one of her busiest months so I have plenty of work ahead of me! Luckily we get on really well and she is a patient 'boss'.

Thanks Deanne! Im going to try cooking more with those things too!! I love that you changed your job too! Im an aide in an Autism Specific School and Im really struggling. I have 1 more year of income protection, so I work 3 days but Im also having a mastectomy, so thankfully I'll be fine. But I have to plan for the following year and I have NO IDEA what Im going to do if I leave this work,its scary! I have lots of skills, my background is PA/Office then 8 years with special needs. Uuugh really have to sort it next year as I need income as am a single parent but the work has become too stressful. So I loved the idea that you work with your daughter, what sort of business does she have?Hugs Melinda xo

Thank-you @"Michelle R" 
Your encouragement and support has made an enormous difference to my life in the last few years. It has helped me to get up and try again when things have not worked out and also inspired me to believe that I could get over the hurdles.
Yes, it really knocked us when the second eye specialist told us there was nothing more they could do for Tony's sight and that the damage was to both eyes. We had previously believed it to be just the one! But we just keep our fingers crossed that the deterioration will be slow and that he will have a lot more time to do the things he loves that require good vision. You never know maybe they will come up with something that will help in the future.
I feel so very lucky to have a wonderful supportive family that understand my strong desire to return to Nepal and be there to witness Sharon's return to Base Camp. This is the life she loves and loves to share with others. It will be just as significant as her summit of Mt Everest in my eyes.
5 years in April will be a very significant milestone for you. I hope you have something very special planned! Wishing you a very happy and healthy 2017 too! Deanne xxx

Well done, Deanne.  You always give things 110% and deserve all the successes you have had.  I am so sorry that your husband's sight won't improve over time - that is really rotten.  Good luck with your training and I hope the trek with Sharon is easier for you this year - you are certainly ahead on fitness.  I am coming up to 5 years in April, still do gym most days and have kept the weight right down to pre-diagnosis levels.  Agree that food is ultra-important and intend trying the curcumin supplement for pain in my neck at night. Wishing you a very happy 2017! xxx Michelle

Yes MEL, I use ginger, turmeric and garlic in cooking almost daily. I have also recently began taking a supplement made from turmeric called Curcumin. It seems to have improved the pain I had in my hands. My GP said there was no harm in taking it for me but seemed sceptical that it would do any good. However my osteopath was all for it and said there is a lot of research to show it can help with joint pain which is what I get. I think it is helping so will keep taking it I think. Sounds like your exercise physiologist is going to be a big help to you. Good luck with it  :)