As I mentioned in my previous Quaker Hearth Health Challenge post, I recently joined the MapMyFitness Quaker Challenge. After I injured my knee last year, I sort of gave up on my quest for fitness. The last seven months have been fraught with joint pain and frustration. When it hurts to move, you tend to not do it. KWIM? I had made it down to 163.5 pounds, and then climbed back up to 195. It hurts to put that out there. To admit that kind of defeat.

I joined the MapMyFitness challenge because I knew I had to start moving again. Regardless of how much it hurts. Immobility atrophies more than just muscle… it atrophies the will. So, I got off the couch and started moving. Yesterday, I received some answers I have been waiting for, when I was finally able to see the orthopedic surgeon. Fortunately, I do NOT have to undergo the knife. My x-rays were good. There is good space between my joints, and no spurs or what not.

Unfortunately, I was not given a clean bill of knee health. My diagnosis? Benign Joint Hypermobility Syndrome (also incorrectly called “double jointedness). BJHS essentially means that the ligaments in my joints stretch farther than is normal, placing me at higher risk for injury, joint instability, and early onset osteoarthritis (I was diagnosed with degenerative disc disease at the ripe old age of 21). As the Ortho was doing the Beighton score assessment, in which he tested the elasticity of several joints, it clicked and SO many other things (sublux’d hips, shoulder dislocation, my weird ability to bend thumbs backward to my forearm) began to make sense.

The doctor basically said that it is imperative that I get in shape (which I am working toward) and stay in shape. Essentially, my muscles have to be able to compensate for the laxity in the ligaments, so the fitter I am, the less problems I *should* have with the BJHS.

Now, I have even more reason to get fit. My hearth health is important to me, and so is my joint health! While I am only getting about 6000 steps a day right now before my knee gives out, it is better than the 4000 steps a day I was getting. Slow and steady wins the race, right? Speaking of slow and steady… since my last post, I have lost two pounds, bringing my weight back down to 183 pounds. Twelve pounds lost this year. The Ortho seems to think I should be back on the elliptical by the fourth or fifth physical therapy visit. Without exercise (just with my calorie counting) I am slated to reach my goal weight on July 4th… Independence Day baby! I think it apropos that I should make goal by a day that celebrates Freedom! Oh yah!

I’m looking forward to liberating my health this year… how about you?

February is National Heart Health month. Even if it’s only 5 more minutes a day, what extra step will you take to stay fit?

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