Shaping Up

One of the tasks I have given myself during my convalescence is planning my comeback. Physically speaking, that is. Part of that comeback will necessarily be made possible with the help of lower back exercises designed to alleviate lower back pain. That's just part of it; I also will have to be much more active.

But I have obstacles to being more active. Wearing crappy shoes a few years back for too long resulted in permanent nerve damage in the 2nd and 3rd toes on my right foot (Morton's Neuralgia) and the formation of painful scar tissue between two of my right foot's metatarsals (Morton's Neuroma). This means I have to wear shoes that fit not one, but two separate special criteria. They can't crowd my toes, either on the ends or the sides, or terrific pain is the result. Also, they must have adequate arch support, with, ideally, and extra support that sits right under the metatarsals, spreading them apart and lessening the pain caused by the scar tissue. There are shoes that fit this criteria, believe it or not; softbed Birkenstock sandals such as the Arizona and Milano fit the bill perfectly, until the unique shaping abilities of the cork footbed result in a perfect reflection of the sole of your foot. You would think this would be prime time for a Birk, and for most people it is. However, by the time the footbed completely conforms to the shape of my foot, there is no longer support for the metatarsals, so I have to add an extra pad for them. Which now is itself worn down. Sigh. I was seeing a podiatrist, but a year ago I stopped working in the same city as the podiatrist; I've only recently obtained a good reference for a local podiatrist. I'll be seeing him next week to get replacement inserts for the worn ones. What a pain in the, er, foot!

Needless to say, Birk sandals are not ideal for exercise, and exercise I will have to do, if I want to lose weight, which I think for the sake of my back and heart has to happen, and soon. So before I can begin an exercise program, I need to find a shoe that meets this criteria. If and when I come up with a good solution, I'll post it.

Of course, some exercise does not require putting full weight on the feet; swimming and biking come to mind. Unfortunately, I do not swim, and I'm not sure flailing in the water would have the same benefit as swimming. Although I understand water aerobics is great for people with foot and back problems and arthritis, so that is a possibilty. So, water aerobics and bicycling, so far. I love playing both tennis and racquetball, but until I see a new podiatrist, that's out.

I'm trying to drum up five ways of becoming more active. Why five? Well, I liked the looks of Jonny Bowden's Shape Up! I like the idea that most plans make all the decisions for you, and we subjects tend to rebel against having to constantly do what we're told to do. Bowden's program supposedly puts the decision making in your hands, so I'm curious to see if I respond to this one any better than the several plans I have tried but couldn't adhere to if my life depended on it. And it does.

The first exercise is to pick five ways I can be more active. So far I have riding bikes with the family, playing tennis and racquetball with the boys, and checking into a water aerobics class. I suppose one of the five ought to be weight lifting, but I hate weight lifting and dread having to go to the local Y's weight room to do it. There are too many protein-powder-packin' wanna-be pro wrestler types that frequent that place. So that one I still have to figure out.

Of course, a pretty big problem for me is what I eat to begin with. I love many different foods and pretty much freely partake, healthy or not. Odd that a man would make it to 44 with little sense of how to curb a voracious appetite, but there it is.
Anyway, I am going to give a healthier way of life a try, and post my triumphs and tribulations here.