RANDOM PERSON: I think I'm going to lose weight and get in shape.
FRIEND #1: That's a good idea! We could totally go to the gym together sometime!
FRIEND #2: Good luck, I hope you stick to it!
FRIEND #3: I'd like to do that, I just wish I had the time!
FRIEND #4: Are you on the Atkin's diet or the South Beach diet?
FRIEND #5: You don't need to lose weight, you look fine the way you are!
Now, there's me:
ME: I think I'm going to lose weight and get in shape.
FRIEND #1: OH NO! It's cancer isn't it? I told your mom that she shouldn't drink all that turpentine when she was that pregnant, but she wouldn't listen to me. OMG it's cancer! I just knew it!
FRIEND #2: You should love yourself man! Don't listen to what society says you have to look like!
FRIEND #3: Why would you want to get in shape? Doesn't that mean you'd live longer? What do you have to live for anyway?
FRIEND #4: Of course you need to lose weight, but if I were you, I'd worry about those awful clothes you wear!
FRIEND #5: We'll be right over! You need help! YOU HAVE SO MUCH TO LIVE FOR!
These scenarios are purely hypothetical. You can tell because they have proper spelling and punctuation. Real internet doesn't work like that.
Anyway, I apparently give the wrong impression to people on the internet. I've said I was giving it up in the past, and I have limited myself quite a bit. I think this just reinforces that idea.
Anyway, the point is that in addition to all the other things I'm trying to do with my time, I want to become more active. This is a touchy thing. Obviously, I'm not going out jogging. I walked a half block last week and my knee is still killing me from that. My knee is like that - it doesn't allow many traditional forms of exercise or work. I have some hope that maybe losing some weight will help, but the process of getting there is the problem.
Similarly, it's amazing how many things you use your knees for when you're doing something. Even simply sitting in an office-style chair can be a challenge after a while. Well, sitting in any chair. You're like, "Hey! It's a knee injury! You can sit all day!" My advice would be to stop using exclamation points. But still, your observation is an obvious one. I thought that way too. Maybe I don't know how to sit or something. Shrug. The knee hurts and it limits what I do and how I do it. The plan, therefore, is to work around it as much as I can. If I can walk three feet at a time, then I walk three feet at a time. You can eventually walk a mile, it just takes longer.
That would be an exaggeration. I can walk farther than three feet on most days. Yeah, there've been a few days when that was a challenge, but those days were right after the surgery itself.
Now hopefully, I don't injure the knee further. It's a price I'm willing to pay if I have to, but it's not something that will help in the long run. Still, I suppose it's better to die trying than live like this. Sitting here only means that those few abilities I have left atrophy that much quicker.
- Jim
