Posts Tagged ‘sleep apnea’
Workouts
I saw a bit of a documentary about the world’s heaviest man, Manuel Uribe, who is also on a quest to drop his weight (in fact, if he hits his goal, he’ll be in the Guinness Book of World Records for most weight lost by a person).
He also had a medical condition that came on when he weighed just a bit more than I did at the start of my journey, which was essentially a large benign tumor on his inner thigh. This condition, very possibly brought on or made worse by his weight, made walking for Manuel extremely painful and difficult.
Now, fortunately, I’ve been able to avoid most of the diseases associated with obesity (diabetes, heart trouble, etc.), with the exception of sleep apnea. But, I did, and still do to some extent, have a problem in common with Manuel: Being unable to work out. Weight machines and treadmills, the most common items, simply are not designed to accommodate people of extreme bulk and weight.
Fortunately, I was able to get started with walking, as sidewalks will accommodate just about anybody. My walks were short at first, but just long enough, 20 minutes or so, to get my heart going at a good clip and help my accelerate the successes I was making with my food choices. I’ve always been a good swimmer as well, and swimming has the extra advantage of taking some weight and pressure off of the joints.
But inability to exercise is a huge challenge for many obese people. And it’s still a challenge for me on some days, simply because my ankles, knees and back ache (those often become good swimming days).
It’s not simple. Anybody else with experience with this sort of thing have any suggestions (of course, suggestions people should run past their doctors before putting into practice)?
Oh, and Good Luck, Manuel!
On an unrelated note, RIP Gene Upshaw.
Boomer Sooner, and Keep the Faith!
-s2bs Sooner
