The gym, a stoma, and a 50yr old woman…..go on then.

I hate exercise of any description, and having a stoma gave me a wrongly perceived excuse not to do any. But thanks to those wonderful ostomates who are bodybuilders like Blake Beckford and Zoey Wright ( thanks guys), I couldn’t use that one anymore. My husband is a keen health and fitness person who will look lots of information up to “help” me find the exercises I can do, and came across these stunning specimens before I had time to think of a suitable reason as to why they could do it and I can’t.  I don’t run ( genuinely) as I have a weak leg. So that was out of the question. When I try to run I look like Miranda Hart doing her gallop.

When I last went to the gym it was way before pre surgery and I have to admit, I didn’t lose a bean so that put me off. I worked hard then too, but probably failed with the eating side. I love food, good and bad and can quite easily devour a family bag of galaxy counters without any trouble.

I was always fairly thin so got away with eating anything I wanted, up until I hit 40. That changed everything, I went from about 8.5 stone to a good 10.5 in about ten years. I am 5 foot 7 inches tall.  When I became ill I dropped again to about 8 stone, only this time I looked ill and was ill. This photo was just after I came out of hospital and I hate it.

I ate what I liked because I could, and I was encouraged to, it meant I could eat all the things that were bad because I needed to add weight. Now, I can’t stop and I know I have to do something about it. Because I am so bad at sticking to it, my husband thought it might be a good idea to blog about it so the whole world can see if I don’t stick to it. Hmmm

As luck would have it ( sarcasm)…….we have a multi gym in our garage ( no excuses about cost then ). Jon has devised a programme for me and I had my first session. Now even though having a stoma doesn’t stop you doing things, I am terrified of getting a hernia, this is something that can happen more readily with someone with a stoma, but I thought to myself that there are many of us who exercise very happily if you take the right precautions. Firstly was the very flattering stoma support band. I am not a fan, I feel hemmed in and my stoma feels flat. When I sit it kind of flips up at the elastic or bunches up a bit, I feel I am always checking my tummy more with that on than without, but needs must this time.

Lovely isn’t it ? Bridget Jones springs to mind ” Hello mummy”.

Anyway, to start with I will be doing 15 mins on the bike, now this is already an issue because I find them so uncomfortable even with the gel seats,  especially with my bottom problems, so luckily Jon got me a peddle thingy that you can use sitting on a comfy chair. He thinks of everything. ( sarcasm).

I then did some lateral pull downs with the cables attached to weights. He did take a picture but I wasn’t impressed so won’t show it this time. Camera angle and all that.

I then did some lateral side and front rises. This hurt the most and the embarrassing thing was, we tried various weights and the only one that I could do was……..the bloody bar on its own. The shame of it. Then on to the rower which I liked.  this was my first session and it was ok. I now have a legs day to come. My stoma felt fine, I didn’t feel that I was causing damage so that was good. I was careful not to lift too heavy a weight ….as you can see, and hopefully in a few weeks I might manage a weight on the end.

I won’t bore you with it all the time but will keep you updated.

Weight 26/8/2017  11st 1lb

Waist  – I would rather not say at this present time 😉

Cellulite – lots.