In July of 2013 I fell down a flight of stairs. I was 46 and roughly 175 lbs (5'10"). In the process I tore my bicep and rotator cuff (did not know this until much later). It bothered me for a while, but I was able to function, but it did keep me out of the gym. I went to my GP who sent me to an orthopedic surgeon. After many hoops (all for insurance purposes), x-rays and MRIs I finally had a diagnosis and scheduled surgery.
The last week in December (2013) I went under the knife, as it were. It was scheduled to be a 45 minute operation. 3 1/2 hours later they were still working and trying to beat the clock (the anesthesia they used was apparently not intended for that duration and the nerve block for my weight had a time limit. Or so I was told later). The doctor told me that the MRI did not show the full detail of the damage. In addition to reattaching/suturing several tendons they ended up severing my bicep where it comes over the top of the outside arm/shoulder bone, drilled a hole in my shoulder blade, threaded the top of the bicep through and attached it with two nylon screws to the back of my shoulder. Needless to say that when I came out of surgery I was extremely sore. Anecdotally I ended up back in the ER later that night for pain management (morphine drip).
My right (dominant) arm was completely immobilized, with the surgeon telling me that the screws that held my bicep in place were only rated for 5 lbs of force and that if I lifted more than that before it was healed I would end up with the long head of my bicep rolled up in the crook of my elbow (where he said it was unlikely they could salvage it). So, again, needless to say my physical therapy took on a whole different color of fear for me. After PT I still had a diminished Range Of Motion ROM), so I went back to the Ortho. He felt that my shoulder was "frozen" and wanted to "go back in to break up the capsule", which just means to cut all of the newly formed scar tissue on the shoulder capsule. I decided to just "go my won way" to regain my ROM.
Fast forward a couple of months (9+ post PT, 14+ post surgery), between a lack of activity and an abundance of comfort food (feeding my self-pity along with my gut) and I eventually grew to over 200 lbs (wife says I was 220 at one point, but I don't recall) and m BF% was 28%+. Until May of 2015.
the tail end of May 2015 I came down with a heavy duty fever that left me more or less bedridden for 10 days (between trying to self-manage the symptoms to realizing it had become a bacterial infection, and going to the doctor for anti-biotics, and those taking time to take affect). I ate very little during that period, mostly chicken soup, and still scant amounts of even that. I lost 15 lbs across that 1.5 week period. Not healthy, not intentional, but it gave me a bit of a boost towards my goals and helped jumpstart a healthy eating program. The viral infection I had started in my sinuses (not uncommon in Florida). While I had recovered from the virus, I was still suffering from massive nasal congestion. So my doctor directed me to take an OTC decongestant, that was when I started taking Claritin-D 24 hour pills each day.
Coming out of the illness I noticed that my appetite was pretty well non-existent. I (incorrectly) assumed that it was the illness, or a lack of calories having "reset" my appetite (leaner/smaller stomach needing less food, or something like that). It turns out it was the pseudophedrine (sp?) in the Claritin-D that was squashing my appetite. The impact was that I no longer had "snack attack" cravings. Not for carbs, simple sugars, anything. I almost had to remind myself to eat my normal meals, much less crave any in-between meal snacks. By January 2016 I was down to between 150 and 155 lbs (solely through diet, or more specifically portion control and cutting out all sweets/sodas/pastries/etc.). I don't remember how far down I got and my journal was lost in a computer crash (thought it was included in my backups, but I was mistaken). I may have gotten down almost to 150 (I seem to recall 150.8, but am not going to swear to anything).
I got all into the science of cutting/leaning. I picked up a glucose meter and found my fasting baseline, then worked on which foods, times and supplements would help me to control any insulin spikes. I spent a fair amount of time researching and experimenting along the way. I also included BCAA and Glutamine in my supplement regime to try to reduce muscle mass loss during this time (since I also was not doing any physical activity, outside of yard work/chores (honey-dos).
So then I moved on to the next phase, trying to put on muscle mass. I bought a power block set, small weight bench and started exercising at home. Added in protein powder (bulk) and a few other supps to come up with pre/intra/post/evening shake "recipes" (as I referred to them). Constantly tweaking and experimenting with what worked for me (since everyone is different).
I am up to 166 lbs, according to a BF scale I am at 12% (give or take a %) and I (and my wife and daughter) can see a difference. But I am still struggling with ROM issues that prevent many exercises (I have no outward rotation). One example is that overhead presses are physically not possible. Take the typical "two-gun" bicep pose, that I often equate to a (3 candle) candelabra pose. I cannot rotate my right arm above 70 degrees (if 90 degrees is perpendicular to the floor).
Here is me @ 4 1/2 months most surgery (already showing my *bad* weight gain)
No back definition to speak of (providing for progress/comparison purposes)
Here I am near my "peak" weight, This is the end of January 2015 and those are 36" waist jeans. I look sort of "big" in the picture, but I am really just "fat".
The next two were taken last week and show my ROM issues with my shoulder. According to my (new) Ortho I have almost no scauplar movement. He thinks it is due to bone spurs that formed post-surgery. Also during the original surgery the surgeon had in his notes that I had advanced (I think stage-4 was the term?) arthritis. It is believed that when I sent down the stairs the bone jarring in the socket sheared all of my cartilage in my shoulder. Again, my right shoulder is the one that doesn't move (when my arm moves).
Front view
Back view (also notice that I can only raise my arm so high too)
The last week in December (2013) I went under the knife, as it were. It was scheduled to be a 45 minute operation. 3 1/2 hours later they were still working and trying to beat the clock (the anesthesia they used was apparently not intended for that duration and the nerve block for my weight had a time limit. Or so I was told later). The doctor told me that the MRI did not show the full detail of the damage. In addition to reattaching/suturing several tendons they ended up severing my bicep where it comes over the top of the outside arm/shoulder bone, drilled a hole in my shoulder blade, threaded the top of the bicep through and attached it with two nylon screws to the back of my shoulder. Needless to say that when I came out of surgery I was extremely sore. Anecdotally I ended up back in the ER later that night for pain management (morphine drip).
My right (dominant) arm was completely immobilized, with the surgeon telling me that the screws that held my bicep in place were only rated for 5 lbs of force and that if I lifted more than that before it was healed I would end up with the long head of my bicep rolled up in the crook of my elbow (where he said it was unlikely they could salvage it). So, again, needless to say my physical therapy took on a whole different color of fear for me. After PT I still had a diminished Range Of Motion ROM), so I went back to the Ortho. He felt that my shoulder was "frozen" and wanted to "go back in to break up the capsule", which just means to cut all of the newly formed scar tissue on the shoulder capsule. I decided to just "go my won way" to regain my ROM.
Fast forward a couple of months (9+ post PT, 14+ post surgery), between a lack of activity and an abundance of comfort food (feeding my self-pity along with my gut) and I eventually grew to over 200 lbs (wife says I was 220 at one point, but I don't recall) and m BF% was 28%+. Until May of 2015.
the tail end of May 2015 I came down with a heavy duty fever that left me more or less bedridden for 10 days (between trying to self-manage the symptoms to realizing it had become a bacterial infection, and going to the doctor for anti-biotics, and those taking time to take affect). I ate very little during that period, mostly chicken soup, and still scant amounts of even that. I lost 15 lbs across that 1.5 week period. Not healthy, not intentional, but it gave me a bit of a boost towards my goals and helped jumpstart a healthy eating program. The viral infection I had started in my sinuses (not uncommon in Florida). While I had recovered from the virus, I was still suffering from massive nasal congestion. So my doctor directed me to take an OTC decongestant, that was when I started taking Claritin-D 24 hour pills each day.
Coming out of the illness I noticed that my appetite was pretty well non-existent. I (incorrectly) assumed that it was the illness, or a lack of calories having "reset" my appetite (leaner/smaller stomach needing less food, or something like that). It turns out it was the pseudophedrine (sp?) in the Claritin-D that was squashing my appetite. The impact was that I no longer had "snack attack" cravings. Not for carbs, simple sugars, anything. I almost had to remind myself to eat my normal meals, much less crave any in-between meal snacks. By January 2016 I was down to between 150 and 155 lbs (solely through diet, or more specifically portion control and cutting out all sweets/sodas/pastries/etc.). I don't remember how far down I got and my journal was lost in a computer crash (thought it was included in my backups, but I was mistaken). I may have gotten down almost to 150 (I seem to recall 150.8, but am not going to swear to anything).
I got all into the science of cutting/leaning. I picked up a glucose meter and found my fasting baseline, then worked on which foods, times and supplements would help me to control any insulin spikes. I spent a fair amount of time researching and experimenting along the way. I also included BCAA and Glutamine in my supplement regime to try to reduce muscle mass loss during this time (since I also was not doing any physical activity, outside of yard work/chores (honey-dos).
So then I moved on to the next phase, trying to put on muscle mass. I bought a power block set, small weight bench and started exercising at home. Added in protein powder (bulk) and a few other supps to come up with pre/intra/post/evening shake "recipes" (as I referred to them). Constantly tweaking and experimenting with what worked for me (since everyone is different).
I am up to 166 lbs, according to a BF scale I am at 12% (give or take a %) and I (and my wife and daughter) can see a difference. But I am still struggling with ROM issues that prevent many exercises (I have no outward rotation). One example is that overhead presses are physically not possible. Take the typical "two-gun" bicep pose, that I often equate to a (3 candle) candelabra pose. I cannot rotate my right arm above 70 degrees (if 90 degrees is perpendicular to the floor).
Here is me @ 4 1/2 months most surgery (already showing my *bad* weight gain)
No back definition to speak of (providing for progress/comparison purposes)
Here I am near my "peak" weight, This is the end of January 2015 and those are 36" waist jeans. I look sort of "big" in the picture, but I am really just "fat".
The next two were taken last week and show my ROM issues with my shoulder. According to my (new) Ortho I have almost no scauplar movement. He thinks it is due to bone spurs that formed post-surgery. Also during the original surgery the surgeon had in his notes that I had advanced (I think stage-4 was the term?) arthritis. It is believed that when I sent down the stairs the bone jarring in the socket sheared all of my cartilage in my shoulder. Again, my right shoulder is the one that doesn't move (when my arm moves).
Front view
Back view (also notice that I can only raise my arm so high too)