workitout

I am a 51 year-old man in relatively good health and in very youthful condition (171 lbs, 5'11"). A year ago I discovered that I had osteoporosis. Why? I had smoked cigarettes most of my life, exercised rather little and I was born in Upstate New York in a radioactive plume in 1951, the year of the highest atmospheric radiation from bomb testing in history. Strontium 90 got into milk and replaced calcium in bones. Plus I'm West Euro and my parents in retrospect suffered from it (both are dead).

I tried Fosamax for three weeks. At the same time, I took my two-year-old, twice-a-week gym practice and vowed to undergo 21 minutes daily of serious UNINTERRUPTED aerobic training (elliptical glider or at least running in circles in my living room with weights on my arms). I also do modest weight training a couple of times a week (I like being thin). I also increased my calcium intake, added Vitamin D (or cod liver oil) to my daily diet, and reduced salt, meat& fish consumption because they help strip your bones of calcium. I do still eat them, however, merely less. I also drink fresh green vegetable concoctions (kale, parsley, celery, bok choi) almost every day (note that chard can also shed your calcium, so avoid that).

After 12 months, my spinal bone density was UP by 3.4%, with my hips up 2%. This is from FRESH CALCIUM, not from Fosamax-style prevention of calcium shedding, which I decided is a healthy process. My cholesterol levels also fell by 35% and my eye pressure (which was threatening to put me on galucoma medication) fell by 20%. I am convinced that two or three more years of this will render spinal results that will not even be in danger of osteoporosis.

I am posting this because I hated Fosamax - it gave me diarrhea and a very weird, BLEAK depression for two days every week (I was on the once weekly regimen). Then I came to this site and found a lot of evidence that other people were miserable with Fosamax. I got my doctor's permission to drop it - he trusted me to follow through on the exercise as he knows me fairly well - and a year's result has proven to him and to me that ANYONE WHO CAN GET AROUND AND CAN EXERCISE MUST DO THIS INSTEAD OF FALLING INTO A LIFELONG TRAP WITH MEDS.

It is incredibly rewarding to choose exercise and nutrition. And I look better than I have looked for at least 10 years.

I'm posting this not to boast as one stranger to others, but to thank the board for educating me 13 months ago and to encourage those who are tempted to take matters into their own hands. Last week I flew over my handlebars when a child ran in front of my bicycle and I landed on the balls of my hands and came down WITHOUT A SCRATCH or even a sore muscle. I was in shock, though, and my gears & brakes needed work. The kid was untouched, too, as I flew OVER him.

If you can, take control! It pays....