Back Pain

I suffer from a degenerative and herniated disk in L4 and L5 of my lower back. I also tend to (somehow) strengthen one leg over the other to a point that it pulls my lower back slightly out of alignment (at least this was the case years ago when they diagnosed me). All of this means that at some points in time, I suffer from pretty extreme back pain. Sometimes it is mild though. Right now I have back pain, and my chest pain is flaring up a little bit. So, I'm at a loss. I think the chest pain is due to inflammation of some sort (or perhaps from heartburn?). And my lower back pain is definitely due to that. So it should be easy to correct for me. I used to be on naproxen 500mg twice a day. Only problem is that it is a NSAID (Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug) and NSAIDs can wreak havoc on your stomach. As I already have a pretty sensitive stomach due to the recent remodeling down there I have been told that NSAIDs are not allowed.

So what to do? The tylenol doesn't do anything but dull the pain a little, so I've taken one of my stronger pain killers to help, but I decided not to work out today. I've been good about it, but I'll go tomorrow evening, and we'll see if my wife and son can't come with me (as family night is always fun). I never get quite the exercise in the pool that I get in the gym because I'm self conscious about my swimming and I'm not 100% comfortable with the exercises they've given me yet. Perhaps I should go to the clinic they're having for swimming and kick turning. That way I can do really well in either place and give my back a break from time to time.

I think it is the running, it is really hard on my back. But, I don't care. It is important to me to be able to see the progress in both my stamina and my speed, as while it is not a measurement of my physical condition on its own, it is a point that I can use to determine if I am improving or staying the same. I was also always so slow when I was younger. After being in sports until around 4th grade (and then not having any sports to play as my parents couldn't afford it) I lost my ability quite a bit. In junior high I remember struggling to run a mile. In high school it would kill me to do the "10 minute runs" and all that for wrestling. I remember in junior high we had to run a ways to the field and I just couldn't do it and had to quit, which really killed my desire to be in football for years to come. But no matter the case, being able to run a decent distance - and at a decent speed - is very important. It is something that I want to regain no matter what. So even if I have some pain from it, and need to take pain killers to deal with that pain - I would rather that than no progress in speed and stamina. Right now I can run at 6.5 mph and get a mile in (as I said in previous posts) in about 16:45. I want to improve that. I want to be able to do a mile in 10 minutes or less.

On a side note, I ate Steak N Shake last night. The wife had a huge craving (has had one for a while I guess) and I've really been dying for their chili. Well, let me tell you - the chili is a bad idea >.< The fat content that I could find was rather high, actually VERY high. But it was pretty high in protein. I'm glad that I had baked beans to fall back on as well. I ate those first, and while pretty high in calories - only 1 gram of fat and a lot of protein (and not much in the way of sugars). So that was good. In addition, I was looking up nutritional information, and the chili from Wendy's is actually pretty decent. It isn't a "eat all the time" thing - but it is definitely better than a lot of other options. And I found out that you can actually "build your meal" on www.wendys.com - so you know (about) what you are eating when you go and order something, rather than having to add it all up yourself. It even lets you personalize some of it. While Wendy's isn't a "healthy place to eat" it seems that they are taking strides to help people make better choices - which I fully support.

Finally, I lost a little more weight. Which is great! I only have .2 more pounds till I drop below 350!

Last weight: 351.4
Current weight: 350.2
Weight Lost: 1.2 lbs
Total Weight Lost Since Coming Home: 31.8 lbs