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About three years ago, Debi Mitchell of St. Petersburg, Florida, wanted to help a friend out of state who was having health problems. “He wasn’t doing well, and I got a call from his wife, and she was crying. I hopped on a plane to be with her, but when I got there I felt like I was a burden,” she told TODAY.com.
Mitchell’s leg pain, Knee pain She was so out of breath she couldn’t even walk. “My friend had to drop me off and park the car myself. I thought, ‘What am I doing? I can’t even cross the street,'” she said. “I was retired. I wanted to walk, I wanted to go somewhere.”
When she got home, she told her doctor what had happened and asked for a complete cardiac check-up. There was nothing wrong with her heart. Her symptoms were caused by weight gain and were slowing her down. An orthopedic surgeon told her she needed a knee replacement. But there was a problem: her BMI (body mass index) was too high, making her ineligible for the procedure.
Mitchell, now 68, knew he needed to do something about the pain. If he could lose 10 to 12 pounds, Knee replacement surgery“I thought, ‘I can lose 10 pounds.’ I weighed 285 pounds, so I had a lot to lose. But no matter what I did, Enter a period of stagnationand then they quit,” she says.
She became obsessed with training in the pool.
Mitchell saw the ad. Fluid Running On Facebook, she was intrigued. Fluid Running is a guided deep-water running program. The resistance of the water helps you build strength Avoid injury.
Mitchell had never run, but growing up in Florida she was always in the water. She was on the swim team and competed as a synchronized swimmer when she was younger. She thought an aquatic training program might be a good option. Plus, she already had a pool in her backyard, so she decided to try it out. Exercise at home.
The program includes a buoyancy belt and waterproof earphones to listen to your workout. “I love putting on the headset and hearing Coach Jennifer’s voice say, ‘Hello, Fluid Runners,'” Mitchell says. “And then when I start to slow down, she says, ‘Okay, I know you’re tired. Just lift your head and regain your balance. Let’s go.’ It’s like she’s in your head.”
She built up her strength and stamina with underwater running training.
“I started doing that and it was a big turning point for me. It was exactly what I needed. Coaching and Encouragement and motivation“It really changed my life,” she says.
At first, Mitchell couldn’t finish the 55-minute workout. “The first time I made it to the end, I realized there was a stretch at the end, which I didn’t even know existed,” she says. “And then… 5KI was very proud of myself.”
She’s been training consistently, three times a week, for two and a half years, and has lost 80 pounds, steadily losing weight. She went from not being able to cross the street to being able to walk five miles.
“My orthopedic surgeon told me, ‘If you lose one pound of weight, you take three pounds off your knee, so if you take the stress off your knee, you may not need a total knee replacement.’ He was right. I haven’t had knee surgery, and it’s not as painful as it used to be. All of my joints are like that,” she says.
Her health has also improved and she no longer requires medication for treatment. Type 2 diabetes“At first they told me to go to diabetes classes but I didn’t want to go. I knew what to do, I just didn’t do it. Now I do,” she says.
Biggest victory outside of the scale? Being able to travel the world.
“Retirement has definitely improved. I want to do a lot more now. I’m at an age where I want to travel. Before, I never did. Walk a mile“Now I can run as long as it’s no more than five miles,” she says.
She’s currently taking a break from travelling as her husband is ill with cancer, but lists some of the places she’s been: “In the last two years I’ve been to Italy, France and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which is a lot of walking. I just went to Banff and Lake Louise, which is one of the most beautiful places on earth. I’ve also done a train trip across Canada from Calgary and one from Denver through Utah.”
Her only regret is not making a change sooner: “I always say, ‘If not now, when?’ Time passes whether you make a change or not. I wish I had this mindset 20 years ago.”
