My Journey to PL Platform with the Help of BendTheBar

[The_Big_Sleep]

The Big Sleep's Journey to the PL Platform and Beyond!

"The Journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step."-Lao Tzu

This log is my journey to be the best, strongest version of me each and every day.

I am grateful to have BendTheBar (Steve) watching over me for diet and training advice as I go along. I'm antsy as all hell already and these coming weeks. I will be putting forth everything I've got

A Brief History of Myself: (Cliffs below if you want the gist of it)
Several years ago I faced a short, albeit rough, battle with an eating disorder where I lost 70lbs in 3 months’ time. The ramifications of what I did to my body and mind left me plagued with health issues that manifested over years and held me out of the gym for the past 6-7 months. Those recent 6-7 months were some of the worst months I've been through as I was practically seeing a medical specialist every week.

It started in late November 2011, I was lifting and getting stronger and gaining weight steadily (managed to get up to 175lbs). Then I dont know what happened, but over just a few short days I literally hit a wall and could barely function all; my bones, joints and muscles all constantly ached, so much so that I could barely even manage a walk around the block most days without being completely taxed afterwards. My energy crashed, my bodyweight and appetite plummeted, I just wanted to sleep all day. I told my parents and we arranged to see an oncologist.

I had a bone-marrow biopsy performed by the oncologist after my white blood cell counts and platelets were critically low and they found that I had whats called myelodysplasia. They sometimes refer to it as pre-leukemia; so I was basically on the verge of being a cancer patient. After months of testing and trips to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN they found that my body was deficient in some important minerals needed for healthy bone marrow growth and regeneration. Due to the horrible appetite and pain I was in, I ended up losing 25-30lbs, putting me back down to 145lbs at the worst of it. The whole sequence made me realize how much damage eating disorders can do to people, and most importantly what they do to your internal environment.

I've managed to be okay despite my WBC counts still being low. They may start treatment with growth factors if my body doesn't start producing nominal WBCs on its own. Interestingly enough, I found some research that found a correlation between bone-marrow health and those who were severely underweight at one point. The good news: their bone marrow health had restored once they started to gain weight! I'm hopeful that the issue will be resolved once I start putting weight back on. I showed that to my dad and now every time he sees me he says he's going to "Shove a Big Mac down my throat if that's what it takes to get some weight back on me ".

To add to the list of woes, I was also diagnosed with Interstitial Cystitis (for those who dont know, its basically is a condition where your bladder is constantly having spasms and makes you feel like you have to piss constantly). I had a surgery for electronic implant to be placed into my lower back to act as an "artificial nerve". It has helped greatly with my quality of life and Im indebted to the urologist that Ive been under the care of.

It wasn’t until I woke up after that recent surgery that I realized how much I had let down myself, my friends and my family. I remember seeing my mom pull up in our car as I was being rolled out to the curbside in a wheelchair by the nurse and thinking to myself, “I have two choices in this life: lie down and quit or stand up and fight”. On the car ride home I told my mom I wouldn’t let her or my dad down after all they’ve done to support me through the medical issues. Every breath is a gift to me now; a day to improve, a day to help others, a day to laugh, love and live.

Theres a lot more to the story, but you're not here to read a novel (or maybe you are ).

Cliffs:
-Had ED in high school, lost 70lbs in 3 months (210lbs to 140lbs)

-Steadily gained weight; floating between 165-175 for a vicious cycle of up and down years

-About 2-3 years ago was diagnosed with hypopituitarism (basically my hormones were shot)

-Late November 2011 I started to feel like waking death all at once. I had to stop lifting because I was literally hurting if I exerted any force on my body.

-Recent past 6-7 months was found to have myelodysplasia (atrophied bone marrow) due to unknown causes but likely nutrient deficiencies growing up. Bodyweight plummeted down from 175 to 145 during this time

-Was also found to have interstitial cystitis/overactive bladder in November 2011; surgical implant for spinal nerve ensued in March 2012

-After trying various treatments with all the doctors I've been seeing I feel like I'm finally starting to see the light at the end of this tunnel. Definitely ready to move on from this phase in my life.

Currently:
-Ive been back on the right track with the weight lifting and eating more since this past August; my MD emphasized that it is crucial to stay active even if I dont feel the greatest because it can help with many factors and it will keep my appetite up (which it has ).


More updates to come as I kick off the second week of the program Steve provided !

[Cutty]

Welcome to the forum man, very nice to meet you. It's inspiring to see someone facing adversity still going man. Some people stub their toe and won't get out of bed. I can't wait to see your progress. Don't be shy and ask any questions you have!

[J_Byrd]

Welcome to the forum! Looking forward to following along your journey!

[LtL]

Welcome aboard. My wife has IC: horrible condition.

[1morerep]

Welcome to the board...don' hesitate to ask!

[BendtheBar]

Welcome aboard. Great intro. Time to smash!

[The_Big_Sleep]

Originally Posted by Cutty

Welcome to the forum man, very nice to meet you. It's inspiring to see someone facing adversity still going man. Some people stub their toe and won't get out of bed. I can't wait to see your progress. Don't be shy and ask any questions you have!

Thanks so much for dropping in and the support. Going through all the health issues at a young age just made me realize how much we take for granted in life, even the simplest things can be taken from us at any given moment

Originally Posted by J_Byrd

Welcome to the forum! Looking forward to following along your journey!

THanks big man, appreciate it!

Originally Posted by LtL

Welcome aboard. My wife has IC: horrible condition.

Thanks LtL, and I hope she manages her IC well, after living with it for these past few years I can honestly say I wouldn't wish IC on my worst enemy.

Originally Posted by 1morerep

Welcome to the board...don' hesitate to ask!

Thanks for the support!

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

Welcome aboard. Great intro. Time to smash!

Im ready to put in the work big Steve!

[EliteDreams]

Smash it you will.

[The_Big_Sleep]

Originally Posted by EliteDreams

Smash it you will.

Yoda speak FTW

This video from Steve today applies to me in so many ways. "Trust the process" is a great quote for whenever Im in doubt going forward

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

[The_Big_Sleep]

Here were/are my current stats when starting with Steve last week:
Bodyweight: 155lbs
Height: 6'2"
Squat: 260lbs
Deadlift: 310lbs
Bench: 190lbs

-My lifts may suck and I may be "skinny" right now, but Im ready to prove the naysayers and disbelievers wrong!

Just finished up the last workout of my first week on the rep-goal program that Steve provided me. Pretty sore but overall I like the simplicity of this program and the focus on compound movements and just getting stronger. This next week Ill log the workouts separately but for now here is a summary of what I did this past week:



-A lot of these weights were just sort of "feeling it out" as I havent done some of these movements for awhile and I train in my garage so I always play it conservative.

-Excited to start Week 2's workouts and hit some new rep goals