Brian’s fitness journal after a brain stroke
Yesterday, I stepped on the scale and discovered that I had lost nearly three pounds.
For many people, that might sound like good news. Maintaining weight with chronic kidney disease can be challenging.
For me, it is exactly the opposite.
Maintaining a healthy weight has become one of the more challenging parts of living with chronic kidney disease. The difficulty is not simply eating more. It is eating more without eating the wrong things.
If I had no dietary restrictions, the solution would be fairly straightforward. After running, strength training, and mowing our steep backyard, I could simply increase my protein intake to help my body recover.
Unfortunately, protein is one of the nutrients my kidneys struggle to process.
That means every meal requires a balancing act.
Last year, after struggling to maintain my weight for quite some time, my nephrologist gave me permission to increase my daily protein intake slightly. Before then, I ate only about 36 grams of protein each day.
It was a welcome adjustment.
Even so, moderation remains essential.
Protein is only one part of the equation. Potassium, phosphorus, and sodium also require close attention. Foods that many people think of as healthy—such as bananas or melon—can become foods that I have to enjoy only occasionally.
Living with kidney disease often means making decisions that seem backward to everyone else.
Our current approach comes from years of careful adjustments.
When I suffered my brain hemorrhage, doctors also discovered that my kidneys had already deteriorated to Stage 5 chronic kidney disease—the point where dialysis or a kidney transplant often becomes necessary. No one could fully explain why my kidneys had declined so severely. I had always exercised regularly and paid close attention to my diet.
My wife and I refused to give up.
Working closely with my doctors, we gradually adjusted medications, refined my diet, and monitored my health as carefully as possible. Over time, my kidney function improved enough that I moved into Stage 3. Today, I generally fluctuate between Stage 3 and Stage 4.
That may not sound dramatic, but to us, it represents years of consistent effort.
My long-term goal is simple.
I hope to preserve my kidney function for as long as possible. Medical research continues to advance, and every year brings new possibilities. If I can keep my kidneys functioning well enough for long enough, future treatments may offer options that don’t exist today.
That thought gives me hope.
This morning brought some encouraging news.
I had regained nearly two of the three pounds I had lost yesterday, putting me right at the lower edge of my target weight range.
I would still like to gain a little more, but I no longer feel as though I am drifting into unhealthy territory.
Sometimes progress isn’t dramatic.
Sometimes it is simply watching the scale move in the right direction while knowing that you protected your health along the way.
Tomorrow morning, I’ll step on the scale again.
Hopefully, it decides to continue cooperating.
After all, the scale and I have been negotiating for quite a few years now, and I would appreciate it if it finally became a little more reasonable.