MountainGem, no worries about jacking the thread! What type of exercise did you like to do back when you were more fit? Being on pred for that amount of time has probably robbed you of some bone & muscle mass, so weight-bearing exercise will be great for building yourself back up again. Do you have arthritis or other issues besides the IBD? I have arthritis in both hips, and I find that both stretching and strengthening exercises are well-tolerated, but stuff like jogging & walking cause me pain. I can sometimes do lower-impact cardio like bike riding, elliptical, etc. My favorite things are weight lifting and yoga, so I mainly do a lot of those, and that's been really beneficial for me.
My advice for you starting out is, start slowly, and if something hurts then don't do it or work around it. Don't push yourself through pain, listen to your body, and ease into it. If your body says rest, listen to it (that's been the hardest thing for me to do in this flare!). When I started lifting weights, I started by lifting very light weights twice a week. That went okay so I gradually increased the amount of weight and the number of reps I was doing, and within a couple months I was up to 3x per week. I always give myself a day in between lifting weights so that my muscles can heal, and often on the non-weight days I'll do yoga or cardio. But it took myself awhile to get up to that point, and it helped that I was in remission during most of the time that I was exercising. But, I'm in a mild flare lately (started flaring in May I think) and I'm still able to work out about 4 days a week, so it is possible to get some good workouts in even in a flare.
Honestly, if you're looking to lose weight, it's more about diet than it is exercise. My weight has not shifted much at all since I've been working out, although I have converted a lot of flab into muscle. My healthy pre-IBD weight was 136. Then I got sick and gradually lost weight over the course of a year, and dropped down to 115 at my lowest. At that point, my GI put me on Entocort, and I went up to about 140 lbs, so I gained back just a little bit too much. I was struggling to lose a few of those lbs, and then I was put on steroid suppositories for hemorrhoids, and those steroids made me gain another 6 lbs so I was at 146, my heaviest weight ever. That 6 lbs came back off once I stopped the suppositories thankfully, and I'm now back at 136 lbs and maintaining that. I still have a bit of a flabby tummy from the Entocort (I have a hard time working on my abdominal muscles lately, anytime I try it seems to cause me to bleed!) but my arms & legs are coming along very nicely, my back looks toned, and my hubby tells me that my butt is looking smaller and more toned too.
I honestly don't care how I look though, my fitness goals are all about feeling better inside, being healthier, being in a better position to fight my illnesses, halting the progression of my arthritis, etc. It's still kind of weird looking in the mirror and seeing muscles! Particularly in this flare, I feel like sick girl, but in the gym and in the mirror I'm healthy girl. It's weird.
Sorry, that was a long ramble. I hope that helped a bit. Keep me posted on how you're doing! I'm obviously very excited about fitness and I'm happy whenever I can inspire someone on the forum to hit the gym!
