I am in my 50s & have always loved hill running & climbing. I was obsessed with it. The last three years injuries & depression put the weight on me.

I had surgery in late July for a torn meniscus & when they got in there the surgeon discovered severe grade 3 Osteoarthritis. He removed 30% of the Meniscus but said my pain is coming from the Osteoarthritis.

I do all the pt exercises religiously but I am still unable to hike, squat. It is killing me not being able to go hiking or do any hills.

I went for my six week post op last week & he gave me a Kenalog injection & said the knee will probably need to be replaced.

I go back to him October 25th. I want to lose 30 pounds. to take some of the pressure off the knee before then. I can ride my Mountain bike on smooth bike trails, can't do rowing due to the knee bending too much. My cardiovascular endurance is still very good, resting Hr in the 40s & I never get out of breath.

I've never lost weight without extreme exercise so I'm looking for suggestions? I've given up cokes, eating once a day & thinking about doing a water fast. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

You lose weight in the kitchen, not in the gym.  The above statement only goes to show how messed up your diet is.  Get that straightened out first or all your other efforts will be wasted.

As to exercising with your bad knee, do you have access to a pool?  Swimming is about the most effective cardio exercise there is and it's virtually zero impact.

I’m in the same boat as you OP

Got so bad I couldn’t ride my mtn bike any further than 3 miles on single track.  Doc says both knees past shot.

Ran into an old trail building buddy and he kept on and on about E mtn bikes , how great they are, a real “ game changer”.

I thought about it. Did some, no , a ton of research. Picked out the one that would be a perfect fit for how I liked to ride.  $ 9,000.

Now do I want to spend that much money ?

Not really.  How much is a gym membership?  Building my own gym?

If riding this bike will put me in shape where I can live for one more year, is it worth it?

Fuck yea!!!

I can pound out 15 miles in an hour and a half with an average speed of 12mph with a shit eating grin the whole way .

Hills cease to exist. Bike can push 65 miles in eco. My ass is only good for 15 so far , even cut way down on the booze so I can feel good on my ride.

I’ve set up out of town road trips to hit the best trails in all my neighboring states .

If you’re busted up, want to get back into shape, start looking forward to tomorrow again?,

Get an E mtn bike. “” it’s a game changer””.


Guns, investments, trophy wives, night vision, don’t mean shit while you’re having fatal heart attack !

Feel free to pm me op.

BIG-DUKE-6 out .

Knee over toes guy exercises might help rehab the knee
https://www.youtube.com/@TheKneesovertoesguy

A review video

"I go back to him October 25th. I want to lose 30 pounds. to take some of the pressure off the knee before then. "

Better get on the Keto train.

E-bikes provide very little real exercise. The're fun, but the engine is doing most of the work.

Another vote for swimming.
It takes time because you have to do a LOT of laps every day to burn calories, but there is no weight on your knees. Another option is weight lifting, which burns lots of calories fast but you need to be very careful about how much leg work you do with a bad knee. The machine setups where you are sitting for most of the lifts takes the pressure off of your knee. Doing both would be best.

Lots of E bikes around here,  they used to pass me flying up the hills. I will look into them again.  I'm gonna try to do 3 miles on my bike this evening.  I did pretty well on the sit down bike yesterday so I will see how it goes. Thanks

No pool around here. Will have to do it on a bike. It's a lot more stable and stronger than it was but I know carrying less weight will make a big difference. Thanks.

I have done a lot of sitting leg presses just using one leg (50lbs) and that has helped. Lots of stretching and quad exercises too.  Thanks

The walking backwards uphill really helps. I use one of the straps like the Monkey feet he sells to strengthen it. It's amazing what he can do. It's just gonna come down to eating right and exercising but not over doing it.

Swimming.  I have the same issue.

Unfortunately, out pool is out of commission for at least another year. I walk as much as I can, but the pain can be overwhelming.

First post nailed it again.  Your lower body joints get impacted more by how much weight you load them with.  If you are over weight you need to fix your eating habits.  

Get them both redone. Schedule it now !!