getting fit after 4 years of illness. can you please give me your opinion? maybe you can give me some hope again!

Hello!

I would appreciate if you read through my story and I would be very happy about any reply!

I am 21 years old. Since I was a kid I was very active. I did cheerleading twice a week since I was 8.
At age 15 I quit cheerleading because of school, but wanted to start again. But at 16 I got ill. No one knew what it was. I felt weak and apathetic most of the time. When I tried to eat, I usually threw up immediately after. I managed shool, but I couldn't do a lot of sport, because I felt so weak. I was also really skinny! After 2 years of struggeling, the doctors found the reason. My organs were completely in wrong positions. My appendix was somewhere under my ribs and my stomach kind of strangulated itself. I then had 2 surgeries were everything was set right. This was when I was 18. After a long recovery time I started college. I am now still in college and I am super healthy. I started cheerleading again 3 times a week 1 year ago and I am doing really fine.

So now here is my problem. Sport is a big part in our family. My mother was a professional dancer and both my parents run marathons. My younger brother is an elite track&field athlete. I never wanted to be professional, but on a high level in either gymnastics or cheerleading, but due to my illness my dream failed.

This New Year's Resolutiopn was to get my body into this direction again. I am in tumbling 3 times a week and I started a gymnastics conditioning class 3 times a week for 1 hour. I try to eat healthy and a lot protein.

But I am always scared that my body will not get as fit as if I have not been ill. So I am healthy and active again since 1 year, but now start to follow a real shedule. Will my body and my muscles "catch up"? 
I feel really fit and energized. But sometimes if I am ill or have no time to work out a few days, I feel totally lazy and weak again, although I know I am not, but it reminds me so much of my time in hospital were I felt I could never feel energized again.
 

How fast does the body get used to exercise, healthy eating and working out? I want to really work hard for the next year. I want to make steady progress. In 2 years, will there be any signs of the 4 years I spent lying around and being ill?
But muscles are muscles, right? So wether I would have done a little bit throughout my whole life and be on a certain level at age 23 or if I started at 21 but worked out a lot harder an then be on the same level, there won't be any difference, right?
Maybe connective tissue, but I hope I will build this also in the next months!

Hope you get my point and can help me....thanks!

Really, it's a bit from column A and a bit from column B.

 

There's the possibility you may always carry some damage left over from what sound to me to be quite some serious organ trouble.  In and of itself, this isn't necessarily a bad thing.  It just mean that's you're going to need to be more vigilant than the average person.

 

With properly structured training, you'll still come out stronger than anyone who doesn't train, regardless of whether you were sick or not when you were younger.  Remember, there are olympic athletes who've injured themselves worse than you in training (imagine tearing your entire quad off the bone!) and who've gone on to compete and even win titles.  It's just a matter of being sensible, and having the drive to succeed.

 

So don't try to compare yourself to who you could have been if you'd never got sick.  Because that's not an option for you, and it won't get you anywhere.  Just compare yourself to who you were yesterday, and who you're going to be tomorrow.

i think that if you train and eat the right way you will get where you want in about 4 or 5 years... 

the important thing here is to enjoy your journey 

 

 

you should never lose hope

No point in having regrets about being sick and lost time. You are healthy now, and it's all going in a positive direction again, that's the important thing to focus on.

 

Many of the feelings you have are completely normal ones that we all have. I certainly have days, particularly after short breaks where  I feel lazy and weak. Once I get back in the gym, everything is generally better than before, it's just a natural part of the recovery process. However, since you had some serious medical issues, it's easy to conflate those two experiences since the feeling may be similar. Just remember the old problem is now completely solved and anything you are experiencing now is normal. In other words try to separate your present experience as a healthy person from your past medical issues.

 

All the best in you future progress!

There is no magic period for training between 16 and 21. Sure, if you spend your whole childhood moving, you'll get much better than if you didn't - but having a couple of years off as a teenager shouldn't make much of a difference. As long as you train, you'll get better and better, stronger and stronger. You still have your 20s in which your hormones are awesome and you have already spent a significant part of your teenage years training and adapting - laying the foundation, so don't worry. Those weren't the only 5 years you would see any improvement.

Sounds like your feeling is psychologically rooted, but don't worry - it's irrational fear. You'll see great gains in the coming years and have your whole life ahead of you. The sick years were just a drop in the bucket. Focus on what's ahead, like Cole said. Let the past lie where it is, no point making philosophical debates about what could maybe possibly have been compared to what will be. You'll reach your goals if you train smart and consistently. Also, don't feel bad about resting, it's crucial to do it in order to get where you want. That's when the magic happens.