COLUMN BY RICK FORGIONE — My swagger has turned into a limp.    Two weeks ago, I was riding a high at ChrisFit Personal Training. I pulled within one pound of my first weight loss milestone. I also set new personal bests in bench pressing, leg lifts, barbell squats and on the Elliptical.

And my latest measurements showed I had shed more than 20 inches in various parts of my body since the beginning of May.

Yep, it was good to be me — for a few days anyway.

Following a Monday morning training session, I came to work and slowly began feeling sharp pain in my right foot, specifically in my big toe. Having been diagnosed with gout several years ago, I‘m aware of the symptoms and was not looking forward to the next 24 hours.

Luckily, the pain went away.

Then it returned. Then went away and so on.

It wasn’t until that Wednesday night when the pain in my big toe and instep of MY foot became so intense that I could not sleep more than an hour and barely had enough fortitude to squeeze into my sneakers and head for ChrisFit the next morning. My trainer Chris Tybor would’ve understood if I had called in, but it was weigh-in day, and as I said earlier, I was one more pound away from a milestone.

Disregarding what felt like hundreds of needles slicing into every inch of the joints in my foot, I stepped on the scale and ...

WHAT?

I was up, about 2 pounds.

I’m not proud of what happened next. I hopped off the scale and started throwing the contents of Chris’ office around like I was the Incredible Hulk. I screamed at Chris and vowed to not let some foot injury stop me. I demanded my next training session to be harder than anything before it.

Nah, actually I just moped and cried a little.

What can I say, the combination of no sleep, dashed hopes and what seemed like the worst pain I’ve ever felt had broken me. Trying hard not to look him in the eye, I whined to Chris that I didn’t understand how I could’ve gained weight after what I honestly felt was a brave effort to ignore the pain and continue my workouts that week.

As usual, Chris had sympathy but was stern. There was no way he was going to let me train that day. Instead, he helped me in a different way — by not letting me leave his office until I called my doctor and set up an appointment as soon as possible.

I guess being a personal trainer extends beyond the confines of a gym.

A day later, I was at my doctor’s office. X-rays showed no breaks or joint erosion, but I was diagnosed with “an angry toe joint” that was flaring up thanks to gouty arthritis. I was given anti-inflammatory medication for the pain and told I would be able to continue working out but had to avoid anything that would lead to foot pounding and more stress on the toe for at least two to three weeks.

Chris had already assured me there were plenty of physical beatdowns he could administer that left my big toe out of it so I was looking forward to returning to the gym on Saturday.

That didn’t happen. Friday afternoon and into Saturday night was possibly the worst 24 hours of my life as the pain in my toe and foot was unbearable. It forced me to lay in bed all day trying to ease the waves of agony by chomping on my meds and putting ice packs on the red swollen area.

Inside I was feeling worse. I was convinced the pain and injury would never go away and as a result, my ChrisFit training would have to end. I thought about failing not only myself but everyone who has supported me these past 3 1/2 months.

Though my training days may have been over, I wasn’t going to give up on what Chris has taught me to do outside of the gym. I stuck to eating the kinds of healthy foods he advised and kept to my designated allotment of protein, fat and carbohydrates.

Slowly, the medication started to work but the pain never left me for long. After a few days, I pushed myself to return to ChrisFit for my Tuesday session. Taking great precaution, Chris had me do all upper body work — and by the time we were done, my arms and shoulders were so tired I forgot I even had a big toe.

I went back for some “non-foot-stomping” cardio on the Elliptical on Wednesday.

Still, I wasn’t expecting much as I weighed in on Thursday. Two days of training and five days of being immobile is hardly a recipe for weight loss.

Angry at the lingering pain in my foot, I stepped on the scale and ...

WHAT?

I was down about 4 pounds — and had hit my first personal milestone. The pain in my foot remained but all I felt was relief.

As usual, Chris was more pumped up than me and congratulated me on sticking to the proper foods. He would later text me: “Nice job. Thank you. I appreciate your effort especially when things were going less than ideal.”

Meanwhile, inside the gym he has jokingly given me the new nickname of “Gimp.”

I don’t mind. I’m just happy to be back.

Rick Forgione is city editor of the Niagara Gazette. Contact him at 282-2311, Ext. 2257.

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To learn more about ChrisFit Personal Training, 2423 Hyde Park Blvd., call 818-0078 or visit www.chrisfit.net.