Gents, I wanted to pass along a bit of good news. At least to me! About two and a half months ago I came to a conclusion and a decision; I was as heavy as I had ever been, as unfit as I had ever been, and I was tired of it was going to do something about it.
Now before we go too much further let me explain the odd title of the thread. When I was approaching 50 I made a promise to myself to lose fifty pounds by fifty years of age. The 50-50 plan. As you have surmised, I missed the target by a...bit. When I first came up with the idea I weighed between 225-230 lbs. 16-1/2 stone. Much too much by any account for a six foot man. Well, unless you are a muscle laden bodybuilder and I am most certainly not. So I made a half-arsed, lame attempt and quickly fell into disrepair of the body.
Then about a year and a half ago I realised I was putting on weight. A lot of it actually. So in mid July I jumped on the scales for the fist time in years. I feared the worst and was not let down. 260lbs! What the...? I have never even approached this kind of weight before and it was only the fact that my blood work was as bad as ever and my stamina and fitness was non-existent that drove me to it. I told my wife then and there this.was.going.to.stop. And so far, it has.
I started off by simply staying completely away from restaurant food. Fast food or otherwise. And on the rare occasion we did eat that type of food I only allowed myself a TINY bit of it. I don't like using too much hyperbole but the impact was almost instant. I would say in the first two to three weeks I knocked nearly ten pounds off. I don't really know because I refused to get on a scale. People get too hung up on pounds when they need to focus on diet and fitness. Let the ruddy pounds look out for themselves. They will, and they did.
I could tell from the way my clothes fit I was burning off pounds. The wife was complimentary about it and the guys at work told me the could see the difference. Particularly in facial features. I endeavoured to stay off the scales for a couple of months just to see how it went. The first week of September we joined Planet Fitness for two reasons; it was close and it is very reasonably priced. I started with their 12 minute abs workout and a few sessions with their 30 minute workout area. Then I trundled over to the resistance machines. More like slunk over there. Talk about a fish out of water. There were guys there from 25-50 who were obviously in MUCH better physical condition than I was. The first few sessions were really tough. Particularly the leg curls. Your hamstring lets you know how out of shape you are.
Fast forward to September 15 or so. I stepped on the scales. 238lbs. Okay, that's more like it. 22lbs down in two months. I liked it but want(ed) more. I weighed two days ago; 233/4. So I have knocked an honest 25lbs off my frame in a bit over two months and gained a load of new stamina and fitness. I hit the elliptical trainer for 30 hard minutes every morning and back it up with weights in the evening. Upper body one day, legs the next. I don't ignore the lower back either. I usually hit the 12 minute abs workout before doing upper body to get a good stretch going. Those shoulder presses are murder on me. You don't realise how much work pushing stuff over your head really is til you lift some weights.
So far I cannot help but think the daily cardio is a big help. I use the "random" programme and have quickly progressed to level 6. The machine says I am averaging between 6.4-7mph and about 3.25 miles per session. Calorie burning is estimated at 365 nominally. Heart rate is usually 140-150 and I know that is considered a bit too high but it doesn't feel like I am working hard enough when I lower the effort to get it down. Good/bad?
Weights. Now this is all new to me. My initial sense is rather than go heavier and heavier all the time, increase reps and sets. In just three weeks I can already push around a LOT more than I could when I started. However, when I feel the load lightening I increase the reps by a set rather than increase the weight too much. I started with two sets of twelve and have quickly pushed it to three sets of twelve. Good/bad idea? Legs are the easiest for me. I have always had very good leg strength and do not tend to injury. Still, I don't need a pulled hammy or joint damage. The toughest leg movement so far are the curls. The first two or thee times the hamstring was howling! Feel free to make suggestions about the weight training. I don't need injuries.
Okay lads, long post but I wanted to pass this along for the guys who are struggling with weight gain. I also understand there folks out there with real medical issues like diabetes, thyroid, and metabolism issues who should be consulting with a physician or trainer before doing any of this. And for goodness sake don't take my story as some great way of doing things. I jumped in out of pure disgust with myself and more than a bit of anger. How did I let it come to this I thought? I can say that simply staying away from junky food and limiting portions of every day food will help tremendously. So now I venture on in my 50-54 plan. I will be 54 in May and honestly hope to be well under 200 lbs by then. Wish me luck.
Now before we go too much further let me explain the odd title of the thread. When I was approaching 50 I made a promise to myself to lose fifty pounds by fifty years of age. The 50-50 plan. As you have surmised, I missed the target by a...bit. When I first came up with the idea I weighed between 225-230 lbs. 16-1/2 stone. Much too much by any account for a six foot man. Well, unless you are a muscle laden bodybuilder and I am most certainly not. So I made a half-arsed, lame attempt and quickly fell into disrepair of the body.
Then about a year and a half ago I realised I was putting on weight. A lot of it actually. So in mid July I jumped on the scales for the fist time in years. I feared the worst and was not let down. 260lbs! What the...? I have never even approached this kind of weight before and it was only the fact that my blood work was as bad as ever and my stamina and fitness was non-existent that drove me to it. I told my wife then and there this.was.going.to.stop. And so far, it has.
I started off by simply staying completely away from restaurant food. Fast food or otherwise. And on the rare occasion we did eat that type of food I only allowed myself a TINY bit of it. I don't like using too much hyperbole but the impact was almost instant. I would say in the first two to three weeks I knocked nearly ten pounds off. I don't really know because I refused to get on a scale. People get too hung up on pounds when they need to focus on diet and fitness. Let the ruddy pounds look out for themselves. They will, and they did.
I could tell from the way my clothes fit I was burning off pounds. The wife was complimentary about it and the guys at work told me the could see the difference. Particularly in facial features. I endeavoured to stay off the scales for a couple of months just to see how it went. The first week of September we joined Planet Fitness for two reasons; it was close and it is very reasonably priced. I started with their 12 minute abs workout and a few sessions with their 30 minute workout area. Then I trundled over to the resistance machines. More like slunk over there. Talk about a fish out of water. There were guys there from 25-50 who were obviously in MUCH better physical condition than I was. The first few sessions were really tough. Particularly the leg curls. Your hamstring lets you know how out of shape you are.
Fast forward to September 15 or so. I stepped on the scales. 238lbs. Okay, that's more like it. 22lbs down in two months. I liked it but want(ed) more. I weighed two days ago; 233/4. So I have knocked an honest 25lbs off my frame in a bit over two months and gained a load of new stamina and fitness. I hit the elliptical trainer for 30 hard minutes every morning and back it up with weights in the evening. Upper body one day, legs the next. I don't ignore the lower back either. I usually hit the 12 minute abs workout before doing upper body to get a good stretch going. Those shoulder presses are murder on me. You don't realise how much work pushing stuff over your head really is til you lift some weights.
So far I cannot help but think the daily cardio is a big help. I use the "random" programme and have quickly progressed to level 6. The machine says I am averaging between 6.4-7mph and about 3.25 miles per session. Calorie burning is estimated at 365 nominally. Heart rate is usually 140-150 and I know that is considered a bit too high but it doesn't feel like I am working hard enough when I lower the effort to get it down. Good/bad?
Weights. Now this is all new to me. My initial sense is rather than go heavier and heavier all the time, increase reps and sets. In just three weeks I can already push around a LOT more than I could when I started. However, when I feel the load lightening I increase the reps by a set rather than increase the weight too much. I started with two sets of twelve and have quickly pushed it to three sets of twelve. Good/bad idea? Legs are the easiest for me. I have always had very good leg strength and do not tend to injury. Still, I don't need a pulled hammy or joint damage. The toughest leg movement so far are the curls. The first two or thee times the hamstring was howling! Feel free to make suggestions about the weight training. I don't need injuries.
Okay lads, long post but I wanted to pass this along for the guys who are struggling with weight gain. I also understand there folks out there with real medical issues like diabetes, thyroid, and metabolism issues who should be consulting with a physician or trainer before doing any of this. And for goodness sake don't take my story as some great way of doing things. I jumped in out of pure disgust with myself and more than a bit of anger. How did I let it come to this I thought? I can say that simply staying away from junky food and limiting portions of every day food will help tremendously. So now I venture on in my 50-54 plan. I will be 54 in May and honestly hope to be well under 200 lbs by then. Wish me luck.
