Getting into shape

[cardsfansince82]

My best friend from high school passed away in his sleep a couple days ago. Not looking forward to that funeral at all. Seeing him in a casket might bother me more than any other funeral I've been to. Anyway, it's had me doing a lot of thinking about taking better care of myself. I'm not in bad shape, but reading through this thread I realize there's a lot more I can do besides just drop the 20 pounds on the scale. It's easy to get caught up in the grind of work and life and get complacent about things. For me my health was always the last priority but I'm motivated more than ever to change that going forward. It certainly helps to read about others' successes.

[tlombard]

Dang. Sorry to hear that. I get what you're saying about that possibly being the toughest funeral to date. So far all of the funerals that I've been to have been for people a lot older than me and only one came as a surprise so I had time to cope with the inevitable before they passed. Seeing someone my age that I knew well will really mess me up when it happens. Hopefully I'm not the first of my friends.

[Radbird]

Sorry to hear that, 82. It's hard to see, there is no way to sugar coat it. But your attitude - having it spur you on to better health is terrific.

With our move, I haven't had an elliptical for about 6 months. Starting with when we put the house on the market in July, a combination of not being able to exercise or cook at home (always had to be ready for a showing), then moving out (more food on the go), the drive (lots of fast food) and moving in (took a while to settle into a routine) took it's toll. More weight, less muscle tone.

We bought a new elliptical in December and it took 6 weeks for the freaking thing to show up. I got it put together over the weekend then woke up with a bum knee on Monday. Now I have a cold. The gods are conspiring but I have to take the long view of this. We're eating healthy again and once I combine that with getting back into an exercise routine, I should feel better by spring.

[ZigZagCardsFan]

My best friend from high school passed away in his sleep a couple days ago. Not looking forward to that funeral at all. Seeing him in a casket might bother me more than any other funeral I've been to. Anyway, it's had me doing a lot of thinking about taking better care of myself. I'm not in bad shape, but reading through this thread I realize there's a lot more I can do besides just drop the 20 pounds on the scale. It's easy to get caught up in the grind of work and life and get complacent about things. For me my health was always the last priority but I'm motivated more than ever to change that going forward. It certainly helps to read about others' successes.

My condolences, cardsfan.

It's all about finding a lifestyle that works for you. I've been all over the map. I've dropped a little weight, gained it back. Dropped a lot of weight, gained it back. I've done running programs, P90x, yoga etc. I've dealt with alcoholism, depression, and anxiety that contributed to everything. It took me probably a decade but I finally found something that works for me and it has been amazing for me.

The best, most basic advice I can give is fixing your diet by finding healthy meals that you actually really enjoy as diet is widely regarded as the biggest contributor to health. And as far as exercise goes, for me it's been hiking, playing hockey, and finding workouts that I don't dislike.

If there's anything I can do to help whether it be meal ideas, workout tips, lifestyle tips, let me know.

[JCShutout]

My condolences 82. That's really rough. Wish I had something better to say, but that's just really rough. I'm sorry man.

[Socnorb11]

That sucks, CF82. High school friends are sometimes the best. That's tough.

[tlombard]

I survived the first session with the trainer on Saturday and signed up for more sessions. $99 gets me three sessions with him in addition to the first one that was free on Saturday so I figure four sessions for a hundred bucks isn't bad. I got along with him and he gave me a good workout without trying to kill me so I'll give him definite points for that. I've heard stories from friends who never made it past the first session with a trainer because they pushed them too far and they could barely walk for days after.

I'm still feeling it a bit in my legs today but I'm going to go back after work tonight and at least put in some cardio and see what happens after that. My goal this week is to get in the gym today and Wednesday and then taking Thursday and Friday off so I'm fresh for Saturday. Right now my goal is three days a week minimum at the gym.

[ZigZagCardsFan]

Has anyone here tried 'intermittent fasting.'

Basically the idea is that you consume all of your calories during an 8 hour window of the day. For me I'm thinking 11AM-7PM would be about perfect. I'm never really hungry in the mornings and I eat more out of habit. The problem is going to be cutting out any late-night snacking.

My question is, is there anything to it other than the psychological aspect that keeps calories down?

[haltz]

Jimmy Kimmel talks about not eating one or two days a week to keep the weight off. It's pretty funny.

My biggest thing when I lost weight besides stopping at 2,000 calories every day without exception was getting into the mindset of going to bed hungry and being ok with that.

[ZigZagCardsFan]

I need to get in that mindset. Heck, maybe it will even help motivate me to go to sleep earlier, which is always an issue.