OT: Health and Fitness Thread ‎III

[Bruinaura]

View attachment 607559

You must have come in first place if you drove

Seriously though, congrats! That's a lot of hard work

 

[smithformeragent]

This one was extra special.

Yesterday, on a cool, rainy day, I successfully completed my third Manchester City Marathon.

Two years is a long time to have a bad taste in your mouth. Two years ago, the weather was unseasonably warm and I tried to push for a personal record, only to fall apart on mile 23 and not finish. Last year I got sick with covid 10 days before the race and all of my training was for naught.

My goal going into yesterday was to finish by any means necessary, regardless of my time. There are few worse feelings than knowing what it takes to achieve a major accomplishment, but fearing you’ll never get back there.

I watched a lot of Rocky the weeks leading in as I completed my training and channeled everything I had to get back that “eye of the tiger”. Less than 1% of the world’s population has ever completed a marathon and the challenge is as much mental as it is physical.

My nemesis is the Goffstown Rail Trail which encompasses miles 19-23, and as I entered that pivotal leg of the race, the rains picked up substantially. I thought of Duke’s line to Rocky “You’re going to have to go through hell, worse than any nightmare you ever dreamed, but in the end I know you’ll be the one standing.”

As the rain continued the last few miles, the batteries on my electronics had all failed and it was just me and the finish line, I just repeated to myself “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

(Also, big shout out to my wife for coming up with the huge pep talk and munchkins over by West Side Arena when I had my moment of doubt before entering “hell”. I couldn’t have done it without you!

 

[Dueling Banjos]

Partial tear of ulnar collateral ligament, elbow injury, out for 2 months.

Could be worse, running and squats on the menu.

 

[smithformeragent]

I’ve hit a bit of a post marathon, cold weather funk.

I’ve fallen into the habit of sleeping in.

The baby will be here in about a month. I’ve been able to squeeze in some workouts on the elliptical, some lifting, and short runs.

Still playing hockey, but I feel like a lazy bum.

Need to get back into the swing of things.

 

[Gee Wally]

I’ve hit a bit of a post marathon, cold weather funk.

I’ve fallen into the habit of sleeping in.

The baby will be here in about a month. I’ve been able to squeeze in some workouts on the elliptical, some lifting, and short runs.

Still playing hockey, but I feel like a lazy bum.

Need to get back into the swing of things.

#3 will take care of #2.

 

[Aeroforce]

Out of curiosity, I looked up Biosteel, the sports drink that's unavoidable watching NHL games. I had no idea what it even was, but figured since they seem to be supporting the NHL and it's players in a less intrusive way, I'd give them a chance. (Next time I'm in the market for tires, I will NOT be buying from the company that feels the need to have a tire roll virtually around the boards when teams are in the zone.)

Turns out Biosteel is trying to corner the Gatorade market. The nutritional numbers are similar, but Biosteel is more environmentally friendly.

Aside from that, I managed to bench press my weight today (155 lbs.) for the first time in over three years. At 54, I'm not getting obsessed with progressive overload and new personal-bests. But that inner voice was yapping at me to give it a try.

I did some warm-up reps at 135 and 145. They felt fine, so I attempted 155. The bar was slow lifting from my chest, but I got it up and racked.

We've also finally gotten some cooler weather. The advantage of jumping in triple digit heat for months on is when a cooler day finally arrives, jumping becomes effortless. I made a year-end video just to monitor my progress.

 

[smithformeragent]

BUMP

Wow, I knew it would be a whole new world with the little one.

I was able to get out for a 5 mile run this morning.

Yesterday, was able to do elliptical and weights at home.

February 1st, I’m switching my gym membership to a club closer to home, but further from work.

Definitely need to cut back on the snacking late at night. This feeding schedule for the baby means staying up later and and being up earlier.

We fed him at 2:30 this morning and I was starving and scarfed down a doughnut.

Trying to be as healthy as possible at meal time.
Soup for lunch.

Fruit for a snack.

Meat, carb, and lots of veggies at dinner.

 

[Bruinaura]

Went off the rails the last month or so. Mostly due to emotional eating as a result of several family situations.

Well, today that's stopping. I'm not going to totally undo months of work. Time to take control of my health back... as much as I can control.

 

[Bruinaura]

Went off the rails the last month or so. Mostly due to emotional eating as a result of several family situations.

Well, today that's stopping. I'm not going to totally undo months of work. Time to take control of my health back... as much as I can control.

 

[DarrenBanks56]

BUMP

Wow, I knew it would be a whole new world with the little one.

I was able to get out for a 5 mile run this morning.

Yesterday, was able to do elliptical and weights at home.

February 1st, I’m switching my gym membership to a club closer to home, but further from work.

Definitely need to cut back on the snacking late at night. This feeding schedule for the baby means staying up later and and being up earlier.

We fed him at 2:30 this morning and I was starving and scarfed down a doughnut.

Trying to be as healthy as possible at meal time.
Soup for lunch.

Fruit for a snack.

Meat, carb, and lots of veggies at dinner.

wait til you start eating the littles ones leftover mcdonalds and kraft mac and cheese

 

[smithformeragent]

Last Lent, we went on Keto because the doctor said it would help with Megan conceiving.

She was miserable and I landed myself in the emergency room.

This year, I’m cutting doughnuts, ice cream, candy, soda, and all other sweets.

Will limit the carbs, but not to an extreme.

 

[Gonzothe7thDman]

Finally received my Tonal last week after ordering it a month ago.

Always hated the idea of going to a gym so this thing is a life changer for me.

If the company goes under that would suck but for now this purchase has been worth every penny to me. We'll see how the rest of the first month goes

 

[smithformeragent]

Finally received my Tonal last week after ordering it a month ago.

Always hated the idea of going to a gym so this thing is a life changer for me.

If the company goes under that would suck but for now this purchase has been worth every penny to me. We'll see how the rest of the first month goes

Good luck!

 

[Gonzothe7thDman]

Good luck!

Thanks.

It's kicked my ass so far but in a good way

2 month old makes it tough for me to get time to get out of the house to the gym so this is the next best thing.

 

[Aeroforce]

It's far from anything serious, but basically officially mid fifties, there have been some midlife crisis type mental challenges. Basically trying to exist in a divisive world, feeling like it's all meaningless anyway.

But I'm a study in opposites - I see no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but I train as if I myself am starting the playoffs tomorrow.

I've picked up some cool exercises from Kevin Neeld, Head Performance Coach of the Boston Bruins.

This is a particular favorite I do on leg day (every Thursday).

It's a reverse lunge with leg drive. Neeld says it builds skating speed by adopting a lower skating position. I haven't been on skates in decades, but I do find some bizarre satisfaction doing the same exercises as our Bruins.

It's at 9:40:

 

[Bruinaura]

It's far from anything serious, but basically officially mid fifties, there have been some midlife crisis type mental challenges. Basically trying to exist in a divisive world, feeling like it's all meaningless anyway.

But I'm a study in opposites - I see no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but I train as if I myself am starting the playoffs tomorrow.

I've picked up some cool exercises from Kevin Neeld, Head Performance Coach of the Boston Bruins.

This is a particular favorite I do on leg day (every Thursday).

It's a reverse lunge with leg drive. Neeld says it builds skating speed by adopting a lower skating position. I haven't been on skates in decades, but I do find some bizarre satisfaction doing the same exercises as our Bruins.

It's at 9:40:

I've been experiencing the whole "midlife crisis" thing for about the last year. Never realized how much it could really mess with a person.

Exercise definitely helps though!

 

[smithformeragent]

f*** it.

Late night with the game last night, but got up at 4am for the gym.

In a nice groove.

Guess I’ll just be extra tired for hopefully the next two months.

 

[Bruinaura]

I've been off the rails with fitness and eating since December.

Time to get serious and get back on track.

Have some humor....

 

[BMC]

I'm in the same boat as @Bruinaura. When my mother died I went into a complete funk & let a lot of things go, including my fitness. Then last fall I sprained my foot and was on crutches for close to 3 months ( I re-sprained it ugh), so no walking at all. Then this winter I started having strange symptoms in my legs- weakness, heaviness (felt like they weighed a ton each), tightness in my upper inner thighs (think of a shoelace being tightened) and intense pain in my upper inner right thigh. These symptoms are also strongly affected by the temperature & moisture level outside which really freaked me out.
I've been going to the doctor & it's been narrowed down to 3 things: side effects of a medication I was prescribed to support my blood pressure medicine, possible autoimmune issue and an unrelated injury that's causing all the pain. I've been off the medication for nearly 2 weeks now and weakness/heaviness is much reduced although I had already lost quite a bit of muscle strength from not walking. Still a lot of tightness & pain so more blood work & now x-rays are in order.

While this was going on I decided to keep a much closer eye on what & how much I ate since I couldn't walk it off. I've dropped another 7 pounds, this is the lightest I've been since HS.

 

[BruinDust]

Last Lent, we went on Keto because the doctor said it would help with Megan conceiving.

She was miserable and I landed myself in the emergency room.

This year, I’m cutting doughnuts, ice cream, candy, soda, and all other sweets.

Will limit the carbs, but not to an extreme.

Sugar is the worst. I've stopped buying loafs of bread altogether more for the sugar content than the carbs. I can't stand whole wheat/whole grain bread, it was white only for me, so bread just had to go.

Reduced my coffee from a triple triple at the nearest Tim Horton's to a store bought dark roast whole bean with just a dash of flavoured sweetener. Just those two simple changes and my waistline is thanking me already.

 

[Bruinaura]

Sugar is the worst. I've stopped buying loafs of bread altogether more for the sugar content than the carbs. I can't stand whole wheat/whole grain bread, it was white only for me, so bread just had to go.

Reduced my coffee from a triple triple at the nearest Tim Horton's to a store bought dark roast whole bean with just a dash of flavoured sweetener. Just those two simple changes and my waistline is thanking me already.

I like Sara Lee Delightful white bread. Only 1 gram of sugar, I believe. 45 calories. Might be worth a shot if you still want bread.

 

[Bruinaura]

I'm in the same boat as @Bruinaura. When my mother died I went into a complete funk & let a lot of things go, including my fitness. Then last fall I sprained my foot and was on crutches for close to 3 months ( I re-sprained it ugh), so no walking at all. Then this winter I started having strange symptoms in my legs- weakness, heaviness (felt like they weighed a ton each), tightness in my upper inner thighs (think of a shoelace being tightened) and intense pain in my upper inner right thigh. These symptoms are also strongly affected by the temperature & moisture level outside which really freaked me out.
I've been going to the doctor & it's been narrowed down to 3 things: side effects of a medication I was prescribed to support my blood pressure medicine, possible autoimmune issue and an unrelated injury that's causing all the pain. I've been off the medication for nearly 2 weeks now and weakness/heaviness is much reduced although I had already lost quite a bit of muscle strength from not walking. Still a lot of tightness & pain so more blood work & now x-rays are in order.

While this was going on I decided to keep a much closer eye on what & how much I ate since I couldn't walk it off. I've dropped another 7 pounds, this is the lightest I've been since HS.

Yep, my biggest problem was emotional eating. Went right back into old habits. The pounds come back on quickly. I was at least doing 10k steps a day but then that stopped when my mom died so it's been about a month. This weekend I barely got in 1k steps in 2 days, combined. No offense to the moms here but I'm glad mothers day is over. Not only do I not have my mom, I'm not a mom, and the whole thing is just depressing. But ice cream won't solve that.

ANYWAY.....I'm not back to where I started but if I keep eating like I have been, it won't be much longer. No sense getting angry about it, I know what I need to do.

 

[smithformeragent]

The Nature’s Own Keto bread is 40 calories per slice. The Joseph oat and flax flatbreads are good too.

Finally having a little more energy these days. Finding ways to get creative and work out when I can with baby around.

Trying to clean up the diet. Back on green smoothies in the morning.

I like Sara Lee Delightful white bread. Only 1 gram of sugar, I believe. 45 calories. Might be worth a shot if you still want bread.

 

[Bruinaura]

Two weeks back on track, down about 7.5 pounds. It won't continue at this rate but going in the right direction again.

 

[BMC]

Went to the doctor yesterday- based on blood work & x rays he's certain I have degenerative arthritis in both hips. At least I know what the hell is going on, that's been the scariest part. He referred me to an orthopedist for further treatment.