Our Physical Fitness

darjr

I crit!
So. A little bit of Then-And-Now.

In 2019, I weighed the most I've ever weighed in my life--283 pounds. I'm a pretty tall fellow at 6'-8", and I'm almost 50 years old, so this added weight was playing havoc with my knees. At my annual physical, my doctor mentioned knee replacement surgery was going to be in my future. He also mentioned cholesterol medication, since my TCL was almost 300. So clearly, I had to make some changes if I wanted to stay healthy.

We talked about options, and decided that we would try to address these issues with diet and exercise first, and save medication/surgery for later. He put me on a high-fiber, low-calorie diet, and had me doing 20 minutes of moderate exercise five days a week. ("High fiber" meant that I would have to work my way up to 50g of fiber per day, 35g of which should be soluble. "Low calorie" meant 1800 calories a day, and no more than 600 kCal in a single meal. "Moderate exercise" meant getting my heart rate up to 140 bpm, and keeping it there for 20 minutes straight.) I was to keep a weekly Fitness Diary to track my progress.

That was summer, 2019. We all know what happened just a few months later.

So the Covid-19 pandemic struck. My wife and I were stuck at home, so there was no "going to the gym." Heck, even "going outside for a run" was frowned upon for the first half of 2020. Instead, we ordered some dumbbells and yoga mats from Amazon (for much less than the cost of a gym membership, I might add), and spent the weeks working our way through YouTube yoga videos and free online exercise programs like the best fitness website on the whole Internet, Darebee.com. With all the restaurants closed, we cooked our own meals as well--and there are tons of high fiber, low calorie recipes on the internet. Eventually the local restaurants and food carts had figured out their meal delivery services and DoorDash, etc., but we learned a lot about nutrition and food prep in the meantime.

The pandemic was awful, but it turned our eyes inward to our own health. It gave me the motivation and the opportunity to make changes for my health (often whether I wanted it or not!), and removed a lot of the excuses that I would fall back on in the past--"the gym is all the way across town," "I'm too tired to cook," "My gym membership expired," etc.

Fast-forward to 2023.

This morning I got an email from my doctor, containing the results from my annual physical. As of last Tuesday, I weigh 227 pounds, and my total cholesterol is 138 mg/dL. I am no longer overweight (I am 6'-8" tall, remember), either. I cut my cholesterol in half, and dropped 56 pounds. Not only that, I went from getting winded walking up a single flight of stairs, to being able to run a mile in 8 minutes 10 seconds. And here's the best part: these numbers haven't changed in over a year...they are identical to my 2022 results. This is now my steady-state: I've kept the weight off and the cholesterol low for 13 months and counting.

Sorry if this comes across as "bragging," but I'm very proud of myself. It was a lot of hard work. o_O
that’s incredibly awesome. And for what it’s worth motivating for me. Thanks!

So many home gyms built over Covid. I built one too. Still looking for a decent price in a rower.

I’ve gone back to going ti the gym but I love my overly priced Covid home gym too. I can roll out of bed and get a decent workout in before work.
 

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payn

I don't believe in the no-win scenario
that’s incredibly awesome. And for what it’s worth motivating for me. Thanks!

So many home gyms built over Covid. I built one too. Still looking for a decent price in a rower.

I’ve gone back to going ti the gym but I love my overly priced Covid home gym too. I can roll out of bed and get a decent workout in before work.
I just put many many miles on my Specialized road bike. Only thing I bought for home was a 25# slam ball. I have gone back to the gym but have had to take 2-3 weeks off a couple of time in the last 2 years due to covid.
 


Lidgar

Gongfarmer
Nothing fancy. Try to walk 2-3 miles a day and have some free weights in my home office, mostly for shoulder/neck strength to counter the impacts of working at the computer. All about the routines and being consistent.
 

DammitVictor

Trust the Fungus
Supporter
The thread on our comfort being naked in public got a lot of people suggesting they are in poor physical shape. There was an old thread where many folks talked about their exercise regimens. Rather than necromance that thread, I figured we should have a new one.
I'm in terrible physical condition. I'm morbidly obese and suffer from multiple debilitating medical conditions, and with hard work, discipline, and a little bit of luck-- hopefully I will be dead soon. Frankly, I am perfectly comfortable being fully nude in public. It's the public that's uncomfortable with it, and I mostly only wear clothing for their benefit.

I've been carrying a Planet Fitness membership for years, in the hopes I'll eventually start using it more often. "No Judgement Zone" my ass, though, I'm not in there for five minutes before they run up screeching that I'm "not really exercising!" and I'm "damaging that equipment!" After I put all that time and effort into getting my wheelchair up on the treadmill in the first place.

I'm clocking in at five-nine and two-eighty, down from a lifetime maximum of three-fifteen. I'd like to get back down to my fighting weight before I die, but that's taking a backseat to a lot of other things I'd like to get accomplished by then.
 


darjr

I crit!
Flex Friday!

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Zardnaar

Legend
Lost close to 8 kg since June. Mostly just cut out the worst of the crap (pizza, fish and chips, burgers).

Lots of walking and hiking. Gyms to much effort.

9am.
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Bushwick.

Better weather.
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There's a heap of hills around my city. Houses tend to go up to 150-200 metres then there's a heap of Bush and forest up to 400 metres.

Top of hills more like this.

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