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Post season workout encouragement thread! 2022 EDITION!!!!!
- Thread starter SaddleUpPartner!
- Start date
I swam competitively 35 years ago (high school), but nothing like this. I am by no means fast (40 minute / mile), but after training for it for the last 3-4 months, I am pretty confident. My only concern is this is open water in a river. Downstream at least. I am also a little anxious about how to handle other swimmers.
Jeepr07
Member
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2019
- Messages
- 55
Good job everyone.
I bought the TRX suspension straps, and has been helping me a lot. Maybe, not losing a lot of weight, but definitely helping me get working out more do to being able to use it pretty much any where.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I bought the TRX suspension straps, and has been helping me a lot. Maybe, not losing a lot of weight, but definitely helping me get working out more do to being able to use it pretty much any where.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
SaddleUpPartner!
Well-Known Member
Well gentlemen, I completed my first half marathon yesterday! 13.1 miles through lovely downtown Holland, MI. Went along part of the lakeshore and boardwalk and ended at Holland state park at the beach. First 10 miles went great last 3 was a total bear. I had nothing left in the tank at the end but I pushed through and finished at 2 hours flat. So thankful for my buddy riding his bike with me feeding me waters, navigating me along our makeshift route. Also so thankful for all the support on here from you guys over the past few months. I plan on doing an official half marathon in Sept before our season starts here in MI.
I hope all of you are pounding away at your workout goals. Never give up, you can do this.
I hope all of you are pounding away at your workout goals. Never give up, you can do this.
- Joined
- Jan 6, 2020
- Messages
- 230
Way to go! And great time, too.
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2020
- Messages
- 654
I hope this helps someone on their journey.......
I went through all the usually crash diets and gimmicks to lose weight and always let my physical limitations be an excuse as to why they failed. I always set out with some goal - like lose 30 pounds in 6 months, or be certain weight by Christmas. Well, when 6 months would pass or Christmas came and I had 35 more pounds to lose or didn't make my goal weight I would end up going the opposite way and just gain more.
Well, 5 years ago I hit 293 lbs...the heaviest I have ever been in my life.
My orthopedic wanted to fuse my L5-S1 together in my lower back and cauterize the nerve endings because the pain was so bad, and the VA issued candy was wasn't working anymore. After reading several medical articles on these procedures I decided I had to try something different one last time before the surgery. I made three small changes that have really made a difference.
1. I downloaded the MyFitnessPal app for my phone and religiously added EVERYTHING I ate to it. This held me accountable, and set realistic goals with the ability to track progress. The eye opener to this app was the 5 week forecast after entering your daily food log. For the first few days I ate pretty well and saw the daily 5 week forecast saying "If you continue to eat like today, in 5 weeks you will weigh 283" and was like alright I am doing well. That was until Friday hit, and I loaded in my 5 Sam Adams Octoberfest, 4 slices of pizza, and everything else (which by the way was a normal evening at that time) and the forecast said "In 5 weeks you will weight 318." <-- This really helped me stay honest and start to learn what to I could eat a lot of and what I should steer clear of.
2. Small choices - One reason I always failed in the past was I tried to quit bad habits cold turkey. This time around I decided that instead of trying to quit all my favorites, and go straight to shakes and rice cakes - when faced with a choice, try to make the better choice. So an example - If I went to McDonalds instead of supersize get the regular size. Or drink water instead of soda. Or apples slice instead of fries. Eventually this lead to grilled chicken instead of double quarter pounders, then salads instead of chicken and then eventually no McDonalds at all. If I made a bad choice, or had a bad day of food, I just told myself that I have to make a better choice next time and that over time make more good choices than bad and I will be ok. With a few weeks I had dropped 10 pounds and 5 week forecast was showing weights in the 270s...which blew my mind and gave me motivation.
3. Move as much as I can. This was hardest for me because I spent the last 10 years learning to restrict my movement because of my back (and other gifts from the Army). At first I did things like park further away at Walmart and work to get a few extra steps in (BTW - I did not track steps, just a preference. I did not want the constant reminder that I did or did not do enough). I also tried to exercise in some way M-F each week. I started with walking on a treadmill or riding a recumbent bike with Netflix up to help me focus on something else. Eventually I started to enjoy the stress relief of exercising - and even started running (more on this in a bit).
These three changes got me off all the pain killers various and VA vitamins and helped me get to a healthy weight. I got so into running at one point that I was putting 20 to 25 miles in a week. Well, I went from 293 to 208 and pushed myself so hard that I still had severe back pain (knee, ankle, etc) and had to roll that back to walking, biking and lifting weights. When I hit 208 I got my first suit that was tailored vs off the rack and actually felt good when I wore it.
Since I hit 208 lbs in 2018 I have been able to maintain 222-224lbs for the two year or so (I am comfortable at this weight as its what I weighed while I was in the Army). My doctors have pretty much told me I need to stop running to hold off getting a knee replacement or damaging my back even further. I no longer use myfitnesspal to track my calories, as its become engrained in my routine what I need to eat to maintain. I split my daily exercise between the exercise bike and free-weights M-F and try to go on a hike or walk on the weekends.
I still get days where my brain thinks I am in my 20s vs 40s and hit the pavement for long run - against my doctors advice (What can I say, I am a saddle hunter!)
This morning I put 5.5 miles down in under an hour on my first day of a beach vacation felt good, but I will feel it for a few days. Anyway, I hope my my story can help someone out there who thinks its too hard, takes too long, or has given up. Tomorrow is another day, and its never to late start.
I went through all the usually crash diets and gimmicks to lose weight and always let my physical limitations be an excuse as to why they failed. I always set out with some goal - like lose 30 pounds in 6 months, or be certain weight by Christmas. Well, when 6 months would pass or Christmas came and I had 35 more pounds to lose or didn't make my goal weight I would end up going the opposite way and just gain more.
Well, 5 years ago I hit 293 lbs...the heaviest I have ever been in my life.
My orthopedic wanted to fuse my L5-S1 together in my lower back and cauterize the nerve endings because the pain was so bad, and the VA issued candy was wasn't working anymore. After reading several medical articles on these procedures I decided I had to try something different one last time before the surgery. I made three small changes that have really made a difference.
1. I downloaded the MyFitnessPal app for my phone and religiously added EVERYTHING I ate to it. This held me accountable, and set realistic goals with the ability to track progress. The eye opener to this app was the 5 week forecast after entering your daily food log. For the first few days I ate pretty well and saw the daily 5 week forecast saying "If you continue to eat like today, in 5 weeks you will weigh 283" and was like alright I am doing well. That was until Friday hit, and I loaded in my 5 Sam Adams Octoberfest, 4 slices of pizza, and everything else (which by the way was a normal evening at that time) and the forecast said "In 5 weeks you will weight 318." <-- This really helped me stay honest and start to learn what to I could eat a lot of and what I should steer clear of.
2. Small choices - One reason I always failed in the past was I tried to quit bad habits cold turkey. This time around I decided that instead of trying to quit all my favorites, and go straight to shakes and rice cakes - when faced with a choice, try to make the better choice. So an example - If I went to McDonalds instead of supersize get the regular size. Or drink water instead of soda. Or apples slice instead of fries. Eventually this lead to grilled chicken instead of double quarter pounders, then salads instead of chicken and then eventually no McDonalds at all. If I made a bad choice, or had a bad day of food, I just told myself that I have to make a better choice next time and that over time make more good choices than bad and I will be ok. With a few weeks I had dropped 10 pounds and 5 week forecast was showing weights in the 270s...which blew my mind and gave me motivation.
3. Move as much as I can. This was hardest for me because I spent the last 10 years learning to restrict my movement because of my back (and other gifts from the Army). At first I did things like park further away at Walmart and work to get a few extra steps in (BTW - I did not track steps, just a preference. I did not want the constant reminder that I did or did not do enough). I also tried to exercise in some way M-F each week. I started with walking on a treadmill or riding a recumbent bike with Netflix up to help me focus on something else. Eventually I started to enjoy the stress relief of exercising - and even started running (more on this in a bit).
These three changes got me off all the pain killers various and VA vitamins and helped me get to a healthy weight. I got so into running at one point that I was putting 20 to 25 miles in a week. Well, I went from 293 to 208 and pushed myself so hard that I still had severe back pain (knee, ankle, etc) and had to roll that back to walking, biking and lifting weights. When I hit 208 I got my first suit that was tailored vs off the rack and actually felt good when I wore it.
Since I hit 208 lbs in 2018 I have been able to maintain 222-224lbs for the two year or so (I am comfortable at this weight as its what I weighed while I was in the Army). My doctors have pretty much told me I need to stop running to hold off getting a knee replacement or damaging my back even further. I no longer use myfitnesspal to track my calories, as its become engrained in my routine what I need to eat to maintain. I split my daily exercise between the exercise bike and free-weights M-F and try to go on a hike or walk on the weekends.
I still get days where my brain thinks I am in my 20s vs 40s and hit the pavement for long run - against my doctors advice (What can I say, I am a saddle hunter!)
This morning I put 5.5 miles down in under an hour on my first day of a beach vacation felt good, but I will feel it for a few days. Anyway, I hope my my story can help someone out there who thinks its too hard, takes too long, or has given up. Tomorrow is another day, and its never to late start.
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Nothing to it but to do it...Congratulations
KYHunter
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2018
- Messages
- 1,113
Idk how I missed this! Congrats man! Way to grind it out! Glad you were able to accomplish your goal. Keep on grinding
SaddleUpPartner!
Well-Known Member
Wow that is incredible, congrats on the weight loss and being able to maintain that lifestyle choice. I 100% agree with quitting bad eating habits cold Turkey vs progressively quitting them. It’s better to just moderate them and have them out of your regular eating habits. Also awesome job on the running! It’s good that you know your limits and don’t injure yourself. As much as I love to run, the pounding on the knees and ankles is awful sometimes. Swimming and biking are much better on the joints than running.
TexaninSconny
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2020
- Messages
- 531
Great testimony! The other thing I would add is it's great to have someone close that is committed to helping you. Whether it's your spouse, a buddy, or even utilizing this thread. It helps so much to have someone keeping you sharp.
A buddy and I are committed to working out 5x's a week. For me that means rowing or biking (for him...rowing or swimming). We're doing intermittent fasting 8pm to 10am except for social gatherings (typically 1-2xs per week). I'll also occasionally get some weights in, but definitely do pushups and abs 5xs a week.
In the end, it doesn't matter what you are doing as long as you are doing something positive (and it's not doing your body harm - i.e.: running messing up your back). Even if it's small and you are consistent, the positive momentum grows into something bigger when you start seeing the results.
This is a great thread. Glad it was started and glad all of you are making strides. And even if some of you have been doing well, then fell off the wagon. Don't stay down...get back to it. Keep it up, fellas!
SaddleUpPartner!
Well-Known Member
Thanks dude! Yeah that last 3.1 miles was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in terms of exercise. I just about collapsed at the end just from my legs feeling like noodles. It’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever done and I’m glad that I had you guys backing me up the whole way. I’m going to try to do another one this Sept in Lansing MI. It’s just been hard to train because we’ve currently been moving. Once August hits I’ll be able to train a little more.
KYHunter
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2018
- Messages
- 1,113
It’s a good feeling tho isn’t it??!! Such a great accomplishment. I’m glad to have encouraged you and I definitely benefited from the encouragement too.
Make it a habit and before you know it you’ll be running a few of these each year. Be careful, like saddle hunting, it’s addicting lol
Had a couple beverages the other day and figured I'd show up for some summer league lacrosse. Of course I was the oldest at 45. The rest were 20 something's.
Old man hobbles out on the field and lines up beside a tall track star looking thing. I read his college jersey..."What year?". He tells me he's still there. He asks me....I tell him '94 to '96....lol.
Ball comes down to his end and they rotate it straight up top like I knew they'd do. He starts to go, I notice he can't play left handed. Sat on his right and when he went to dodge, I drove his skinny ass into the turf. Ball trickled out and I step back and let him pick it up....I looked at him and told him not tonight young man.
Ran all night at midfield. No one tested me the rest of the evening. Nothing pulled, nothing broken. I ain't dead yet.
Old man hobbles out on the field and lines up beside a tall track star looking thing. I read his college jersey..."What year?". He tells me he's still there. He asks me....I tell him '94 to '96....lol.
Ball comes down to his end and they rotate it straight up top like I knew they'd do. He starts to go, I notice he can't play left handed. Sat on his right and when he went to dodge, I drove his skinny ass into the turf. Ball trickled out and I step back and let him pick it up....I looked at him and told him not tonight young man.
Ran all night at midfield. No one tested me the rest of the evening. Nothing pulled, nothing broken. I ain't dead yet.
SaddleUpPartner!
Well-Known Member
I think they call that “grown a$$ man strength”
Yes, yes I think it is. Mixed in with a little attitude and a bit of technique.
gents, i fell way off the bandwagon this summer, dissapeared from the site and everything. sorry. very happy to come back and see some of you had much more success than i did. back on the bandwagon again.
TexaninSconny
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2020
- Messages
- 531
@thedutchtouch
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
-T.R.
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
-T.R.
Not sure how I missed this thread before. Great work to all getting it in. To those considering, just take the step. It gets easier, you learn to make it fun. I like to lift weights instead of running and stuff. The Corps ran the piss out of me and I'll be damned if I'm running after anything but my offspring if I can at all help it these days lol. I have a lot of fun working out, AND it's super cathartic for me. I don't have time to get to the Muay Thai gym two or three times a week to kick and punch, but I can go 20 minutes out of my way in the morning two or three times a week to pump iron for an hour to an hour and a half.
Jwiggins762
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2019
- Messages
- 1,203
Been off and on losing weight to gaining it back since I was 17. At 24 I was in the best shape ever at 195lbs, also smoked 2 packs a day. By 32 I weighed the most I've ever had at 280lbs. I quit smoking, drinking sodas and only drink water, I was counting calories and trying different diets that seemed to help. At 245lbs I started keto and got down to 203lbs. Im now 35 and since then I usually go from 215lbs to 240lbs. Just a few months ago I weighed 240 and last Friday I weighed 217. My goal is 200 by bow opener Oct. 1st. I struggle with overeating and not exercising. Yesterday I did 4 miles on the bike, 300 jump ropes, shadow boxing, kicking, and a little bit of weight lifting. I would eventually love to get to 185 or 190. They are opening up a Popeyes in my city today and Wendy's will be in a few months. I gotta stay strong, but also I need to learn to eat a burger or whatever so often but not to overdue it and get back to eating healthier. People always ask me how I lost the weight. I use to say drink water, eat less, eat healthier, and exercise. I now also say its about your mentality and its #1.
Me at 24. I've lost prior to this 50 to 60lbs.
32
Also 32
Me at 24. I've lost prior to this 50 to 60lbs.
32
Also 32
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