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37 y/o and I feel it's the last chance...

Old 01-13-2010, 04:12 PM
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Default 37 y/o and I feel it's the last chance...

Greetings gents. I just stumbled upon this website and I hope it'll help inspire me. I understand that it's just a place to journal my progress - not really different than keeping track in a notebook, but I have enjoyed seeing the comments and support on these forums.

My family has agreed to some New Year's Resolutions. One of those is fitness. I've always been overweight and unhealthy from 6th grade until now. The only time I was even close to being where I should be is when I was taking kung fu classes and got down to 218 being mostly muscle.
Currently I'm 274 or so, down from 288 on new year's.

I purchased an elliptical from Nordictrack and have been using that almost daily. I have had some back injuries to where my middle back doesn't want to bend properly and my upper back gets locked to where the rest of my spine compensates for the movement. The Elliptical has been great for no impact and it's allowing me to RUN for the first time in years.

The website sucks for exercise progress tracking. It for one doesn't have Elliptical tracking, but even if it did, it seems like the calories burned reported on all websites don't match with what is reported on the actual elliptical because they can't predict what resistance etc. you used.

How do you all cope with these circumstances? It seems like the food journal is for prepared foods with too much fat etc. I thankfully have a great wife that really knows how to cook healthy and we're cutting most of the unhealthy fats out of our diet.

My goal is to get down to around 180 in a year. I've never been near that weight unless it was going up through it back when I was 16. My body has been worn down and I feel it's the last chance in my life to succeed in becoming as healthy as I can while I can.

Being careful with my back limitations, when do you suggest starting to weight lift or do calisthenics?
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Old 01-14-2010, 12:20 AM
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You will suceed, if you are committed to it. Let me say that another way, as long as you are committed to getting healthy, you will suceed! The way I cope with the shortfalls of the exercise tracking is that I adjust the time to match the calorie tracking on the machines I use. Its just a tool to use to keep you motivated, it doesn't have to be perfectly accurate. As long as you are doing the exercise, and eating healthy, you are going to lose weight. you have lost 14 # in 14 days. That is increadible. Make sure you are doing at least a moderate amount of weight training, eat approx 100g of protein, and drinking plenty of water everyday to maintain your muscle mass; otherwise you will lose more muscle than you want too. Good luck, but it sounds like you are on the right track.
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Old 01-14-2010, 08:04 AM
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I cook most of my own food, so I make up all the ingredients and add them to the spreadsheet. I also do a few custom food cos the builtin stuff is all leftpondian. For exercise I just add the time I do biking (and lifting when I can rescue the weights from the garage), but ignore the calories. The calories from exercise are very arbitrary anyway.

My current weight and goal is very similar to yours. i've done this before a few years ago (got to 173) so I know it's possible.

It's downhill all the way
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Old 01-14-2010, 02:39 PM
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Wow Rmnsuk good job! It's too easy to let go after maintaining and then fall into bad habits. That's what I'm trying to conquer. If I make the lifestyle change, everything else I imagine will just take time.
Keep up the good work!

Bastman,
Thank you for your input. I rarely worry about Muscle Mass and I guess I should. My power has always been in my torso and legs so I rarely keep it in mind because my arms are smaller. It's from the Kung Fu days I guess.
My worry is that I don't want to injure my back and then fall into the non-exercise mode that killed prior attempts years ago.
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Old 01-14-2010, 10:49 PM
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If yo do lift, start using lighter weights and concentrate on form. You might be able to get someone who knows good form to watch you, or watch yourself in the mirror. As your muscles tone up, they will actually support your back. don't try to kill the weights. That is where injuries happen. Also, you might consider chiropractic in the beginning, just to keep things lined up. I was very skeptical, but I have to say, it has helped me. I had 3 verteba fused in my neck, and was having alot of neck, upper back, and shoulder pain, but after three trips to the chiropractor, the pain is almost nonexistant. If you work out like a girl, with lower weight and higher reps, you should be able to work out and remain pain free. Focus on your form, and you will get the same or better results than using higher weights.
Good luck,
Mark B
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