I hate getting old, and it worries me if SHTF that I won't be up to it

[DeanMk]

Been doing it for years (carrying around an extra hundred pounds, that is), not that I don't realize I need to lose some weight. I do (!).
The fantasy is I should be around 180 lbs. The reality is, I push the scale somewhere between 280 and 290. Most people I tell that to are shocked. They say I don't look that heavy.
I'm one of those people who gain weight really easily but its almost impossible to lose it.
Not age related either. Been this way since I was a kid.
I did find something out a couple of years ago, though....in my case at least, its more related to food intake than lack of exercise.
I walked for miles on that treadmill and worked my butt off at the (very physical) job I had back then and barely lost an ounce.
Then, one day, I just didn't feel like eating much. The feeling lasted for several months.
I also cut back on the fast food (I didn't realize how much I was eating until I sat back and looked at some receits that had been in my wallet for a while).
I lost 45 lbs. in about 3 months.
I didn't change my diet so much, I just ate less often (someone later told me I'd discovered the Jenny Craig diet).
...get that?
Not "less", but less OFTEN.
If you're looking to lose some weight and are of a mind to, you might wanna give that a try.


Dean
P.S. - I did, eventually, gain the weight back, because eventually I got hungry again and I started back in on the fast food. I do, however, feel a little more educated now.

 

[Certaindeaf]

.P.S. - I did, eventually, gain the weight back, because eventually I got hungry again and I started back in on the fast food. I do, however, feel a little more educated now.

I'm no guru or anything but finally realized that how much food you put in your body is more important than any amount of exercise you can do, especially as you get older.
I once weighed, because of debilitating injuries yada, around 210 of solid fat. I could hardly walk down the grocery aisle I was so out of shape. I now weigh around 170 and am pretty fit.. probably could stand to lose 5lbs of fat as I'm pretty light framed.. normal height. Whenever I want to remember how much fat I lost, I just have to heft a 40lb sack a dog food to remind me.
Anyway, I saw these years ago, not that they really impacted my actions at the time but thought them valuable, especially the Mcdonald's one where it points out you're hungry all the time even if you're shoving that kind of food in your face all day long..

Fat Sick and Nearly Dead | a Joe Cross Film

 

[DeanMk]

"...how much food you put in your body is more important than any amount of exercise you can do, especially as you get older."

BINGO!
You bet your bippy, CD!....consider your status risen to Guru.
Namiste.

 

[The Heretic]

Be glad you're dealing with it before you got a heart attack. I figured that good EKGs meant that all was well until I had a heart attack that made me dead for about 10 min. Thanks to my wife I have lost 95-100#, and no longer eat like I did before it.

I used to weigh 100# less - when I was 16. At 6'6" it isn't so much the weight as it is what the weight consists of and the shape I am in. I need to get in better shape. Followup with cardiologist in 2 weeks to see why they didn't do anything about the blockage they found and what that means for what I can do.

I could stand to lose about 40-50 pounds though - much of that is flab - but still, IMO it is more about the shape I am in; today I walked about 4-5 blocks round trip with a coworker to get takeout and he did a brisk walk pace - by the time we got back to the office I was breathing harder and my chest was getting tight - that is not good. The last time I saw the cardiologist he told me no strenuous exercise until I see him again after the tests, so I am not pushing it, but springs is here, I have a lot of property work to do and if it isn't going to hurt me I would like to start doing that work as exercise.

 

[DeanMk]

The nice thing about exercise it keeps your muscles in shape and retains that percentage of body mass.
It also helps with stamina.
Doesn't have to be "boot camp" either. Some light aerobics, stretching (maybe combine them by taking up Tai Chi, or Qigong) and take a walk a couple of times a week.

As you get older, those things will count for more and more.


Dean​

 

[Pandaz3]

Had a Doctor tell me he did not care what I weigh, just try to keep a waist size 36 or less.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Had a Doctor tell me he did not care what I weigh, just try to keep a waist size 36 or less.

Is that below the beer keg "belt line" or above it? lol

 

[techiej]

A few years ago I found a real easy way to drop 45+ pounds...spent a week in the hospital with an NG tube and wasn't able to eat anything . Other than saline IV didn't have any nourishment until a couple of days before surgery and that was intravenous.

Good news - been able to keep most of that weight off. Bad news - a lot of the loss was muscle and not girth .

 

[Colts4me]

19 pages, this thread is getting old and I am not sure it can survive.

 

[Pandaz3]

Is that below the beer keg "belt line" or above it? lol

He was a little prudish, he seemed biased against exercising with 12 ounce curls, he seemed to favor walking or running as a exercise. I was careful to never invite him to a beer party.

 

[Certaindeaf]

He was a little prudish, he seemed biased against exercising with 12 ounce curls, he seemed to favor walking or running as a exercise. I was careful to never invite him to a beer party.

It's just funny that a lot of guys wear probably a 36 or whatever way low.. below their huge "waist".

 

[DeanMk]

Had a Doctor tell me he did not care what I weigh, just try to keep a waist size 36 or less.

I LIKE YOUR DOCTOR!
It sounds like my former doctor could learn a lot from yours.


Dean

 

[The Heretic]

<broken link removed>

 

[RicInOR]

Had a Doctor tell me he did not care what I weigh, just try to keep a waist size 36 or less.

What is the maximum weight you could be with such a waist size?

 

[Pandaz3]

What is the maximum weight you could be with such a waist size?

Might have been his point, ..... he did say muscle is a lot denser and weighs a lot more than the same volume of fat.

 

[titsonritz]

God forbid it should come to pass, but if "SHTF" over guns it will be in the form of guerrilla warfare with a very small percentage of the people actually doing the shooting (just like 1776) but they can not win without the support of others, whether it be tempory safe harbour, food, medical help, intel or whatever and you are not too old to 'fight' that war unless they are throwing dirt in your face.

 

[The Heretic]

I am much much less worried about if SHTF happens when I am home than I am if I happen to be away from home when it happens and I need to hoof it home. Ditto for my daughter who is in worse shape than I am due to a medical condition.

I walked the neighbor's dog last night, up and down the road, which is a moderate incline. While going up the road I was having slight chest pain. I have been in and out of the hospital 4 times in the last 6 weeks for various tests and I see the cardiologist again in about 10 days to get the results from my last test (angiogram) to see if I can start doing real 'exercise' again or if I have to take it easy for a while - but right now I am carrying nitro with me everywhere I go just in case, and I am not allowed to do anything "strenuous".

So if SHTF and I am more than a mile from home, I am up the proverbial fecal matter waterway- without a paddle.

 

[titsonritz]

I am much much less worried about if SHTF happens when I am home than I am if I happen to be away from home when it happens and I need to hoof it home. Ditto for my daughter who is in worse shape than I am due to a medical condition.

I walked the neighbor's dog last night, up and down the road, which is a moderate incline. While going up the road I was having slight chest pain. I have been in and out of the hospital 4 times in the last 6 weeks for various tests and I see the cardiologist again in about 10 days to get the results from my last test (angiogram) to see if I can start doing real 'exercise' again or if I have to take it easy for a while - but right now I am carrying nitro with me everywhere I go just in case, and I am not allowed to do anything "strenuous".

So if SHTF and I am more than a mile from home, I am up the proverbial fecal matter waterway- without a paddle.

My apologies, I have not been around for quite some time (last Nov or Dec) nor did I read the entire thread, so I am sorry to hear this is more than an "old fart" thing and more of a health thing. My thoughts and prayer out to you and yours, I hope you get some good news and are able to reclaim some vigor. Do you have access to a pool? Assuming your cardio doc gives the go-ahead, aquatic calisthenics and light swimming will do wonders for you while being low impact and easy on you with endless room for increasingly challenging workouts. Best wishes.

 

[The Heretic]

Thanks. No apologies necessary.

But as I said, getting old sucks.

 

[weimar_police]

I am in 'decent' shape and rounder than I should be. Shortness of breath, tiredness, etc. Had a cat scan of heart, showed blockage, went to cardiologist and had a cath, stent in one artery, now I am healing up. I wonder if the pills they are giving me are slowing me down or its the recovery (been almost 2 weeks) and I dislike being slowed down.