Two health topics started by FlyInTheOintment and tanstaafl

www.abovetopsecret.com... by FlyInTheOintment
www.abovetopsecret.com... by tanstaafl

I hate to start a new topic on this. but the threads today (yesterday) by FlyInTheOintment and tanstaafl brought health up.

They both in the same day brought up weight loss/health, weather about thinking about or responding subconsciously. I feel, we could all benefit from.

I know I could lose 100 pounds. But, most importantly, what would be my/your motivation to have a healthier self. Mentally, or physically. Whatever that starting point. At least there is a starting point. Love you all.

Never felt my mortality till I had gallbladder surgery and I didn't tell my adult daughters, LOL they both were very upset I didn't tell them. I thought it was no big deal but I did start to try and take better care of myself. Cause I really don't want to croak anytime soon and I've already seen too many of my contemporaries pass. And of course, I really don't want to upset my daughters

Got to lose a lot more weight but in that time I have dropped a 40-year-old tobacco habit pretty much cut out alcohol except an occasional nip here and there. Never was a coffee drinker but sodas were 2-3 a day that all gone, watching portions and eating much healthier foods and I've lost 40-50 pounds since August. The only time I ever lost that much weight quicker was before they banned Ephedra.

a reply to: CopeLongCut

took up cycling, started short then thought a 50km was hard then a 100km then a 100miles longest 200 miles.
Did a LCHF from Diet Doctors for first 50lb then modified it with the cycling and lost another 50.
Broke my bike and gained 30lb, bike is now fixed and time to start again.

Motivation is getting up the next hill would be easier if I was lighter,
trying to do bike-packing and randonneuring next year if possible so less of me more gear on bike.
So not racing just riding and enjoying the scenery and stopping at scenic establishments.

Just telling your story is courageous. Thank you. I know, before I was (I am guessing 12), I was taken advantage of by a male cousin and an aunt on my step dads side.

Thank you for being honest. a reply to: putnam6

You are awesome. Thank you for that personal. story. a reply to: puzzled2

a reply to: CopeLongCut

I've gained 35 pounds since the Corona lock-downs. You'd think eating out 4 days a week would have made me fatter. But it turns out eating at home 7 days @ week has done it.

When the health clubs open up again here in the Chicago area, I'll get back down to 210lbs and lose the pot belly. Used to go 4 days a week, 90 minutes @ day.

Ha. I wish I was at 210. To quote hounddoghowlie "here's a tip. stop doing 12 oz curls. "a reply to: carewemust

a reply to: CopeLongCut

Thanks for selecting my thread to promote it further in this way, this has never happened to me on ATS before - I feel humbled by your decision to widen the audience!

I for one will be following my intuition as raised in that thread - I think the road to health is longer than we have been led to believe - but with the right level of expectation, we can better prime ourselves to go the distance.

Best wishes to all who seek a healthier lifestyle in 2021 (& beyond!)

In today's generation. It is easier to fill your mouth with excuses than to listen. I appreciated your post. Happy New Year. a reply to: FlyInTheOintment

originally posted by: CopeLongCut
Just telling your story is courageous. Thank you. I know, before I was (I am guessing 12), I was taken advantage of by a male cousin and an aunt on my step dads side.

Thank you for being honest. a reply to: putnam6

No thank you, my friend,

check this place out, I know it sounds corny and whatever

www.tut.com...'

A friend told me about it over 11 years ago, I just get the quotes, and hell I don't even read most of them but occasionally like once or twice a year I'll read one and it always makes me feel better. This person helped me through some rough times and definitely helped me see things in a different light that is usually my impetus or motivation for change by looking at something with a different attitude.

My goal is 125 pounds. I'm working on it. Is it possible, yes. Was 125 pounds till I moved overseas and stopped with Judo and Karate lessons. Worked in the evenings and dinner was after 9 pm. That is no good, but that kind of still is our life style.

originally posted by: CopeLongCut
www.abovetopsecret.com... by FlyInTheOintment
www.abovetopsecret.com... by tanstaafl

I know I could lose 100 pounds. But, most importantly, what would be my/your motivation to have a healthier self. Mentally, or physically. Whatever that starting point. At least there is a starting point. Love you all.

My motivation is to keep my mental clarity. Any "food" that is offered to you in a box or pre-packaged for consumption does nothing but give you brain fog and cause you to be hungry all the time. It was never what humans were meant to eat. There is a reason that you can sit and eat a whole bag of chips then want more "food" an hour later. Your body is telling you that what you are consuming is not food. It isn't giving you any nourishment. I eat as healthy as this world allows me to with the choices I have and once you reach a balanced, nutritious diet, you aren't hungry anymore. I have trouble eating one meal a day now.

My other motivation is health. Much of the "food" offered to the general public causes health issues. Everything from acne (fried foods) to lethargy, depression (coming down from a sugar high) to ADD like symptoms (energy drinks) can be caused in part by what you eat (one of the other parts is by what you feed your mind). When you get these things, your body is (in the most basic form) having an allergic reaction to what you are eating. Think about that...your body is having an allergic reaction to what you're eating.

Exercise is needed to keep all your body parts working properly. It is not (for most people) about becoming an athlete. It helps you emotionally as well as physically. You also tend to drink more water (hopefully water and not sport drinks) when you exercise which helps get rid of the toxins in your body. All the bad stuff that you eat leaves toxins in the body which have to be disposed of. Your body needs water to do that. If you're not getting enough water, your body can't dispose of the toxins and they build up over time. This causes disease.

I could write a book on this stuff. I've researched it for years. But, I am not a doctor so...I'll do the standard "always consult with a physician before you try any new diet/exercise program"


Thanks,
blend57

Great thread idea, here's my recent health journey and motivation. Although I kept reasonably fit before Covid (i.e. hiking and running) I've never been a gym guy - I thought it was more centred around egos rather than self improvement.

Thanks to Covid, lockdown here in the UK basically ruined my leisure time. I perform in a wedding band and an originals band, so an entire year of what was to be 40/50 gigs just evaporated, along with the money! Within a few months the working from home every day and having no creative outlet was taking a real toll mentally. It's like every single day is the same and you simply exist within a confine of work, eat, sleep repeat. I wasn't pleasant to be around either - I got angry over nothing, I'm guessing because I didn't have any other way of expressing this weird concoction of stress, anxiety and hopelessness that I was totally unfamiliar with.

Anyway, I happened along an advert for a new gym and personal trainer package which usually wouldn't interest me, but it spoke about being a great outlet for stress and it just struck a chord. I enquired, got a call back from the owner within an hour where we discussed how I had been feeling and what he felt he could do for me, had a few free sessions and haven't looked back since. This was the beginning of October. I've attended 3 times a week every week since; not a single session missed.

The physical transformation is nice, but the mental empowerment has been a life safer. Whereas before I would get very agitated/angry over most inane stupid sh*t (courtesy of having a 2 year old at home whilst trying to work full time from a dining table), I've totally chilled off and become more like I was before. Focusing all that build up of stress and anxiety in an hour session every few days has been paramount in ensuring my presence at home is a positive one. I'm not flipping my lid anymore because my 2 year old is acting like a normal 2 year old, something I felt awfully guilty about on an almost daily basis, which just exasperated all the other issues.

So if there's anyone else out there feeling the same as I have been; you're not alone and you can do something about it, even during these very unsettling times. Here's my anecdotal advice as a total novice;

1) Find something new to you that you've never tried/considered before. I think breaking the bland and hopeless routine I found myself in by doing something totally new was beneficial in and of itself
2) Give it your all! I found that really concentrating on those negative emotions whilst pushing myself to my absolute limit became this powerful cathartic experience. Afterwards, I drive home in silence with the window down to cool off and I feel absolutely fantastic, like I've just hit reset on my emotional load and can handle whatever I need to
3) Stick it out! Although some benefits can be realised immediately, it took until mid/late November for me before I really felt great (which would've been about a month and a half)

The journey will be different for everyone, but there's certainly titbits of wisdom we can learn from everyone's experiences. I think that's true.

a reply to: CopeLongCut

This year has inspired me to get as healthy as possible, the reason may be different than what many would think. It’s because my health is something I can take control of, no government can impose restrictions on my sense of well being. It’s my way of rebelling against all the authoritarian b.s.

What’s more I feel great for taking back control of my body, it was to easy to smoke out of boredom, to drink excessively, to eat junk food rather than make the effort to cook properly. Not anymore, I feel disciplined, focused and wilful.

As I ride my bike that is Matt Hancock’s face my feet are pushing down on, as I struggle to push and motivate myself to go that bit further I see the MSM holding me back, putting me down, telling me I’m not worthy. Yeah! I go hard as hell then, nothing can stop me!

By developing a practice as I have dubbed it, (because it’s about more than just exercise there is something mystical to it like with martial arts) I have turned around all this negative energy, doom and gloom that should have made me severely depressed and used it as motivation, as fuel for my inner fire.

Something maybe unconventional that works for me in terms of motivation to workout daily-

I use my negative character traits and force them to become useful benefits when excercising.
I can be really stubborn,which I try not to allow into my day to day life,but its still there,so I channel it all into refusing to stop until I have done my required amount of activity to stay fit.
So if you are stubborn,use it against yourself to force you to excericse.Works for me,but I am the king of stubborn.

If you hate working out/doing reps-thats OK,you can learn to dissacoatiate from reality through simple tricks similar to what some people would use when learning meditation.
Its all about focus-You need to practice and develop focusing your mind on ONE thing only-you can do this any time/place by concentrating on your breathing-You just keep focusing on "I am breathing in...I am breathing out."
At first,other thoughts come in,but just keep going back to that focus on breath.
Practice makes it easier to stick with that point of focus for longer.

So using that focus,I modify it for exercising-the focus becomes not the breathing(that should be automatic with practice),but the numbers of reps-If you really focus on just that number you are on at the time,you can push away those feeling of "I hate doing reps" "My muscles hurt" "What is the point?" "I want cake and beer"

Just focus on the number you are on-picture the number in your head-see it,feel it,become it.Just the number.

That way,you are only ever doing one number in that moment.
With practice you can almost forget you are punishing your body with excerise-you are only that thought,that number.

That works for me,maybe it will help others.

My journey was a long one. But at the bottom was my vow that I would never, ever let my weight get out of control like my mom has. I feel bad saying that because I LOVE my mom to death, but I just determined that I would never be like that.

I have chronic migraine, so that was the first hurdle. It took years and lots of different medications which caused lots of yo-yo weight. It ended with my sitting around 200ish. So the weight was first. We started cleaning up our diet. It was just lots of little changes until we were mostly eating things we cooked for ourselves. Then it was dialing in portions. Slowly, but surely, the weight came off.

During all that, I went through a frozen shoulder on the left side. So I wasn't terribly active. LOTS of pain.

Once I got the weight down to under 150, I started to slowly pick up my exercise a bit. I did have a goal in mind. My son had been doing tae kwon do and it looked like fun. Growing up, I was that kid who was always like, "What season is it? What's the sport? OK. Sign me up," and with the weight off and my body moving, I was ready to go again. (AT my best, I was a collegiate athlete -- hurdles, high jump, heptathlon)

Then, my right shoulder froze on me, and it wasn't just a little freeze. It locked up badly enough I landed in the ortho and on the surgery table. It took a global capsulotomy, SLAP repair, and suprascapular nerve decompression to fix that one as well as a year of physical therapy. But I made it through, held my weight down, and got back into exercise. I was just into the pool for water aerobics when COVID shut it all down. So I did the mobility work and light calisthenics off to the side when my son was practicing his tae kwon do over Zoom last spring to help open that shoulder up.

*Then* I FINALLY got onto the aerobics floor late spring for step with weights and bands twice a week, picked up a half hour family session with kiddo at tae kwon do once a week, PT once a week all summer, and at the end of summer stepped into the full adult class at tae kwon do twice week instead of family session.

And that's where I am now at a fighting weight between 150 and 160 for a woman in her 40s at 5'8". Blood pressure is excellent and so is blood work. It took a lot of work, but I set my goals, one at a time, and I got through it all.

I feel pretty good about it all, and I'm having a blast.

a reply to: Silcone Synapse

Similar strategy to mine. I just keep saying, "Breathe through it." And an old runner's trick is to never tense up. The sooner you begin to tense up and fight it, the harder it all gets, and sooner you will be done. The only muscles you want tense are the ones that are working.

When running, your hands especially you want to concentrate on staying loose because if they tense, then that tightness travels up your arms into your neck, shoulders, and down across your chest where it will restrict your breathing, and you'll hit the wall sooner.

The same idea applies in other areas/exercises.

Of course, trying to do this when you're in a plank ...

a reply to: ketsuko
We do share some strategies Ket.

Like you said you don't want to let weight get out of control like your mom did-I do a similar thing,but for me I just look at my peers-people my age,who I knew as kid-most are waay overweight,beer bellies,look old...(Im 45).

Well I REFUSE to be like them.
I love beer-but Im tee total.
I refuse to even enter a macdonalds(or any junk food place).
Vegetarian-People think this is hilarious and take the piss-But I got a six pack and can walk 10 hours a day on a bowl of noodles and a couple of liters of water.

Planks..I hate them.
4 minutes in one go EVERY day is my baseline plank.
Sometimes 2 or 3 times depending on how much I want to torture myself.
But damn they make a strong core,and thus help me fight my back-so missing planks is not an option.Ever.

My trick for planks is not counting numbers/breaths-because I know approx 20breaths = 4 mins for me.
So I am anticipating,which is not dissacociating so thats out.
Instead,for planks I make a story-I am building my Earthship house in the Himalayan foothills-or I am developing my underground habitat in a lava tube underneath Olympus Mons..
I get lost in my story,and the 4minutes seem to fly.

Its about forging your willpower-and it works.

You can apply it in all walks of life too-I remember on one of my high altitude treks,walking with some massive russian dudes-body builder types,with arms thicker than my torso.
They were taking the piss outta me saying I was too skinny and wouldn't cope with the lack of oxygen..well sorry Vlad it wasn't me who collapsed and had to get helicopter evac off the mountain because +4000metres made you hypoxic.

How they whinged and complained as I focused on the numbers and carried on as they one by one suffered from system shutdown.
I mean they could beat the # outta me in a fight,but endurance high altitudes? I win.

a reply to: Silcone Synapse

4 minutes beats me, but I just started. I did 2 min 30 at our last belt test. Ladies are only required to do 2 min for full credit, so I felt pretty good. My shoulder wasn't very happy with me, but my core was still holding up.

a reply to: ketsuko

2mins 30 is plenty to feel/see the benefits



If youve got a bad shoulder there will be an excercise that will help,its just finding the right one for you.
I have a dodgy shoulder from a bike accident years ago-the excersice that helped me sort that out/stop pain was "dumbbell rows"
Its one of the easier/less punishing-but seems to help with my shoulder:

musclewiki.com...

That website is pretty good TBH,here is the starting page if you want to check it out:
musclewiki.com...

You can select male/female and choose different types of excersise so you can find something even if you dont have a gym or weights,just select bodyweight or stretches.