Those are less sports and more games.
Those are less sports and more games.
Yep, like food, we have finished sport.Originally Posted by Jimmy Floyd
Never been fit in my 43 years being in this planet, after chasing my youngest child up the stairs and feeling like my heart was going to explode I thought I need to sort myself out.
So four months ago I decided to cut out the usual suspects kebabs, chocolate, Greggs and try and eat healthy and joined the gym..
First attempt at running on the treadmill resulted in it taking me 1 hour 10 mins to run(mainly walk) to reach 5k
Followed a couch to 5k guide for a few weeks all on the treadmill admittedly as I was to embarrassed to even attempt a road run.
Fast forward 4 months and I’ve lost 3 stone down from 22stone 3lbs to 19 stone I’ve completed a 10k run in 83minsand got my first ever medal 😎
I’ve managed to a road run that was 9 miles long and my 5k time is now down to 32 mins which is like half the time my first one took
I’ve completed a few park runs which are full of people of all different abilities and a lot of fun
I’ve signed up for a half marathon in the March and I’ve bitten the bullet and signed up for a full marathon a few months after that which I’m kind of nervous about weirdly.
Mad to hear someone able to lose it at that age no matter what they do. You must just have a freakish metabolism but fair play.
Well done, Andrew. That's superb. Has your wife noticed the improvement? Also, has it helped your mental state as well?
Is there a target weight you're aiming for?
Thanks, I’d like to hit about 16 maybe 15 stone.
The change in my mental state has been amazing I’ve never done drugs but the feeling I get from reaching a mile stone like the first time I built up the courage to go for a run round the local roads is as close as I’ll ever get to “euphoria” of taking drugs
The first month or so I just run on a treadmill so when I did build up the courage to go for a road run it came as a shock how much harder it was not just effort wise but my feet and knees felt like the had been run over by a car.
My boss is a big exercise guy former boxer etc so he’s been really encouraging and even set a target that he would pay for my gym membership at the gym he goes to “Bannatynes” which is kind of a posh gym I guess the steam and sauna is great 😊 for 12 months if I managed to keep it up for 3 months so that was nice of him
I’ve started the park runs every Saturday now and the encouragement you get from people volunteering or actually taking part is a real boost.
I’ve signed up for the Chepstow 10k again end of this month so I’ve set a target of trying to beat my time I set doing the same course back at the start of November.
Back to the mental state I’ve now become a firm believer in that exercise and weight loss would cure the vast majority of people who feel depressed or are struggling mentally.
Just sitting up from the sofa now has gone from feeling like there was a huge lead ball holding me down and not wanting to actually move or do anything the amount of arguments I’d start with my wife if she asked me to do something was ridiculous and it was all due to me being so heavy and not wanting to move as it was such a effort to even stand up.
Walking down the stairs first thing in the morning used to hurt my knees to an extent I’d walk down like a crab side ways, just losing 3 stone had made such a difference in this I can jog down the stairs now with relative ease it’s crazy.
I’m just starting week one of a marathon running guide now which is daunting but I’ve managed a 9 mile run off my own back without any guides so I got a nervous/excited feeling about it, I’ll try and follow most of it by running out doors as the treadmill serves a purpose but as I’ve found out it goes you a false sense of security as it makes it so much easier.
One other big change is my resting heart beat I bought a Apple Watch just so I could count steps but 4 months ago my resting heart rate was 75to 80 beats a minute now it’s in around 60 to 65bpm which has to be a bonus to my health.
Quality stuff Andrew. Totally agree with your point about the mental side, I work out 5-6 days a week and it's a massive energy boost.
Sounds like you've got the rhythm now, keep it up. Be careful you don't burn your knees out with a mix up of activities.
I suppose you’re some sort of expert in that now as well.
I’m certainly not but surely anyone can lose weight if they eat less and move more.
I'm a twit
Not once you hit your mid 30’s in the vast majority of cases. So you’re basically exercising and eating leaves for no benefit.
Your body and how it works doesn’t stay the same the whole way through your life.
The lengths the great big filthy fucks will go to excuse themselves will never surprise.
I love how much it riles you. You should have edited in even more adjectives for maximum affect there.
Metabolism doesn't really slow down until mid/late 60s so it's a bit of a myth. Link: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbc...mp/ncna1276650
I did 4.5km this morning which I'm glad about. After work running club this January lewis. Starting Wednesday. Nothing mental mind.
@Andrew - Smashing it mate. Seriously well done. It's so easy not to exercise. I stopped in October and have lost my mojo. Planning on getting back on the bike (figuratively and literally) this January.
Very interesting reading how it's improved your everyday tasks. Health is wealth and all that...
... I also don't think you can out train a bad diet, which I need to sort out. I'm not overweight, but conscious what it might be doing to my insides.
Thanks @Dquincy the hardest part is actually starting it and getting past the fear factor of walking through the gym doors or turning up for a park run.
I’ve always been a big lad 6ft stocky build not scared of anything really but the nerves I felt joining the gym and walking through the door first time or when I turned up for the Chepstow run where there was a few hundred runners there i have never felt so out of place most of them in “proper running gear” with club names on the backs etc.
I’m not sure if most runs are like the ones I’ve done so far but the encouragement from people spurring you on and shouting and clapping for you even other runners would slow seeing that I’m a obese runner and would just talk to me and push me on to give me a boost was really overwhelming.
Crossing the finishing line for the first time with loads of people shouting and clapping was a buzz like I’ve not felt before and although I was ready to collapse in a heap, I was totally gutted it was over and heading home.
You still doing the hot yoga?
Not for a while cos my back's been fucked. The lad I worked with who kept at it shed loads of weight and has kept it off for years now.
Nice one Andrew. I can relate to a lot of the knock-on effects of getting active again. Even though I've always been a broadly healthy shortarse who seems to have weighed about 11 stone since I was 15/16, once I turned 30, I could definitely feel physical and mental changes weigh me down. It's the small things that get you, that feeling that a flight of stairs shouldn't tax you quite as much as it does. I could/can also see my body becoming increasingly like my dad's too, which was a bit of motivation to intervene.
My partner and me started couch to 5k in December 2021 and both completed it around Feb/March time 2022 and I've been hovering around the run 5k / run for 25-30 mins three or four times a week ever since, and while it's nothing to write home about, I do always feel so much better after a run. It's not so much the physical benefit, the mental benefit of feeling you've achieved something is a far greater tonic.
I suspect I've edged up closer to 11.5 stone over a busy end to last year and over Xmas/new year so the plan this year is get myself into shape to be able to run 5k at the drop of a hat, and also aim to get my weight down below 11 stone again. I'm also going to get a bit of advice on a training routine to see if I can tone up a bit. I quite fancy looking half decent with my shirt off at some stage.
Are your hot yoga studios still running? Putin killed mine off. It was always packed out with a class size of around 20-30 too so I thought it was likely a national epidemic.
Nice one. A 5k run outside is so much better for the mind compared to doing the same on a running machine. I used to love running, but sadly my knee let me down (have had issues most of my life).
I'm about 6ft 1" and 13 1/2 stone. Turns out that is overweight according to Alexa.
are all of your opinions based on a combination of received wisdoms and old wives' tales? I think the main reason this nonsense persists is that people in their late 30s and older do a diet for like 2 weeks, didn't notice any difference and just went ah fuck it, guess my metabolism is knackered, cheesecake for breakfast it is.
It should be harder to lose/keep off weight as your testosterone levels start to drop from your late-thirties, but not to the point where it's the make-or-break factor in whether or not you're enormous.
correct. I also think people are generally pretty crap judges of how many calories they're consuming/burning etc. my mum isn't an idiot and cooks for a living, and will come out with shit like "I have no idea why I'm not gaining any weight, I have MASSIVE portions!", while failing to notice that said portions consist mostly of cucumber and avocado and carrots and shit, or my mate who had a really strict diet but was still putting away about 5 pints a day and wondering why the weight wouldn't fall off.
Diet is the biggest factor in whether or not you're a pie. Age is just an excuse.
I did keto for three weeks or so before Christmas just to try it out and see if I wanted to give it a proper go in January. I was tracking my calories with it too and kept to a deficit. I was pretty astounded at how I generally felt full and didn't have the cravings I would get on a normal calorie restriction pattern.
Or even when I wasn't dieting and just eating whatever, I could have easily eaten a carb heavy meal and then been hungry again a few hours later. I'm now pretty convinced that insulin spikes are the enemy. At least for me anyway.
Saying that, I've just ordered a pizza for dinner but it's the last day of the holidays, innit.
A time comes where is slows down enough that the results aren’t worth the amount of work required. Or the amount of eating leaves.
I eat the same as I did a decade ago, do about the same amount of exercise, yet I am a good 10-15 lbs above what I used to always weigh. Go back fifteen years and I ate way worse and did fuck all and was still much thinner. But if SCIENCE says it is just me being a lazy bastard, then it is what it is.
Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
Read some of Tim Spector’s books. Spoon-Fed and The Diet Myth are both very good and have plenty of rare insight.
I'm on 1 meal a day for past week and continue to look and feel like a God. HTH.
It's not the 9th new moon yet mate.
Did the 3 week keto diet shift the weight?
You lose a lot of water weight on it at the start so it's hard to tell. Was only really doing it for 3 weeks to see if I liked it enough to do it longer term as I knew Christmas was coming up and I'd be eating everything over it. Was surprised with the effects on appetite.
Checked my records and I dropped 10 pounds on it in three weeks. Probably mostly water though, was pissing loads in the first week or so. Bear in mind I have plenty of weight to lose so YMMV.
You still need a calorie deficit to lose fat but I definitely felt less hungry on it than just eating a normal diet and counting calories.
Also, that pizza I ordered tonight was a large and I couldn't even manage half of it. A while back I'd have smashed the whole thing.
I did about a month of keto last year and the instant weight drop was pretty mad. I find it very hard to not be ~12 stone whatever I do but I think I dropped about half a stone while eating at least maintenance calories. Probably just water weight but yeah. It generally felt pretty good with exercise but my energy would eventually completely drop off a cliff to the point where I could barely manage the walk home.
Also agreed on the food craving thing. Carbs are a hell of a drug.
I dipped under 100kg for the first time in maybe ten years in early December and then cheddar'd my way back to 105 over Christmas. Next year I'm going to try and stay away from all that shit because it did me no favours except understanding addiction better.
I'm just under 80 at the moment which is probably 3kg heavier than I'd like to be. Ate lots of heavy food though so hopefully a few weeks of normal eating will bring me back down.
Managed 13.1 miles on the treadmill yesterday in 3hours 4 mins felt pretty good amazingly wasn’t even out of breath, although my legs were a bit wobbly walking back to the changing rooms!!
Haven’t felt sore or anything today so just going to take it easy this weekend and do a 10k street jog Sunday then a few small runs through the week then try to do another 13.1 but this time an outdoor run,
My Newport half Marathon is coming up in two months so I think I’m pretty close to match fit for that then the real challenge is the marathon a month later.
Think i need to buy some running gear like a hydration back pack and some energy snacks and a decent pair of trainers.
It's insane to me that a 10k street jog is taking it easy.
I've been doing 7k runs regularly for years now and I still feel like I'm about to die at the end of each and every run.
Depends on the pace. I can never actively run a lot slower for distances which would actually make it easier.
When I say run, I actually mean more of a fast walk wobble it took me 83mins to complete the Chepstow 10k and that’s pretty flat to be honest and I think I came 3rd from last.
As the weight falls off me more my speed will probably pick up a lot, but timing only means anything to me on a personal level like how I can see it used to take me x amount of time to run 3 miles now I can do it in this time and to see the personal improvement in myself which gives me a little buzz.
When I’ve done the park run and look at the times of the people finishing first they are running 3.1 miles in 16, 17, 18 mins which is another world to me.
Running sub twenty is something I'd love to do but I can never get the pace right for long enough. I think I'm going to join a parkrun next weekend, you've inspired me.
Just run based on heart rate, that's what I found was the best thing for being able to clock the miles. If I just started running I'd be going at a pace that I was able to run at when I was 20 and be blowing out of my arse in 10 mins. Stay in the orange heart rate zone and you're right, your pace will sort itself out even if it feels like you could run much faster.
Just looking back at my 5 mile runs back at the start of November and running the first mile would be run around 15 minute mark then slowly dip to 17 minute a mile by mile 3 finishing the 5th mile 17mins 44.
I’ve just got back from a 10k run and clocked in at 74 mins to finish it ( personal best) with each mile between 12mins to 13 mins
Current progress down from 22stone 3lbs to 18 stone 11lbs so closing in on 4 stone weight loss
Can run 13 miles on the treadmill with relative ease now road runs I’m upto 10miles in under 2 hours.
Also tried a “fast” nothing consumed that contained calories so stuck to water started after a meal about 21.00 Monday night and lasted quite easily much to my surprise till 21.00 Wednesday night, that week I dropped 9lbs in weight and the following week (this week) I dropped another 3lbs which was astonishing considering I’m not calorie counting yet
Also started doing core exercises Ab crunches sit-ups etc and tried a spinning class this week, so currently sat on the sofa with a stomach that hurts when I move and a arse that’s tender to sit on due to the fact I haven’t sat on a bike seat for close to 20 years..
Week 4 of 15 weeks of my marathon guide with a 11 mile road run coming up Sunday.
I’ve treated myself to a new pair of running shoes ASICS only 50 quid so not a great investment really and to be honest they don’t feel that much different to the battered year old under armour trainers I’ve been using so doubt I’ll pay more than that for another pair of running shoes.
Also got feed up of carrying a water bottle in my hand while out so bought a hydration vest that’s light and hardly noticeable on my back even with a full bladder in the back.
Awesome stuff @Andrew
This is proper impressive stuff Andrew.
I'm also on for a marathon in a few months. Leeds. We're not doing the same one are we?
I hit the half marathon distance for the first time in about a year and a half last weekend so that was a nice little milestone to get back. I'll obviously have to ramp up the distance in the coming months though so I'm interested in something like the hydration vest you mentioned too. I've thought about one of those a few times before as I hate carrying things in my hand when I run!
Andrew, mate, can you just chill out? None of that stuff is doing anything, you just have a freakish metabolism.
You did a 48 hour water fast without trouble?
@Alex I’m doing the Newport Marathon it’s supposed to be the flattest Marathon in the uk so thought it be a good place to start.
Have a look on Amazon at the hydration backpacks they are pretty cheap 25 quid upwards I can link you the one I bought if you want to have a look. It does the job well only downside I can see really is if you need an energy gel from the pockets you can’t physically reach it so you will need to take it off to reach into it.
@Don don’t think it’s anything to do with a fast metabolism it’s more to do with me being a fat fuck so the weight falls off me pretty quick if I exercise loads and eat clean.
In regards to the 48 hour fast it was considerably easy to do, spent the first 12 hours of it asleep in bed near enough then the following 12 hours in work: out walking or running then back in bed for 8 hours so theres 32 hours done really.
Did get a little hungry when I could smell my wife cooking tea for the kids but had a coffee and took the dog out by the time I came back the hunger pangs had gone.
Not sure if there’s any benefit to fasting but I still managed to go swimming running and work with what felt like more energy than when I’ve had a full stomach so to speak.
Actually one downside to it by the second evening my breath took a turn for the worse seemed to be have a slight smell to it not sure what that was about
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