Dropping weight and improving overall health

I'm the type that if I'm paying for a service, I'll use it. That's how I finally joined a gym.

I'm 55 now, had a back fusion (downhill spiral there guys.....fast) shoulder surgery and then a heart attack while rehabbing that. I ate better than most I know (skipped bacon, cheese and shit like that as much as I could) Blood numbers were always......close to good. Used to swim (surf, ski but that drops after 40 or so) walk a lot and ride a bike.
Bikes are out now unless smooth sidewalk or something no bumps, sure don't want to fall.
Walks with the dog or even around the block or track are just harder to push myself. The gym fits nicely. At least makes it easy to keep a schedule.

Oh and to completely stay on topic, yes pounds still need to be dropped. 5'9 and 185 - 195. Hard to get back to target when you get older guys, better to get there and stay there. I'm really tending to hover now, anything extra used to come off so easy.

TRY TO AVOID THAT HEART ATTACK IF POSSIBLE!
They're not just for smokers, I always kind of thought of them as being so. Inactivity for a few years is the biggest culprit the cardiologist is finding with my case.

 

Since your goals are about health and fitness required for your job focus on making a lifestyle change.

Its great you have a very physical hobby to keep you motivated.

I’ve made drastic changes in what I eat and how I exercise not only to gain muscle/lose fat but because of an autoimmune condition that has caused GI troubles.

When I look back very few of my dietary habits changed drastically. Most of them occurred (and still do) over a period of time.

I focused on one major goal (example eliminating diet soda) at a time. Once I felt the habit change I picked the next.

Also I urge you to do some reading on the diet heart hypothesis. This is the belief that a high fat diet leads to high cholesterol, which leads to heart disease. Its something all of us have been taught yet there is virtually no scientific evidence to support it.
Sugar and carbs cause heart disease, not dietary fat. Dietary fat is good for you and your body demands a minimum of it daily.


I recently did keto and enjoyed it but I’m very lean (8%) and struggled to actually hit ketosis so I stopped. I eat low carb now (under 70g per day) and feel ontop of the world doing that.

 

Good advice, heart attacks are no good! Avoid at all costs! That is a big part of my efforts right now besides my tangible requirements, I want long term health benefits as well. Like you said, start young, don't wait too late. I am in my 30s now so there is no better time than now.

I've been looking into the keto thing, I keep seeing such mixed reviews. Harvard put out an article claiming it was unhealthy, but then all the comments on it were basically saying shame on them for not doing research. So trust all the doctors, or trust the guys that are having success with it.

Could someone point me to some unbiased scientific articles that point out the facts of keto, or at the very least, point me in the right direction as to where I would begin to learn about it? The internet is always chock full of misinformation, and a noob often has a hard time wading through the bull shit.

 

Search for Mat DeLauer on YouTube. His channel is VERY informative and fact based. All of his data is cited and he uses peer reviewed studies to arrive at conclusions. I don't really do the Keto thing so I don't actively seek out his Keto videos but he does have a lot of them since he's a big proponent of them. I may consider it at some point but have been relatively happy with my progress thus far. 75lbs down but that isn't half the story since my body composition has changed completely and my outlook on life moving forward has done a 180.

 

Just ordered a stationary bike stand so I can be active with this never ending rain and the upcoming winter season. Mtb is fixed up and ready to go but can't ride when the trails are flooded.

So far I haven't dropped any weight. Holidays are hard. But I have taken two minutes off my run time and I'm doing about 3/4 of the required push ups and sit-ups.

 

OP Good for you. The first step is acknowledging the problem. The wife and I did the Keto diet for a month and I lost 10lbs in the first two weeks just eating differently. Your current 1.5mile time isn't terrible. Just remember, abs are made in the kitchen and it only takes 15-20minutes per day of getting your heart pumping. Take it one step at a time and 2019 will be a good year for you. Looking forward to your results!.

 

OP, checking back in. Holidays are awful for trying to start new habits, especially dietary stuff. Weight only tells part of the picture; you may have added a little muscle mass which more than offsets fat loss. The fact you are seeing performance gains indicates progress. Also, people touting initial weight loss with keto or other low carb diets don’t necessarily recognize that much of that is water weight. Glycogen, which is stored in muscle and your liver, largely from metabolized carbs, is 4 parts water. So those quick initial losses are from depletion of stored glycogen and the associated water.

Slow and steady wins the race. Focus less on weight and more on performance gains, how you feel, how you look (leaner, fitter, smaller dunlop, trimmer waist) and you’ll be good. Keep it up!

 

This is another reason I love Crossfit for overall health. The idea is doing everything you can think of so you don't cherry pick things you are good at or even cherry pick only the convenient things (read: running on a treadmill all the time, jogging, etc.) and then measuring the outcome of doing varied workouts with varied movements, most of what you wouldn't have selected yourself. This gives you an amazing tool to monitor your progress because you have an idea if your weights on your movements are going up or your times on workouts are going down or (ideally) both. There are "benchmark" workouts which you can compare to previous times you did the same workout which is a fantastic indicator of your overall health level. Then there's always the personal drive of doing new things you didn't think you could previously do. I do things today (largely gymnastic movements) that I didn't think I would ever in my life be able to do when I saw others do them. Through hard work and determination I now do them regularly which is a great feeling of accomplishment. When you first start Crossfit you quickly realize where your limitations are and overcoming those one by one gives you an indescribable feeling of accomplishment that motivates you in a life-long pursuit of health and fitness.

I weigh myself every day (same time when I wake up in the morning before I drink water) and note the number but I don't dwell on it. As long as my body composition (fat to muscle ratio) is improving and my weights are increasing and my times are decreasing I know I'm healthier regardless of what the scale says. The scale gives me a macro picture of health (if I notice the number starting to climb incrementally over time I can lower calories before it becomes an issue) but the micro view is far more useful and motivational day to day.

 

Dropping in for a quick recap.

Cut out all obvious carbs.

Sugars
Bread
Crackers
Granola bars
Etc

All other changes to diet are a result of my cuts, finding substitutes etc.

I eat when I'm hungry, which is honestly not that often. Sometimes even go without dinner. Not because I'm starving myself but because I'm just not hungry.

I eat breakfast, eggs sausage etc
Lunch at 3ish usually cottage cheese and berries or apple and PB or similar. Not a full lunch.
Light dinner if at all

The biggest changes for me are much more stable blood sugars. I don't crash and get hangry if I don't eat every 4 hrs. I don't feel funny or get fuzzy thinking. I also actually get hungry, like stomach grumbles hungry. Previously I'd get hangry or fuzzy long before actual hunger kicks in.

I've dropped 20lbs. Belts loose. Pants loose. Wife happy.

Occasional exercise, like once a week on the bike.

I wouldn't call it Keto. If I did, it'd be the laziest dirtiest keto. I call it low carb. I still eat some carbs, just cut out the biggest most obvious ones and I don't focus on fat intake.

Quick recap lol

 

Unless you’re eating a shit ton of eggs, sausage, cottage cheese/berries, apple/pb and no dinner, I’d say you’re starving yourself.

 

I have a sedentary desk job. Also, only eat when I'm hungry. Those foods are examples, not absolutes.

Why eat if I'm not hungry or slowing down? Energy levels are right where they need to be and have drastically improved over a few months ago.

 

If it’s working for you, keep on keeping on. Just seems low even for a sedentary lifestyle.

 

I'm not counting macros or calories or anything. Simply going off of how I feel. If I'm slowing down, I'll have a snack. But if I'm still going strong, not feeling hungry, then I'll wait to eat. You're right though it is low. Sometimes it gets late at night, I won't eat dinner because I'm about to go to bed. Even if I'm a little hungry, I'll just skip it. So I guess I am starving myself just a little because I don't want late dinners. Other than that, throughout the day, I stick with eating when I'm hungry and it is working well for me.

Just listening to my body and adjusting accordingly.

I did cheat like a mofo last weekend. Didn't just fall off the wagon, i fell off and got dragged behind. Smores, beers, hotdogs w/buns etc. Camp food. On the way home I got Sonic with a milkshake.
Felt like roadkill and crashed hard with energy and anxiety.