Group support in health goals

[Mobilesport]

Good thread.
I'm 48 years old now and i have always ate a lot of junk food and drank alot of soda , somehow i've always managed to look in physical good shape , i've also have suffered from a lack of sleep over most of my life as i was always chasing success , even the many years of building my van it was'nt uncommon for me to stay up all night working/building or learning even staying up three days in a row sometimes .
The only thing good i was ever doing is excerizing.
Now at 48 years old i've found myself prioritizing the importance of sleep and rest , my van is done and anything else i wanted to learn i've learned so therefore sleep and rest is #1 priority .
I aim to go to sleep by 9pm every night 7 days a week , i wake up after 8 hours and i'll lay there and rest for 1.5 ------ 2 hours , man what a differance , i'm still eating the crap and drinking the soda but just the rest makes me feel super all day .
I've been planing on bettering my diet and so i'm glad i
ran into this thread.

I'm thinking of buying a nurtibullet blender to make smoothies.
I'm also thinking of drinking crazy amounts of water and doing some
 flushing cleansing.
Living the mobilelife i've been eating out alot.

 

[Zizzer_Zazzer_Zuz]

My health is a major factor in my decision to be a nomad. I have some deep seated and unhealthy habits that I am working to break myself of. Conversely, there are habits that I am fostering. Food and physical activity being the biggest two factors.

If it is true that you hit rock bottom before you change your ways, then I suppose I was there. In the last 90 days I have lost about 30 pounds and 4 inches off my waste line. I have essentially tripled how far I can walk at a time and I have started cooking about 90% of what I eat.

Keeping my house warm is a major source of both cardio and lifting exercise. I have moved from one log carrier, to two log carriers, to a wheelbarrow to move and count loads of wood. I can now split a wheelbarrow worth of wood, move, and stack it while in the past I could only move a single log carrier at a time without resting. Some purposeful walking and stretching are habits I am fostering. I can now fill a grocery cart and make it back to the car with hardly breaking a sweat, I mention that as a mile stone since making it through a store had previously been rather difficult.

As for food I am simply cooking most everything I eat. I prep single portions of frozen meat for simple preparation of meals for one. A 2 liter pressure cooker has proven to be helpful in cooking beans and fresh soups and vegetables quickly. My spice rack for the rig will be about the size of a milk crate and that excludes bulk ingredients like rice, flour, beans, meat, etc. I have also been experimenting with fermented foods like sauerkraut, yogurt, hard cider, and sour dough bread starter for instance.

Aside from switching from one medication to another I am hoping to eliminate at least two more maintenance medications that I currently take for what are in affect due to my eating and activity habits. With any luck I can also slow or even prevent the diabetes that is almost certainly looming.

A healthy simple dal, or Indian stewed lentils recipe

.5 tsp fenugreek seed
.5 tsp black pepper corns
.5 tsp mustard seed
.5 tsp coriander seed
1 red pepper
1 tsp ghee or cooking oil, fat back, or salt pork
1 small onion diced
1 clove garlic
1 tsp ground turmeric
.5 tsp garam masala
1/2 cup broth, chicken, vegetable, mushroom stock or bullion
1 cup water
3/4 cups yellow lentils

I cook this recipe in a 2 liter Hawkins Pressure Cooker. Please adjust liquid and cooking times for your needs.

In a hot pan toast the whole seed spices in the oil. Once the seeds begin to pop and the scent intensifies add the diced onion. Saute the onion until just cooked and add the garlic, and powdered spices. Cook for another minute then add the broth, the water and the yellow lentils.

Cook at pressure for 3 minutes and let rest to release the pressure. Serve over rice. Serves two.

ALT - reduce total amount of lentils by half and add a small sweat potato, peeled and diced. Cook at pressure for 5 minutes and let rest to vent

Cost is about $1 per serving

 

[HarmonicaBruce]

A year ago I atopped eating sugar and started going to the gym.  I went from 206 to 185, but got stuck at 185.  So, new years I decided to see how long I could go wthout eating wheat or potatoes.  I'm down 4 more pounds to 181.  Almost 2 weeks of no starch, I woukd think I'd lose more.  I turn 70 in 5 months, I want to be in the best shape I can be for it.  I've been sore for months, from working out.

 

[DannyB1954]

A year ago I atopped eating sugar and started going to the gym.  I went from 206 to 185, but got stuck at 185.  So, new years I decided to see how long I could go wthout eating wheat or potatoes.  I'm down 4 more pounds to 181.  Almost 2 weeks of no starch, I woukd think I'd lose more.  I turn 70 in 5 months, I want to be in the best shape I can be for it.  I've been sore for months, from working out.

Sometimes you don't lose weight because you gain muscle.

 

[Raven+Squid]

......
As for food I am simply cooking most everything I eat....

 This is one of the keys.

 

[HarmonicaBruce]

Sometimes you don't lose weight because you gain muscle.

I think you are right, I'm sure I've added some muscle.  But I still have lots of fat.  I think the van lifelends itself to not enough exercise.  It is easy to drive all day and get no exercise.

 

[HarmonicaBruce]

I'm been off starches (bread, grains, potatos) for 5 weeks now.  I've been eating lots of fruits, and have lost only 7 pounds.  I'm cutting out breakkfast, just a banana, and have been doing 25 minutes on the elliptycal machine every day.  I'm thinking about trying to run a 5k this summer.  I'll have to watch my knees and feet, but as of now I think I might be in shape to do it.  I'm really impressed by how fit some of the old gym rats are.  I see them in the gym almost everyday.

 

[HarmonicaBruce]

I've lost 15 pounds in 2017, still going to the gym almost every day.  I've cheated a little on my diet, but not much.  It's hard to get in shapeo when you're nearly 70.  When I started, Jan 2016, I weighed 206, now I'm 170.  I'm starting to run a little.

 

[Canine]

Damn Bruce,that's impressive.I have to get off my lazy butt and start going back to the gym.When me and Vic started working in Mt.last summer,I weighed 170 lbs.At the end of the summer,I weighed 148.Yoo Hoo.However,after a winter of laying around,I'm back to 170.UGG.

 

[HarmonicaBruce]

It's easy for me to go to the gym since that's where I take my showers.  I seldom miss a day.  I try to work out when I camp but it's better at the gym.  I spend about an hour working out each morning.  I'm a big believer in no sugar, even though I cheat a little.  That's the hard part.

 

[HarmonicaBruce]

I seem to be the only one on this "health goals" thread.  I'm down to 165 pounds.  I'm still wearing my size 38 jeans.  I went to walmart and size 34 is just a little too tight, size 36 are a little loose.  Today at the gym I did 60 sit ups in one set.  My gut has some excess skin hanging like a woman after she gives birth.  O well, I not going to have surgery.  I can honesty say I wouldn't trade the progress I've made in the past 15 months improving my fitness for a new class A motorhome!  Half the reason I joined Anytime Fitness was to use the shower.  The working out part started real slow.  Now I work out pretty hard for over an hour.  My goal of running a 5k is still a possibility!

 

[Cammalu]

Sounds like you are really making progress Bruce. I'm sure many of us here would be much better off if we followed your lead.


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[HarmonicaBruce]

Today I went to the gym as usual.  I got an email from my tax lawyer that my return was ready, so I headed to Ann Arbor to see him.  Ann Arbor has very little parking other than the parking structures.  I finally pulled into a furniture store and asked if I could park there for 30 minutes.  I was .7 miles from his office, so I hiked and jogged, and got an extra work-out.  And my taxes are done

 

[HarmonicaBruce]

My goal is to be under 150 pounds by my 70th birthday, June 14.  I'm 162 now.  It's tough, especially because I spend so much time driving or sitting in the van.  If it wasn't for my hour each day at the gym I'd never lose any weight.

I down loaded the canadian airforce fitness program.  They don't want you to advance too quickly.  They say if you're over 20 years old, you need to spend at least 2 days at each level before advancing.  If you're over 30, spend at least 4 days at each level.  Over 40, at least 7 days.  Over 50, 8 days, and over 60, at least10 days at each level.  It sounds like they think the older you get, the longer it takes you to get stronger.  They don't say anything about over 70.

I'm sure there are people who retire, and start spending more time being active.  But, there are many people who become less active upon retiring.  For me, every day is Saturday, so I go out to breakfast.  That would be a good habit for me to break.

Being more fit really is worth it for me.

 

[Zizzer_Zazzer_Zuz]

I'm down 75 pounds in about 7 months. Biggest chamge is cooking about 90% of.what I eat as apposed to the 90% take out/fast food. I gave up soda years ago and gained weight. Quot smoking cigerettes and gaimed weight. Started taking meds in hopes of being less crazy ans gained lots of weigjt.

New food habits. New level of activity. New meds. Everything is much better. I still have my bad days but on good days I cam do hours of work where a year ago I could barely walk up a flight of stairs.

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[HarmonicaBruce]

I'm down 75 pounds in about 7 months....

New food habits. New level of activity. New meds. Everything is much better. I still have my bad days but on good days I cam do hours of work where a year ago I could barely walk up a flight of stairs.

That's huge, 75 pounds!  It's all about habits.  I need to break my habit of going out to breakfast.  And I need to stop cheating by eating bread.  I'm stuck at 162 pounds.

 

[Zizzer_Zazzer_Zuz]

That's huge, 75 pounds!  It's all about habits.  I need to break my habit of going out to breakfast.  And I need to stop cheating by eating bread.  I'm stuck at 162 pounds.

I'm still more than twice that but shrinking daily. I eat bread but I knead it and bake it myself. I eat cookies but bake them myself. I had an "egg mcmuffin" for breakfast today;english muffin, fried egg, canadian bacon, and a slice of chedder cheese. Coffee and fruit.

I tell people that I eat whatever I want ... and I do. I have made a conscious choice and have drasticly redefined what I want. I want to live. I want to thrive. I want to eat good holsome food.

I eat dessert but it has to count. No oreos. No little debbies. If I want a slab of chocolate cake from the local bakery then I get it. And I love it. I will never give up my special foods. I just WANT to eat them less frquoently. I WANT my treats to be excellent and so I have them rarely and go all out.

I eat a lot of rice and beans but sometimes I go get a nice dry aged steak (2 inch thick @ $40 a pound) and I LOVE it. I just want to eat that rarely. I would rather eat that 3-4 times a year than to eat cheap steaks every week.

Eat what you want. Want to eat good wholesome food.

I don't ezcercise. I just do more every day. A year ago I could barely walk up a flight of stairs. Today I can mow my lawn (2 acres) with a push gas mower. I should stretch or start doing yoga to improve flexability.

No. I WANT to improve my flexability and the means to that end is stretching and or yoga.

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[HarmonicaBruce]

Well darn, I got down to 162, then had dinner and gained 3 pounds.  Now I'm in Clarksdale Ms, and there is no anytime fitness within 30 miles.

 

[Gary68]

good job you guys,while the scale is an o.k. barometer dont let it be the be all end all especially if you are working out,muscle weights a lot more then fat,in my case i will put on muscle mass faster then fat loss and will put on weight so the mirror is more effective for me and it says no more sugar and bread until that fat belly is gone

 

[Gary68]

i was up to 245 and last year whittled it down to 215 then last winter ate myself to 235 and just clocked in at 225,would like 195-205 depending on muscle mass,the doc told me 155 so i got a new doctor

soda pop,chocolate and bread are my down falls