Just a normal 46 chap....... Can a real work life be blended into a healthier regime?

nahrobson

I'm just a normal guy... Well a slightly heavy normal guy! 46 years of relatively frequent and varied sports and exercise to a reassuringly low level of success has brought with it the standard enduring sports injuries we all carry around with us (new knee ACL, injured ankle, snapped knee cap, DVD and a couple of PE's, and a couple of broken ribs and fingers and toes etc over the years) but nothing particularly bad, and nothing that really stops me exercising too much.

I have a very busy career that has me starting a new role which will be office based with some travel around to see different sites and meetings etc. This may mean a standard routine may be difficult to maintain, or rather it is a reason to tell myself that this is a convenient barrier to a routine of healthy eating and exercise.

So why this forum? I have used this food tracker before last year and had a degree of success. I did not consciously change anything other than log my food intake. But the mere fact I had to see daily what I was consuming, it was a motivation to manage food better. Also by having a calorie measurement from my exercise was itself a motivation to go to the gym and smash the spinning classes more frequently and, to a degree was the driver to build a routine to make sure I did go to the gym or even walk rather than drive.

New job, new start and a need to build a new routine.

So......I am 46 and bounce around at approx 116-120 kg. my main exercise is through spinning classes (I'll easily smash 1100 calories) and occasionally do weights. The aim is to get to 100-105 kg in, let's say, 3 months, or at least flatten the bulk and turn the flab into muscle. Techniques will have to be blended into a normal life so I can't be eating just mung beans and soak my feet in rain water or any other such fad-ideas! Normal food, in a balanced manner and, my main weakness, with portion control! The discipline of logging should help too.

So the journey begins and energy in/out is the start!

snowflake954

Alot of people do it--you just have to be super organized. Sounds like calorie control is what you have to get a handle on first. 80% of weight loss is watching your intake. Get your eating regime under control and the rest will follow. Best.

Maaike84

Good luck with starting your new regime!! And welcome back to MFP!

As a fellow person with a very busy career - I know it can be difficult sometimes, for me particularly when I am really stressed. But - though exercise is important for general health - weight loss can be achieved with just diet. So even though you are too busy to go to the gym, by making smart choices with your food (indeed - portion control is key) you can still make a significant change to your weight! For me it helps to be prepared - during the weekend, I take time to consider meals and snacks during the week. Seems like a hassle at first, but it saves so much time and stress during the busy workweek!

nahrobson

Plan is going ok so far, but admittedly only 7 days have gone by. New job started and so taking lunch in from home allow me to not use the unhealthy and expensive work canteen. Admittedly I am eating at my desk which may not be the most mentally productive. I have sorted my at-work gym requirements and went to an evening spin class. As a spin instructor myself, think I'll be delivering classes soon as this evenings was not that 'intense' when matched to one of mine!

Either way, logging food intake actually focuses you on eating better and I have eaten less crap and found more salad based meals and perhaps drinking less wine. So let's see how it lasts. Weigh day tomorrow morning followed by office and the gym! The magic of MFP says I'll be 107/110 soon-ish but I think that is optermistic.

Early days but your support is helpful and encouraging.

BurnWithBarn2015

Good luck
And make your new life a success!

middlehaitch

Well done on getting re started.

The only bit of advice I can give you is to try to get back to the weight room and include a good progressive compound lifting programme to complement your cardio.

Cheers, h.

Big5BigChange

Also - maybe find some good exercises using your own body-weight, online - fitness blender is good and the like. These are great for doing in a hotel room if you're stuck somewhere without a gym OR if you haven't got the motivation to work out at the gym by yourself (at least with instruction, you don't have to THINK as well as DO. Thinking can be tiring after work ). Work is stressful - and especially if you're travelling on top. Doing a good bit of exercise in the room beforehand might forgive those occasional "wind-down" glasses of wine in the hotel bar!

Another tip (which you might just throw out), but I really like having a packet soup on me. I know that sounds silly (and I realise they aren't exactly packed with nutrition), but they are easy to carry around and can be made up anywhere with hot water (i.e. a hotel room!) - good for if you're rushing or if you simply want to avoid all the tempting treats a hotel restaurant might throw your way OR fill up a bit on not a lot of calories BEFORE you go down to the restaurant - help you make better choices when you're there. Eating out is an absolute killer to a good diet.

Good luck!

nahrobson

All good advice, especially the soup idea!

So far i am now in week 2 of my new role; it is very office based but there is a degree of 'floor walking'. I have also found the in-house gym that is virtually across the road from my office so I have managed it for the last 3 days and 3 spinning classes. Today's class admittedly was nails as I was delivering (I am a spin instructor too) - this raised some eye brows I guess as the 'big lad' surely can't be a spin instructor.... 55 mins later and there were more of my young team puffing than me! And it was about a 960 cal session.

I may squeeze in another 2 gym sessions with week or maybe a couple of spin classes.

The key aspect though has been my food intake monitoring. Although i don't think I have changed my behaviour, the very fact I log nearly everything I eat is subconsciously changing how I choose my food.

Still early days but I think we have up-arrows in progress.

middlehaitch

Good going. Calories are king when it comes to weight loss and it looks like you are handling them well.

Cheers, h.

rockmama72

Have you thought about getting a Fitbit or some other step-tracking device? On busy days, I find that it motivates me to squeeze in extra steps where I might not have done so before.

Well done, what you're doing.

jgnatca

This is a great article. I have the yoga mat recommended on my wish list.
http://www.nomadwallet.com/work-out-travel-carry-on/

And you just gotta rent this movie, "Unfinished Business".

snowflake954

Good work. Watch those calories and you will see results. It becomes habit forming and then you'll arrive where you want to be--and stay there.

nahrobson

An interesting two or three days! Nothing particularly to write home about but a typical day for a busy working chap. Yesterday involved coffee, a bun and chocolate brownies (the team at work seem to be having their own bake off!) plus my most boring salad I possibly could have drempt up. To break the mundane nature of my day, the gym saved me. I opted to smash the tread mill for a change with a short 11 mins run to test the knees. It went well and not the most pain I have experienced, finished with some new strength exercises focussing on the major leg muscle groups.

Today was an aching legs day, unsurprisingly I guess, and made worse by a long 2 hour drive for a 4 hour business meeting and working lunch. This is my down fall..... I really like the 'office working lunch' fare of tuna mayo wraps and samosas.... You get the idea! I thought therefore that this evenings spin class would snap me out of a feeling of lethargy....... It was possibly the worse class I have been to; poor prep by the instructor, basic teaching mistakes, poor exercise design and I had little idea what she was saying or what she wanted me to do next! Was very close to walking out or offering to deliver it myself.... At least she did not have us cycle backwards or doing press ups on the bikes! Small blessings I guess.

So today was not a day of up arrows in my campaign to lose weight...... In fact I am 2 kg heavier this week. This should be a lesson on patience and constant weighing times etc. I doubt the weight transfer is the fat turning to heavier muscle though.... I am not that ripped! Hey ho!

nahrobson

rockmama72 wrote: »

Have you thought about getting a Fitbit or some other step-tracking device? On busy days, I find that it motivates me to squeeze in extra steps where I might not have done so before.

Well done, what you're doing.

I use a Garmin watch that tracks everything and is a really good motivator.