Another guy's story . . .

disneyfetishboy

Alright, I've been at this long enough to put down some thoughts on the first phase of my new healthy lifestyle:

I decided to turn things around at the end of March when I was getting close to 200lbs. Since high school, I had floated between 170-180lbs but gained weight with the birth of my kids and my high-stress job. The last 20 lbs came with me having crappy eating habits at work and trying to spend every spare moment of the day with my kids. Sadly, chasing them around doesn't burn enough calories to make up for not going to the gym. So with my wife's dispensation, I ramped up my efforts at the gym and started counting calories here.

In the past 5 months, I've:
- Dropped 45 lbs. (same weight as my sophmore year in HS)
- Lost 4 inches off my waist.
- Lost 1 1/2 inches off my neck (I mean, I actually have a neck now)
- Got my BMI to about 16% (down from almost 30%)
- Can run a couple of a miles at a time, which I haven't done since high school
- Have got my resting heart rate to about 42bpm.
- Can keep my heart rate at 70-80% of my projected max for an hour+
- Resumed playing pickup basketball and holding my own, with others half my age

MFP has really provided me with an easy and inconspicious way to count calories (especially the mobile version) that gives me no excuses for going over my limit. And I haven't - this week marks the first time I've gone over my caloric budget since I started.

On the exercise side, dumping my shoes in favor of going barefoot has kept me injury free and taken away a crutch - no, an excuse - for keeping fit that had dogged me for two decades. The result - I'm probably the most fit I've ever been and I'm a former-athlete pushing 40.

The advice I give to others has been pretty simple - there aren't short-cuts; you have to be completely honest with yourself; and you have to be willing to make changes in your life that are inconvenient but necessary for success. Most importantly, I now have friends and co-workers who are making changes for themselves, and that's just adding to my satisfaction.

MsLisaB

Congratulations on your success! Thanks so much for sharing. You story is inspiring :-)

stringsNlinks

Congrats! I love this site too - sounds like you are doing an excellent job ....

can you please explain the dumping the shoe thing, not really sure I understand. Thanks and welcome to MFP

HIzara

ALRIGHT!!! WTG.

BAREFOOT JOGGING? I barefoot jog on the beach. It's great!

zumbalori

Thanks so much for sharing! I feel the same. I was talking to a lady at the gym the other day. I am 46, have chronic asthma, a ruptured disc in my neck and back from a car accident, arthritis in my right knee, a heart condition, and I've had an elbow shatter 5 years ago. I am at the gym 6 days a week and have lost 70 lbs before I joined here. No excuses! If you want to be healthy and do something good for yourself, just do it!

Congrats on your success!

disneyfetishboy

can you please explain the dumping the shoe thing, not really sure I understand. Thanks and welcome to MFP

Thanks. I used to run track/cross country, but had a number of ankle injuries when younger, and then later on developed plantar fasciitis that would make it very hard to do much more than bike or swim. A few months ago, I was encouraged to try running barefoot, because it takes takes the natural impact of these activities and spreads them out more evenly across your feet, ankles, knees, and back. For me, it worked, and I have been able to get back into these activities pain free.

It's not for everyone, but for people who have been unable to exercise because of pain, it's definitely something worth trying.

You can read more about it at the Harvard website, where they have been doing biomechanical research on this sort of thing:
http://www.barefootrunning.fas.harvard.edu/index.html

If you're still interested but want to read something less . . clinical . . . the book that has inspired people to delve into this approach, "Born to Run" by Chris McDougal, is another great place to start.