YOU ARE NEVER TO OLD TO SUCCEED!!! ☺

Flyer69

YOU ARE NEVER TO OLD TO SUCCEED!!! ☺

I thought I tell a little bit about myself and where I am at as most of you only see me as the idiot who has far to big of a energy burns to be good for you. ☺

So how did I get there:
Originally from Holland, I set out after my studies and military conscription to travel our amazing planet. I enjoyed my life, travelled for many, many years around the world. Even met my lovely wife in the jungle of Central America on the border between Belize and Guatamala. She conceived our first daughter years later in one of the game parks in Zimbabwe, that caused us to look at settling down, which we did here in beautiful East Fremantle on the West coast of Australia. We had 2 beautiful girls and life here has been good. I am currently 58 years old.

But every year I put on an extra kilo. Many times I started to try and loose weight (once a year) and each time I failed. I did it either by running (earlier years), cycling and walking (later years) but when it became to cold, to hot or to wet my spirits dampened and I gave up. The problem to was that I enjoy the good life and like to have a drink with my friends and with my wife, especially around the weekend. Sitting behind a bowl of salad sipping water while everyone else is stuffing their happy faces is not for me.

In 2012 I went through a health scare and had an operation, I also knew I was borderline diabetic, my cholesterol was not good, I sleep poorly, all not really fantastic signs so this was the turning point in my life. At my worst I weighed 109kg. So it was time for a change as all in all it was a terrible year.

2 things happened just at the end of 2012 that have helped me turns things around. Firstly a 24 hr gym opened nearby which had reasonable weekly rates ($13), no contracts and an option when you go away to stop it for a period. I signed up on the spur of the moment. Secondly in the news paper they mentioned some great free apps and amongst it was MyFitnessPal. I downloaded it and started using it.

By the time we went on a 2½ month holiday to Europe I was pretty well at my goal of 85kg (24kg loss) and I was happy, however I also decided then that my weight was still to high and after my holidays I would start again and aim to get under 80kg. During my holidays I ate reasonable, but drank plenty of alcohol as everyone wanted to celebrate with us. The funny thing was that I did not seem to gain much weight in the beginning. Even when I came back I was only about 88.5kg. I started the gym again and eating responsible however my weight started to go up instead of down and hit even slightly over 90kg. My theory is that when I left I lost muscle first and when I cam back I gained those muscles back. But that is just my theory. ☺

Over the next 3 moths I regularly lost weight till I was back at my previous wall at 85.5kg. Then parties, my Birthday, Xmas, New Year all came around. While I actually thought I did good and really should have stayed similar the scales shot up amazingly 6kg to 91.5kg!!!!! That was a very rude shock. Pretty sure my body hates to loose its weight and does everything in its power to stop me, fortunately I can be very determined, so I upped the ante.

I am convinced that beer, bread and to much dairy are also big weight gainers for me plus eating evening and night time, which is the time I struggle the most. So I reduced the intake of the previous and try to be better at night.

Why are my burns so big? Firstly I work hard at the gym, generally go for 1 ½ to 2 hrs a day with mostly high active cardio eg running, elliptical, spinning, cycling, rowing etc. Then 3 to 4 times a week I also do weights to built up a little muscle. They workouts are normally around 1000 calories, give or take a few, more if I do my long run. Then generally I play tennis 2 mornings in the week and soccer at least once a week. Maybe a game of golf as I try to be as active as possible while enjoying it at the same time. If 2 of those activities fall on the same day and I went to the gym you get those 2000 plus calorie burns. ☺ I try to eat very little before my gym workout as I believe that my body will use it’s stored fat first if I do it like that.

What about my low net calories or sometimes even negative net calories?
I am trying to eat about 1500 calories plus about 30-40% of my exercise calories at most. So obviously when MFP takes out the calories burned my total will look puny. Some people have queried me if I put my body in starvation mode, well I can quarantee you this is NOT the case.
I must admit that because of the big burns I have some freedom and don’t weigh everything, but I would often rather err on the higher number. It also allows me to have some alcohol when I feel like it without feeling bad about it.

Now I am almost back at the same level I have been twice before however I am reasonable confident that this time I will manage to break into the lower 80’s and see numbers I have not seen since my travelling days. Pretty confident that I can attain my goal of under 80kg!!! ☺

There are many ways to do your weight loss journey and you have to find a way which suits you. We all hit low points or are wandering why the weight is not coming of. Always willing to give advice as often it I think it is simple to remedy something. Biggest mistakes most people make is underestimating their calories eaten and over estimating their calories burned. However with the right attitude determination and plan everyone can do this.

Feel free to add me as friend

Good luck, Robert

susanrechter

Good luck and carry on! It's amazing how wonderfully the body responds.

liapr

Congrats on your success!! Great dedication

donnaleighh

Thanks for telling your story Rob - always good to know a little more about our MFP friends!!