What is your workout routine and story

I am 37 years old. Always been a bigger person but never really cared. Well all of a sudden i hit 291. Had shortness of breath one day and chest was hurting, The night before my wife woke me up and thought i was breathing differently. She really thought i would have died if she didnt wake me. I have 7 kids. I played my 2 oldest in a game of hoops. Every other basket i had to rest for 5 minutes. I decided to start getting healthy. I purchased a dvd video from beach body called power 90. Man did it kick my *kitten* bad. had to stop like 6 times. That was lil over a week ago. I am not 11 pounds lighter and able to do a whole workout without stopping(unless kids are causing trouble). I also take shakeology. This stuff is awesome. Helps with with a meal replacement and gives me so much energy. What is nice is that it is all good for you. All superfoods. I do plan on doing the phase 1-2 for 90 days then phase 3-4 for another 90 days. I will one day be able to play a game of ball with my kiddos again.

Replies

  • kimad
    kimad Posts: 3,010 Member
    Good for you to change your lifestyle and get on a better, healthier track :) You won't regret it.

    I was 245 lbs when I joined MFP. I always knew I was fat, I hated every minute of it - being in public, clothes shopping, swimming, everything... but I had resigned myself to the fact I would be fat forever. April 2011 my bestie Teeley asked me to join her running. She was already on MFP. I basically told her I would join becuase I would be pissed if she got skinny and I was still fat (true story, I said that!)

    So here I am 2 years later about 85lbs down and feeling fantastic.
    I started off running using couch to 5k. I couldn't even run a minute without chest pain. It sucked, but I have worked myself up to close to 10K and this summer, so far, I have signed up for 2 5k races. When winter hit in 2011 we were worried we would fall off the wagon so we decided to join a gym. I recall fondly how we justified it, how we figured we would need to use the cancellation policy and some 1.5 years later we are both still going strong.

    I work out 3 days a week. What I have done over time has changed but I still go.
    I do Body Pump 2 times a week and cardio 2 times a week (dance class, and treadmill)
    Works well with my schedule and my kid's as I am a single mom.

    Good job again!
  • lcchrt
    lcchrt Posts: 234 Member
    Wow! So glad you are ok and great routine!!

    In high school I went through some hard times. Long story short, I ended up with a bad eating disorder. I became a vegetarian. I met my hubby and things started to turn around. I am still working on things and struggling often, but I'm getting through. Now I am a dairy free vegetarian soon to go lacto ovo veg :)

    So now for my routine:
    -Practicing different inversions every day (challenge)
    -3 Mile walk OR 3-4 mile bike ride every day
    -Weights 3x a week
    -Like I said, vegetarian and trying to eat as healthy as possible. I try not to focus on calories so I don' become obsessive -_-

    I may be switching things up within the next couple of weeks. I'm thinking more yoga, weights less cardio. But that's prob just because it's getting hot!
  • TIMv4
    TIMv4 Posts: 21 Member
    Hmm, 291, that was TIMv3 about 10 years ago or so on a weight loss effort to fit on some roller coasters. I'm a year older than you. I was around that weight and worked my way down to the 220s.

    This why my username is TIMv4 (Tim version 4) as this is about the 4th and last time I am going to work off a pile of weight. A few years ago my knees were getting cranky, my neck was so big than if I looked down quickly while exhaling I'd make a weird snort sound.

    Even with the light knee problems I picked up a side job delivering newspapers. Well, after a guy my size starts doing that out of a compact car everyday, you really beef up your leg muscles getting in and out of the car constantly. Knee problems gone. I can probably squat lift that compact car now.

    I don't know if I could get into those aerobic or fitness videos. Long walking jags has done me well in the past. I'd pop in some interesting advice shows in the headphones and pound out about 90-115 minutes on the ground 3-4 times a week or so. I like roaming the neighborhoods and checking out the craftsmanship of the older homes.

    I haven't got into that much yet but between my calorie budget, my jobs and a 70 minute walk at least once a week, I've got some of the weight coming off.

    Some other things I will do are elliptical and upper body weight lifting. But I get bored quickly doing those. I used to bicycle the scenic trails a lot to decompress and sort my thoughts out but I do that with walking these days.

    The weather has been atrocious but I will definitely be at it with the walking so I can see my weight break out of this place I ended up at.
  • howekaren
    howekaren Posts: 159 Member
    After my dad died from cancer, I knew I needed to get healthier to, hopefully, put off the bad family medical history: arthritis, diabetes, osteoporosis, scoliosis, cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure...it's all in my family. I've been up and down, and now I'm mostly down. I'm down 83lbs from my heaviest, but thanks to my training I'm actually smaller than when I was lighter. I'd like to lose another 17 lbs at least.

    I'm concentrating on weight loss at the moment, so I try to monitor my food intake pretty closely. I typically eat 40/30/30 and mostly it's food I've cooked myself. As for training, I work out 6 days a week, at least once per day, for at least an hour a session doing cross fit type training. I try to challenge myself on the cardio and the heaviness of the weights I lift. I do get a positive mental boost from using heavier/equal weights as the guys use during the same sessions. For fun, I also play 2 hours of volleyball twice a week. Last week I managed 8.5 hours of cross fit with 4 hours of volleyball. This week, I have a nasty chest cold so I'll probably only get in 5.5hrs of cross fit plus the vball. On average, I get about 9 hours of exercise of some form each week. I'm trying to convince myself to take up jogging, but so far I'm not winning, since I hate running. LOL

    I'm not in fantastic shape by any means, but I am definitely in the best shape of my life right now. I wish I could have found this type of workout years ago. I don't believe in fad diets. Just good, moderate eating of real food coupled with exercise for health. You can't exercise off a bad diet, as the saying goes. My health, thanks to the food and the exercise, is now excellent. I've lessened the pain in my knees, my blood work is perfect, my high blood pressure is down, and I am more energetic and stronger. What else can I ask for?
  • TLow97
    TLow97 Posts: 55
    OP--That's freaking awesome and encouraging that while we still have breath it's NEVER too late!

    I never really had been thin or skinny, and just always figured I'm always gonna be this way. Used to play sports as a kid (hockey, baseball, football) and was able to do these while being overweight.

    In 2007, I was at my heaviest at 330. Had a friend introduce me to Lifetime Fitness. Had gone here and done P90X and Insanity off and on for about 6 years. Struggled with my weight; by the time I got married in 2009, I weighed 290. I'd fluctuated up and down within about 5-10 pounds of this weight until March 17, 2013 and got very serious about working out and counting my calories.

    This past winter I started playing hockey again, first time playing since I was 16 (29 now). Had an absolute blast, loved it completely. Near the end of the season, I realized that if I was going to max out my capabilities, I needed to drop weight. So not only have I lost weight (Down 10 lbs and counting) but I found something that I'm passionate about again.

    As far as my workouts, I hit the Cybex elliptical at the gym for 40-45 mins, and about twice a week hit the treadmill for 20 mins. I've done plenty of strength training-type exercise in my life; I just feel like I need to get my endurance levels up.
  • sunshinestater
    sunshinestater Posts: 596 Member
    Lots of inspiring stories here!

    For me, I originally knew it was time when the scale crossed into the 170s (I'm 5 foot 2). I went up and down for a bit because I'd get lazy after periods of success. Then I got down into the 130s about a year ago, with the 120s in sight. Got lazy again and back into the 140s. But this time the difference was my looming 50th birthday in a year and a half. Both my parents had heart attacks and died in their mid 50s, then my brother had a massive stroke in his mid 50s. I realized it was time for a permanent change.

    In order to ensure that I make fitness a way of life, I've signed up for two 5Ks in the fall. I'm doing C25K and JMBR, following my 1200 calorie plan, and transitioning to vegetarian. I may have bad genes, but that doesn't mean there aren't things I can do to offset them.