Regaining former glory

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teebirderv8
teebirderv8 Posts: 11 Member
in Getting Started
So, it's been about two years after falling off the horse, and I'm finding it challenging to crawl back on. Between marriage, divorce, stress from leaving the military, and moving to a new area, I put on almost 70lbs and fell out of the fitness lifestyle. Now I'm trying to get back to where I was.

I've already lost about 15lbs, it seems like I'm putting muscle, and my strength is coming back quite fast. I'm not sure if my muscles are getting bigger, they're simply pumped up, or more apparent from less fat, but my upper body looks great. I'm starting to look "buff" again after only a little over a month.

As much as I like the progress in the weight room, my running times are depressing. I was never a dedicated runner; more of a strength athlete that also enjoyed incorporating running and cardio to keep balanced. Even so, when I was at my prime I was doing 3-4 miles a day at a 7 minute pace. Now when I try to run, I can barely sustain an average pace of 5 mph for a mile and a half, and I find myself exhausted afterwards.

While my primary goal is building and maintaining muscle and strength while losing weight, I'd still like to be at the fitness level I was. When I was running a 7 min pace I weighed 210lbs, so I was never a lightweight runner. I miss that balance and military fitness where I can could perform everything reasonably well. I felt like superman. Does anyone have any tips on how to balance the running with the lifting, while maintaining a calorie deficit? I'm definitely overweight by a significant amount, but I'm not exactly a beginner and it's hard to really tell by how much because my muscle mass hides a lot of my fat. Literally all of it is around my waist; the rest of my build is very muscular.

I don't want to over train, and it seems like the little running I'm doing ( 2x-3x a week with stationary bike and elliptical in between) is already overwhelming my routine. Just by adding running I feel pretty exhausted for only doing 3-5 miles a week. I have a lot of goals here, and I'm wondering if I can keep them all balanced. I want my military body back!

Replies

  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,754 Member
    edited April 2018
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    It sounds like you are doing a lot of things all at once. Weight is lost through a calorie deficit and exercise is for fitness. Your enthusiasm is commendable. Read the stickies at the top of the “getting started” forums. Good stuff in there :)
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
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    Running might be better bitten off in smaller chunks - recovery is as important to progress as consistency and with the extra weight you are carrying it won't feel like it used to and you can't treat your joints the same way. Cut one out and see how that feels in a couple of weeks.
  • teebirderv8
    teebirderv8 Posts: 11 Member
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    According to my Fitbit, I have a pretty high deficit... Is this too much? I maintain about the same amount of calories with a little more on rest days. I've been working out 4 days a week, with my toughest workouts the first two days, then I taper off the intensity.qgsxkw20njd7.jpg
  • byrdy420
    byrdy420 Posts: 15 Member
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    teebirderv8 wrote: »
    So, it's been about two years after falling off the horse, and I'm finding it challenging to crawl back on. Between marriage, divorce, stress from leaving the military, and moving to a new area, I put on almost 70lbs and fell out of the fitness lifestyle. Now I'm trying to get back to where I was.

    I've already lost about 15lbs, it seems like I'm putting muscle, and my strength is coming back quite fast. I'm not sure if my muscles are getting bigger, they're simply pumped up, or more apparent from less fat, but my upper body looks great. I'm starting to look "buff" again after only a little over a month.

    As much as I like the progress in the weight room, my running times are depressing. I was never a dedicated runner; more of a strength athlete that also enjoyed incorporating running and cardio to keep balanced. Even so, when I was at my prime I was doing 3-4 miles a day at a 7 minute pace. Now when I try to run, I can barely sustain an average pace of 5 mph for a mile and a half, and I find myself exhausted afterwards.

    While my primary goal is building and maintaining muscle and strength while losing weight, I'd still like to be at the fitness level I was. When I was running a 7 min pace I weighed 210lbs, so I was never a lightweight runner. I miss that balance and military fitness where I can could perform everything reasonably well. I felt like superman. Does anyone have any tips on how to balance the running with the lifting, while maintaining a calorie deficit? I'm definitely overweight by a significant amount, but I'm not exactly a beginner and it's hard to really tell by how much because my muscle mass hides a lot of my fat. Literally all of it is around my waist; the rest of my build is very muscular.

    I don't want to over train, and it seems like the little running I'm doing ( 2x-3x a week with stationary bike and elliptical in between) is already overwhelming my routine. Just by adding running I feel pretty exhausted for only doing 3-5 miles a week. I have a lot of goals here, and I'm wondering if I can keep them all balanced. I want my military body back!

    I started off running one mile every day after 2 years off and it was eExhausting but now I can run 3 miles easy like I used to and I could do it after about two weeks of running just 1 mile every day just don’t overdo it in the beginning or you will be sore and slow

  • bandb678
    bandb678 Posts: 104 Member
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    I think the running will be like anything on your journey....slow and steady until you are ready. You certainly sound like you ha e gone through a lot but are on the right track to regain your former glory.
    Add me if you wish
  • teebirderv8
    teebirderv8 Posts: 11 Member
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    So I guess to build on this thread... I'm noticing a trend. I'm definitely losing weight, however it isn't to the extreme that my mfp is telling me I should be losing. According to my fitbit, on training days I am burning on average 4000 calories and consuming 1700-2200 on average, while on off days burning 2800-3000 and consuming roughly 2000 calories. With the large deficits my fitbit is telling me I have, I should feel terrible, but I don't. If anything, my workouts are getting much easier.

    I'm losing weight. However, it's roughly 1-2 pounds a week. I'm also noticing significant fitness improvements. I'm able to run longer, my strength levels are increasing, and the volume and length of my workouts are also increasing. I'm able to do significantly more, I'm less tired, and I'm recovering much more quickly. My resting heart rate has also dropped significantly.

    So, either I am eating more than I think but still in a healthy deficit range, my workouts aren't burning as much as my fitbit is telling me, or I'm a genetic freak. Any ideas?
  • cmh308
    cmh308 Posts: 317 Member
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    teebirderv8 wrote: »
    So I guess to build on this thread... I'm noticing a trend. I'm definitely losing weight, however it isn't to the extreme that my mfp is telling me I should be losing. According to my fitbit, on training days I am burning on average 4000 calories and consuming 1700-2200 on average, while on off days burning 2800-3000 and consuming roughly 2000 calories. With the large deficits my fitbit is telling me I have, I should feel terrible, but I don't. If anything, my workouts are getting much easier.

    I'm losing weight. However, it's roughly 1-2 pounds a week. I'm also noticing significant fitness improvements. I'm able to run longer, my strength levels are increasing, and the volume and length of my workouts are also increasing. I'm able to do significantly more, I'm less tired, and I'm recovering much more quickly. My resting heart rate has also dropped significantly.

    So, either I am eating more than I think but still in a healthy deficit range, my workouts aren't burning as much as my fitbit is telling me, or I'm a genetic freak. Any ideas?

    The "You should weigh" suggestions MFP generates at the end of the day should generally be ignored. They don't take into consideration general fluctuations in water weight, hormones, salt, travel, or any of the life things that impact weight fluctuation. A 1-2 lb loss per week is a healthy and sustainable rate for someone your size so just keep at it!

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