50+ male after the holidays

Thankfully I worked all of Xmas and new year so avoided the bad food and booze :-)

I did well through the holidays. I started planning my bulking cycles from Halloween through New Years and then cut in January in preparation for the multisport/OCR season.

I don't cut alcohol completely, but I plan ahead and make sure I can fit it into my caloric budget. I've noticed that the majority of bars here now list calories on the beer menus, which makes planning in those 400 kcal casked stouts & barleywines challenging.

3lbs down in 2019, but that's mostly water from high salt Holiday meals.

sijomial wrote: »

I gained about 4lbs over Christmas and that's taken me up to the top of my maintenance range or what I call my intervention point.
So it's time to intervene!

Not logging food but will just make lighter/lower calorie meal and snack choices and limit booze to social events.

A lesson to learn from last year is to drop the excess weight before my main cycling season starts so that I'm not having to do pre-event intense training while losing weight at the same time.

I'm up to 190 from 180 and 15% to 20% BF so definitely intervention time. I didn't do too bad on the holidays, but I put on some pounds in the fall after a surfing accident in early Sept left me hobbled for a few months while the fall and winter brews were starting to come out.

Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »

@MikePfirrman : Sounds stressful, but also exciting and full of potential. I will likely be moving this year as well.

Don't know advise, just take a moment every now and again to breathe. I think you train for Tris? I'm not competing in any events this year (I do some semi-competitive Indoor rowing) but I planned on taking this year off for events. It would be really hard training and moving in any competitive sport.

CarvedTones wrote: »

cwolfman13 wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

I gained about 4lbs over Christmas and that's taken me up to the top of my maintenance range or what I call my intervention point.
So it's time to intervene!

Not logging food but will just make lighter/lower calorie meal and snack choices and limit booze to social events.

A lesson to learn from last year is to drop the excess weight before my main cycling season starts so that I'm not having to do pre-event intense training while losing weight at the same time.

I'm up to 190 from 180 and 15% to 20% BF so definitely intervention time. I didn't do too bad on the holidays, but I put on some pounds in the fall after a surfing accident in early Sept left me hobbled for a few months while the fall and winter brews were starting to come out.

I have a concern about upcoming down time. Shoulder surgery in a little over a week. i chose the date because I paddle SUP. I got a new board over the holidays (60th birthday) and visited FL family around New Year's and took it out a couple of days, all pre planned. So I avoided getting it done before that. I won't get to paddle again until late April and then not much at first. I have been going to the gym since it has cooled, but won't be able to do much of that for a bit. I will get to do a cycle cardio machine pretty soon. I know the real work is the kitchen, but note being active somehow makes bingeing easier. Fortunately I no longer drink due to some personal history. Unfortunately my history also means I won't get pain pills after surgery, another potential "look for comfort in food" trap. I just have to stay vigilant; keep tracking...

From what I know about you guys, you seem pretty active to me. I hurt my lower back way back in like October. I think I had a herniated disc. Not sure. Old hat for me getting over back injuries. I just know when I can nurse it back on my own. Really wasn't too terribly bad but slowed down my working out a bit.

I just ate less and my appetite wasn't nearly as ravenous as when I can workout full on. I was kind of surprised at that but my body seemed to adapt to needing less. Maybe new habits now? Maybe eating to satiety? IDK, but the old me ate way more than that and didn't do squat for exercise, so that was a pleasant surprise. I do think it's harder, though, to be injured in Winter. Also, I wasn't completely sidelined, just had to take it easier.

MikePfirrman wrote: »

CarvedTones wrote: »

cwolfman13 wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

I gained about 4lbs over Christmas and that's taken me up to the top of my maintenance range or what I call my intervention point.
So it's time to intervene!

Not logging food but will just make lighter/lower calorie meal and snack choices and limit booze to social events.

A lesson to learn from last year is to drop the excess weight before my main cycling season starts so that I'm not having to do pre-event intense training while losing weight at the same time.

I'm up to 190 from 180 and 15% to 20% BF so definitely intervention time. I didn't do too bad on the holidays, but I put on some pounds in the fall after a surfing accident in early Sept left me hobbled for a few months while the fall and winter brews were starting to come out.

I have a concern about upcoming down time. Shoulder surgery in a little over a week. i chose the date because I paddle SUP. I got a new board over the holidays (60th birthday) and visited FL family around New Year's and took it out a couple of days, all pre planned. So I avoided getting it done before that. I won't get to paddle again until late April and then not much at first. I have been going to the gym since it has cooled, but won't be able to do much of that for a bit. I will get to do a cycle cardio machine pretty soon. I know the real work is the kitchen, but note being active somehow makes bingeing easier. Fortunately I no longer drink due to some personal history. Unfortunately my history also means I won't get pain pills after surgery, another potential "look for comfort in food" trap. I just have to stay vigilant; keep tracking...

From what I know about you guys, you seem pretty active to me. I hurt my lower back way back in like October. I think I had a herniated disc. Not sure. Old hat for me getting over back injuries. I just know when I can nurse it back on my own. Really wasn't too terribly bad but slowed down my working out a bit.

I just ate less and my appetite wasn't nearly as ravenous as when I can workout full on. I was kind of surprised at that but my body seemed to adapt to needing less. Maybe new habits now? Maybe eating to satiety? IDK, but the old me ate way more than that and didn't do squat for exercise, so that was a pleasant surprise. I do think it's harder, though, to be injured in Winter. Also, I wasn't completely sidelined, just had to take it easier.

I hope I get that same effect of not being as hungry. Somehow I did it when I was first losing and not as active. I have become pretty active, but wasn't always.

I have had my share of back pain. Two herniated discs (most common ones), spinal stenosis and undifferentiated spondylitis. All that is from MRIs. I got the 4 image guided shots a couple of times; they are at the "corners" of L5 as it has herniated discs above and below. Lately I just do exercises to get the muscles around it in good shape and try to keep my back straight and bend at the hips.

Lost a couple of pounds of 'Christmas Pudding' and need to resist the temptation to take my foot off the gas now I'm under my intervention point. Better isn't good enough!

Great exercise week despite the calorie deficit and feeling a little rough fighting off the sniffles and having a sore back, increased my bench press to highest number for a few years and also set a new PR for cycling 40km indoors.

Final stages of negotiations on the house in Tucson. Should get it this weekend. Working on getting Leasing companies lined up to go through my current house and get it ready to rent. We're holding on to that as an added retirement income. Thanks Millennials for paying rents instead of owning! Rents are ridiculous in my area ($600 more per month than my house payment). But the shite is getting real now. Wife is already working on selling our older dog run down furniture, pictures and such.

My middle back is actually slightly tweaked now but I did manage my full 6 days of workouts this week. I think I'm eating more at night due to stress. Really have to be careful with that. I have likely 9 weeks to get my current house ready and start moving to AZ. Got four inches of snow and ice today, so knowing this is my last Winter isn't all bad.

Bought an Air Bike (Schwinn AD Pro) for the wife last year. That's coming in really handy when the back is feeling off. Give me a nice break from the rower and it's a fantastic upper body workout.

The new house isn't close to a gym. At least for me to workout at lunch. I have about everything I need now to keep in shape at home. Son got me battle ropes for Xmas and wife got me those BowFlex Adjustable Dumbbells. That was a huge surprise. She had saved up for those for a while with her part-time job.

When I looked at my scale this morning, it gave me good news. I was back inside my six-pound maintenance range for the first time since the end of November. Not far inside, but inside. My running average weight is still over my goal range, but I shall remain vigilant.

I was on the North Santiam River yesterday. Water temperature was 42 degrees. I was actually overdressed! But I didn't really get wet. I think my passenger was colder than he let on, but he refused my repeated offers of extra layers. You might find you actually can stay really warm on the water. I aim to be kayaking into my 70s, or at least rowing.

Drysuit technology has improved a LOT. My first drysuit was coated nylon. Waterproof, but didn't breathe. So if you get too warm, like as in if you have to make some big moves, you get damp. We used to put a COTTON shirt on the outside of our thermal layers and just inside the suit to absorb the water and keep our skin a little drier. That suit also had ankle gaskets, not waterproof socks. My feet were always cold even in wetsuit booties WITH wool socks. My current suit is great. The only time it can get colder than I want is if I let the durable water repellent get worn down. When the fabric wets out, it doesn't breathe as well, so I get a little damp. Also, if the fabric is wet, some evaporative cooling happens. When the fabric repels water, it's cozy in there! I have a fuzzy one-piece undergarment for when it's really cold. So it's just my fingers I have to deal with.

I'm not sure I want to kayak the Grand Canyon again. Only because rowing is so much more comfortable, and 20 days in a kayak can get a little tiresome. On our last trip, we ran across a fellow on a solo kayak trip. He was paddling a fiberglass boat that he made in 1964 and wasn't his first time taking it down the canyon.

Being in Florida should open up more opportunities to get out without all that extra gear, and yeah, maybe it's not worth the investment for just a couple years. But paddling! It's so good for our bodies and our minds. Good luck, and just keep moving! That's what one of our paddling club members says, and we celebrated his 89th birthday last year with another paddle. Expect to do the same in June for his 90th.

It's great that paddle boarding came along. It's another way folks can enjoy the water. I'm glad you get to keep doing it. Good luck finding warmer weather. Salt water is also very healing.

I hear you on the shoveling here in Cincy - I was tempted to log it!