mitchkelly2446 Member

As said above, it's a mind game, especially in a post-conscription world. Does your desire to serve outweigh your dislike of being treated like something scraped off the bottom of your shoe?

Basically, yes. It's about calories (or Joules if you use SI/metric :) ). To lose bodyweight, you must take in less energy than you lose. You need to establish and maintain adequate intakes of nutrients (protein, essential fatty acids, vitamins minerals etc etc) to keep your body working properly - it's no good being a…

Very sharp! What I meant was what keeps the "motivation" (or whatever you want to call it) going until the habit is formed (3 weeks or so, roughly I think is the rule of thumb)? This would apply whether it's weight loss or anything, wouldn't it? I don't disagree that long term it's all about habits and blind obedience to…

What motivates you to form habits?

I weigh 220lb/100kg, age 51. I can do seven consistently, a couple more on a good day when I'm not completely knackered. Standing watching somebody who can do repeated sets of 15 with a 20kg (44lb?) weight in a rucksack is, how shall I put this... sobering? (OK, depressing!)

I guess as a person with an eating disorder, you must manage your relationship with food even more carefully than the rest of us? Do you have a good (any?) support network that you can fall back on for good technical support? I suppose the best thing is to say try to stay on the path, but don't put yourself at any risk. Be…

5x5 works well, as I'm sure you know. Does the gym have a trainer/coach you can discuss this with? Otherwise a decent sports physio? I was warned off heavy lifts after a major ankle operation, but there's a degree of detail that you will need to chase down yourself. Be careful - another three months rehab won't help you!

The answer is "I think I probably can but is it worth the stress, effort and additional mental pressure?" Which is better: thin, unhappy and compulsive-obsessive or fat and unhappy?

I guess I should want to. At the moment it feels like all cost and no benefit. Oh I get the physical fitness thing, but it feels a bit like being told "hey when you're fitter you can work even harder for even longer for the same reward. Won't that be just great?". Woop de doo...

The 15 hours/week with my partner comes from the suggestion that you should spend 15 hours per week with them. That's fifteen hours of undivided attention, so not (e.g.) watching TV or working out together. There's a saying that if you have a why you can find a how. Further that you need "the why behind the why", and…

Thanks. I don't think anybody has had a relocation/sign on bonus in the UK in my lifetime.

Ten minutes per day on top of everything else just feels like one more chore. As for "not at liberty" to change my medication, I'm not sure how it works in other countries, but in the UK, a doctor has to writer a prescription based on their medical opinion and current prescribing guidelines. I don't get a say, other than…

Sadly, my "days off" have so many calls on my time that the only way I can batch cook meals would be to give up all pretence of rest and relaxation. Moving house isn't an option, as me handing off the commute to my wife and college-age daughter might help me but isn't an improvement overall. The meals are bland because…

I think the problem many people see isn't about sacrifice in the present for future success, it's about sacrifice in the present for no discernable gain down the line. Many peoples' experience of deferred gratification is that the deferment is permanent and the gratification never arrives.

Somebody being browbeaten into performing a pointless task proves what exactly?

Thanks everyone. I think I might go back to the doctor, but I'm wary as citalopram was the third AD that was tried before I got something that "worked". I'm not sure I want a higher dose as the side effects aren't nice. I don't feel and overwhelm or flat affect doing things I like, so it doesn't feel like a chore to get…

I think there's a perception (possibly correct) that I can be sat in my office, eating a pie and still be looking at data, writing an email etc, and obviously be working. However, if I'm meditating, doing a series of stretches or going for a walk there's no pretence of me doing anything constructive, work-related or…

As a slight aside, how do you go for a walk, meditate or stretch in the middle of work?

Intuitively, I agree. One would expect homeostasis to have kicked in long before, but apparently it's normal over here to leave people on a maintenance dose for life. Had an ECG last year around this issue, and everything was completely unremarkable.

Thanks, but sadly, fitness isn't going to make me a better wargamer or birdwatcher :/

When I've been lifting, running etc for months and months and months, then WHY do I still feel physically and mentally dreadful and have the energy level of a dead battery? WHY isn't it simple biomechanics - work hard, feel better?

No advice. I have the same problem. Good luck!

OK. Height 5'10" (178cm), weight is 100kg (220lb), age 51. Gives me a BMI of 32. I guess I ought to aim to be about 87kg in the first instance (overweight). I would need to be 77kg to be in the healthy range. That's 4kg lighter than I've ever been in my adult life, including the time when I was working in construction and…

I don't socialise outside work, basically I don't have any friends that live nearer than about 40 miles. I've tried making friends with locals/neighbours but I have so little in common with them in terms of interests and life experiences that we just don't gel at all. I'm driving 40 miles odd in each direction which takes…

No, not presumptuous: accurate. I was put on a list for counselling years ago, after a three year wait I got twelve sessions, was pronounced "cured" and turfed back out of the system to get by on antidepressants and my own resources. Currently diet and exercise sound like one more task, rather like adding another toilet to…

I have to be constantly vigilant to stop myself raiding the fridge at home or walking across the road at work to the shop. I have to consciously force myself not to go through with those actions, more so when I'm under pressure.

Because I need the money! If I didn't, I wouldn't do it again as long as I live. It's one of things I do have to do. However, I'm at the stage where adding any more things I have to do is going to start heavily impinging on the time I have to do any of the things I like to do. I need a positive "why" in order to make it…

Thanks. I've managed to keep working for 31 years without really wanting to other than because I need the money. Maybe I was hoping I could make exercise go the same way :D

Thanks for the mental health stuff - probably need to up-tick what I'm doing there. Already been with a doctor about it for years, but the resources are very limited. I've tried lots of different activities over the years and frankly I haven't enjoyed any of them. Running/lifting are the ones I've disliked least. I'm not…

I don't know. Seriously. I don't know if the mental strain of constant vigilance over food, the having to give more of my limited time for other hobbies over to exercise, the arguments about what food gets cooked for the whole family versus me and the lack of any release mechanism for the constant ongoing stress in my day…