Getting BACK into the Routine....

Tigger · Mar 5, 2014

I've got an issue I hope the DP community can help me with.....

Back in October of 2009 I started working out at a local gym. I was significantly overweight and really needed to make some serious lifestyle changes. For three and a half years things went really well. I was in the gym constantly; 5-6 days a week, 1-3 hours a day over that period of time. I worked on my own and with a personal trainer. We made considerable changes to my diet and lifestyle resulting in a loss of about 60 lbs (down to 152lbs), an increase in strength, flexibility and muscle mass, and many other 7.5mph)advancements. In March of 2012 I set a personal best mark of 0:24:48 for the 5K running distance (8 minute mile - 7.5mph) and a personal best of 0:42:15 for 5 miles in July of that year while wearing a brace for a sprained knee in the July race. Everything was going great, then something changed.....

In January of 2012 I started dating the woman who is now my fiance. She is not a very athletic individual and our physical activity/diets were markedly different. For quite a while we maintained separate diets and she did actually spend some time at the gym with me for several months. She didn't see the sort of results that I had due to physical and psychological conditions she stopped coming to the gym with me. This led to me spending less time at the gym, since I wanted to spend time with her. This led to me putting some weight back on, but not too much. Then 2013 rolled around and things went straight to Hell.

In April of 2013 she agreed to WALK a 5K Run/Walk that I was participating in as part of trying to get myself back into the routine. It was a miserable failure. I ran a terrible time and she actually ended up getting lost due to poor planning/logistics by race organizers. It was a total disaster of a day and just furthered the breakdown of the routine. In June we went to Puerto Rico for two weeks and apparently came home with a violently viral form of Pink Eye. Our two week break ended up being almost six weeks away from the gym because my doctor flat our banned me from going into any sort of communal situation until the infection was 100% gone. Six weeks off in the summer, including a vacation just crippled my desire to get back into the routine. August and September were struggles to get into the gym even two-three times a week. I'd put back on even more weight and was finding things I could do easily back in January were now a struggle. Then we came to October.....

In the first week of October I suffered a pair of petit mal seizures. I hadn't had a seizure in 35 years and hadn't been on anti-convulsory medication in 28 years. Suddenly I went from no meds to a significant dosage of an anti-convulsory and a small dose of blood pressure meds. I had no energy at all and I was in a terrible mental state as well. Then they changed my seizure medication (which took three weeks to switch over) and my desire to do anything more than absolutely necessary went away. The gym became a very far after-thought. Proper diet went totally out the window, especially as the holidays arrived.

The meds have now stablized. I still have very low energy (not uncommon for someone on seizure meds) and some depressive tendancies. I've put back on 50 of the 60 lbs I originally lost. Even after being fully cleared to return to any activity I want at the gym as of the first of the year, I've been there maybe 3 times over the last two months. I can't do anything. I run like a 3-legged turtle. I've got very little of the strength or muscle definition left. I'm literally embarassed to even think about going back in there because I'm nowhere near what I was when I last spent any serious amount of time in there.

This gym is a wonderful family atmosphere. Consciously I know that while there are probably some people who will snicker a little bit about my returned pot-belly, that the staff and my personal trainer will be there to help me; but I just can't get over the subconscious knowledge that I can't do anything near what I could when I was there regularly and I don't look like the same person anymore. My fiance wants both of us to get back to eating better and to go back to the gym (she's been cleared to return as well). I just don't know how the hell to turn the switch back in the other direction. Any constructive advice and information would be greatly appreciated.

joG · Mar 5, 2014

Tigger said:
I've got an issue I hope the DP community can help me with.....

Back in October of 2009 I started working out at a local gym. I was significantly overweight and really needed to make some serious lifestyle changes. For three and a half years things went really well. I was in the gym constantly; 5-6 days a week, 1-3 hours a day over that period of time. I worked on my own and with a personal trainer. We made considerable changes to my diet and lifestyle resulting in a loss of about 60 lbs (down to 152lbs), an increase in strength, flexibility and muscle mass, and many other 7.5mph)advancements. In March of 2012 I set a personal best mark of 0:24:48 for the 5K running distance (8 minute mile - 7.5mph) and a personal best of 0:42:15 for 5 miles in July of that year while wearing a brace for a sprained knee in the July race. Everything was going great, then something changed.....

In January of 2012 I started dating the woman who is now my fiance. She is not a very athletic individual and our physical activity/diets were markedly different. For quite a while we maintained separate diets and she did actually spend some time at the gym with me for several months. She didn't see the sort of results that I had due to physical and psychological conditions she stopped coming to the gym with me. This led to me spending less time at the gym, since I wanted to spend time with her. This led to me putting some weight back on, but not too much. Then 2013 rolled around and things went straight to Hell.

In April of 2013 she agreed to WALK a 5K Run/Walk that I was participating in as part of trying to get myself back into the routine. It was a miserable failure. I ran a terrible time and she actually ended up getting lost due to poor planning/logistics by race organizers. It was a total disaster of a day and just furthered the breakdown of the routine. In June we went to Puerto Rico for two weeks and apparently came home with a violently viral form of Pink Eye. Our two week break ended up being almost six weeks away from the gym because my doctor flat our banned me from going into any sort of communal situation until the infection was 100% gone. Six weeks off in the summer, including a vacation just crippled my desire to get back into the routine. August and September were struggles to get into the gym even two-three times a week. I'd put back on even more weight and was finding things I could do easily back in January were now a struggle. Then we came to October.....

In the first week of October I suffered a pair of petit mal seizures. I hadn't had a seizure in 35 years and hadn't been on anti-convulsory medication in 28 years. Suddenly I went from no meds to a significant dosage of an anti-convulsory and a small dose of blood pressure meds. I had no energy at all and I was in a terrible mental state as well. Then they changed my seizure medication (which took three weeks to switch over) and my desire to do anything more than absolutely necessary went away. The gym became a very far after-thought. Proper diet went totally out the window, especially as the holidays arrived.

The meds have now stablized. I still have very low energy (not uncommon for someone on seizure meds) and some depressive tendancies. I've put back on 50 of the 60 lbs I originally lost. Even after being fully cleared to return to any activity I want at the gym as of the first of the year, I've been there maybe 3 times over the last two months. I can't do anything. I run like a 3-legged turtle. I've got very little of the strength or muscle definition left. I'm literally embarassed to even think about going back in there because I'm nowhere near what I was when I last spent any serious amount of time in there.

This gym is a wonderful family atmosphere. Consciously I know that while there are probably some people who will snicker a little bit about my returned pot-belly, that the staff and my personal trainer will be there to help me; but I just can't get over the subconscious knowledge that I can't do anything near what I could when I was there regularly and I don't look like the same person anymore. My fiance wants both of us to get back to eating better and to go back to the gym (she's been cleared to return as well). I just don't know how the hell to turn the switch back in the other direction. Any constructive advice and information would be greatly appreciated.

In my experience the only thing that works, is to simply do it no matter and without any excuse allowed. After the initial hell, it is enjoyable.

MaggieD · Mar 5, 2014

Tigger said:
I've got an issue I hope the DP community can help me with.....

Back in October of 2009 I started working out at a local gym. I was significantly overweight and really needed to make some serious lifestyle changes. For three and a half years things went really well. I was in the gym constantly; 5-6 days a week, 1-3 hours a day over that period of time. I worked on my own and with a personal trainer. We made considerable changes to my diet and lifestyle resulting in a loss of about 60 lbs (down to 152lbs), an increase in strength, flexibility and muscle mass, and many other 7.5mph)advancements. In March of 2012 I set a personal best mark of 0:24:48 for the 5K running distance (8 minute mile - 7.5mph) and a personal best of 0:42:15 for 5 miles in July of that year while wearing a brace for a sprained knee in the July race. Everything was going great, then something changed.....

In January of 2012 I started dating the woman who is now my fiance. She is not a very athletic individual and our physical activity/diets were markedly different. For quite a while we maintained separate diets and she did actually spend some time at the gym with me for several months. She didn't see the sort of results that I had due to physical and psychological conditions she stopped coming to the gym with me. This led to me spending less time at the gym, since I wanted to spend time with her. This led to me putting some weight back on, but not too much. Then 2013 rolled around and things went straight to Hell.

In April of 2013 she agreed to WALK a 5K Run/Walk that I was participating in as part of trying to get myself back into the routine. It was a miserable failure. I ran a terrible time and she actually ended up getting lost due to poor planning/logistics by race organizers. It was a total disaster of a day and just furthered the breakdown of the routine. In June we went to Puerto Rico for two weeks and apparently came home with a violently viral form of Pink Eye. Our two week break ended up being almost six weeks away from the gym because my doctor flat our banned me from going into any sort of communal situation until the infection was 100% gone. Six weeks off in the summer, including a vacation just crippled my desire to get back into the routine. August and September were struggles to get into the gym even two-three times a week. I'd put back on even more weight and was finding things I could do easily back in January were now a struggle. Then we came to October.....

In the first week of October I suffered a pair of petit mal seizures. I hadn't had a seizure in 35 years and hadn't been on anti-convulsory medication in 28 years. Suddenly I went from no meds to a significant dosage of an anti-convulsory and a small dose of blood pressure meds. I had no energy at all and I was in a terrible mental state as well. Then they changed my seizure medication (which took three weeks to switch over) and my desire to do anything more than absolutely necessary went away. The gym became a very far after-thought. Proper diet went totally out the window, especially as the holidays arrived.

The meds have now stablized. I still have very low energy (not uncommon for someone on seizure meds) and some depressive tendancies. I've put back on 50 of the 60 lbs I originally lost. Even after being fully cleared to return to any activity I want at the gym as of the first of the year, I've been there maybe 3 times over the last two months. I can't do anything. I run like a 3-legged turtle. I've got very little of the strength or muscle definition left. I'm literally embarassed to even think about going back in there because I'm nowhere near what I was when I last spent any serious amount of time in there.

This gym is a wonderful family atmosphere. Consciously I know that while there are probably some people who will snicker a little bit about my returned pot-belly, that the staff and my personal trainer will be there to help me; but I just can't get over the subconscious knowledge that I can't do anything near what I could when I was there regularly and I don't look like the same person anymore. My fiance wants both of us to get back to eating better and to go back to the gym (she's been cleared to return as well). I just don't know how the hell to turn the switch back in the other direction. Any constructive advice and information would be greatly appreciated.

Maybe you've forgotten how positive you felt when you were in the routine. There are so many wonderful benefits from exercise routine besides just the physical aspect.

If this gym has the friendly family-type atmosphere you say it does, as soon as you explain why you left, they'll understand. The Tigger I know has never given a tinker's dam WHAT people think of him . . . why are you now having second thoughts? And here you are with good reason for the changes you're trying to fix. IOW, you didn't stop because you suddenly decided to become slothful; you stopped because of the powerful reality of health concerns and the chemistry needed to manage them. You're coming back from the other side now. Time to buckle down.

If there is one guy on Debate Politics that should be able to get past this? It's Tigger.

joG · Mar 5, 2014

Tigger said:
I've got an issue I hope the DP community can help me with.....

Back in October of 2009 I started working out at a local gym. I was significantly overweight and really needed to make some serious lifestyle changes. For three and a half years things went really well. I was in the gym constantly; 5-6 days a week, 1-3 hours a day over that period of time. I worked on my own and with a personal trainer. We made considerable changes to my diet and lifestyle resulting in a loss of about 60 lbs (down to 152lbs), an increase in strength, flexibility and muscle mass, and many other 7.5mph)advancements. In March of 2012 I set a personal best mark of 0:24:48 for the 5K running distance (8 minute mile - 7.5mph) and a personal best of 0:42:15 for 5 miles in July of that year while wearing a brace for a sprained knee in the July race. Everything was going great, then something changed.....

In January of 2012 I started dating the woman who is now my fiance. She is not a very athletic individual and our physical activity/diets were markedly different. For quite a while we maintained separate diets and she did actually spend some time at the gym with me for several months. She didn't see the sort of results that I had due to physical and psychological conditions she stopped coming to the gym with me. This led to me spending less time at the gym, since I wanted to spend time with her. This led to me putting some weight back on, but not too much. Then 2013 rolled around and things went straight to Hell.

In April of 2013 she agreed to WALK a 5K Run/Walk that I was participating in as part of trying to get myself back into the routine. It was a miserable failure. I ran a terrible time and she actually ended up getting lost due to poor planning/logistics by race organizers. It was a total disaster of a day and just furthered the breakdown of the routine. In June we went to Puerto Rico for two weeks and apparently came home with a violently viral form of Pink Eye. Our two week break ended up being almost six weeks away from the gym because my doctor flat our banned me from going into any sort of communal situation until the infection was 100% gone. Six weeks off in the summer, including a vacation just crippled my desire to get back into the routine. August and September were struggles to get into the gym even two-three times a week. I'd put back on even more weight and was finding things I could do easily back in January were now a struggle. Then we came to October.....

In the first week of October I suffered a pair of petit mal seizures. I hadn't had a seizure in 35 years and hadn't been on anti-convulsory medication in 28 years. Suddenly I went from no meds to a significant dosage of an anti-convulsory and a small dose of blood pressure meds. I had no energy at all and I was in a terrible mental state as well. Then they changed my seizure medication (which took three weeks to switch over) and my desire to do anything more than absolutely necessary went away. The gym became a very far after-thought. Proper diet went totally out the window, especially as the holidays arrived.

The meds have now stablized. I still have very low energy (not uncommon for someone on seizure meds) and some depressive tendancies. I've put back on 50 of the 60 lbs I originally lost. Even after being fully cleared to return to any activity I want at the gym as of the first of the year, I've been there maybe 3 times over the last two months. I can't do anything. I run like a 3-legged turtle. I've got very little of the strength or muscle definition left. I'm literally embarassed to even think about going back in there because I'm nowhere near what I was when I last spent any serious amount of time in there.

This gym is a wonderful family atmosphere. Consciously I know that while there are probably some people who will snicker a little bit about my returned pot-belly, that the staff and my personal trainer will be there to help me; but I just can't get over the subconscious knowledge that I can't do anything near what I could when I was there regularly and I don't look like the same person anymore. My fiance wants both of us to get back to eating better and to go back to the gym (she's been cleared to return as well). I just don't know how the hell to turn the switch back in the other direction. Any constructive advice and information would be greatly appreciated.

My experience is that you have to start no excuses, no matter. Do it and after a short phase of "You Idiot!" You will enjoy it.

Tigger · Mar 5, 2014

joG said:
In my experience the only thing that works, is to simply do it no matter and without any excuse allowed. After the initial hell, it is enjoyable.

That "intial hell" is what worries the crap out of me. I'm going to get back on a treadmill and have to set it for 3.5mph and stop within 30 minutes rather than starting at 5.0 and working my way up to anywhere between 7.2 and 8.0 mph over the course of an hour long run. There's no way that I can go back to anywhere near the weights and exercise I was doing roughly 9 months ago. Hell, there's part of me that's scared I'm going to either hurt myself or have an epileptic event IN the gym.

MaggieD said:
Maybe you've forgotten how positive you felt when you were in the routine. There are so many wonderful benefits from exercise routine besides just the physical aspect.

It felt great when I was in the routine. Of course being in the routine was basically replacing my entire social life at the time. I'd go straight from work to the gym 4-5 days a week. I was there at least one day of the weekend every week. I don't even want to do the math on what I was spending in personal training, group classes, etc... There were days I'd go in, run for 45 minutes, take an hour long spin class then go lift weights for 40-50 minutes. I was working out with my PT twice a week for almost 2 years. I took 4 different sessions of a wonderful metabolic training class over the years I was active there. I could probably bankroll my wedding on what I spent in there.

However, it basically WAS my life. I used it as a means not only to improve myself but to avoid being around my roommates any more than absolutely necessary. I now have a wonderful fiance who I really enjoy spending my time with. She's got a small business making cakes and cupcakes for people so I'm trying to help her get that off the ground. These things take up time, which leaves me with much less time for the gym, running, etc....

MaggieD said:
If this gym has the friendly family-type atmosphere you say it does, as soon as you explain why you left, they'll understand. The Tigger I know has never given a tinker's dam WHAT people think of him . . . why are you now having second thoughts? And here you are with good reason for the changes you're trying to fix. IOW, you didn't stop because you suddenly decided to become slothful; you stopped because of the powerful reality of health concerns and the chemistry needed to manage them. You're coming back from the other side now. Time to buckle down.

The person whose opinion I'm most concerned with is my own. I know I can't even come close to doing the things I used to be able to do in that gym. It's basically going to be like starting ALL OVER FROM SCRATCH AGAIN. I'm not sure I can do that. I'm also not sure that I have the willpower to go back to eating the way I used to. With the medications I'm now on, I tend to have to have either caffeine or some other form of stimulant (sugar) to keep me going through the course of a day. I'm not sure I can survive on the type of diet I need to get back to; and with the depressive issues I've been experiencing combined with my lack of patience and temper; if I walk back in there and start to get frustrated that I can't do things anymore, I'm liable to just cancel the membership and walk out for good; which I know isn't going to be helpful.

MaggieD said:
If there is one guy on Debate Politics that should be able to get past this? It's Tigger.

I honestly don't know, Maggie. I definitely want to take a bunch of this weight off before the wedding (4 months from today), but I'm not sure I can do it. This is driving me nuts. I'm totally torn between investing the time in the gym or in trying to help Tisha get this baking side-business of hers off the ground. I don't have the time, energy, etc.... to do both.

Helix · Mar 5, 2014

Tigger said:
I've got an issue I hope the DP community can help me with.....

Back in October of 2009 I started working out at a local gym. I was significantly overweight and really needed to make some serious lifestyle changes. For three and a half years things went really well. I was in the gym constantly; 5-6 days a week, 1-3 hours a day over that period of time. I worked on my own and with a personal trainer. We made considerable changes to my diet and lifestyle resulting in a loss of about 60 lbs (down to 152lbs), an increase in strength, flexibility and muscle mass, and many other 7.5mph)advancements. In March of 2012 I set a personal best mark of 0:24:48 for the 5K running distance (8 minute mile - 7.5mph) and a personal best of 0:42:15 for 5 miles in July of that year while wearing a brace for a sprained knee in the July race. Everything was going great, then something changed.....

In January of 2012 I started dating the woman who is now my fiance. She is not a very athletic individual and our physical activity/diets were markedly different. For quite a while we maintained separate diets and she did actually spend some time at the gym with me for several months. She didn't see the sort of results that I had due to physical and psychological conditions she stopped coming to the gym with me. This led to me spending less time at the gym, since I wanted to spend time with her. This led to me putting some weight back on, but not too much. Then 2013 rolled around and things went straight to Hell.

In April of 2013 she agreed to WALK a 5K Run/Walk that I was participating in as part of trying to get myself back into the routine. It was a miserable failure. I ran a terrible time and she actually ended up getting lost due to poor planning/logistics by race organizers. It was a total disaster of a day and just furthered the breakdown of the routine. In June we went to Puerto Rico for two weeks and apparently came home with a violently viral form of Pink Eye. Our two week break ended up being almost six weeks away from the gym because my doctor flat our banned me from going into any sort of communal situation until the infection was 100% gone. Six weeks off in the summer, including a vacation just crippled my desire to get back into the routine. August and September were struggles to get into the gym even two-three times a week. I'd put back on even more weight and was finding things I could do easily back in January were now a struggle. Then we came to October.....

In the first week of October I suffered a pair of petit mal seizures. I hadn't had a seizure in 35 years and hadn't been on anti-convulsory medication in 28 years. Suddenly I went from no meds to a significant dosage of an anti-convulsory and a small dose of blood pressure meds. I had no energy at all and I was in a terrible mental state as well. Then they changed my seizure medication (which took three weeks to switch over) and my desire to do anything more than absolutely necessary went away. The gym became a very far after-thought. Proper diet went totally out the window, especially as the holidays arrived.

The meds have now stablized. I still have very low energy (not uncommon for someone on seizure meds) and some depressive tendancies. I've put back on 50 of the 60 lbs I originally lost. Even after being fully cleared to return to any activity I want at the gym as of the first of the year, I've been there maybe 3 times over the last two months. I can't do anything. I run like a 3-legged turtle. I've got very little of the strength or muscle definition left. I'm literally embarassed to even think about going back in there because I'm nowhere near what I was when I last spent any serious amount of time in there.

This gym is a wonderful family atmosphere. Consciously I know that while there are probably some people who will snicker a little bit about my returned pot-belly, that the staff and my personal trainer will be there to help me; but I just can't get over the subconscious knowledge that I can't do anything near what I could when I was there regularly and I don't look like the same person anymore. My fiance wants both of us to get back to eating better and to go back to the gym (she's been cleared to return as well). I just don't know how the hell to turn the switch back in the other direction. Any constructive advice and information would be greatly appreciated.

my advice is to start by getting an exercise bike. it's good, low impact cardio, and you can adjust tension as you go. i have a Schwinn model that's pretty good, and it wasn't horribly expensive. you could start by just doing a half hour when you first wake up in the morning. the good part about doing it this way is that you're groggy and won't even remember having to muddle through it. i also generally do an hour after work, but start slowly.

second is calories. i use myfitnesspal, and basically write down everything i eat and the exercise i do. at the end of the day, it tracks your progress and tells you what your weight will be in five weeks if every day is like the current day. logging food actually really helps, because you actually see the calorie counts, and you're less likely to snack because you know that you'll have to write it down.

the only other recommendation is can give you is choose meal times and stick to them as closely as you possibly can. then your body begins to only expect food at the given times, and you don't walk around constantly hungry and miserable. get enough sleep, and allow yourself a slip meal now and again.

i also always take the stairs, and i park my car far away from the store when i shop. when spring comes, i start walking everywhere that i can. that's another great exercise that doesn't suck.

some people dig the gym; i don't. i made my own gym and found exercises that don't piss me off. that makes it sustainable, which is critical.

Tigger · Mar 5, 2014

Helix said:
my advice is to start by getting an exercise bike. it's good, low impact cardio, and you can adjust tension as you go. i have a Schwinn model that's pretty good, and it wasn't horribly expensive. you could start by just doing a half hour when you first wake up in the morning. the good part about doing it this way is that you're groggy and won't even remember having to muddle through it. i also generally do an hour after work, but start slowly.

We really don't have the space in the condo for exercise equipment. I'd love to have a stationary bike or treadmill but we don't have teh space for it right now. I've never been a morning person, so I'd have to use it in the evenings; but it is a good idea.

Helix said:
second is calories. i use myfitnesspal, and basically write down everything i eat and the exercise i do. at the end of the day, it tracks your progress and tells you what your weight will be in five weeks if every day is like the current day. logging food actually really helps, because you actually see the calorie counts, and you're less likely to snack because you know that you'll have to write it down.

I've done the food log before, and it's generally a great help. My current issue is that when I do eat healthy I have zero energy. If I don't have the sugar, carbs, etc... I feel like I don't have the energy to get out of bed in the morning, nevermind get through a 10 hour work day. It's definitely something I need to get back to once we can figure out a diet that's going to work for me going forward.

Helix said:
the only other recommendation is can give you is choose meal times and stick to them as closely as you possibly can. then your body begins to only expect food at the given times, and you don't walk around constantly hungry and miserable. get enough sleep, and allow yourself a slip meal now and again.

Breakfast and Lunch are pretty locked in stone Mon-Thurs, but dinners and early meals the other three days of the week are catch-as-catch-can these days.

Helix said:
i also always take the stairs, and i park my car far away from the store when i shop. when spring comes, i start walking everywhere that i can. that's another great exercise that doesn't suck.

I walk everywhere. I almost never take an elevator and I have no problem parking a distance away and walking; so that one I'm already on-board with.

Helix said:
some people dig the gym; i don't. i made my own gym and found exercises that don't piss me off. that makes it sustainable, which is critical.

I love the gym and have for the whole time I've been a member. That's not the issue so much as finding the impetus to get back there considering how much things have changed in the last 9-10 months.

notquiteright · Mar 5, 2014

Is this the same Tigger who in other threads is so determined, so headstrong, so damn the torpedoes?

I ask because this Tigger seems to be quite the *****. I've read a dozen very good suggestions which you seem all too eager to swat aside. I know you didn't serve and more's the pity, here is what a huge dude in a flat brimmed hat passed on to me, let me give it to you without all the spittle. He asked this young recruit what the max effective range of an excuse was... he didn't bother waiting for an answer and in a fine spray of spittle and ear shattering shout announced to the world, through my face mind you, the max effective range of an excuse is ZERO ****ING METERS! :shock:

There are legless folks running marathons, doing Iron man crap, snowboarding and this morning I saw a double amputee going to be on dancing with almost stars...

Now the military also taught me crawl, walk, run. You are arrogant as hell if you think after all of the time off you can jump back into a gym doing the crap you used to. Ok, maybe just stupid as hell, I really don't know you that well. Do you think the first day of airborne training is throwing the trainee out of an almost perfectly good aircraft???

Crawl- evening walks, sit-ups, pushups, a pullup bar in the doorway, toe touches in a myriad of patterns

Walk- short evening jogs, whatever chair your depressed ass is sitting in now should be sent to Goodwill, like Alexander burning his ships so too you are going to face forward and never look back. In it's place you get that treadmill, exercise bike, stairmaster, ski pretend dealie... whatever you like best, and you have at it. Keep doing situps, push-ups and such, throw in light weights or that resistance spring thingie.

Run- go back to the gym, you are now as ready as you are ever gonna be.

Hell's Bells man, if it was easy we'd all look like speedo models... Now salute the flag and move out smartly. :2wave:

Oh more inspirational thoughts-

it ain't how many times you get knocked down but how many times you get back up.

You are now surrounded by insurmountable opportunities.

Starting over is just a great opportunity to do it better this time.

Any of that work for ya Buttercup????

clownboy · Mar 5, 2014

Takes 22 days to make a habit, twice that to break one.

Tigger · Mar 5, 2014

notquiteright said:
Is this the same Tigger who in other threads is so determined, so headstrong, so damn the torpedoes?

Unfortunately, yes it is the same one. Unfortunately that Tigger is also the one who understand that at 39 (almost 40) years old, he's going to have a very long and difficult road to fix this issue, and since he's never had any patience in his life, this is not exactly something he's looking forward to.[/quote]

notquiteright said:
I ask because this Tigger seems to be quite the *****. I've read a dozen very good suggestions which you seem all too eager to swat aside. I know you didn't serve and more's the pity, here is what a huge dude in a flat brimmed hat passed on to me, let me give it to you without all the spittle. He asked this young recruit what the max effective range of an excuse was... he didn't bother waiting for an answer and in a fine spray of spittle and ear shattering shout announced to the world, through my face mind you, the max effective range of an excuse is ZERO ****ING METERS! :shock:

The Army turned me down three times, between 1992 & 1994. In each case they informed me that due to my birthmark and knee injury they would not allow me to sign up for any direct combat MOS. As for the effective range of an excuse... he was absolutely correct.

notquiteright said:
There are legless folks running marathons, doing Iron man crap, snowboarding and this morning I saw a double amputee going to be on dancing with almost stars...

None of those individuals are or ever would be me. I've got 1 round of .45ACP waiting for me if I were to ever end up like that. I have less than no interest in the sort of pain, patience, and committment that sort of recovery requires. I'd rather be dead and I have the legal paperwork to prove it.

notquiteright said:
Now the military also taught me crawl, walk, run. You are arrogant as hell if you think after all of the time off you can jump back into a gym doing the crap you used to. Ok, maybe just stupid as hell, I really don't know you that well. Do you think the first day of airborne training is throwing the trainee out of an almost perfectly good aircraft???

I know that I can't jump right back in at the Run level. That's not the issue. The issue is that I used to be at the Run level and I can't forget that. To go back to the Crawl level is devestating to me psychologically. I hate to admit this, but it both pisses me off and scares the crap out of me. I know that's the ***** answer to this, but it's the truth. With my current physical and mental state, I'm not sure I can ever get back to the Run stage. At best I may be looking at Walk due to the medications and conditions I now have to deal with; and I'm not sure I can handle that mentally.

notquiteright said:
Hell's Bells man, if it was easy we'd all look like speedo models...

The first time around it was pretty easy. Mostly because the gym was my only social life. I was there for probably between 10-15 hours every week. The changes to my diet didn't affect anyone other than me. The amount of time I spent there only affected me. That's no longer the case.

notquiteright said:
1 it ain't how many times you get knocked down but how many times you get back up.

2 You are now surrounded by insurmountable opportunities.

3 Starting over is just a great opportunity to do it better this time.

1. Getting back up has never been one of my strong suits.

2. Including the opportunity to embarass the living **** out of myself in front of a whole lot of people, or to have another epileptic event, this time in a semi-public place.

3. The problem being that I'm not even sure I can do AS WELL this time, nevermind BETTER.

I'm sure that sounded like a whole lot more snot-nosed whining. I just wanted to thank you for the polite and on-point suggestions. I do truly value them, notquiteright. I have no idea how this is going to turn out. I'm supposedly sitting down with my personal trainer tonight to talk to her about my concerns, and I hope she can give me some sort of insight and help on getting over the mental part of this, which is my greater roadblock at the moment.

Tigger · Mar 5, 2014

clownboy said:
Takes 22 days to make a habit, twice that to break one.

We're going on 10 months of a broken habit. It's not just broken, it's completely shattered at this point.

notquiteright · Mar 5, 2014

Tigger said:
Unfortunately, yes it is the same one. Unfortunately that Tigger is also the one who understand that at 39 (almost 40) years old, he's going to have a very long and difficult road to fix this issue, and since he's never had any patience in his life, this is not exactly something he's looking forward to. The Army turned me down three times, between 1992 & 1994. In each case they informed me that due to my birthmark and knee injury they would not allow me to sign up for any direct combat MOS. As for the effective range of an excuse... he was absolutely correct. None of those individuals are or ever would be me. I've got 1 round of .45ACP waiting for me if I were to ever end up like that. I have less than no interest in the sort of pain, patience, and committment that sort of recovery requires. I'd rather be dead and I have the legal paperwork to prove it. I know that I can't jump right back in at the Run level. That's not the issue. The issue is that I used to be at the Run level and I can't forget that. To go back to the Crawl level is devestating to me psychologically. I hate to admit this, but it both pisses me off and scares the crap out of me. I know that's the ***** answer to this, but it's the truth. With my current physical and mental state, I'm not sure I can ever get back to the Run stage. At best I may be looking at Walk due to the medications and conditions I now have to deal with; and I'm not sure I can handle that mentally. The first time around it was pretty easy. Mostly because the gym was my only social life. I was there for probably between 10-15 hours every week. The changes to my diet didn't affect anyone other than me. The amount of time I spent there only affected me. That's no longer the case.

1. Getting back up has never been one of my strong suits.

2. Including the opportunity to embarass the living **** out of myself in front of a whole lot of people, or to have another epileptic event, this time in a semi-public place.

3. The problem being that I'm not even sure I can do AS WELL this time, nevermind BETTER.

I'm sure that sounded like a whole lot more snot-nosed whining. I just wanted to thank you for the polite and on-point suggestions. I do truly value them, notquiteright. I have no idea how this is going to turn out. I'm supposedly sitting down with my personal trainer tonight to talk to her about my concerns, and I hope she can give me some sort of insight and help on getting over the mental part of this, which is my greater roadblock at the moment.

I want you to know I have spent some time just staring at your response. I'll hold my initial response to myself. One bit of advise, if this loss of being the **** of the walk at the gym has you in a tailspin, suck that bullet out of the 45 now. You see you are going to HATE growing old. Once I could carry my body weight all day, drink til 4am then fall out for PT at 0530, double time, fall out to puke then sprint back into formation. I WAS a heart breaker AND a life taker!

Now not so much...

So if being some ideal is the only thing you can stand, sooner rather than later you are going to have a rather large hole in the back of your head. Since I have seen too many good men fight to live, I can't say I'll be sorry or feel sad when I hear you did kill yourself over some silly **** like this.

Now it does seem you are 45% excuses, 50% false pride and 5% drive. It is a good thing the Army never let you 'try out', you never would have made it past the first week. not because of a physical thing but mental. Guts, drive, determination. No grunt wants a squad member who gives up when the going gets tough. Believe me days where things don't come easy are measured by the bushel basket and come in bunches like bananas... We all had our breaking point, our slobber moment. There were things we didn't do very well that are required of a grunt... we didn't judge our fellow grunts by the slobber moment but rather the day after and the day after that.

You would have been judged harshly.

One thing this has cleared up for me. I had a difficult time making the pieces fit. Your SAR claims, the hatred of how this country has turned out in the last 150 years. The bluff and bluster about leaving the USofA but the excuse for not. This rather bizarre 13th Century moral code, the women in the workplace and being quite content to be a low level cog in your place of employment yet can tell the boss who you will and won't service as a client...

You have a rich fantasy life that when the real world barges in you go into a tailspin. Is why you have the GF you do, the job you do, the excuses you do. I am saying all of that with ZERO hate in my heart.

Since you have blown off all advice offered to wallow in self pity and lament you will, at age 40, never be like you was when 20...

My last bit of advice- brace the top of the slide with your non firing hand. A very common mistake many make is to put both hands on the pistol grip. You can pull the pistol to the side while pulling the trigger. You could end up with an extremely nasty cheek/jaw wound, but still alive. Go ahead and wrap your hand around the slide, you won't need a second shot.

radioman · Mar 5, 2014

notquiteright said:
One thing this has cleared up for me. I had a difficult time making the pieces fit. Your SAR claims, the hatred of how this country has turned out in the last 150 years. The bluff and bluster about leaving the USofA but the excuse for not. This rather bizarre 13th Century moral code, the women in the workplace and being quite content to be a low level cog in your place of employment yet can tell the boss who you will and won't service as a client...

You have a rich fantasy life that when the real world barges in you go into a tailspin. Is why you have the GF you do, the job you do, the excuses you do. I am saying all of that with ZERO hate in my heart.

Since you have blown off all advice offered to wallow in self pity and lament you will, at age 40, never be like you was when 20...

.

Ouch!
Your post is pretty rough, but I'm giving it a like because it confirms my opinion of Tigger's strange posturing.
Such angst from a 40 year old.
Wait 'til he hits 50....and he probably will, complaining and whining all the way.

Tigger · Mar 6, 2014

notquiteright said:
I want you to know I have spent some time just staring at your response. I'll hold my initial response to myself. One bit of advise, if this loss of being the **** of the walk at the gym has you in a tailspin, suck that bullet out of the 45 now. You see you are going to HATE growing old. Once I could carry my body weight all day, drink til 4am then fall out for PT at 0530, double time, fall out to puke then sprint back into formation. I WAS a heart breaker AND a life taker!

Now not so much...

I would have loved to have seen that first response. I was never the **** of the walk at the gym. There were always people bigger, stronger, faster, etc... That's fine. I was never comparing myself to the other people at the gym, only against where I wanted to be and where I had been when I walked in the door. What I'm bemoaning is where I am no compared to where I was even as recently as a year ago.

I have no intentions of "growing old" and never have. I was never a partier or a drinker, since I saw no use for any of that. I do have to say that at almost 40, I can't ignore the need for sleep as well as I could 20 years ago in college and my body is obviously no longer able to process the pizza, soda, and chips like it used to.

I'm just having a hard time dealing with the realities of what I can and can't do now compared to a year ago. Hell, there's not even any guarantee that with my new dietary requirements and limitations due to medical conditions and medications that I even CAN get back to where I was. THAT's the biggest thing haunting me.... knowing where I WAS and not being sure I can (or really want to) get back there again.

notquiteright said:
So if being some ideal is the only thing you can stand, sooner rather than later you are going to have a rather large hole in the back of your head. Since I have seen too many good men fight to live, I can't say I'll be sorry or feel sad when I hear you did kill yourself over some silly **** like this.

Yes, sooner or later I am likely to have that hole in the upper-rear of my head. More than likely sooner rather than later, and while I thank you for the blunt and frank assessment, your sorrow (or lack of it) has no effect on me.

notquiteright said:
Now it does seem you are 45% excuses, 50% false pride and 5% drive. It is a good thing the Army never let you 'try out', you never would have made it past the first week. not because of a physical thing but mental. Guts, drive, determination. No grunt wants a squad member who gives up when the going gets tough. Believe me days where things don't come easy are measured by the bushel basket and come in bunches like bananas... We all had our breaking point, our slobber moment. There were things we didn't do very well that are required of a grunt... we didn't judge our fellow grunts by the slobber moment but rather the day after and the day after that.

You would have been judged harshly.

Your breakdown is probably about right at this point. A year ago it would have layed out differently, but this isn't March of 2013 anymore. Who knows what I would or wouldn't have done if I'd been accepted into the military. I was a very different person at age 18 than I am now. Not better or worse, just different. Yes, I would likely have been judged harshly, and probably washed out, but who knows.

notquiteright said:
One thing this has cleared up for me. I had a difficult time making the pieces fit. Your SAR claims, the hatred of how this country has turned out in the last 150 years. The bluff and bluster about leaving the USofA but the excuse for not. This rather bizarre 13th Century moral code, the women in the workplace and being quite content to be a low level cog in your place of employment yet can tell the boss who you will and won't service as a client....

You have a rich fantasy life that when the real world barges in you go into a tailspin. Is why you have the GF you do, the job you do, the excuses you do. I am saying all of that with ZERO hate in my heart.

I wouldn't have read any hatred into that even without your notice. It's simply a statement of truth. You're right that I have very little ability or interest in dealing with the "real world" of the 21st Century. I do whatever I can to avoid dealing with it, as much as reasonably possible. My life is what it is, and I understand that my philosophies are part of the reason it is that way. I am very happy with my FIANCE. I used to be very happy with my job, until the company changed it. These reasons/excuses are what I've had to deal with my entire life. It is what it is. My ability to stand up to my bosses was based mostly on my unwillingness to do the work in one case and the fact that I wouldn't work for a woman in the other case. Certain things just aren't in my range of abilities.

notquiteright said:
Since you have blown off all advice offered to wallow in self pity and lament you will, at age 40, never be like you was when 20....

You're right I'll never be like I was at age 20. I don't want to be like I was back then. I'd take being the person I was at age 37, but I don't even think that is possible at this point. Mostly due to significant changes in life (girlfriend, medical issues, etc....)

notquiteright said:
My last bit of advice- brace the top of the slide with your non firing hand. A very common mistake many make is to put both hands on the pistol grip. You can pull the pistol to the side while pulling the trigger. You could end up with an extremely nasty cheek/jaw wound, but still alive. Go ahead and wrap your hand around the slide, you won't need a second shot.

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind.

Tigger · Mar 6, 2014

radioman said:
Ouch! Your post is pretty rough, but I'm giving it a like because it confirms my opinion of Tigger's strange posturing. Such angst from a 40 year old. Wait 'til he hits 50....and he probably will, complaining and whining all the way.

I highly doubt that I'll make it to 50 years old, one way or another.

imagep · Mar 6, 2014

Tigger said:
Unfortunately, yes it is the same one. Unfortunately that Tigger is also the one who understand that at 39 (almost 40) years old, he's going to have a very long and difficult road to fix this issue, and since he's never had any patience in his life, this is not exactly something he's looking forward to....

I'm 49 and just started working out a little over a year ago, after essentially a 10 year break. I really didn't expect much when I first started, I thought that I was to old to significantly change the way that I looked, but after years of medical issues, largely corrected by medication, I figured I'd give it a shot.

Last summer apparently people started noticing. At first it was just a guy in the grocery store that I hadn't seen in a couple of years, he asked me if I was working out, I thought that was odd. But a few weeks later someone else asked me the same thing. It started getting to the point where at least once a week, if not more often, people where giving me some sort of compliment. It had been years since anyone gave me a compliment, and I don't really know how to respond, I can be very socially awkard at times. I've had a number of females call me "buff", and one lady appoligized "for staring at the muscles in my arms" when I was making a delivery. Seems that chicks dig muscles. Guys must dig them also because last week a dude in his mid twenties asked me how old I was, I told him, and then he said "you don't usually see people your age who look like they are in shape". I wasn't sure if that was a compliment or if he was telling me that I look "old".

Anyhow, my point is that you are never too old to get in shape. People who have never been particularly active sometimes find themselves "getting into shape" for the first time in their lives in their 50's, 60's and 70's.

My only suggestion is to ask your fiance for help. You will probably need to reasure her that you aren't asking that she start working out, and explain that you are perfectly happy with her just the way she is, but explain that it make you happy to feel like you are in shape and to be physically active. Tell her that you are having a hard time getting motivated, and ask her to be supportive of you and to help motivate you.

Getting BACK into the Routine....

Tigger

joG

MaggieD

joG

Tigger

Helix

Tigger

notquiteright

clownboy

Tigger

Tigger

notquiteright

radioman

feckless bon vivant

Tigger

Tigger

imagep

Villiage Idiot