What is your go-to workout?

Running is my favorite one, every day morning I wake up from bed and start my running workout for more than 6 kms. It helps me to keep my body strong and fit.

 

I can't even say how many miles I walk in a day or how many things lift just doing the farm work and keeping everything running. LOL A new Nurse at Docs office last visit, told me "You are in great shape, what gym do you work out at?" LOL the Gym of life and not wanting to starve or freeze out in the middle of nowhere. Doc has this new gizmo in the office that measures how much you can pull, push, lift etc. In addition to the treadmill ski pole thing that measures stamina and endurance and heart rate and BP etc. So far no one he has put on it has even came close to my strength. Including the weight lifters and gym fanatics. on the Stamina and Endurance a few have done better than me. I am a tank not a sports care

 

I was a tad stocky for a few years, I’m down to 210 right now. I credit Jiu Jitsu mostly, 4 days a week at 5am. I’m running a bit but it’s a short run, a mile plus about 5 days a week. As I mentioned therapy was suggested after a rough rough August and September. (It’s quite a story I feel) Therapy for Pete’s sake! Jiu Jitsu was and is my therapy. Lol.

 

This winter has been awful for my fitness. The winters in North Idaho are harsh but this winter was worse than normal, lots of snow and bitter cold. However, I hate gyms. Hate'em! Prior to Afghanistan I was a long-distance runner, normally putting in 40-50 miles a week, then 70+ when I was training for a marathon. It's the only time I really felt sane was when I was running that much, burned off stress as well as fat. Given my build and height (5'7") speed wasn't my forte but I had leather lungs and would kill those long-legged buggers in the hills. LOL! Afghanistan killed those days as lots of areas were still mined when I got there then when I went to other parts of the Stan's, they weren't very conducive to running for many reasons...like getting kidnapped or robbed or...

Now, I haven't started running again due to age as I fear to start, turning 70 this Summer. However, I miss it and have given it thought. Like I said, I hate gyms and running on one of those treadmills isn't me. I got back stateside in 2015 and there has been so much work on the property that keeping in shape simply wasn't a problem. Amazing how many calories one burns clearing property and cutting trees, brush.

Nevertheless, I did put on weight upon my return to the states because all of sudden all these yummy products were available in abundance that I hadn't had in years! LOL! However, I got my act together and lost that weight last Summer simply by stopping sugar and carbs and continuing to work the property. Life is strange here in that regard, you tend not to do much in the winter, besides plow/shovel snow, and work like hell in the Spring/Summer, basically making up for those winter months.

So, staying in shape and keeping weight off during the winter is a problem here and the older I get the more my muscles atrophy during that time. I got a large project starting sooner here when weather finally stabilizes which will demand heavy labor, lots of it and in truth, I am looking forward to it as sick to death of sitting indoors. It's been a damn hard winter...

Work keeps me fit during the good weather but I do need to find something to do during winter months, maybe hang a punching and body bag up in the garage or maybe I will try running again. Dunno. I guess I will think about it next Fall/Winter...

 

As a big body guy with a life of hard millwright work behind me, when life slowed down I had to adjust my eating habits.

I had already gotten rid of sweets, fried foods, most fast foods, colas, junk food, and over processed stuff. I didn't know where to turn when my belt line went sideways.

I decided to do what they said in school back in the 70s. The old food pyramid for yall familiar with it. 10 servings of fruits and vegetables a day and enough of any protein to keep me from crying myself to sleep at night really minimized how many carbs by body craved. I'm down to about three to five homemade corn tortillas a week. Maybe a cauliflower crust (I like it better) pizza every other Friday and a big bad assed triple jalapeño cheeseburger on the first of the month when I feed my guys at work.

My pre-diabetes went away and I lost 90 pounds. Blood pressure is fine with a minimum dose BP med that I should be able to get rid of soon. Cholesterol is in the high end of good. Liver is OK despite my big glass of Barbadian papa juice nightly.

We cook almost everything we eat from scratch with the best quality food we can find.

 

A year and a half ago I was basically the equivalent of a barn find wreck with plenty of rust. This was due to a bad reaction to the jab that left me hospitalized for a week and virtually unable to walk. A few months later I tripped coming down the stairs fracturing several bones in one leg and a foot while simultaneously tearing the meniscus of the same leg. So, basically the rusted out barn find got in a wreck shortly after they got the engine to turn over and take it on a test drive.

My tools to rehab myself were thus pretty limited. It started small with incredible and epic journeys to the mail box almost 200 feet away. I gained and I had setbacks. Nutritional discipline was frequently forgotten. At the same time a pinched nerve that needs an operation to relieve has been turning my right arm to virtual stone.

I'm now on a nutritional regimen that alternates Keto (carnivore with non starchy salad vegetables) and Carnivore. I also do fasting to the extent of one meal a day as a late lunch. The addition of a LOT of eggs appears to be helpful with the jab induced nerve damage to my legs (promotes the repair of the sheath that provides insulation to the nerves). I'm also dropping about 20 lbs per month, have no hunger, and no tired spells during the day. By removing plants that are high in oxalates and other inflammatory compounds I've also lessened a great deal of joint pain.

Nutrition is my foundation, but I'm also working on reversing some atrophy to my leg muscles while I've had to scale back on walking. I do force myself to walk. Even though I qualify for handicapped parking I refuse to participate. Whatever parking lot I use for grocery and other store runs I park in the far reaches of the lot and then I walk. No damn fat cart rides, either, when I get inside. I push a cart for stability, but that's the only cheat I use. It's easy to lose a step and hell to get it back.

My main exercise, except the mail, is that every hour I take a break from my telecommuting job to walk up and down the stairs or I do strength training for my arms with a nice heavy semi precision rifle. I use it like a light barbell and push it away from my chest and hold. The I arc it slowly above my head and hold. Next I slowly lower it to my chest, then repeat in reverse.

Whether stairs or rifle I take from 5 to 10 minutes before getting back to work. I picked strength training in the poll, because without taking effort to strengthen my legs my ability to walk remains fairly limited.

 

I defy gravity. Isn't that enough?

 

After the third strike in a short period I had to chuckle, some sort of test. Now I’m right where I’m supposed to be. Meat always wins!!! Lol.

 

I had a bad winter as far as my fitness and health goes, well, not bad bad, but I added some weight that I lost last year and it has pissed me off. I did really great until the holidays, then went on a slow slide back to old habits and getting out of new ones. I stopped running/walking, ate more carbs and drank more alcohol.
About a year and a half ago I had one of those "ah-ha" moments and I said I'm changing. I started daily walking, every morning with the sunrise, I loved it. Started eating more appropriate food cutting out almost all carbs and increasing my protein and fat. My weight was dropping, I felt great. That was through the end of last summer, then my weight loss stopped, and I got frustrated. I went from 250ish down to 205 and held there, but I wanted to get under 200.
When weeks turned to months of no weight loss and not seeing any more changes in my body (I was taking monthly measurements), it killed me mentally. When the holidays hit I said I wanted to "enjoy myself". Well, I "only" put on about 15lbs, but I feel it. All my joints hurt again, emotionally I'm drained again, becoming more of an introvert again.
Well, I've had it, again. Back to only eating when actually hungry, back to eating "real" food, back to drinking water, back to walking again (along with the occasional run).
No gym for me, got enough crap around the home to toss around for some strength "training", doing some simple body weight exercises, and just forcing myself to crawl back out of my shell and be active, no matter what it takes.

 

From 18-42 I was a runner, 10ks were the reason that I got up early on Saturday mornings! A couple of miles after work and an hour in the gym were how I recharged my batteries. Then about 22 years ago, my job changed, my gym closed, and it got harder and harder to work-out, until finally I stopped. I gained a lot of weight, and my health/fitness was not good! In 2019, I lost my job when the business closed, and I was out of work for about 4 months. While I was looking for a new job, I used my down time wisely...I got myself into shape. I walked 4 or 5 miles a day, swam a mile a day, and worked out with some weights that I had around the house. I also lost about 50 lbs., due mostly to not drinking soft drinks...when I was working, I would drink a 6-pk of Cokes a day! I even got a tan that summer.
Finally, I found a job at Rural King, where I walk several miles a day, and then started swimming in an indoor pool. I even found a gym near where I work and started working out again! In April 2020 that all changed due to Covid, the indoor pool closed, and I stopped going to the gym. The gym was still open, but I know gym rats will not miss a work-out regardless of how sick they are.."BUT IT'S LEG DAY!" or "THE GUYS ARE DEPENDING ON ME!" Finally, the pool has re-opened and it's safe to return to the gym, but I find it nearly impossible to work-out. I know that if I get started that I would enjoy it, but getting started is the problem!