The_Mick
New member
Hi!
I'm Mickey, 6'3" 285 lbs. I'm 60 1/2 and a retired high school chemistry-physics teacher and running coach living between Baltimore and Annapolis, MD.
I've become so sedentary I recently measured my heart rate doing simple tasks and it's jumping way too high. I'm going to have a physical with stress test to make sure there's nothing unusual going on, then jump into a weight loss & fitness program.
I'm doing or planning four things to lose weight:
1) improved diet
2) using a GPS watch/heart monitor with a "virtual partner" to keep me taking my walks and measure my progress - I may add biking this Spring.
3) I bought a Wii with the Sports games and Just Dance II to keep me moving on rainy days.
4) I dusted off my Soloflex weight machine to do low-weight, high-rep workouts (won't start until after physical).
I love the idea of this forum, since I'm sure to run into some roadblocks along the way and will be asking for advice on modifications, etc.
Until 2002 I was a high school cross country coach, then became very sedentary after ripping an Achilles Tendon. In 2003 I was diagnosed with type-II diabetes.
Two years ago I saw 307 lbs on the scale - the first time I'd ever seen 300. I was shocked. I bought an electronic kitchen scale (0.05 oz to 22 lb) and measured everything I ate. Then I cut portion sizes to 2/3-3/4 of what I'd been eating. If not filling enough, I added lo-cal veggies. I tried to stay near (Calories): 50% Carbs, 25% Protein, 25% Fats, plus cut down on red meat, more fish, fewer simple carbs, etc.
I also began walking more and in a year (a year ago) was at 272 lbs.
Then I got distracted and lazy about exercise. I recently bought a Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS watch with heart monitor. It told me I was so out of shape that if I walked up a flight of stairs my heart rate went from 80 at rest to 120. A 1 1/3 mile walk, with a 1/8 mile run near the beginning and a 1/4 mile hill pushes my heart rate to 150-161.
I see my physician in 1 week, for a diabetic blood test followup and am going to request the annual physical my insurance is supposed to supply now - especially the stress test so I know the heart rate is just due to being out of shape.
It's fairly clear to me that my sedentary lifestyle is not compatible with a long and active life, so my goal is to lose 1 lb every two weeks.
For rainy days, I bought a Wii with sports and Dance II.
I also dusted off my old Soloflex weight-training machine and am setting up a fairly low-weights, high reps set of routines so my I'll minimize losing muscle tissue during weight loss. But I'm going to wait for the physical before beginning it because I noticed it puts me out of breath fast.
I'm Mickey, 6'3" 285 lbs. I'm 60 1/2 and a retired high school chemistry-physics teacher and running coach living between Baltimore and Annapolis, MD.
I've become so sedentary I recently measured my heart rate doing simple tasks and it's jumping way too high. I'm going to have a physical with stress test to make sure there's nothing unusual going on, then jump into a weight loss & fitness program.
I'm doing or planning four things to lose weight:
1) improved diet
2) using a GPS watch/heart monitor with a "virtual partner" to keep me taking my walks and measure my progress - I may add biking this Spring.
3) I bought a Wii with the Sports games and Just Dance II to keep me moving on rainy days.
4) I dusted off my Soloflex weight machine to do low-weight, high-rep workouts (won't start until after physical).
I love the idea of this forum, since I'm sure to run into some roadblocks along the way and will be asking for advice on modifications, etc.
Until 2002 I was a high school cross country coach, then became very sedentary after ripping an Achilles Tendon. In 2003 I was diagnosed with type-II diabetes.
Two years ago I saw 307 lbs on the scale - the first time I'd ever seen 300. I was shocked. I bought an electronic kitchen scale (0.05 oz to 22 lb) and measured everything I ate. Then I cut portion sizes to 2/3-3/4 of what I'd been eating. If not filling enough, I added lo-cal veggies. I tried to stay near (Calories): 50% Carbs, 25% Protein, 25% Fats, plus cut down on red meat, more fish, fewer simple carbs, etc.
I also began walking more and in a year (a year ago) was at 272 lbs.
Then I got distracted and lazy about exercise. I recently bought a Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS watch with heart monitor. It told me I was so out of shape that if I walked up a flight of stairs my heart rate went from 80 at rest to 120. A 1 1/3 mile walk, with a 1/8 mile run near the beginning and a 1/4 mile hill pushes my heart rate to 150-161.
I see my physician in 1 week, for a diabetic blood test followup and am going to request the annual physical my insurance is supposed to supply now - especially the stress test so I know the heart rate is just due to being out of shape.
It's fairly clear to me that my sedentary lifestyle is not compatible with a long and active life, so my goal is to lose 1 lb every two weeks.
For rainy days, I bought a Wii with sports and Dance II.
I also dusted off my old Soloflex weight-training machine and am setting up a fairly low-weights, high reps set of routines so my I'll minimize losing muscle tissue during weight loss. But I'm going to wait for the physical before beginning it because I noticed it puts me out of breath fast.
