Fit by 60! - TomO's Pledge

[TomO]

I was feeling old partly because of the number and partly because of the terrible shape I was in...no doubt...60 pounds overweight, out of shape, and grouchy because of it! Not pretty.

Before my 58th bday last year, I had almost resigned myself to dying of a heart attack within the next few years. My feet hurt like hell, because I had had plantar fasciitis for 18 months. I was huffing and puffing up one flight of stairs.

So I know how you felt!

For months, I literally dragged myself into the gym. Slowly, gradually, my antipathy for exercise turned into anticipation for it. Now, after 10 months, I can keep up with people who are 30 years younger than me.

Day by day -- that's the key. We'll get there!

 

[felici]

Wow that is some story Tom.

It is amazing what we can manage with enough courage and determination - and really amazing that you have come so far - only 10 months too! (Huh "only 10 months - you can tell I'm not a teenager either! )

 

[bethann1156]

For months, I literally dragged myself into the gym. Slowly, gradually, my antipathy for exercise turned into anticipation for it. Now, after 10 months, I can keep up with people who are 30 years younger than me.

congrats on the SUPER progress you have made in 10 months! yay! that sure helps keep ya in forward motion! i can see a lot of improvement in the way I feel--which is almost better than the fact that I can wear smaller sizes. I KNOW I am healthier. I took my BP over the weekend and it was 117/79 yeah!

beth

 

[TomO]

I KNOW I am healthier. I took my BP over the weekend and it was 117/79 yeah!

You know, my blood pressure (144/93) when I started was one of the things that really scared me the most, and one of the things that gives me the most satisfaction, now. Three days ago, I had a reading of 117/69. And my resting pulse this morning was 46! So even when you're battling a plateau, stuff like that keeps you motivated.

 

[Happychubette]

Tom

You are extending your life. A resting pulse of 72 beats per minute equals 103,670 beats a day, a resting pulse of 58 equals 83,520 beats per day. At a resting pulse of 46 your heart is beating 66, 240 times a day. Awesome.

 

[TomO]

You are extending your life. A resting pulse of 72 beats per minute equals 103,670 beats a day, a resting pulse of 58 equals 83,520 beats per day. At a resting pulse of 46 your heart is beating 66, 240 times a day. Awesome.

LOL, I just figured out the difference between my heart rate 10 months ago and my hr now -- it comes to around 110 million beats over a 10 year period!

And, at my current hr, that comes to an extra 4.55 years of a beating heart.

Cool!

 

[Curvie Girlie]

I'm so gald to hear that as humans, we can turn out health around--it's seldom if ever too late! YAY! Glad for you TOM *applause*

 

[TomO]

Exercise Log - Mon., March 26, 2007

Thanks, Curvie!

My exercise for today:

Gardening - strenuous (weeding & digging): 45 min., 250 calories


HIIT - Elliptical: 45 min., 750 calories
10 min. warmup
16 x 30-35 sec. sprints @ 250 strides per minute, each followed by 1 min @ 80 strides per min.
10 min. cooldown

Total for the day: 1,000 calories

 

[M2M]

Looks like a good work out Tom!
Yowsa!

 

[RJAZ520]

Thanks, Curvie!

My exercise for today:

Gardening - strenuous (weeding & digging): 45 min., 250 calories


HIIT - Elliptical: 45 min., 750 calories
10 min. warmup
16 x 30-35 sec. sprints @ 250 strides per minute, each followed by 1 min @ 80 strides per min.
10 min. cooldown

Total for the day: 1,000 calories

wow i gotta start pushin harder... im gettin beat by a guy twice my age

j/k Tom those numbers are awesome! great job!
but I'm gonna catch ya

 

[TomO]

wow i gotta start pushin harder... im gettin beat by a guy twice my age

j/k Tom those numbers are awesome! great job!
but I'm gonna catch ya

LOL, all the youngsters next to me on their ellipticals were wondering what in the hell I was doing. I bet they didn't believe an elliptical could even go at over 250 rpm!

 

[sirant]

Hah!

LOL, all the youngsters next to me on their ellipticals were wondering what in the hell I was doing. I bet they didn't believe an elliptical could even go at over 250 rpm!

Tom, honestly, I bet all those youngsters on the elipticals are wondering how a man in his 30's or early 40's is making them look so bad! I don't know if I have seen any pics of you other than your avatar, but for all the hard work you are doing I bet you are looking younger by the day. Just wait till the first 20 something young lady comes and asks you for your number.....

sirant

 

[TomO]

Tom, honestly, I bet all those youngsters on the elipticals are wondering how a man in his 30's or early 40's is making them look so bad!

LOL, 30's or 40's -- no, try 58. I think I'm the oldest person on this forum!

 

[sirant]

Bah!!!

LOL, 30's or 40's -- no, try 58. I think I'm the oldest person on this forum!

Thats just your physical age..... Who cares about that anyways? I am sure when you get to your goal and have that stunning physique you wont look your age. Even your avatar now doesnt look 58. If nothing else I bet you dont feel 58 anymore.... And thats far more important...

sirant

 

[TomO]

Stunning physique - you crack me up! But you're right, I do feel a lot younger. Especially when I do HIIT, sprinting like that makes me feel like a teenager again.

 

[sirant]

Surel, Why not?

Look at Hulk Hogan and Rick Flair... Both in their 60's and both with stunning physiques.... and STILL wrestling!!! (hope for me yet!) You can do anything you set your mind too. And if you feel like a teenager when doing HIIT, that just means you are almost there.

I thank god I don't feel like I did when I was a teenager. I weighed 350 pounds and couldnt run 1/2 a block. So now when I do my little 3Km runs in the park I feel like a different man altogether.... Too bad I wasn't like that as a teenager, but truth be told, I am more of a big goofy teenager now than I ever was then... Just you all wait to see my goal video when I get there....

sirant

 

[Cannon 2006]

Tom I have always had a mix of friends both younger and older and I find age extremely relative. My dad was an old man by the time he hit 40. It was like he outgrew his interests, got cranky and was extrememly bothered by anybody younger than him. My friend Dale is your age and he's younger than me. Its hard to try and keep up with him and he's into just as much a big goofy kid as I am. It is having friends older than me that leaves me little fear of getting older. I just hope I can get to the type of shape you're getting in.

 

[cinderelly]

Tom I have always had a mix of friends both younger and older and I find age extremely relative. It is having friends older than me that leaves me little fear of getting older. I just hope I can get to the type of shape you're getting in.

Most of my friends are older than I am and lessens my fears of growing older...Myfriends that are older than me are jsut as young and fun loving as I am - LOL...also age is just a number even thought I feel as if I am 20 yrs younger - LOL

 

[TomO]

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Not real thrilled with the scale this morning, at 242.6, but I have to think this is just a temporary blip upward. Yesterday, my intake was 5/5 (super healthy), with 2,378 calories consumed - 30% fat, 42% carbs, and 22% protein. I needed an extra protein boost last night, so I made steamed salmon with asparagus and whole wheat spaghetti.

With the gardening and HIIT for 1,000 calories, I ended up with a deficit for the day of 967 calories.

One way I can tell this is just a temporary blip upward is my belt. I typically wear this old leather belt that has dark marks where the buckle rested. When I started last July, I was on the last hole in the belt. Now I'm floating back and forth between the 7th and 8th hole in (each hole is 1" apart), but yesterday I was pretty comfortable at the 8th hole. In other words, there's about an inch less fat around my waste than there was a month ago.

It's going to be so weird when I'm on vacation the first week of April. No computer, no FitDay, no gym, no logging of calories. It will be a good test of how well I know my foods. Since I'll be making furniture all day, I should burn as many or more calories than I do at the gym, so I'm hoping I'll return with no weight gain.

One thing I'm bummed out about is an umbilical hernia I have. At some point, I probably need to get it fixed. It's no big deal as an operation, but the bitch of it is that it will take around 6 to 8 weeks to fully recover. I can walk up to an hour a day, 3 or 4 days after the operation, but I'll have to work my way up with the weights very gradually. YUCK! All that work, just to start over again.

Oh well, that's getting old for you.

 

[TomO]

Cinderelly and Cannon - thanks, what you say is true. Maybe my perspective would be more like yours if I had a lot of older friends, too. But I have to say, I am generally the "older friend". The older friends that I do have -- well, let's just say that age is starting to take its toll.

There are some exceptions, though. My parents for one. They exercised every day until well into their 80's, and were always very young at heart.

I have to say that I really don't feel like 58 any more. I feel like I'm in my 30's or 40's.