Just getting started on the trail to better health

[skyking]

Thanks man. The good thing about treadmills is they don't beat my body. My knees could never take the pounding of jogging, for example. figure several decades of 250+ weight wear and tear, plus a menisectomy from a tennis injury and i'd last just a few weeks doing 5+ hours of full-on cardio. I am a dripping wet mess within 15 minutes on the treadmill, I have it at 4.5% grade and a minimum of 4.5 MPH. The deck has suspension that really makes a difference. If i dial the grade flatter, I can jog on it at 5.5 MPH for a while now.
What I am looking forward to is biking. I can do that OK.

 

[skyking]

down 3.2 this week.
I had a bad sock day Saturday, doing some work around the hose. I hae a blister on the corner of my heel, and continued on the treadmill. This was unfortunate, as I got up today with a tight calf from favoring it. doing some stretching and strength till that settles out.

 

[highland145]

+1 for the biking. 3 knee surgeries prior to 1985 = no running. Biking /elliptical are O.K. Can't push like I used to I'm still riding.

 

[skyking]

Time again for the weekly progress report. This week I lost an unbelievable 4.6 pounds.
I'm still taking in 1600 + calories of mostly natural foods and doing 40 to 80 minutes of cardio daily.
Saturday I started in the yoga DVD. This is going to kick my butt.
I will trade the evening cardio session for the yoga.

 

[skyking]

I am down 2 this week. I may be officially across the tooth hurty line, but it was a real yoyo week.
Next stop, an arbitrary Line in the Sand. I hope to cross over from a BMI of obese to one of simply overweight.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Nicely done. Just keep putting on foot in front of the other and you'll eventually get where you're going. Those arbitrary lines are a good thing to have. Something to set your sights on.

 

[skyking]

I was probably a little late. Woke up with chest pains @130. Spent all day in the ER and observation. Enzymes are good, pain subsided. Then the last lab at 6 pm comes back whacked. Now I'm waiting for a slot at the Cath Lab. Fuck!

 

[highland145]

I was probably a little late. Woke up with chest pains @130. Spent all day in the ER and observation. Enzymes are good, pain subsided. Then the last lab at 6 pm comes back whacked. Now I'm waiting for a slot at the Cath Lab. Fuck!

You see what this eating right/exercising crap does to you? BAM, in the hospital.

Seriously, best of. My Dad was having chest pains and went to the ER. "You're not having a heart attack judging by the labs." Oh, yeah? His heart promptly stopped just to prove them wrong. Several zaps later, "Told you so."

 

[skyking]

It was a big fishing trip. Everything looks good, one artery has 20~30% occlusion. No blockage. No damage. Ejection fraction was great. Treatment is medicine. I probably have pericarditis, an inflammation of the pericardium surrounding the heart. This can trigger high troponin, and can happen with viral infection.
Got one of those infections now.
Today I feel great, no pain.

 

[highland145]

So, uh, you good or can I call dibs?

 

[skyking]

Apparently I'm good. Return to work Monday with no restriction. My only gripe is no hard exercise for two weeks. It will be a long two weeks

 

[skyking]

so I've had some time to think about this whole episode. I worked out both Sunday and Monday with this head cold onboard. This likely triggered the rare case of Myopericarditis. I could have chronic myopericarditis now, it is possible. The prospect of having that kind of pain again gives one pause.
I will extend my two week hiatus of hard cardio for a month or more, and shift my focus to maintenance style strength training. I won't be repping to max effort and I will keep my heart rate below 90 for at least a couple of months and let things settle down. Time to take the long view.
My heart is really strong, and now I have great pictures of my arteries to prove it. I have echocardiagram reports, x-ray reports, etc. I do not need cardio as much as I need to avoid any future problems.
The next two weeks I will be doing yoga stretching and meditation only.

 

[highland145]

Time to take the long view.

I've mentioned the pneumonia last year several times. 10 weeks out of the gym and 6 more months for the lungs to actually feel good. Sucked. And I'm 4 months out from the bicep tendon fix. My workout weight...10lbs. "Go slow or screw it up." So...the long view but at 53, I'm not sure how long I can look.

 

[Carson Dyle]

When I was much younger I lost a friend to pericarditis. But he was stupid.

Mid 20s, seemingly good health. I had no idea he was dealing with any medical issues. He had meds and strict doctor's order to not drink. So, of course, he ignored the doc and drank like there was nothing wrong. One night we and some other friends closed the bar, as was our habit in the day. Not long before closing we did a round of shots, he went to men's room, came back and looked completely out of it and like he was close to passing out. Very weird considering this was a pretty light night of debauchery. The next day he was in pain, called an ambulance and died en route to the hospital.

Do what the docs tell you.

 

[skyking]

I think that's what I said, plus even more. I am in no rush to go back hard now.

 

[skyking]

I'm down another 2.6 pounds this week, across that BMI line I mentioned . Total for the last 6 weeks is 17.4 pounds.

 

[skyking]

started regular walking on the treadmill yesterday, keeping close track of my heart rate. I can ramp up the speed over time and still keep it well under cardio. It feels good to get back to a routine.
To all of you who are battling injury and illness, you have my condolences. I can really see how it hampers you and your goals.

 

[mike8675309]

started regular walking on the treadmill yesterday, keeping close track of my heart rate. I can ramp up the speed over time and still keep it well under cardio. It feels good to get back to a routine.
To all of you who are battling injury and illness, you have my condolences. I can really see how it hampers you and your goals.

It doesn't hamper your goals as much as it just makes it take longer to reach your goals. And since the goal includes a healthy life, nothing wrong with taking a bit longer as in theory you'll have the time.

 

[skyking]

Last week I was lucky to maintain. When you go from 400 minutes of cardio to Zero, something has to give.
Went to the cardiologist today for the follow up. Two more weeks of light work, under 100 HR, and then ramp back up to normal.

 

[skyking]

Over the course of the last month I have yo-yoed a bit, down 3 more. Taking away my cardio really sucked. Today we pulled the trigger and joined LA Fitness.
My next short-term goal is another 14 pounds in the next 2 months. We meet with a free personal trainer session tomorrow.
Since I've gotten to dial up my exercise again I can feel my metabolism is back on the rise.

 

[highland145]

+1

What are the totals and the goals?

 

[skyking]

parked at or around 224 for about a month now. Short term is the 210 in 2 months, and final goal is near the BMI chart for my height, ~188
I know that the last bit is going to go very slowly, if at all.
I have overworked at the gym, LOL. I knew I would, no matter how much I told myself. It is not bad or debilitating, I just need to wait a few days.
Today I was doing lat pulldowns, and my core was pissed off There's your sign you may have overdone the core work.

 

[mike8675309]

Understood. I was under the impression that 1) body fat was preferable to dietary fat as it was more readily available 2) you could continue to lose weight with less of a deficit due to lower/no insulin spikes which means the body isn't getting the signals to store as much fat. 3) overall caloric intake is still important just doesn't have as much impact on weight loss/gains. Seeing the OP is down ~1lb a day over a month the massive deficit makes more sense and I assume there is a decent amount of weight to be lost.

This is also coming from a non-ketogenic athlete who cuts weight on 3,000+ calories a day so maybe 1,600 isn't as low for the OP as it would be for me. I'd kill the person that attempted to restrict me to 1,600 calories a day even if it was 90%+ fat.

#2 is not a correct assumption and is an oversimplification of the role of Insulin in fat storage. Insulin is responsible for many things but a spike won't cause you to gain stored fat you wouldn't otherwise. Assuming your body is working properly (no illness, disease, or genetic defect, no dietary restriction) your body will prioritize using what you just ate for energy. Any excess of any of the macros will then get stored, if no excess your body will go back to burning stored fat. If you are in a long term dietary restriction (say cutting for weeks before a body building show, or photo shoot) you can change the balance and your body may start to prioritize storing any dietary fats as fat as soon as you take it in. This because it takes less cellular energy to convert dietary fat to stored fat. Protein is next in amount of energy it takes. And carbohydrates require the most cellular energy to convert to fat.

 

[Blackjack200]

Protein is next in amount of energy it takes. And carbohydrates require the most cellular energy to convert to fat.

What? That's not my understanding of it at all. my understanding is that proteins are fairly difficult to convert to fuel, fat or otherwise, while carbohydrates are pretty readily converted.

 

[skyking]

Down a few pounds in the last 10 days, and cautiously optimistic that the weight loss engine has been restarted.