I should have known that nothing - absolutely nothing - would get as much attention as inviting people to comment on a diet/exercise project... I've gotten way more comments than I usually do, and my (admittedly meagre) hit rate actually doubled last week!
Some of you know me well, some not at all, so let me try and summarize and answer some of the questions from the comments...
1) I'm 38 years old and appx 182 cm tall (I distinctly remember being 182 cm when I reported for the draft registration in high school, but I may have shrunk since then... I dunno?). With a current weight of 119 kg that should equal a BMI of appx 36. Applying BMI, that makes me fall within "Category 2 Obese", but borderlining the less severe Category 1 (35 is the dividing line).
2) While I appreciate all the advice, let me make a few things clear: I am not ever going to go running or biking or whatever outdoors. Especially not in winter, as I fuckin HATE snow and cold temperatures. On a stationary bike I am in complete control of my environment, and the risk of keeling over and sustaining potentially griveous bodily injury remains remote, even for a klutz like me. Out on the roads or in the woods I would be a multiple skull fracture waiting to happen. With good music blasting and 20 minute sessions it's not boring at all. Also, I will forever remain a driver at heart, and bikers and runners are a bloody nuisance. I will happily go for a walk in the woods - even a long one - but that's about it for outdoors activities.
3) Again, while appreciating the advice I'm going to stick with my current eating habits, at least as long as I keep losing a kilogram per week. That means no fanaticism of any kind, just trying not to stuff my face too much and keeping the unhealthy stuff at a reasonable level. I would still consider it downright rude to turn down the offer of a slice of cheesecake, if you get my drift. But I'm downing much less chocolate and chips (crisps for you limeys) and much more apples and pears these days.
4) I'm going to look into doing a wee bit of weights. Nothing drastic, but a slight toning up would probably do me a world of good. I am also going to try some (moderate at first) interval training, but I fear I will probably need to lose some more weight before I even have the stamina to go all out for one measly 4-minute session without keeling over.
5) Yes, I'm a type 2 diabetic, diagnosed in September '02. I take medication, but no insulin. I've stayed below the magic blood sugar line of 7 for more than a year now, and as previously reported I was at 5.7 this month. A non-diabetic will have levels between 4-6, so this is very good.
mmmkay?
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5 comments:
Running outdoors in winter below -10 degrees Celsius and then taking a plunge in the sea or preferably a really cold river is one of my favourite pastimes, so I do understand we have a somewhat opposite attitude towards physical activity, but even so I really recommend you to try running when you get below 110 kg which shouldn´t be impossible considering the progress you´ve made so far. Physical hardship is fun in an inverted(/perverted) sort of way. Don´t fight it, feel it ;)
Are you sure about the weight lifting thing? It is not beyond all likelihood that you will drop on of those heavy things on your toes. It is quite difficult to be in equilibrium with one, two or more mashed toes.
I have a friend who has managed to exercise his diabetes 2 completely away. (He's in the 50'ties).
WRT interval, there's nothing "magical" in the level I suggested, just a practical rule of thumb.
It can easily be rephrased. In the "heavy" bouts: exersice as vigorously you can manage for 4 minutes. You will likely be limited by breathing in the start, but if you reach "a ceiling", just slack off the pace enough to regain your ventilation.
I would think you should experience improvements in breathing rather quick. When this happens, the general rule of thumb is to exercice at a level where you can feel lactic acid is starting to build in your muscles.
You can of course also have 3min rests rather than 2 minutes.
The rationale for training interval is to improve your ability to train more powerful when doing other types of working out (like spinning).
And BTW. You will probably have periods wehre you see/feel less improvments. Don't let that discourage you, you will pick up momentum later anyway.
Cassanders
In Cod we trust
What weight are you aiming for?
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