whispers65
(Tom)
Hi. My name is Tom and I am 56 years old. I currently weigh 260.4 pounds and I am 5' 8" tall. I started earnestly to try and lose weight 3 weeks ago. I weighed 268.8 so I am down 8.4 pounds. My mom had high blood pressure and diabetes and I tend to very much take after her.
My Goal: My goal is to get down to 175 pounds and then go from there.
My Current Routine: I eat around 1800 calories a day and try to exercise. Exercise includes walking up to 10,000 steps a day (more like 5,000) and yard work. We live on a corner lot so mowing the lawn is like mowing 2 regular lawns. I use a self propelled push mower, which sounds way more glamourous than it is. It takes me about an hour so on those days I get quite a bit of exercise. Also, we have quite a few trees and being spring, everything is busy growing so there are a lot of excess limbs to clear out. I also started doing the old P90 workouts. I am doing Sculpt one. The goal is at least 8-10 reps before moving onto Sculpt 2. I started at 3 reps and moved to 5 reps this last workout. I use exercise bands. I have very little room to workout so the exercise bands do well. I've done this routine in the past and done well. But after a few months, I end up quitting. I'd like to continue this time.
My Current Situation: I worked in an office for 34 years. Then in 2017, I was laid off. In the course of 9 months, I had 5 people die I was close too and lost a job that was an integral part of who I was. I didn't think I would survive. I moved in with my sister and dad. My sister works 6 days a week and wants me to watch over my dad who is 86. I watch him, I do almost all of the errands, wash clothes, take care of his animals, feed him and so forth. I do not have an income. My sister does give me a little every once in a while, but it's not much. So while it gives me some downtime after working 60-70 hrs a week like I used to, there's not a lot of flexibility otherwise. It is what it is for now.
Challenges - I have/had a tendency toward low blood sugar. I have a lot of anxiety. I get off balance a lot because I hold a lot of tension in my neck and shoulders. I take a stomach med on occasion which leaches magnesium which doesn't help the whole muscle thing. I haven't found a vitamin I am compatible with yet, even though I have tried 20 or so different ones. I used to take a vitamin a long while back, but they discontinued them. I have food allergies and do well if I avoid anything to do with a cow, chicken, bananas, potatoes (I can do sweet potatoes), and wheat. I am allergic to some other things and have issues but these are the main ones.
What I would like to change: 1) Not be so tense all of the time. 2) Have better posture and lose the "Dowager's Hump". 3) Get rid of my stomach and digestion issues. 4) To not worry about blood pressure. I have a phobia from childhood and an intense fear to even have it checked or go to the doctor. I'm 56, why should I give a damn at this point. 5) Have a body I can be proud of when I look in the mirror. 6) a Better posterior. I tend to not have one anyway and when I exercise it gets worse. 7) find a better way to sit. When I sit down, pressure is put on the backs of my thighs and I tend to pool water in my legs. Then when I lay down at night, it goes down, but the excess does affect my weight. The doctor says I sit too much.
Frustrations: The scale. I can easy fluctuate 5-10 pounds at any given time due to water retention. Like this week, On Sunday, I weighed 260.4 I'm so close to going under what I call a 10 pound marker, so I have a goal to be 250 something this week. I usually only weigh twice a week. Thursday is an indicator usually of what I will weigh on the weekend. Today (Thursday), it shows I am up 3.5 pounds so 250 something is even further away at this point. I can't make goals because I can't trust what the scale is going to say. I did well this week and started working with the exercise bands. I also know that starting to build muscle causes some water retention at first. So rather than a destination I really need to work on more joy in the journey which I have never been. Like if I can't climb a mountain, then why bother trying to do any part of it. I"m not a glass half empty person, I'm a the glass isn't even there person.
Where I could use help: Just because things have worked in the past, doesn't mean I'm not willing to try new things. I am a product of my environment and what I've been taught. Everything can change so would welcome suggestions for diet and exercise to achieve my goals.
A Typical day of eating right now: Breakfast - pork/turkey sausage and a piece of toast (white, allergic to wheat). Lunch - Turkey patty, pasta (regular), green beans, broccoli, or maybe carrots and spinach. Dinner - pretty much same as lunch. Snack - unsweet apple sauce or "nutrition" bar to fill calories and/or help with exercising too much.
Tools - I was using an online app, but after a reinstall (suggested), it said my device was no longer supported. Oh well. So it's back to a spreadsheet, I started using Libre Office Calc (excel knock off). I really like seeing what is going on. For 34 years, I worked analyzing and trouble shooting problems. It's in my nature now so a spreadsheet works well for me. I'm working on getting it set up with all of the data I want to track. But I am open to anything else.
Thanks for listening.
My Goal: My goal is to get down to 175 pounds and then go from there.
My Current Routine: I eat around 1800 calories a day and try to exercise. Exercise includes walking up to 10,000 steps a day (more like 5,000) and yard work. We live on a corner lot so mowing the lawn is like mowing 2 regular lawns. I use a self propelled push mower, which sounds way more glamourous than it is. It takes me about an hour so on those days I get quite a bit of exercise. Also, we have quite a few trees and being spring, everything is busy growing so there are a lot of excess limbs to clear out. I also started doing the old P90 workouts. I am doing Sculpt one. The goal is at least 8-10 reps before moving onto Sculpt 2. I started at 3 reps and moved to 5 reps this last workout. I use exercise bands. I have very little room to workout so the exercise bands do well. I've done this routine in the past and done well. But after a few months, I end up quitting. I'd like to continue this time.
My Current Situation: I worked in an office for 34 years. Then in 2017, I was laid off. In the course of 9 months, I had 5 people die I was close too and lost a job that was an integral part of who I was. I didn't think I would survive. I moved in with my sister and dad. My sister works 6 days a week and wants me to watch over my dad who is 86. I watch him, I do almost all of the errands, wash clothes, take care of his animals, feed him and so forth. I do not have an income. My sister does give me a little every once in a while, but it's not much. So while it gives me some downtime after working 60-70 hrs a week like I used to, there's not a lot of flexibility otherwise. It is what it is for now.
Challenges - I have/had a tendency toward low blood sugar. I have a lot of anxiety. I get off balance a lot because I hold a lot of tension in my neck and shoulders. I take a stomach med on occasion which leaches magnesium which doesn't help the whole muscle thing. I haven't found a vitamin I am compatible with yet, even though I have tried 20 or so different ones. I used to take a vitamin a long while back, but they discontinued them. I have food allergies and do well if I avoid anything to do with a cow, chicken, bananas, potatoes (I can do sweet potatoes), and wheat. I am allergic to some other things and have issues but these are the main ones.
What I would like to change: 1) Not be so tense all of the time. 2) Have better posture and lose the "Dowager's Hump". 3) Get rid of my stomach and digestion issues. 4) To not worry about blood pressure. I have a phobia from childhood and an intense fear to even have it checked or go to the doctor. I'm 56, why should I give a damn at this point. 5) Have a body I can be proud of when I look in the mirror. 6) a Better posterior. I tend to not have one anyway and when I exercise it gets worse. 7) find a better way to sit. When I sit down, pressure is put on the backs of my thighs and I tend to pool water in my legs. Then when I lay down at night, it goes down, but the excess does affect my weight. The doctor says I sit too much.
Frustrations: The scale. I can easy fluctuate 5-10 pounds at any given time due to water retention. Like this week, On Sunday, I weighed 260.4 I'm so close to going under what I call a 10 pound marker, so I have a goal to be 250 something this week. I usually only weigh twice a week. Thursday is an indicator usually of what I will weigh on the weekend. Today (Thursday), it shows I am up 3.5 pounds so 250 something is even further away at this point. I can't make goals because I can't trust what the scale is going to say. I did well this week and started working with the exercise bands. I also know that starting to build muscle causes some water retention at first. So rather than a destination I really need to work on more joy in the journey which I have never been. Like if I can't climb a mountain, then why bother trying to do any part of it. I"m not a glass half empty person, I'm a the glass isn't even there person.
Where I could use help: Just because things have worked in the past, doesn't mean I'm not willing to try new things. I am a product of my environment and what I've been taught. Everything can change so would welcome suggestions for diet and exercise to achieve my goals.
A Typical day of eating right now: Breakfast - pork/turkey sausage and a piece of toast (white, allergic to wheat). Lunch - Turkey patty, pasta (regular), green beans, broccoli, or maybe carrots and spinach. Dinner - pretty much same as lunch. Snack - unsweet apple sauce or "nutrition" bar to fill calories and/or help with exercising too much.
Tools - I was using an online app, but after a reinstall (suggested), it said my device was no longer supported. Oh well. So it's back to a spreadsheet, I started using Libre Office Calc (excel knock off). I really like seeing what is going on. For 34 years, I worked analyzing and trouble shooting problems. It's in my nature now so a spreadsheet works well for me. I'm working on getting it set up with all of the data I want to track. But I am open to anything else.
Thanks for listening.
