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Old 07-08-2012, 10:07 AM
sniper sniper is offline
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Quick back drop. I am 36, I hadn't been to a gym in the 10 years since leaving the Army. I was always a solid 215, I'm 5'9". 2 years ago I quit drinking all soda. I loved Coke and drank a lot of it. Last Dec my wife got me a planet fitness membership but it was until Feb that my car broke down and I walked/ran home. That was 4.5 miles and I was wasted. But even beyond that I just felt sluggish, sleep was all over the place. I just did not feel "good". I was getting a beer belly and I have never had a beer. I really hated that.

So started back in the gym in late FEB. I lift weights and do abs in the morning, and 3-5 times a week I go back in the evenings for cardio and abs. My miles are down to 7:20ish for up to 5 miles. But frankly running does and always has bored me to death, so I usually don't go over 5 miles. But I mix it up and hit the stair climber, bike and eliptical. I try to do at least 30 -45 minutes of cardio per session. Pick a tv episode and watch it through, it goes pretty fast.

The best thing I have done though is I started doing obstacle course races. The first was a spartan race sprint in April at the whitewater center. It was phenominal. I have and try to hit at least one per month, two if I can find them .

I've said all that to say this. My start weight in Feb was right at 255. Today I am 217. I don't have a target weight, whatever I end up at that I can easily maintain without eating like a rabbit is fine with me. Diets are made to start and stop. I am not on a diet, just life changes. I eat pretty good but I still have some of those "bad" things too. The difference is instead of 5,6 or more cookies I have 1 or 2. Things like that are easy to do. Lot's of water. And if I have say sweet tea/lemonade at lunch I only have water for dinner or the opposite. Americans get so much sugar and empty calories from the drinks we consume, that it is an easy place to cut back. An 8oz soda has 50g of sugar. That's crazy!

I don't believe "working out" will payoff necessarily in a longer life, but I feel (literally) it will lead to better years no matter how long or short they are.
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