Fitness journey

I had another massage on Monday. My massage therapist and I agreed to take a break since I'm not getting better. She is pretty frustrated to say the least. She says she can literally see my muscles tightening back up after she's worked on them and moved on to another part of my body. I have an appointment with my primary care doctor on May 1.

My hope is to find a low grade muscle relaxer for now and then see what else we can uncover.

I'm still trying to be active. Played 18 today. I can make it to about 15 holes until my body starts shutting down. I'm going to try to go for some walks outside and do what I can to stretch.
 
Sounds like a great time to change. You may need some recovery time from the massage work as well.
It’s good to keep active. Try to keep from getting too frustrated.
Easy for me to say… patience is not one of my strong suits. Lol
 
James-kd2cm said:
Sounds like a great time to change. You may need some recovery time from the massage work as well.
It’s good to keep active. Try to keep from getting too frustrated.
Easy for me to say… patience is not one of my strong suits. Lol
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I’m not patient either. If you can’t tell I’m pretty driven. I am trying to realize I’m not 20 and to take my time, but it isn’t easy.
 
testerdahl said:
I’m not patient either. If you can’t tell I’m pretty driven. I am trying to realize I’m not 20 and to take my time, but it isn’t easy.
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I think I have some clothes in my closet that are 20. :)

I’m retired so I’m more laid back now… I still go after things like a building project, shovelling gravel or chainsawing firewood like I’m still in my 40’s ….Sometimes I pay for it right away and have to stop or sometimes it just makes me pay for the next couple days.

I see people around me at my age with a lot worse problems so I just try to keep working the problem(s).
 
So I had a bit of a break through on Monday. I got to thinking about what my PT and massage person said about my hips. They said my left hip was "higher." I had them adjusted a few years ago at my Chiropractor.

I did some research on rotated hips and every Google search said to see a Chiro.

I called him up and went in. He said my left leg was an 1" shorter than my right leg. He was shocked.

After an adjustment, he had the hips better. I played golf the following day and finished 18 without a locked up back like before.

I went for another adjustment on Thursday and he took a pic of my behind. You can see the left side visibly raised versus the right.

Talking with him, after I had done a bunch of research, it turns out the rotated hip causes pain on the opposite side of your body as the muscles try to pull the hips back into alignment. The more you exercise the worse it gets.

This basically sums up all the issues. As I start to work out, the more pain I get into and the downhill cycle repeats. This is due to my hips rotating out of alignment.

The fix is essentially a regular schedule with the Chiropractor to adjust my hips back as I start to exercise regularly. Nothing else to be done. Just the way my body is apparently.

I still have some inflammation on some muscles and some tight spots on the lower back. This should go away with time after consistent adjustments and time.

I actually played 9 holes last night from 5:30 - 8 pm as a sub in men's league. It was cold, rainy and late in the day. I was shocked at the fact my body didn't fight me and my back didn't lock up. I played like crap because I kept focusing on feeling my body and not playing golf. LOL.

Next up is walking, then riding my spin bike. Just taking it slow until I figure out how often I need to visit the Chiro with the more exercise.
 
So, a lot has happened since April. LOL.

Here's your old fat guy update: things had gotten better, but still not great. Prior to that 16 day camping trip, I was still in some pain and so I had several back and forth messages with my doctor and her nurses. We decided I needed something stronger than the Diclofenac, prescription strength Advil basically. I started taking Tramadol. It is low-level pain killer that is technically classified as an Opioid, but apparently at one time wasn't.

My doctor knows my concern over taking Opioids with addiction in my family. She literally sent me a message that went, "I'm sending in a prescription for Tramadol, it is an Opioid, take it or don't. I don't care."

LOL. Anyway, I took it and about a half an hour later, I felt like I was 20 years younger. Holy cow.

I then started walking, bike riding, playing a lot more golf, etc... The only problem was I couldn't feel any pain, until, well, I really, REALLY felt a lot of pain. My wife got on my case. I now have "rest" days as much as I hate them and I take Diclofenac three times a day with meals and Tramadol once a day with diet pills I got from Hims.com.

This has been going on for a little over six weeks. I've had mostly good weeks as long as I mix in some yoga like stretching and some planks. I had a bad week last week and I think that's all my fault for not stretching enough. I also see the Chiro every week or two. We are trying to get to two weeks, but still working on figuring that out.

My clothes are a lot looser, the scale says I've lost about 5 lbs and I feel younger. I swear the scale is wrong. It says I'm 267. I'm wearing clothes that were tight when I was 248 lbs.

Today, I rode for the first time to the U.S. forest ranger station by myself without stopping to gather air for my lungs. I wanted to reach the top of the hill on the road in the pic, but my legs said no. I listened to my body and turned around.

Most days now are either golf, bike riding, walking, yoga/stretching or a rest day. My taste buds have changed and I've given up on all bad foods. My go-to snacks are fruits, broccoli, cauliflower, smoothie/protein shakes with spinach and strawberries. Sweet tooth? I lost that a few years ago. I can eat it, but there's no enjoyment.

Drinking whiskey? I'm getting to the "rather not" stage. If I drink before dinner, I know I'll feel like poop in the morning the next day. If I drink after dinner, I know I can't drink after 8 pm. And when I do drink, it just doesn't taste as good anymore. A few weeks ago, I went a full 7 days without drinking. Honestly, besides it being a habit, I didn't really miss it all that much. I think I'm ready to take another week off. Maybe have a beer with friends, but I think I'll pass the rest of the time.

SCBL-NATURAL-SYSTEM-1.jpgIMG_3896.jpgIMG_3895.jpgIMG_3894.jpg
 
testerdahl said:
So, a lot has happened since April. LOL.

Here's your old fat guy update: things had gotten better, but still not great. Prior to that 16 day camping trip, I was still in some pain and so I had several back and forth messages with my doctor and her nurses. We decided I needed something stronger than the Diclofenac, prescription strength Advil basically. I started taking Tramadol. It is low-level pain killer that is technically classified as an Opioid, but apparently at one time wasn't.

My doctor knows my concern over taking Opioids with addiction in my family. She literally sent me a message that went, "I'm sending in a prescription for Tramadol, it is an Opioid, take it or don't. I don't care."

LOL. Anyway, I took it and about a half an hour later, I felt like I was 20 years younger. Holy cow.

I then started walking, bike riding, playing a lot more golf, etc... The only problem was I couldn't feel any pain, until, well, I really, REALLY felt a lot of pain. My wife got on my case. I now have "rest" days as much as I hate them and I take Diclofenac three times a day with meals and Tramadol once a day with diet pills I got from Hims.com.

This has been going on for a little over six weeks. I've had mostly good weeks as long as I mix in some yoga like stretching and some planks. I had a bad week last week and I think that's all my fault for not stretching enough. I also see the Chiro every week or two. We are trying to get to two weeks, but still working on figuring that out.

My clothes are a lot looser, the scale says I've lost about 5 lbs and I feel younger. I swear the scale is wrong. It says I'm 267. I'm wearing clothes that were tight when I was 248 lbs.

Today, I rode for the first time to the U.S. forest ranger station by myself without stopping to gather air for my lungs. I wanted to reach the top of the hill on the road in the pic, but my legs said no. I listened to my body and turned around.

Most days now are either golf, bike riding, walking, yoga/stretching or a rest day. My taste buds have changed and I've given up on all bad foods. My go-to snacks are fruits, broccoli, cauliflower, smoothie/protein shakes with spinach and strawberries. Sweet tooth? I lost that a few years ago. I can eat it, but there's no enjoyment.

Drinking whiskey? I'm getting to the "rather not" stage. If I drink before dinner, I know I'll feel like poop in the morning the next day. If I drink after dinner, I know I can't drink after 8 pm. And when I do drink, it just doesn't taste as good anymore. A few weeks ago, I went a full 7 days without drinking. Honestly, besides it being a habit, I didn't really miss it all that much. I think I'm ready to take another week off. Maybe have a beer with friends, but I think I'll pass the rest of the time.

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great job Tim I'll tell you your walk and mine are almost the same. but for me I have had 2 surgeries, one to my C6 C7 on the neck and a brand new left total reverse shoulder. I was just released by all my Dr and the shoulder Dr said no more work ever again. that sucks. I'm also in pain all the time and now its like my only job now a days is walking station bike ortho band work and swimming. I use to be able to pull 3000lb pallats across parking lots and now I cant hold a 5 lb dumb bell in my left hand. I don't have a rotator cuff anymore so it takes a ton of things I could do down to nothing.

hang in there and listen to your body. also I have been on that pill for a while and its not a bad pill at all. it does help and with out it I would be in a lot of pain. I do take mine at night before bed so maybe try that.

GOD BLESS and have fun
 
This is awesome Tim! Don't ever disregard those "rest" days. They really help. When I worked out at the gym, we only worked ut every other day and it helped build up muscle quickly. Your wife is right on this. Follow her advice!

I get it about the whiskey as well. I've dropped off of that myself.
 
carhaulereastcoast said:
great job Tim I'll tell you your walk and mine are almost the same. but for me I have had 2 surgeries, one to my C6 C7 on the neck and a brand new left total reverse shoulder. I was just released by all my Dr and the shoulder Dr said no more work ever again. that sucks. I'm also in pain all the time and now its like my only job now a days is walking station bike ortho band work and swimming. I use to be able to pull 3000lb pallats across parking lots and now I cant hold a 5 lb dumb bell in my left hand. I don't have a rotator cuff anymore so it takes a ton of things I could do down to nothing.

hang in there and listen to your body. also I have been on that pill for a while and its not a bad pill at all. it does help and with out it I would be in a lot of pain. I do take mine at night before bed so maybe try that.

GOD BLESS and have fun
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Damn that’s rough man. I’m holding off for now on taking it twice a day. Just anti-pill.
 
I’ll chime in on those rest days as well. They are extremely important. When I was doing my knee and back physio I was performing the stretches and exercises incessantly. I took a trip and decided to take a week off and it helped my back loosen up and relaxed some of the tense muscles. I don’t recommend for you to take that much time off but the rest days worked very well for me after that with just light stretching on my rest days.
A side note for me was my hamstrings and quads need to be stretched out regularly. I find having tight hams or quads really don’t help my back much.
Hang in there.
 
I'm down about 60lbs in the last year and if I had to point at a couple of things...

Water intake
Less brown water
More light beer (specifically lime garage beers) so good ..

Keep at it and up that water! I'm trying to do about 120oz a day that's 70-80 of water and various other items. They've come full circle on other beverages not counting as fluid intake which makes a lot of sense.
 
I just found this thread of your journey.
My weight would yo-yo between summer and winter. Had to run and cycle come springtime to drop the 20 lbs and as I got older , it got harder to do. Searched for years for "diets" nothing worked or made sense until I found low carb / keto and how bad the standard American diet we all eat is.
Cut the morning "healthy" cereal, sugars , pasta., bread and I lost 30 lbs over the winter with no exercise. Took 6 months for the weight and a total of a year for it to be a normal eating pattern of 2 meals a day , (6 hr feeding window, intermittent fasting).
No more achy knees / joints, swollen gums. Dropped my triglycerides in half to under 100. Dr was oblivious to this method when he saw the bloodwork. The food pyramid is upside down.
Its not the calories, its the carbs. Keep your insulin levels low and the body will burn the fat.
There are a couple of Dr's on the Youtube, Dr Ken Berry and Dr Boz that go through the mechanics of the body and have guidelines to follow.
 
Andy said:
I just found this thread of your journey.
My weight would yo-yo between summer and winter. Had to run and cycle come springtime to drop the 20 lbs and as I got older , it got harder to do. Searched for years for "diets" nothing worked or made sense until I found low carb / keto and how bad the standard American diet we all eat is.
Cut the morning "healthy" cereal, sugars , pasta., bread and I lost 30 lbs over the winter with no exercise. Took 6 months for the weight and a total of a year for it to be a normal eating pattern of 2 meals a day , (6 hr feeding window, intermittent fasting).
No more achy knees / joints, swollen gums. Dropped my triglycerides in half to under 100. Dr was oblivious to this method when he saw the bloodwork. The food pyramid is upside down.
Its not the calories, its the carbs. Keep your insulin levels low and the body will burn the fat.
There are a couple of Dr's on the Youtube, Dr Ken Berry and Dr Boz that go through the mechanics of the body and have guidelines to follow.
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I'm reading this while snacking on carrots. I don't know why, but I can't get enough vegetables lately. Broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, snap peas, etc... I also eat a ton of protein with eggs, chicken (not breaded), sausage, cheese and I shoot for one protein shake a day with protein powder, spinach, strawberries and a few ice cubes.

I just chatted with the doctor on Hims.com today. I dropped a few lbs over the weekend camping and I probably over ate. I didn't have any whiskey, a few beers here and there and plenty of walking, swimming and some golfing. I told the doc, I'm just impatient. I want to lose weight like I did in my 20s and it is tough to see a 1 or 2 lb weight loss as a "success" when dropping 5-10 was easy. Oh well.

I have one sandwich a day, chicken salad mixture with celery and cranberries, if I golf and generally don't eat much bread during the day. I could probably find a replacement for the bread if I wanted to. It is the whole wheat variety.

Generally I eat:

Breakfast either:

- spinach, mushroom, onion and cheese omelet
- yogurt with granola
- protein shake

Lunch:

Chicken salad sandwich
Chicken salad with vegetables and no bread

Snack:

Apples and peanut butter
Vegetables and spinach dip
Cashews or nuts

Dinner:

We make meals with the family so it is either Taco night, pasta night, eat on our own or we go out. I generally eat a one small plate of food.

The doctor said its pretty clear the appetite suppression pills are working since I'm not really eating that much. They also want me to stop worrying so much about the weight and take measurements. I should do that. My shorts and shirts are pretty baggy.

We have a funeral on Friday and I'm honestly not sure if I'll have to buy a bigger outfit. My wife's grandmother passed away and I'm a pallbearer so I'll need a suit. I'll probably update this post when I try it on tomorrow.
 
I wonder if it’s possible to overdo it on veggies?? 😂 I can’t stop craving them. It’s weird as hell. I threw in some crackers thinking I want to go for a bike ride later and might need some carbs.

Rough night for pain. I definitely need to stretch today before I ride. Just haven’t made it a priority with so much going on.

And the pants fit! Dress shirt didn’t. Grr…

I ate about half my lunch and put the rest back.IMG_4031.jpegIMG_4030.jpeg
 
Saddle Tramp said:
Dude! The greens are great but step away from the Cascade. You can't wash out your arteries with it.
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But it's Platinum man!

You know what's crazy as hell? I did my normal Yoga-like stretching for my back and hips yesterday after a miserable night where my right shoulder ached. Today, my right shoulder feels a million times better and my right hip is feeling somewhat better. Just crazy how your body is so interconnected.

I didn't get a bike ride in. Maybe today. I was too worn out after the bad night's sleep. I slept a million times better last night after the 15 mins of stretching. SMH. If I only made time for that every day.
 
Saddle Tramp said:
Do you have a specific video you watch for the yoga? I tried looking them up and the thumbnails were... "Iffy". 😬🤐
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No. I just combine various workouts I've been taught over the years from physical therapy and various Yoga/stretch videos we used to watch over the decades. The only ones I don't really do are downward dogs since I've just never got the hang of them and they hurt. Everything else from warrior pose to child's pose I use. I can feel which ones my body needs if that makes sense and I put them in. Some days I go 10-15 mins and other days I go longer if I feel like I need more stretching.
 
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