Do you exercise?

[OdinEidolon]

Well done to you mate, keep on!

[omega]

i found joining a gym made me slimmer

as it cost 35 pound a month to be a member so i couldnt afford to eat as much!

[TooT]

I did the gym thing a few years ago but to be honest got a bit board with it. Nowadays i tend to walk everywhere, if i can get away without using the car i won't. Think i have only done just over 5k in 18 months

[plod]

Thanks

Luckily I got a GP referral which entitled me to half price membership, which includes free swimming and car parking - which considering it's in the town has added benefits For example, last month, me and the lad went on a coach trip to York, so parked at the gym, and walked to the bus station. We did the same 2 weeks ago when we went on a train trip on the Settle to Carlisle Railway

It's costing me £18.50 a month, so I can live with that - especially when some places are charging £50 or £60 a month

Not keen to give up on that, as if i did, and wanted to go back, well, I doubt i'd get that offer again

Good excuse not to be a couch potato, and watch as much tv, I've met some nice people up there, and it has added benefits

Today for example, after I got up, I washed up, put the washing on the line, put more washing in, weeded the drying area, then tidies it up, washed the bin out, did the shopping, wallpapered the hallway, cleaned the fridge out, and sorted out the blocked filter, and stripped most of the wallpaper out of the lounge - whereas before i'd probably just do the shopping and visit the olds
The misses even said, can you go up the gym, you've got far too much energy

Yep, i've gone from a right slob to a bit of a Fitness addict

Oh, did I mention, there's some right fit tottie up there

[Pilch]

I Work outside so am fairly active, but do eat far too much for my own liking sometimes!

Swim twice a week or more, generally 800metres a time, few months back was hitting a mile a session!

Need to get fitter, but after work most days have a cant be arsed attidude - wont help me win any quad races!

Hoping soon to start getting out on the mountain bike, aswell as practice on the pit bike for race fitness!

Quite often though i do take the dog for a couple of miles hike and try to do some jogging!

[lozz]

iwas talking to an old man once, 55ish
he used to run 10miles aday started off with one house brick in ruck sack and worked up to a few more,

ijust laughed at him and said feck that for a game of soldiers rather you than me,

[plod]

Another kilo lost this week
4 stone 11lbs in total now

[jasper5]

iwas talking to an old man once, 55ish
he used to run 10miles aday started off with one house brick in ruck sack and worked up to a few more,

ijust laughed at him and said feck that for a game of soldiers rather you than me,

You cheeky bugger lozz

55 isn't old....i'm 58 and I aint old

[lozz]

iwas talking to an old man once, 55ish
he used to run 10miles aday started off with one house brick in ruck sack and worked up to a few more,

ijust laughed at him and said feck that for a game of soldiers rather you than me,

You cheeky bugger lozz

55 isn't old....i'm 58 and I aint old

sorry mate, what imeant was the chap that was running with the acrington bricks was about 55ish iwas around 18 then so to me at the time he was an old man
time flys mind im 40 this year my kids will be calling me an old man no doubt knowing them they will try sell me on the Antiques roadshow

[DaiRees]

I'm finding things pretty difficult these days I have to confess. I'll be 40 in October, 6'1" and the bathroom scales (or lying bastard as I like to call it) has just told me I'm 15st 6lb, I reckon that's 2.5 stone more than I should be, but 1.5 off would do me!! Got loads of 34" waste trousers which are not really comfortable anymore, and still got plenty of 32" ones which I'd love to fit into again!

I've never been motivated to do exercise, but up till a sudden career change about 5 years ago I worked with a guy who was considerably older than me who really put me to shame, stronger, fitter and faster (and cleverer actually, but don't tell him I said that!), he convinced me to do a bit of exercise, so from March to October every year we used to cycle to work once a week, only about 11 miles each way but including some decent hills (well it is "the Valleys") and the difference it made was amazing. What I liked about having a buddy was that he'd be there every Friday morning, regardless of the weather, and he wouldn't take no for an answer. When he wasn't around I'd get up on a Friday all ready to get on my bike, then take the car - no motivation at all! My work now is mostly desk-based and can be quite mentally challenging and stressful, so when I get home I just feel tired and unmotivated all the time. I do have one regular token gesture to fitness, which is a game of squash once a week with neildavies (once again, this only takes place because someone else is involved), although some weeks we spend more time chatting than playing!

Breakfast is usually skipped or consists of a cup of tea and a biscuit while running out the door, 4 cups of tea in work throughout the morning leads to lunch which is usually a Tesco meal deal (chicken / bacon / lettuce sandwich, bag of crisps / bottle of juice) or a baguette, another couple of cups of tea then home. Evening meal might be a snack or a huge portion of pasta based food like a bolognese or lasagne, usually accompanied by a coke and occasionally followed with a glass of red. Weekend usually means a Chinese and maybe a bar meal. I know I should improve my diet but it's not that bad really, I don't eat chips (or potatos) very often, but I do eat loads of bread, most of it white, and I don't have any willpower when it comes to rich foods and portions which are bigger than needed! I also have a serious dislike of any fizzy drink with the words "diet", "light" or "zero" in their names.

The other consideration over the last year is that I've rediscovered rugby and therefore Guinness , I was never much of a drinker but at 5 or 6 pints most Saturday afternoons I've probably drunk more in the last 9 months than I have in the last 10 years! .

What really pisses me off though is all the little aches and pains that are creeping in, and the sheer effort it takes to do anything these days. Ankles hurt like hell in the morning and back twinges at the slightest strain, then doing any little job around the house becomes a major undertaking and I find myself finding excuses not to bother... So I think I need to change something to get rid of this lathargic feeling and find a bit of motivation to get on with stuff, I don't want to be one of those dads who can't run around with the kids. Mind you saying that I did take the older one on a 10 mile bike ride today, mostly down hill!

[plod]

I had a mate spend all of last year trying to get me to join the gym, but I just felt so tired after work to even contemplate going.

However, it's surprising how much energy it gives you

As for aches, I used to wake up every morning with a bad back, whereas in just over 4 months, I think i've woke up 5 times with it hurting

And Dai, how about sprite? that's low cal, but no mention of zero, diet, low or anything in the name

[lozz]

Last time iwent in a Gym ihad to Bail out quick,

them fecking rattles are Anoying

[FarmerPug]

I recently started to lift weights, only starting off with the light ones, i never seen much point since i lift mushroom crates and other things most days on the farm, but they have helped quite a bit the crates are much easier to lift. Starting to cycle again is good, but as its early my legs hurt like hell the first day i cycled, i had to jump off the bike on the first day after 4 miles up hills my legs felt as if they were about to explode, and the seat was causing a bit discomfort, hence why i want to get the peugeot bike going, its much lighter and has a big comfy seat.

[Welly]

This has made interesting reading and has been inspiring too.

Reading what others get up to makes me seem a right lazy sod, I have to agree that "the more you do" the more you can do - I've experienced this before.

I think I'm in the same kinda boat as Dai above; have a stressful desk job and feel mentally drained at the end of the day so don't feel like pushing myself to do something useful. It's a bit like being stuck in a rut and you need a huge kick up the backside to get going. I think it comes with middle age in fact in general I don't feel as if I'm achieving very much at all at the moment. All seems like 'work' then 'bed'..........

I like what rwb said in that it doesn't matter what you do as long as you do something - that is good advice.

Also pleased to here plod's story, good luck everything there mate.

Regarding fizzy drinks - I saw a program about dieting recently where a specialist suggested NOT to drink the 'Diet' drink but go for the full-monty version instead. The reason was that the body saw this lack of sugar intake as a trigger to eat something sweet so people would gain weight drinking only Diet drinks - there's something in them which tricks you into wanting more sugar

[OdinEidolon]

Regarding fizzy drinks - I saw a program about dieting recently where a specialist suggested NOT to drink the 'Diet' drink but go for the full-monty version instead. The reason was that the body saw this lack of sugar intake as a trigger to eat something sweet so people would gain weight drinking only Diet drinks - there's something in them which tricks you into wanting more sugar

What's worse is that the sweeteners contained in those "diet" things are scientifically proved to increase the risk of cancer in the long run. Their digestion leads to the creation of formaldehyde, which is the same substance used to conserve indefinitely organic parts, and is proven to cause cerebral and gentleman's zones cancer.