Retirement & the consequences thereof

English Mike

That's it; as of Monday, I'm officially retired...

...so now I have to get to work if I want to enjoy it - seen too many people retire then expire within a short time as they vegetated.

I turned 60 at the end of November & over the past 10 years, my weight went from 190lbs to 282lb on January 3rd & my blood pressure is in the pre hypertension range.
Sitting on my arse in the shop all day certainly didn't help, nor did a lunchtime diet of chips (fries) & sausage or cornish pasties.
I changed over to salads for lunch, reduced my carb intake by a half, started walking at least 2/3 of a mile once or twice a day & halved my beer consumption.
So far, I've dropped 12lb in 7 weeks (should have been more but I stayed in a nice hotel for a couple of nights last week whilst visiting a shooting show...) & that along with the walks has certainly made me feel better.
My target is to drop to 260lbs by April 3rd, when I fly out to NM, 210lbs when I fly out again at the end of October & 190lbs by the end of January 2019.

At the same time, I need to build up my muscles & stamina, as I'm planning a plains game hunt in the Eastern Cape (South Africa) for mid 2019.

I dragged all 270lbs of blubber up 550' over a couple of miles this afternoon & a couple of miles back down again, all in an hour & 40 minutes - not fast but pleasing enough for a first effort at more than a mile.

Roll on the deer stalking season, then I'll get some walking in...

Pumpkinslinger

Congratulations on retirement, and on getting back in shape!

I'm a couple months older and will have to wait a few more years to retire. I also need to get back in shape so I can do some of things I want to do when I get the time. At work, if we get a break, about all we have time for is fast food. Maybe I need to order more salads...

Vince

Congrats on your retirement mate...and you are right, you have to keep active, especially the old grey matter or you vegetate as you so rightly say. Remember...you don’t stop playing because you grow old, you grow old because you stop playing.

Exercise and weight loss is difficult if you have been sedentary for some time...I know because I am going through the same process myself. I’m sitting at 268 lbs right now and would like to be down to 198 lbs by the time I go on my trip to the US.

Good luck mate, your goals are achievable.

PaulS

You might want to look into the KETO diet. It is designed to force your body to use your stored fat instead of carbs. It isn't easy because we are all to used to the taste of carbs and sugars but it is EFFECTIVE and safe for most people. I lost 30 pounds of fat in just two months. Salads, non-carb veggies and all the meat, of any kind, that you want. You can eat blueberries and raspberries in limited quantities but no other fruit or juice.
Look it up and get the whole story. It has been good for me.

hunterjoe21

PaulS wrote:

Salads, non-carb veggies and all the meat, of any kind, that you want.

Sounds similar to my current diet. A salad topped with 1/2-3/4 pound of steak is one of my favorite meals....

English Mike

I'm warming to the low carb diet, as tonight's repast was resplendent in dry aged ribeye steak & contained hardly any carbs at all...

Bloody weather's on the change next week but I hope I'll still be able to get in two or three miles a day round some of the local paths - old railway beds turned into footpaths/cycleways/dogs' toilets...

gelandangan

Congratulations on your retirement.
You will find that it is a very busy period of your life.

As for losing weight, best thing is reduce your portion, regardless of what type of diet you are in halving your portion will definitely lose your weight. It might be slower than the hyped diets but they seems to last a lot better.

PaulS

I have decided that to get the last 10 pounds off I need to limit my daily rations to 6 ounces of protein and as much veggies and salad as I can eat. I drink water and coffee (defaf) all day. I am doing Isometrics to keep muscle tone up but I will need to work on building strength in my back and overall stamina. Maybe I can build my wife's stamina at the same time... Twisted Evil