jethro56 

Since I began this journey in August of 2009, I've had a few injuries and a seasonal workload that has taken me away from my fitness program. Nothing too serious and usually less than 2 weeks to heal. But still there's that uneasiness on that first day getting back on the wagon. One thing different about me now is that I don't go back into it with the idea of making up for lost time. The time is gone, you can't get it back. Pushing yourself hard on the return is the surest way to yet again injure yourself. Instead, I think back to that first day of August way back when and think "That's really all I have to do today." Of course after I actually do that first workout I feel good about myself and soon enough, I'm back to where I was.

Sooner or later something is going to disrupt your journey. It's all how you deal with it the defines how successful you are.

CACycling

When our younger son left for college last fall, my wife and I became "empty nesters". I looked forward to getting in a lot more rides with my wife and working up our distance. Then, in mid-September, my wife became 24/7 caregiver for her mom. Followed, in mid-October, by my being hit by a car commuting to work. At the end of the year, her mom was doing well enough to not need round-the-clock care and I was well enough to get back on the bike. We're nowhere near where we were a year ago and, with her still needing to spend a lot of time with her mom and me needing to pick up the slack in other areas, won't be any time soon but that's OK. It is how our life is right now and cycling has taken a back seat to family needs. We ride together when we can and I commute by bike when practical but it will be a while before we will be able to work on upping our mileage to any significant amount.

bigfred 

Recently saw a TED presentation by the director of DARPA about "what if you couldn't fail" and how eliminating the fear of failure opens us up to all the possibilities of success. She went on to describe the number of times so many of their projects failed along the way to success. And, how they learned from each one of those "failures", only to carry on toward the ultimate goal no matter how large the set back. I was inspired.

I had a epigastric hernia repair on the 28th of last month. I'm super pleased that I'm back on the bike and feel like I am as far along as I could hope for. In the absence of that surgery could I have been further? Sure. But, stuff happens. I also can't count the number of times Mrs. Fred or I have had to resume using our calorie journals. Or, the number of times our weight loss has stalled for weeks. Often due to some new or additional stressor that distracts us from our fitness goals.

And, I finished my last day at work, three weeks ago tomorrow.

Any how, can't agree with you more. Onwards! At least I have plenty of time for cycling now:-)

goldfinch

Well, this is timely.

I rode a hard hilly ride yesterday. I pushed hard early in the ride, the hilliest part of the ride, as I expected a tail wind on the flats for the last ten miles. It was a headwind. I was beat when I got home. But a few hours later I mowed the neighbor's hilly lawn. Yesterday evening the top of my foot was killing me, I could hardly walk. I think it is the third metatarsal bone. This afternoon I did a short leisurely ride with my spouse and was fine. An hour later I can hardly walk.

I hope I didn't stress fracture my foot. I am 500 miles from home so seeing a doctor is highly inconvenient. Anyway, I am off the bike for a while.

And I will have to eat less.

I am kind of at a loss on what to do with myself.

TrojanHorse

Get it looked at and rest is my inexpert advice. Do not mess with your feet. And don't see a quack either!

Neil_B

+1.

I have to remind myself of this as I literally start over on new knees. Some days I do a better job of it than others.

Neil_B

+1.

jethro56 

My last injury was where I mowed ditchbanks all morning and then went out for a ride in very windy conditions. At 15 miles out of a planned 25, my right side from hips to my arm spasmed. I limped the 8 miles home (with the wind) and stayed off the bike for almost a week. So from now on ditchbank mowing will be done on nonriding days. Take a few days off.

nkfrench 

Swimming is great exercise for those of us with lower-body injuries. It's particularly friendly on Clydes/Athenas who float well. If you don't know how, you could sign up for adult swim lessons. Many commercial fitness clubs will have free 2-week trial memberships. YMCAs may have indoor pools with drop-in rates for non-members.

BionicChris

I'll +1 on the swimming. An all over body workout that you get back what you put in - bad legs, use your arms more. Bad arms, kick harder!

Swimming has been wonderful for me with my double hip ops.

krobinson103

Years back I broke 4 bones in foot during martial arts practice. The next day I went to work. Back then I was the assistant manager at a gas station and it involved a LOT of walking. Being young, tough, and down right stupid I ignored the pain till it floored me. Went to the hospital and they found the 4 broken bones. Looked at me like I was nuts - perhaps I was. I didn't learn much from that as 5 weeks later when the bones where almost healed I went back to work. To this day my foot is 95% and always will be. Injuries must be given the time to heal completely or your body will tell you about it later.

goldfinch

I have never been a very competent swimmer but did ok partly because I floated so well. When I lost my weight I sunk like stone. I might go to our local gym though and putz around in the pool, just to keep busy.

tony_merlino

Very wise words. My last-but-one diet/exercise program, after losing nearly 50 lbs, ended with one special meal and cheesecake on my birthday. My birthday is right at the start of the holiday season, and between excuses and the constant pressure from everyone around me to "enjoy" the holidays, I never managed to get back on the wagon after that until I had gained back more than I had lost. (Of course, the holidays were long over with by then.) Then last diet/exercise program before this one ended with a long weekend vacation - that was last July.

That's why I'm so concerned with finding the strategy for "winning the peace". I've often said that losing weight is no problem, once you've set your mind to it. I've lost 45 lbs since the beginning of January. It takes determination, but it's very straightforward. But a permanent change of mindset that keeps you motivated to be vigilant even after you've gotten to your goal, and that is flexible enough to be resilient to the inevitable bumps in the road is the part I've never managed to develop. It sounds like you have found it.

This is one of the reasons I'm stressing sustainability. I'm reading posts by folks who have changed their lives by including 2 or 3 hours of hard exercise every day. How do you keep that up if you have a job and house and kids and other interests besides sweating and straining?

Street Pedaler

In my experience, adversity is all pretty relative. One man's adversity is another man's "just another day". When I feel at my absolute worst and it's all I can do to get out of bed and walk across a room, much less straddle a saddle, I always think that, somewhere on this big blue rock, somebody is dealing with the exact same thing as I am and he's saying to himself, "Thank you, God, for giving me an awesome day. I haven't felt this good in months!"

goldfinch

By doing 45 minutes a day instead.

For sure, the long haul is the challenge.

PhotoJoe 

THIS....in a huge way!

It may be a small disruption or big, but how we deal with it not only helps/hinders us as we get through it, but also how we get back to "normal" when it's over. Furthermore, how we deal with it can encourage others to get through their detours, too. My last year has sucked, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. I have met a ton of new friends. Some of my nurses will be friends forever. I agree with Street Pedaler, too. While I was laying in my bed, watching 6 bags of fluids (three of them chemo) pumping into me with what seemed to be the volume of a fire hose, I laid there thinking how I was being cured. Several times, the person in the room next to me had been given the news that there was nothing else that could be done. Yah....and I thought I had it bad! It's all relative and there is always someone who could look at your situation and wish they could "only" have it as bad as you.

My goals in my journey have been:

1) Survive
2) Show my kids how to get through a miserable situation with class and dignity
3) Be an encouragement to anyone else diagnosed with this evil disease, even if it's just a shoulder to cry on
4) Survive
5) Get back in shape to hopefully minimize the odds of a recurrence. Diet has changed.
6) Prove to myself that I'm not a quitter.

Every day is a gift for which I am grateful. I never realized how much.

We're starting out slow. My wife is very much over weight. I am somewhat. I have no hamstring and she has no endurance. If we got out there and pushed too hard right off the bat, we'd injure ourselves and have to stop riding. That doesn't do anyone any good. We've done 42 miles in the past two weeks and feel great. Our longest ride (recently) was 17.5 miles. We're going to break 20 this weekend. Little increases as we go. After all, this is a lifelong journey, not a sprint race. We will be healthy....together.

vesteroid

I disagree with this in theory.

The problem is from my perspective, that most people (me included) want an answer that is easy and fits with their plan. They dont want an answer that works.

I know this sounds harsh, but all the claims I have ever heard about my job, or my kids, or my wife, or my church, or my family, or whatever are really just ways we reason with ourselves that its OK not to put the work in thats required to reach a healthy life style.

In other words, we have NOT TRULY MADE A LIFESTYLE CHANGE. On our diets, we still want to have "cheat" meals or days for that matter...again we have not really changed. On exercise days, its often put off by the kids soccer ran late, or rain, or the boss was a fussin at me today...again we didnt put our health first. There has been no REAL change, just a set of excuses we use to make ourselves feel ok with failing yet again.

The serious health related ones are the hardest to understand. I see post after post on here (and other forums) where people had a serious health scare. Diabetes for instance. They go on a weight loss program, they start exercising, they see positive results, they go off meds, then they fall off the wagon and get right back on those meds.

I have lived this life, I am not saying I am any better, I have gone on 2000 diets in my life, and started at least 100 exercise programs. I finally decided I was tired of the bs and decided that I was going to change my life, not go on another program. I set a goal of running a half marathon, and started training. My race is two weekends from now, and I am in my taper, so I found I needed a new goal. I am going to do a tri in september and train all summer for that. In addition to that I have signed up for a ride around lake tahoe in september as well, so thats 80 some miles and tons of climbing. I will sit down and map out a training schedule by day from now till the goals, and I will meet that schedule. I travel for work, so I know how hard it can be to manage work, family and workouts. I have made my workouts a priority. They come first now. If I cant keep myself healthy, i cant provide much value to my family or my boss. I do have to adjust, so some nights I have to run on a treadmill in a hotel, or ride an elliptical instead of running outdoors, but I find a way to get active for the same amount of time.

Its hard. I often think about taking a break, or taking it easy...but I weight myself every morning and I have that constant feedback that I cant stop, or cant take it easy. As we all know its way easier to gain it back than to lose it, and I worked too darn hard to lose the weight I have. I am not going to have to lose it again.

All I am saying is in reality its not as hard as many of us make it out. If you are truly dedicated to changing your life, YOU are the only one who can do that, and the stars dont need to align for that to happen. Find a way each day to make it happen in some shape or form, and set real goals, and measure your progress.

Reach your goal, then set another. Rinse repeat.

magohn

All nice sentiments but we also need to stress "reality". Of course you can keep up the "all or nothing" way of exercising for 3 months or so but what about next year , or the next?

I believe 2-3x small rides per work days (5-7 miles) and a longer ride at weekend is a "doable" schedule for most people. Ive kept this up for 2 years now and 40lbs lighter. I also "cheat" one day a week where I eat what I want.

Life will and does get in the way - keep it simple

goldfinch

We don't really disagree much. But there is for many people only so many hours in a day. I don't think that you need to exercise 2, 3 hours a day to maintain weight. I do think your odds improve with regular exercise and 45 minutes five days a week with one longer day a week might be about the minimum. If you look at successful maintainers on the National Weight Control Registry they exercise an average of an hour a day. They also pay attention--for example, to what they eat, to what they weigh.

I totally agree with you that there are no breaks allowed in the single-minded dedication you need to keep off lost weight.

But as Jethro discussed, the real test is how you deal with adversity. When you are injured and you can't exercise. When you become ill. When family life intervenes and your focus is elsewhere. What to do if you become depressed. Etc. Those who are resilient are more likely to keep off the weight. That is also born out by the Weight Control Registry data.

TrojanHorse

45 minutes of hard exercise will get you where you want to go. I have two over-involved kids, job, wife with a job blah blah blah and I used to skip exercising because I didn't have enough time. Well, I think we all know how that works.

Now I drop my son off at practice and get in an hour ride twice a week. All the other parents are sitting there in the bleachers chit chatting. I get up on Saturday and maybe Sunday too at 6 am and I'm pedaling by 6:15 because I want to get a long ride in before all the rest of my obligations kick in. I have NO SPARE TIME and yet I've managed to ride 275 miles so far this month. You just have to find something that works for you and it probably won't be as easy as sitting on your butt watching TV.

There's a solution out there for everybody and it's probably going to be hard until you want to do it badly enough.

tony_merlino

I think we're talking about two or maybe more than two different things. Nobody is saying that you don't have to budget time for exercise or that you can be lax about what you eat and be successful. It's the goal that may be different. I don't have any desire to live a life where I exercise 2-3 hours a day, I have no aspirations to run a marathon or to be an "athlete", whatever that is for a 59 year old guy.

I do want to be at a good weight for my height - a weight that makes me feel light on my feet when I dance or hike, that allows me to feel graceful and to look good. I want to be able to ride for a few hours - would love to do some bike touring and backpacking.

I was told by a cardiologist that aerobic exercise for 20 minutes, three times a week is sufficient to promote and maintain good cardiovascular health. I do about 45 min to 1 hour a day, 5 days a week. It's all I want to do. That doesn't mean I'm sloppy about it. A goal can be moderate and still serious.

WonderMonkey

In order to do more than I do I'd have to ignore my kids, my wife, do a sub-standard job at work, etc. Sure it is MY CHOICE and such but I'm not willing to make that change in life-style.

TrojanHorse

I did say there was a solution for everybody. I don't think anybody here is an elite athlete that requires 8 hours of training a day but the difference between not exercising and exercising is a tough gap to cross until you find a way to work it in.

vesteroid

Was not trying to come off as elite or suggesting that you need 2-3 hours a day.

Nor do I think what works for me will work for you, but the truth is every reason you don't put your health first is mearly an excuse.it may be an excuse you are willing to accept, but an excuse non the less.

M. Good for you that you lost the weight and kept it off, the question I would ask myself is am I now at my optimum healthy weight and other health metrics (bp, sugar, etc) and if not, could you have been with a real life style change instead of your current plan. (over those two years)


And to anyone that says if they added one more hour of exercise they would jeorpordise their jobs or family, I just don't see it....right now I am sitting on the sofa writing this on an iPad, I could be on the bike, I bet I am not the only one either.

WonderMonkey

I didn't take it that way at all.

I do know many people who think they are maxed out when they are really not... the kind that you are speaking of. However there are many that truly are maxed out. Maybe not every day of their waking lives but for the most part... yes.

I get to post here a bunch because my life is on the computer... it's how I make my income so I so some posting.

However.... once my daughter gets into High School I'll be one of those people who won't have a shred of an excuse left. But I'm sure I'll make one up.